For the past two months I have obsessively watched and rewatched every episode of the still in-progress new season of Twin Peaks. I have seen each of the nine episodes so far either four or five times in full. I have also skimmed back through all of the episodes and watched them in pieces for the sole purpose of creating a timeline to determine exactly when each scene is taking place. Before the new limited series began airing this past May, many fans speculated that the show would be taking place in the year 2014 – in order for Laura Palmer’s promise to Agent Cooper in the Season Two finale (“I’ll see you again in 25 years”) to literally become true. As appealing as that notion might be, a close reading of the show – and Mark Frost’s accompanying Secret History of Twin Peaks novel – reveals that nearly all of the action of the new season actually takes place in September and October of 2016. (When I write “nearly all,” I am barring the major flashbacks to 1945 and 1956 New Mexico in Part Eight and the “extra-dimensional” scenes scattered throughout the season that may be seen as taking place “outside of time.”)
The first tip off that Twin Peaks: The Return begins in September of 2016 comes from The Secret History of Twin Peaks. Frost’s novel begins with a memo written by FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole (the beloved hard-of-hearing character played by David Lynch on the show) to Special Agent Tammy Preston (a new character played by singer Chrysta Bell) asking her to analyze a secret “dossier” that was recovered from a crime scene in July of 2016. This memo is dated 8/4/2016 and is followed by a notarized response from Preston dated 8/28/16. At the conclusion of Frost’s novel, after Preston has read and annotated the dossier and discovered that its mysterious “compiler” is none other than Major Garland Briggs, there is another notarized statement from her that she doesn’t know “what happened to either Major Briggs or Agent Cooper at this point.” It is not logical that Preston would make this claim in 2016 if the events of the new season had taken place two years previously: Preston, after all, learns a great deal about both Briggs and Cooper (and what happened to them in the 25 years between Seasons Two and Three) in Twin Peaks: The Return.
More evidence comes from the show itself: Bill Hastings’ driver’s license, which can be clearly seen in Part One: My log has a message for you, shows that his birthday is August 15, 1973. In Part Nine: This is the chair, during an instant-classic interrogation scene that is simultaneously both genuinely tragic and genuinely hilarious, Hastings tells Agent Preston that he is 43-years-old, indicating the show takes place after August 15, 2016. It is also during this scene that Hastings, at Preston’s request, writes the day’s date as “9/29,” which, if one counts the days backwards through each episode of the season, means that Bill was arrested on Saturday, September 24. Indeed, when Bill is first interrogated by Buckhorn cop Dave Macklay in Part One, he is asked to account for his whereabouts over the past “three or fours days.” After mentioning that he had been at work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Bill, a high school principal, tells Dave that he had been at home “all day today,” indicating that Bill was arrested on a Saturday.
Contrary to rampant online speculation, Twin Peaks: The Return has so far followed a surprisingly linear chronology. The only times when there appear to be either flash-forwards or flashbacks are either at the very end or the very beginning of certain episodes. This makes sense given that Lynch has stated he had no clue how he was going to “break up” his 18-hour movie into hour-long segments until he and his editors actually started cutting it. The decision to give the series a sense of structural symmetry by ending most episodes with musical performances at the Roadhouse means that Lynch occasionally flashes forward to a nighttime scene at the Roadhouse before “back-tracking” to the afternoon of the same day in the episode that immediately follows. For whatever it might be worth, I hope some of you find this timeline useful:
Part One: My log has a message for you.
Day One: Wednesday, September 21
Cooper and ??????? in black-and-white room – ?
Jacoby receives shovels in Twin Peaks – Day
Sam watches glass box in NYC – Night
Day Two: Thursday, September 22
Ben and Jerry Horne and Beverly at the Great Northern – Day
Insurance salesman and Lucy in Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Mr. C goes to Beulah’s in South Dakota – Night
Sam and Tracy watch glass box and are killed in NYC – Night
Day Three: Friday, September 23
Buckhorn police discover corpses of Ruth Davenport and Garland Briggs – Day
Day Two: Thursday, September 22 (Cont’d)
Log Lady calls Hawk in Twin Peaks – Night
Day Four: Saturday, September 24
Constance and Macklay in Buckhorn police station – Day
Bill Hastings is arrested in Buckhorn – Day
Day Three: Friday, September 23 (Cont’d)
Hawk, Andy and Lucy in Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Day Four: Saturday, September 24 (Cont’d)
Hastings is interrogated in Buckhorn police station (and says it’s Saturday) – Day
Macklay searches Bill’s car in Buckhorn – Day
Part Two: The stars turn and a time presents itself.
