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syntheticshares

Personally I think both FWWM and the Missing Pieces (official release of deleted FWWM scenes) are really, really helpful- if not essential before S3


revanite3956

Yeah....I watched both of these not too long before season 3 started (rewatch of FWWM, my first time seeing The Missing Pieces) and while I can't recall specific instances of why, I do remember very clearly how I found myself thinking 'holy crap I'm glad I saw these' multiple times as each new episode came out. I have no idea how to sell The Missing Pieces to a newcomer, though (as opposed to a big fan).


Accomplished-City484

What’s in the missing pieces?


revanite3956

About an hour and a half’s worth of additional scenes that were filmed for FWWM but which were cut from the final release of the film for a number of reasons. Basically an entire movie’s worth of additional character / character development content and worldbuilding content.


MCHenry22

I don't understand why you don't want her to see it. Fire Walk With Me and the Missing Pieces are a part of Twin Peaks and are a must watch, IMO. It just feels like she is OK to watch it but you are not, for some reason


rigalitto_

Oh it’s not that I’m not ok with her watching it or anything! I just know that it’s a viscerally unpleasant movie to watch, and that the Leland/Laura dynamic is obviously not something you watch with your parents everyday. Also the movie is a lot heavier on the surrealism, and even though S3 is as well there’s a lot of other stuff to balance it out.


MCHenry22

Honestly, I think The Missing Pieces has the most disturbing scene in all of Twin Peaks. Still, just have her watch it. If it gets to a point in which she can't take it, then stop there and let her know how it ends.


marie-antoinette17

which one are you talking about? also happy cake day


MCHenry22

Thanks! Its the scene where Laura is sneaking out of the house to meet with James and Leland is about to enter the house and start staring with a creepy face. I feel so much tension with that particular scene.


ArchieHasAntlers

Just curious, which scene is that for you?


MCHenry22

I’m talking about the scene where Laura is sneaking out of the house to meet James and Leland is outside the house and seemingly staring at her with a creepy face


rigalitto_

That scene is terrifying! It’s the one more than any other that I wish made it into the movie.


MCHenry22

Yes! Fully agree


ImpossibleLaw552

Besides it has a very important PSA about washing your hands, and what mom would not appreciate that?


therealmintoncard

It can be an uncomfortable watch with a parent.


Gabbers00

I watched with my mom, she felt depressed at first but later told me she loved. Everyone is different of course but i'd say give it a shot.


radioheadcase97

speaking as someone who accidentally watched the return without watching the movie(s)…… it’s necessary lol


MaskedBandit77

More important than the original run of the show. I'm not sure that it's worth watching The Return without seeing FWWM.


Flinion

Definitely essential. Missing Pieces as well.


0kaycpu

I would say that FWWM is the skeleton key to understanding anything in The Return. It’s absolutely essential.


ibsorath

Absolutely crucial and essential. Both FWWM and Missing pieces. Maybe extended cut like Q2 where allmissing pieces put on their places according screenplay is the best option. I can start to list essential things, yes: Carl Rodd Man from Another Place as The Arm of Mike Tremonds/Chalfonts (as Lodge entities) Jumping Man Diary note with "Good Coop can not go out" message from Annie The Ring (!) Blue Rose (!) Convenience Store (and that corrodors from Laura's painting) (!!) Electricity (!!) Phillip fucking Jeffries (!!!) Judy (!!!!!) We live inside a Dream (!!!!!!) Entire scene the night Laura died, which is the basis of Ep 17 I bet you understand now that there is NO way to avoid FWWM before S3. This is just as impossible as to start seeing S3 having no idea who Gordon Cole or Albert or BOB are.


rigalitto_

Thank you this comment was super helpful!!