Day Four: Saturday, September 24 (Cont’d)
Phyllis visits Bill in the Buckhorn jail – Night
Duncan and Roger in Las Vegas – Night
Day Three: Friday, September 23
Mr. C, Darya, Ray and Jack in a South Dakota diner – Night
Day Four: Saturday, September 24 (Cont’d)
Hawk at Glastonbury Grove in Twin Peaks – Night
Agent Cooper w/ Laura, MIKE and the Evolution of the Arm in the Red Room – ?
Mr. C gets a new car from Jack in S.D. – Day
Mr. C kills Darya in a S.D. motel – Night
Agent Cooper, Leland, MIKE and the Evolution of the Arm in the Red Room – ?
Day Two: Thursday, September 22 (Cont’d)
Agent Cooper visits glass box / Sam and Tracy are killed – (explicit FLASHBACK to Day Two: Thursday night)
Day Four: Saturday, September 24 (Cont’d)
Sarah Palmer watches television at home – Night
The Chromatics play the Roadhouse – Night
Part Three: Call for help.
Agent Cooper, Naido and “American Girl” in purple purgatory – ?
Day Five: Sunday, September 25
Mr. C crashes car in Black Hills of S.D. – Day
Dougie and Jade in Las Vegas – Day
Drugged Out Mother and Son in Las Vegas – Day
Cops find Mr. C in Black Hills – Day
Day Six: Monday, September 26
Hawk, Andy and Lucy in Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Dr. Jacoby spray-paints shovels in Twin Peaks – Day
Day Five: Sunday, September 25 (Cont’d)
Jade drops Cooper off at Silver Mustang Casino in Vegas – Day
Day Six: Monday, September 26 (Cont’d)
Gordon, Tammy and Albert in Philadelphia – Day
The Cactus Blossoms play the Roadhouse – Night
Part Four: …brings back some memories.
Day Five: Sunday, September 25 (Cont’d)
Cooper at the Silver Mustang Casino – Night
Cooper gets a ride from casino to Dougie’s home in Las Vegas – Night
Day Six: Monday, September 26 (Cont’d)
Gordon Cole meets w/ Denise Bryson in Philadelphia – Night
Sheriff Truman, Andy, Lucy, Bobby and Wally Brando at Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Night
Cooper has breakfast with Janey-E and Sonny Jim – Morning
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27
Constance and Macklay in Buckhorn – Morning
Gordon, Albert and Tammy drive from airport to Yankton jail – Day
Gordon, Albert and Tammy question Mr. C in jail – Day
Gordon, Albert and Tammy talk at a South Dakota airport – Dusk
Au Revoir Simone plays at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks- Night
Part Five: Case files.
Day Five: Sunday, September 25
Lorraine talks to hitmen in Vegas (it only makes sense that this conversation would follow the missed hit earlier that day)
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d)
Constance and Macklay in the Buckhorn morgue – Morning
Mr. C gets breakfast in jail in Yankton – Morning
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27 (Cont’d)
Steven’s job interview with Mike Nelson in Twin Peaks – Morning
Sheriff Truman and Doris at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Morning
Day Six: Monday, September 26 (Cont’d)
Janey-E gives Cooper a ride to work in Las Vegas – Morning (this scene has to follow the breakfast scene in Part Four)
Cooper attends work meeting in Las Vegas – Morning
Mitchum brothers beat up the Supervisor of the Silver Mustang Casino in Las Vegas – Day
Car thieves attempt to steal Dougie’s car in Rancho Rosa in Las Vegas – Day
Jade mails Great Northern key from Las Vegas to Twin Peaks – Day
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27 (Cont’d)
Becky asks Shelly for money in RR Diner in Twin Peaks – Day
Day Six: Monday, September 26 (Cont’d)
Cooper gets off work at Lucky 7 in Las Vegas at 5:30pm – Dusk
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27 (Cont’d)
Hawk and Andy at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Night
Dr. Jacoby’s internet infomercial at 7:00pm – Night
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d)
Lt. Knox and Col. Davis at the Pentagon in Arlington, VA – Night
Trouble plays at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks – Night
Tammy studies fingerprints in Philadelphia – Night
Mr. C makes a phone call from Yankton jail – Night
Day Six: Monday, September 26 (Cont’d)
Cooper caresses shoes of statue outside Lucky 7 office in Vegas – Night
Part Six: Don’t die.
Day Six: Monday, September 26 (Cont’d)
Police give Cooper a ride from Lucky 7 office to Dougie’s home in Las Vegas – Night
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27 (Cont’d)
Albert approaches Diane at Max Von’s Bar in Philadelphia – Night
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28
Red and Richard meet at a Twin Peaks warehouse – Morning
Carl and Mickey get a ride from the New Fat Trout Trailer Park into Twin Peaks – Morning
Miriam at the RR Diner in Twin Peaks – Morning
Carl witnesses a hit and run in Twin Peaks – Morning
Duncan Todd receives message from Mr. C in Las Vegas – Morning
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27 (Cont’d)
Dougie’s car is towed away from Rancho Rosa in Las Vegas – Day (This may be a flashback to Monday, September 26.)
Ike the Spike receives hit orders in Las Vegas motel – Day
Cooper meets Bushnell at Lucky 7 in Las Vegas – Day
Janey-E meets loansharks in park in Las Vegas – Day
Ike the Spike kills Lorraine in her office in Las Vegas – Day
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d)
Red cleans truck in Twin Peaks – Day
Hawk finds Laura’s missing diary pages in Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Doris visits Sheriff Truman at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Sharon Van Etten plays at the Roadhouse – Night
Part Seven: There’s a body all right.
Day Eight Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Jerry, lost in the woods in Twin Peaks, calls Ben at the Great Northern – Day
Hawk meets Sheriff Truman at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Sheriff Truman calls Harry from the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Andy meets Farmer at 2:30pm in Twin Peaks – Day (Andy’s watch says it’s the 10th – could be a Flash-forward to October 10)
Sheriff Truman Skypes with Doc Hayward from the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Lt. Knox meet Macklay at Buckhorn police station – Day
Lt. Knox, Macklay and Constance in the Buckhorn morgue – Day
Gordon and Albert at FBI headquarters in Philadelphia – Day
Gordon and Albert visit Diane at home in Philadelphia – Day
Gordon, Albert, Tammy and Diane fly to Yankton – Day
Diane interviews Mr. C in Yankton prison – Day
Diane talks to Gordon outside of the Yankton prison – Day
Mr. C talks to prison guard in Yankton prison – Day
Andy waits for farmer in Twin Peaks at 5:05pm – Day
Mr. C meets Warden Murphy – Day
Day Seven: Tuesday, September 27 (Cont’d)
Las Vegas police interview Cooper at Lucky 7 office in Las Vegas – Day
Cooper fends off Ike the Spike outside Lucky 7 office in Las Vegas – Dusk
Las Vegas police interview witnesses outside Lucky 7 office – Night
Day Eight Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Ben and Beverly at the Great Northern in Twin Peaks – Night (Cooper’s key arrives two days after Jade mailed it.)
Beverly and Tom at home in Twin Peaks – Night
Jean-Michel Renault at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks – Night
Mr. C and Ray leave Yankton prison – Night
Bing looks for Billy at the RR Diner in Twin Peaks – Night
Part Eight: Gotta light?
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Ray shoots Cooper in rural South Dakota – Night
The Nine Inch Nails perform at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks – Night
Flashbacks to New Mexico in 1945 & 1956
Part Nine: This is the chair.
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29:
Mr. C walks to a South Dakota farm – Morning
Gordon, Tammy, Diane and Albert fly from Yankton to Buckhorn – Day
Mr. C, Hutch and Chantal on a South Dakota farm – Day
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Fusco brothers, Bushnell Mullins, Cooper and Janey-E in Las Vegas police dept. – Day
Fuscos arrest Ike the Spike in Las Vegas motel – Day
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d):
Andy and Lucy at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Twin Peaks police visit Betty Briggs – Day
Philadelphia FBI agents visit Buckhorn morgue – Day
Jerry Horne wrestles with his foot in the woods of Twin Peaks – Day
Sheriff Truman, Bobby and Hawk at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Tammy interrogates Bill in a Buckhorn jail – Day
Ben Horne and Beverly in the Great Northern – Night
Hudson Mohawke and Au Revoir Simone perform at the Roadhouse – Night
Part 10: Laura is the one.
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d):
Richard appears to kill Miriam in her Twin Peaks trailer – Day
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Steven and Becky at the Fat Trout Trailer Park in Twin Peaks – Day
The Mitchum brothers and Candie at home in Las Vegas – Day
Janey-E takes Cooper to the Doctor in Las Vegas
The Mitchum brothers watch T.V. – Night (The extended weather forecast tells us it’s Wednesday then there is a story about Ike’s arrest, which a news anchor says happened “today.”)
Janey-E and Cooper having sex in their Las Vegas home – Night
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d):
Nadine watches Jacoby’s video blog from her Twin Peaks drapery store – Night
Janey-E drives Sonny Jim to school and Cooper to work in Vegas – Morning
Jerry is lost in the woods of Twin Peaks – Day
Deputy Chad intercepts the mail at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Richard Horne robs Sylvia Horne at her Twin Peaks home – Day
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Anthony Sinclair visits Duncan Todd’s Las Vegas office – Night
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d):
Albert has a dinner date with Constance in Buckhorn – Night
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Anthony Sinclair visits the Mitchum brothers at the Silver Mustang Casino – Night
The Mitchum brothers at home – Night
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d):
Albert and Tammy visit Gordon in his Buckhorn hotel room – Night
Ben Horne takes a call from Sylvia at the Great Northern Hotel – Night
The Log Lady calls Hawk at the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Night
Rebekah Del Rio performs at the Roadhouse – Night
Part 11: There’s fire where you are going.