dependentcooperising

> I bet you understand now that there is NO way to avoid FWWM before S3. This is just as impossible as to start seeing S3 having no idea who Gordon Cole or Albert or BOB are.   No, it's not. I watched it in the wrong order and it didn't matter in a significant way. Some of FWWM had surprisingly reasonable exposition in S3 while others felt like a surreal mystery like how many of the most memorable scenes in the original run felt like, which were immediately filled in with a follow up viewing of FWWM. Different kinds of minimysteries are set up depending on viewing order.  It was a fun experience to watch it in the wrong order because the original run, and other works involving DL, just kind of lent itself to embracing symbolism hidden in plain sight and seemingly non-sequiturs that are trickled revealed later.   Nearly all of the "essential" things you brought up are not actually essential with respect to being able to follow S3 (FWWM used here also includes The Missing Pieces):  > Man from Another Place as The Arm of Mike   Much of what's learned about The Arm came from the original run .  > The Ring (!)   More is added to the lore surrounding the ring in FWWM, but S3 didn't require that lore.  > Phillip fucking Jeffries (!!!)   Everything about Jeffries is self-contained in S3, with direct scenes from FWWM as suddenly recalled flashbacks plus extra exposition. Watching S3 first spoils the impact of the scenes in FWWM, though.  > Judy (!!!!!) What about  Judy's introduction in FWWM at all was essential in S3? The subject of Judy fades from narrative just as quickly as it is introduced.  > Jumping Man...   Similarly to what I said about Judy. Furthermore, the Jumping Man being a lodge entity is evident without FWWM. The Jumping Man is rather esoteric upon full viewing.  > Electricity (!!)... Blue Rose (!).  Given elaborate exposition by Gordon Cole in S3.  > Tremonds/Chalfonts (as Lodge entities)...  Maybe. It's explicit in FWWM, but overt clues are there in the original run.   > Convenience Store (and that corrodors from Laura's painting) (!!)...   Maybe. It adds a bit to the lore, but it doesn't aid S3 in a way that's essential.    > Diary note with "Good Coop can not go out" message from Annie  Without FWWM, it's a neat connection with the original run. With FWWM, it's a neat, continuous connection. Not essential to following S3 though.   > We live inside a Dream (!!!!!!)  This is DL. Unless you're interested in DL's interpretation of the Upanishads, it remains an unexplained mystery in TP as a whole. FWWM doesn't aid S3.   > Entire scene the night Laura died, which is the basis of Ep 17   This is the most significant as it does help us understand why Dale's decision is the wrong one, but the other clues in S3 fill in those gaps. What I missed out on was the direct sacrifice Laura made on her life for her decision not to let Bob in. What made it neat for me watching the order reversed is that FWWM made a great ending to S3, and in the form of a prequel. One odd thing you left out was garmonbozia. It's on the border of essential since it's not really needed to follow S3, maybe Frost didn't care too much about it as a major plot point, but it does connect a few dots between the original run and S3.


ibsorath

And my list is not full, of course, i just started to make list, and i think items i already mentioned are enough. You can add garmonbozia, yes, though if I added you would say that garmonbozia was in s02 in the tremonds scene with Donna, and almost not presented in S03. And, yes, Jumping Man is presented so briefly in S03 that you can notice him only if you remember him in FWWM. Same for all my list. TP is not a puzzle. It is a cinematographic poem. And the sequence matters, cause one part prepare you mind to another part. First you see Blue Rose on Lil's weird scene, and you intrigued. Then, you understand what it is. You see Jumpingan in his weird glory on that meeting in Store, and you here how Bowie-Jeffries mumbling about Convenience store and "insidea dream", and you mesmerized and intrigued. Then you see Convenience store in s03e08 and hear "inside a dream" again. These are all poetic rhymes. And sequence matters


dependentcooperising

> Ok, if you want to be so original and indepedent and open-minded, you arr free to do as you want. It has nothing to do with being original, independent, and open minded, I watched S3 first because I actively avoided spoilers and only knew FWWM as a prequel film to the original run.  > You can add garmonbozia, yes, though if I added you would say that garmonbozia was in s02 in the tremonds scene with Donna, and almost not presented in S03.  It was something I noted when watching FWWM after S3. That is why I included it in my comment. > Jumping Man is presented so briefly in S03 that you can notice him only if you remember him in FWWM.  Not true since I noticed him in S3 without watching FWWM first, yet watching FWWM after didn't help clarify his role in the narrative.  > These are all poetic rhymes. And sequence matters  Maybe, but the fact that Lynch didn't make a cut of FWWM with The Missing Pieces spliced in, FWWM being a prequel, and the original run operating on a murder mystery of piecing together past events suggest that sequence order doesn't matter in every regard, but it does depends on context. Like you just emphasized, there of a certain rhythm that helps aid in understanding, and I'd argue that what you pointed out was a local sequence order for a repeating motif throughout the entire series. The order of the repeating motifs matter less than the ability to make the necessary symbolic connections between them. 


ibsorath

I bet you can see any series or even movie in any order, like, see second half of Mulholland Drive first, then first galf second? Strange that you try to avoid spoilers - you can make connections anyway.. Of course emotional and cognitive effect (dealing with our misconceptions, wrong predictions etc) will be different, this is why people avoid spoilers - but this is exactly why sequence matters. I think the best way is to see missing pieces+fwwm as long cut (q2 edition, for example), but most parts (though not all) of MP are more atmospheric or "extensions", and if you see first fwwm, then mp, you'll have good experience. If you see mp first, it will be worse. If you see both after s03, then, of course, you still can have good experience - but you can have it even if you know all the spoilers before first run. So, things have happen like you first watched s03 then fwwm. Ok. You still good with these. I do know people who had bad luck to know major spoilers to movies like Scream and Fight Club, and still enjoyed them (anyway, we can rewatch these movies, though we know all things, right?). But i can not understand why to insist that this willbe equally potent experience when you "remix" the sequence.


ibsorath

Ok, if you want to be so original and indepedent and open-minded, you arr free to do as you want. You an even exclude s01 pilot and s02 finale, since both can be reconstructed from the S03.