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d)
Kids discover Miriam still alive in Twin Peaks – Day
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
From her trailer Becky calls Shelly at the RR Diner – Day
Becky, Shelly and Carl in the Fat Trout trailer park – Day
Carl calls the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. while giving Shelly a ride – Day
Becky shoots holes in Gersten’s apartment door – Day
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
Hastings takes the FBI to the “vortex” in Buckhorn – Day
Day Eight: Wednesday, September 28 (Cont’d):
Bobby, Shelly and Becky at the RR Diner – Night
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d):
Hawk shows Truman his map in the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Dept. – Night (Hawk says, “The major also gave us a date, the day after tomorrow,” putting this scene on the same day as the Twin Peaks scenes in Episode 9)
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
The FBI agents and Macklay in the Buckhorn police station – Night
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d)
Bushnell and Cooper at the Lucky Seven office in Vegas – Day
The Mitchum brothers at home in Vegas – Day
Bushnell escorts Cooper to the Mitchum brothers’ limo – Day
Driving through Vegas montage – Day
Cooper meets the Mitchum brothers in the desert – Dusk
Cooper and the Mitchum brothers in a Las Vegas restaurant – Night
Part 12: Let’s rock.
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
Gordon and Albert initiate Tammy into the Blue Rose Task Force at a Buckhorn hotel – Night
Jerry makes it out of the woods in Twin Peaks – Day
Sarah Palmer shops for liquor at a Twin Peaks grocery store – Day
Carl Rodd talks to Kriscol at the Fat Trout trailer park – Day
Day 8: Wednesday, September 28?
Cooper and Sonny Jim play catch in their backyard in Las Vegas – Day (this has to be a flashback; we learn in Part 13 that Cooper didn’t come home the night he went out with the Mitchum brothers; this brief scene was almost certainly inserted here so that Kyle MacLachlan would be able to have one scene in this episode.)
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
Hawk visits Sarah Palmer at home – Day
Miriam at the Calhoun Memorial Hospital – Day
Diane in a hotel bar in Buckhorn – Night
Sheriff Truman visits Ben at the Great Northern – Day
Albert visits Gordon’s hotel room in Buckhorn – Night
Hutch and Chantal kill Warden Murphy in Yankton – Night
Nadine watches Jacoby’s video blog from her Twin Peaks drapery store – Night
Audrey talks to her husband Charlie in his home office – Night (Charlie says, “It’s a new moon tonight, it’ll be dark out there.” The lunar calendar confirms there was a new moon on September 30, 2016.)
Diane in a hotel bar in Buckhorn – Night
The Chromatics perform at the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks – Night
Part 13: What story is that, Charlie?
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
The Mitchum brothers and Dougie bestow gifts on Bushnell at Lucky 7 – Morning
Anthony Sinclair calls Duncan Todd in his Las Vegas office – Morning
Movers deliver gym set/BMW to Janey-E in her Vegas home – Day
Sonny Jim plays on his gym set – Night
Mr. C kills Ray in a warehouse in western Montana – Day
Detectives Fusco/Anthony Sinclair/Det. Clark in the Vegas police dept. – Day (Fuscos reference Mr. C escaping prison “two days ago.”)
Chantal and Hutch drive through Utah – Night
Day 11: Saturday, October 1
Janey-E drops Cooper at work/coffee w/ Anthony Sinclair – Morning
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
Becky calls Shelly at the Double R (says Steven hasn’t been home for “two nights.”) – Day
Day 11: Saturday, October 1
Anthony Sinclair confesses to Bushnell Mullins at Lucky 7 – Day
Day Nine: Thursday, September 29 (Cont’d)
Bobby, Norma, Big Ed and Walter at the Double R – Night (Bobby says “We found some stuff that my dad left today.”
Day 10: Friday, September 30 (Cont’d)
Dr. Jacoby visits Nadine at “Run Silent, Run Drapes” – Night
Sarah watches boxing on T.V. – Night
Audrey talks to Charlie in their home – Night (This is a continuation of the conversation between these characters from the previous episode albeit in a different room of their home. They are wearing the same clothes.)
James Hurley performs at the Roadhouse – Night
Big Ed eats soup in his Gas Farm – Night
Part 14: We are like the dreamer.