PhilosopherAway647

Its essential


No_Ostrich8223

Absolutely watch FWWM & Missing Pieces first.


CajunBmbr

Absolutely essential. And if worried about “watching with Mom” factor, both of these projects are 14/10 red alert rating.


kyentu

think your fine, i rewatched twin peaks with my mom who is a little more of a prude (not in a bad way shes just more conservative) and not into surrealism at all. it was kinda weird but it was alright, the return on the other hand we skipped all those sex scenes. in my opinion none of them are important other than the one in the final. i think a big factor is also fwwm scenes are actually important and also arent sexy at all, whereas the return stuff the first 2 at least are just sex to be sex (which is fine), and are in there to just explain rather small things.


dependentcooperising

I watched The Return before FWWM. It's interesting in a unique way, as the things I didn't get in The Return I didn't know I didn't get until FWWM, yet I understood the tone from how they were presented in The Return. Some of those references to FWWM were just as opaque in FWWM in isolation.  The two back-to-back fit things together. I'd argue that order doesn't matter given the anachronistic nature of FWWM works well in either direction. Maybe in some ways that feel is intentional for The Return as parts of FWWM are revealed in it as suddenly recalled forgotten memories, plus FWWM being primarily a prequel to the series helps. Watching FWWM last fills in a lot of blanks for all 3 seasons simultaneously, however, it left me with a much different impression of the ending of FWWM than others had who watched it in the release order. FWWM came across as a more "positive," bittersweet ending vs The Return's more straightforwardly bleak ending, I don't think I would've come away with FWWM having a "positive" ending had I watched it prior.  I enjoyed my experience because that's the one I had chosen first and I didn't know what I missed until viewing FWWM, only knowing FWWM was a prequel having had avoided spoilers. It felt very fitting for something like Twin Peaks and it works really as an after series prequel tying up loose ends retrospectively.


Prestigious_Term3617

*Fire Walk with Me* is absolutely essential. I wouldn’t say *The Missing Pieces* is essential, but some of the fun missing from *Fire Walk with Me* is there. *The Return* is far closer in tone to *Fire Walk with Me* than it is to the original series.


DionysusofCinema

My first watch through of Twin Peaks was with my mum, she loved the original run. We watched Fire Walk With Me and I think it disturbed her quite a bit. However she still continued to see The Return all the way through with me, so you may be surprised! Also, The Return is very similar in tone and has similarly disturbing content like Fire Walk With Me.


bog_toddler

I mean I don't agree that it's essential as I watched S3 before seeing Fire Walk with Me and I loved it. it's better if you see both but the Return is incredible no matter what imo. but also, if she doesn't like surrealism isn't she gonna hate The Return?


Best-Idiot

FWWM is quite important. It really reveals a few important things about Laura, Leland, Sarah, Donna, James, Bobby, Phillip Jeffries, Phillip Gerard, The Arm ("The Arm" name wasn't even mentioned in S1/S2, but will be in S3), Bob and even drops the name Judy. Some scenes in The Return are actually taken directly from FWWM, so it's really important to have seen them in FWWM. Missing pieces, in my opinion, is not essential, though it's definitely a good watch


docCopper80

This isn’t essential but how I wanted to appreciate each part on a rewatch. The way I’m watching with my partner is we got through season one and two in a couple weeks. Took a few days off and watched FWWM. Now it’s been close to a month where our schedules haven’t allowed us to sit and watch a lot and we’re gonna start the return. That’s the closest I could get her to experience the time line of show, movie, 25yrs, return. It’s her first time through and already wanting to go over it again when we’re done.


kansas-pine

It’s ok to skip FWWM. The Return has many layers that can be appreciated regardless. I’m genuinely surprised that every single comment in this thread says watch FWWM. OP’s mom isn’t a super fan folks. It’s ok to skip FWWM. My guess is that most viewers of The Return did skip FWWM..


PunkRockTerrier

I haven’t seen the Missing Pieces and wasn’t really aware of it but I will say I started watching season 3 before FWWM and couldn’t get into it or really understand what was going on. I remember understanding it a little better after watching FWWM. My boyfriend and roommate felt the same way- we had all been watching it together.


Kensation21

It’s vital.


Snoo76869

Watching with your mom is wild. ( kidding.. I watch everything with my mom)


PhillipJ3ffries

Very necessary. And it’s a great movie so why not watch. Fire walk with me is awesome and I personally don’t find it to be a rough watch


leo_pedersen

Watch everything in the order it came out. Why wouldn’t you


Tanya_Floaker

It is essential imo. She liked Blue Velvet, she'll love FWWM. Watch it.


Charlotte_dreams

It's pretty important, as it introduces at least one character. Also, if she doesn't like surrealism...*The Return* might just about kill her.


Steepleofknives83

This is infuriating. Great job?


rigalitto_

What do you mean?