Day 11: Saturday, October 1 (Cont’d)
From his Buckhorn hotel room, Gordon calls Sheriff Truman in Twin Peaks – Day
Albert, Tammy, Gordon and Diane in the Buckhorn hotel – Day
Truman, Hawk, Bobby and Andy arrest Chad at the T.P. Sheriff’s Dept. – Day
Truman, Hawk, Bobby and Andy visit Jackrabbit’s Palace – Day
Andy, Lucy, Chad, Naido and Drunk in the T.P. Sheriff’s Dept. jail – Night
James and Freddie at the Great Northern Hotel – Night
Sarah at the Elk’s Point #9 Bar – Night
Lissie performs at the Roadhouse – Night
Part 15: There’s some fear in letting go.
Day 11: Saturday, October 1 (Cont’d)
Nadine visits Ed at the Gas Farm – Day
Ed and Walter visit Norma at the Double R – Day
Day 10: Friday, September 30
Mr. C visits Phillip Jeffries above the convenience store – Night (Mr. C asks Jeffries if he called him “five days ago.” This makes sense if the phone call scene from Part 2 took place on Sunday the 24th after midnight.)
Day 11: Saturday, October 1 (Cont’d)
Steven, Gersten and Cyril in the woods – Day
Cyril and Carl Rodd at the Fat Trout Trailer Park – Day
James and Freddie visit the Roadhouse – Night
Chantal assassinates Duncan Todd and Roger in Las Vegas – Night
Hawk and Bobby lock up James and Freddie in the Twin Peaks jail – Night
Chantal and Hutch eating fast food in their van – Night
Cooper eats chocolate cake and watches Sunset Blvd. in his Las Vegas home – Night
The Log Lady calls Hawk from her log cabin – Night
Hawk informs Truman, Bobby, Andy and Lucy of the Log Lady’s death – Night
The Veils play at the Roadhouse – Night
Part 16: No Knock, No Doorbell
Day 11: Saturday, October 1 (Cont’d)
Mr. C and Richard check out the coordinates in Twin Peaks while Jerry observes – Night
Day 12: Sunday, October 2
Chantal and Hutch and Las Vegas FBI stake out Dougie and Janey-E’s home – Day
The Mitchum brothers, Bushnell, Janey-E and Sonny Jim visit Cooper in the hospital – Day
Gordon in a Buckhorn hotel – Day
Phil Bisby calls Bushnell in Cooper’s hospital room – Day
A Polish accountant in a fit of road rage kills Chantal and Hutch – Day
Cooper wakes up in the hospital and calls the Mitchum brothers at home – Day
Cooper drives Janey-E and Dougie to the Silver Mustang Casino – Day
Diane receives a text from Mr. C in a Buckhorn hotel bar – Day
Diane visits Gordon, Tammy and Albert in their room – Day
Diane and MIKE in the Red Room – ?
Cooper says goodbye to Janey-E and Sonny Jim at the Silver Mustang – Day
Cooper rides with the Mitchum brothers and “Andie” sisters to their jet – Day
Audrey and Charlie in the Roadhouse/Audrey in a white room – ?
White City Cinema 
July 15th, 2017 at 6:44 am
This is great, thank you.
One comment – at the start of episode 3, Cooper enters the glass box whilst the couple is outside, talking about coffee. We know the couple and that scene (outside the glass-box-room) already from episode 1. Therefore I guess it is save to assume that Cooper exits the lodge earlier than you indicate and the events in this scene are not linear.
July 15th, 2017 at 2:33 pm
Thanks, Georg! Yes, I agree that the scene involving Agent Cooper in the glass box is one of the very few instances where the show deviates from a linear structure, If you look at my description of “Day 5” you’ll notice that I indicated it is a flashback to the previous Thursday: “Agent Cooper visits glass box / Sam and Tracy are killed – FLASHBACK to Day Two: Thursday night”
July 18th, 2017 at 8:41 am
Part 10
Albert and Tammy visit Gordon in his Buckhorn hotel room the same day Diane received the text on her phone. It’s not Friday September 30 but Thursday September 29. In fact, it’s possible that only a few scenes are Friday. Maybe only “Janey-E drives Sonny Jim to school and Cooper to work in Vegas – Morning”
July 18th, 2017 at 9:32 am
Good call about Albert and Tammy visiting Gordon on Thursday. I just rewatched and noticed Albert says she got the text that morning. I still think Richard’s murder of Miriam and Chad intercepting Miriam’s letter occur on separate days. Even in a small town it should take a day for a letter to arrive via post.
July 21st, 2017 at 3:03 pm
I lived in a small town growing up. If the mail item is dropped off in the morning BEFORE sorting, then it’s very possible that the mail could be in that day’s delivery batch that afternoon.
July 26th, 2017 at 10:03 am
[…] If you’re following the show closely, to the point of trying to figure out what year we are in, then you know the dates so far in Twin Peaks The Return haven’t made a lot of sense. As we have gotten further into the season, the days and dates are becoming more obvious and yet more confusing. (If you’re looking for a possible timeline, check out White City Cinema.) […]
August 1st, 2017 at 7:08 pm
I don’t believe that both of the Diane scenes from E12 belong on Day 10, I think that one of them probably happened as well as Tammy going Blue Rose and Diane being deputized. I’d have to check some landmarks but I suspect that those belong as early as possible in Buckhorn. I would say after the plane ride with Diane to Buckhorn and after she see’s Bobooper in jail. I just checked and Diane is wearing the same clothes in these scenes, Tammy is pretty much the same but her blouse changes and Albert’s tie changes. Maybe there’s a night to day transition yet to be revealed in one of the remaining six episodes but for now I am betting it belongs back further than up closer so to speak. Storywise it makes sense, too. Before we know we can’t trust Diane she’s deputized, then she see’s Bobooper and it’s reinforced, then, after he escapes they talk about Vegas. “The what have we not known to ask her about comment” is the tip of the iceberg, it initiates the dirty Diane thread.
August 1st, 2017 at 7:16 pm
I also suspect that Sarah Palmer in the store and Hawk’s wellness check up are the same day. She says that she thinks that his visit is regarding what happened in the store, she doesn’t say the store “today” but it doesn’t make sense that a wellness check would happen the next day. Slogging through the chronology too and not criticizing your fine work here, just adding some ideas to the conversation.
August 7th, 2017 at 9:19 pm
great sleuthing here. i like the idea that some of these scenes are obviously out of order (diner scenes, especially) and i would add that the scene of sarah palmer watching the boxing loop and running out of booze might have chronologically taken place before her trip to the market.
August 8th, 2017 at 3:04 pm
Thanks for commenting, sarajane. The more I watch Part 13, the more I agree that the scenes set in Twin Peaks have been deliberately reshuffled – probably to suggest that the closer the date of the “portal opening” arrives (i.e., 10/10), the more it is wreaking havoc on time and space in the region. I’m going to wait a few more episodes before I attempt to put these Twin Peaks scenes into what I think is their true chronological order.
August 1st, 2017 at 7:17 pm
Oops just spotted you have them together, the 11th thrown in the middle threw me off. Sorry!
August 1st, 2017 at 9:38 pm
Was just getting ready to write that. Thanks for reading!
August 4th, 2017 at 9:14 am
Some more evidence for you from ep12 that this is 2016:
In the Audrey and Charlie scene, Charlie says this to Audrey whilst listing reasons not to go out looking for Billy: “It’s a new moon tonight, it’ll be dark out there”.
A quick look at a lunar almanac will confirm that the night of Sep 30th 2016 was indeed exactly a new moon at Twin Peaks’ longitude. The same date in 2014 and 2015 don’t even come close, being a few days off a half-moon and a few days off a full-moon respectively. As well as confirming the year, this also confirms the date of that scene.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:33 am
Thanks for this bit of evidence, James! I will add it to the post.
August 7th, 2017 at 8:37 am
I assume you got the time looping in episode 13. Bobby’s comment about being at his dads house that day, Shelly and Becky’s conversation where Becky has obviously not gone on her gun rampage yet. So the Twin Peaks scenes have a lot of time shifting going on. Also, what do you think about the idea that Donna died in James’ motorcycle crash? That would explain Renée’s tears.
August 7th, 2017 at 2:04 pm
Episode 13 throws a lot of wrenches into any potential timeline but I’m not yet ready to admit to a “time loop!” Bobby didn’t say he’d been at his Dad’s house. He said “We found some stuff that my Dad left today.” This could’ve been stuff they found in addition to the tube – or perhaps Bobby simply misspoke. I anticipate the next couple episodes will clear this up.
I like the theory that Donna died in the motorcycle crash. One problem with this though – Shelly told Renee about the crash in the second episode so it doesn’t seem likely that Renee knew James or Donna very well. Perhaps she was moved to tears by James’ beautiful singing? 😉
August 7th, 2017 at 1:42 pm
i think its supposed to read “Richard appears to kill Miriam” not “Red” correct?
August 7th, 2017 at 1:58 pm
Duly noted and corrected. Thanks!
August 7th, 2017 at 2:05 pm
cool!
August 9th, 2017 at 10:20 am
Cooper changes places with Dougie at the same time that Mr. C crashes his car. Mr. C loses his cookies immediately after Dougie goes through the wires.
August 9th, 2017 at 6:47 pm
I very much got this impression as well. Is there conflicting evidence in the show?
August 9th, 2017 at 7:30 pm
[…] than the chronology of the show’s other narratives set outside of Twin Peaks (see my updated timeline for examples). A lot of commentators, including me, believe that this non-linearity is deliberate […]
August 10th, 2017 at 1:46 pm
Great work here!
One comment. I can’t shake the idea that Becky’s call to Shelly (E13), her rampage (E11) and the family dinner at the RR all happen on the same day–September 30. I seem to recall from somewhere that Becky had thought Steven was gone looking for work for a couple of days prior to finding out he was having an affair (of course, I can’t find the clip now…). Plus, it doesn’t look like there’s any damage to the diner in the clip from E13, so it likely happened before the shooting, not after it.
The timeline would work like this:
Sept 28:
* Steven abuses Becky at the trailer park.
* S subsequently goes missing for a couple of days. (E10)
Sept 29:
* Bobby has dinner with Big Ed, talks about finding his father’s clues. (E13)
Sept 30:
* Becky calls Shelly because she can’t find Steven. (E13)
* Becky receives tip about Steven’s whereabouts. (E11)
* Becky calls Shelly *again*, just says “it’s Steven!”, prompting Shelly to leave immediately instead of asking what’s up. She knows what was up: Becky can’t find Steven and was worried, and now something’s wrong with Steven. (E11)
* Becky goes on a rampage. (E11)
* Becky, Bobby, and Shelly have dinner together; shootout occurs. (E11)
* Responder to shootout says he came from Big Ed’s gas farm; Big Ed burned his mouth on soup and is filing a complaint against Norma’s RR, Ltd. (or something)
Of course, I could be wrong about all of this, but I’d be interested in your thoughts.
August 16th, 2017 at 1:38 pm
Thanks for responding, Steven. Your sequence of events definitely makes sense re: Becky’s emotional arc over the course of all these scenes. The one problem I see is that when Becky calls Shelly and complains about Steven being missing for two days she is wearing his flannel shirt – the same one that he’s wearing when he’s at Gersten’s apartment! My feeling is that after Becky shot up Gersten’s door, she was probably in police custody for a while before Bobby whisked her away for that co-parenting session at the Double R. I think Steven went back to their trailer during this time and changed clothes (maybe even packing a bag of additional clothes) before leaving again. When Becky realized he was gone, she probably put on the last shirt she saw him in- in order to feel close to him.
August 16th, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Hmm. Yes, that does pose a problem (unless he owns multiple copies of the same shirt). However, she presumably didn’t see him that day; or, at least, we have no evidence that suggests that she did. Plus, I would expect Steven to stay away from the trailer, knowing that Becky is armed and unhinged–he has no guarantees about how long she’ll be gone. So I guess, as always, we’ll just have to wait for more info!
(PS. I’m Kyle, not Steven. :P)
August 16th, 2017 at 4:02 pm
Sorry for the name mix-up, Kyle! Becky did see Steven in that shirt. He was wearing it when they fought in the trailer in the morning. According to my timeline, that’s the same day that Becky shoots up Gersten’s apartment. But I don’t feel 100 percent confident about any of this and fully expect to make many more revisions between now and when the series is done airing. Thanks again for sharing your theory!
August 16th, 2017 at 11:10 am
This is a very interesting read and fun to read through. My only question concerns the events on Day 13 in Las Vegas. Why would The Lucky 7 insurance office be open on a Saturday? These events might actually be on Oct 2.
August 16th, 2017 at 11:11 am
Oops, I meant Oct 3.
August 16th, 2017 at 1:03 pm
Thanks for the comment, Robert. I struggled with this aspect of the timeline but literally all of the other events we’ve seen in Las Vegas have taken place on consecutive days so it would be unprecedented for Lynch to skip over Saturday and Sunday and show us what happens on Monday. Also, remember that Duncan Todd told Anthony Sinclair that he had “one day” to kill Dougie. That was on Friday morning. Anthony bought the poison from the crooked cop, Detective Clark, that night and, fearing for his own life, probably wouldn’t have waited until Monday to carry out Todd’s orders.
August 22nd, 2017 at 6:28 am
This is superbly useful.
One comment on ‘Day Six: Monday, September 26’… It’s the Cactus Blossoms.
Great work!
August 24th, 2017 at 7:37 am
I’m a film studies instructor so I have D.W. Griffith on the brain. Duly noted and corrected!
August 24th, 2017 at 12:29 am
Where’s Steven?
August 24th, 2017 at 8:03 am
Somehow missed the scene with him and Gersten. Will add it posthaste!
August 24th, 2017 at 10:04 am
Steven killed Becky?
August 25th, 2017 at 1:33 pm
So, we are un Day eleven?
And It will finish in Day fourteen?
August 25th, 2017 at 1:35 pm
I wanted to say we are IN day 11?
August 27th, 2017 at 8:10 am
Steven killed Becky?
August 27th, 2017 at 9:19 am
Pretty sure that rather than “Steven, Becky and Cyril in the woods – Day” it’s supposed to say “Steven, GERSTEIN and Cyril in the woods – Day”. I don’t think there’s been any direct indication that Steven killed Becky.
August 27th, 2017 at 1:02 pm
Thanks, Mack. Duly noted and corrected!
August 27th, 2017 at 6:05 pm
I just consolidated this so that everything is done day by day and the contributing episodes noted as such. I did jigger some things around a bit to match the chronology and tone of the fanedit that I plan on doing. I really appreciate all the work that you did here.
There is a LOT happening on 9/28, that day is really loaded up! And, unless I flubbed my transcription you have days with multiple acts playing the roadhouse (not consequential for my edit as I plan on cutting most of that, along with Wally Brando unless by some amazing fluke he shows up again in the next three hours). One of the biggest changes that I did was making day 1 very Dr Jacoby and Jerry Horne-centric. I’ve always held the opinion that Jerry’s stoned walkabout happens mostly in one day and I’ve set it up so that Dr Amp gets his shovels, Jerry wanders around stoned, arguing with his foot and calling his brother, watches Dr Amp (as well as Nadine), Margaret calls Hawke and close out day one with James singing in the bar – I like placing that right after the Margaret/Hawke call and I think that it repurposes the use of the song nicely. The next day Jerry finds his way out of the woods and then the next time you see him he just bops into his brothers office like nothing happened.
August 27th, 2017 at 8:54 pm
Tonight’s show – wow bob wow.
Unless the Audrey storyline becomes relevant in the finale I think it’s a good idea to move her coma dream stuff to E1 as well, have the mirror flash scene and then cut to NYC and the first shot of the secret room. Still planning on booting Jerry’s walkabout to E1, the stuff from tonight, while funny, will be cut (again, pending something radical in the finale that makes his character’s walkabout relevant).
I’ve got some ideas for some enhancements with the not woke Cooper scenes using samples of sound effects and samples from the old Tapes of Dale Cooper, my plan is to have his thoughts all staticy and garbled and getting clearer and more lucid the closer he gets to woke.
August 28th, 2017 at 10:05 am
Really looking forward to seeing this edit!
August 28th, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Great work, but I am wondering if the Las Vegas dates may be off. In Episode 3, we see Naido fall into space just before 2:53 on Saturday the 1st per American Girl’s watch (presumably October 1st 2016, a Saturday), the same moment that Andy finds her in Episode 15. This event coincides with Cooper travelling to Rancho Rosa, where he meets Jade. While time travel is certainly a possibility in this fantasy land, a simpler explanation is that the Dougie Jones story starts on October 1st, a few days after all of the shenanigans in South Dakota kick off.
Not many dates are revealed in the Dougie storyline, but we do know that Cooper arrives sometime before the scene with Sheriff Truman and Ben Horne discussing Richard Horne’s assaults, since Cooper’s hotel room key is mentioned. We also know that some Las Vegas scenes are shown out of order based on Cooper playing catch with Sonny Jim in the middle of his all-nighter with the Mitchum brothers, and we see an inordinate amount of fallen leaves in the outdoor scene with Cooper and Jade, suggesting that they meet in October, not September.
Where this gets tricky is with Chad (who always manages to mess things up). Chad is already in jail when Naido arrives on October 1st. Thus, the events with Richard, Miriam, and the mailman must have happened some time earlier, perhaps a month earlier. This fits with Andy going to interrogate the farmer on the 10th of the month, according to his Rolex. This would mean that the meeting happened on the 10th of September, not the 10th of October as theorized above.
I believe the timing ultimately works, however. Richard’s accident occurs in early September. Andy starts looking for suspects on the 10th. Richard flees Twin Peaks a few weeks later, heading for The Farm. Miriam emerges alive at the end of the month, and Chad is arrested shortly thereafter but before October 1st, when Naido is found and Jade mails Cooper’s key back. Two or three days later (assuming normal USPS delivery times), Sheriff Truman tells Ben the news about Richard and Miriam and takes the key.
A week or so later, Cooper comes back to his senses and triggers an awakening in the tulpas of Diane and Audrey on James Hurley’s birthday.
This ended up being way longer and more involved than I meant. What do you think?
August 29th, 2017 at 1:22 pm
Thanks for the detailed thoughts! I’ve pondered long and hard about the 10/01 thing. I’m willing to agree that the Naido scene in the “purple purgatory” place takes place on 10/01 but I think she somehow sends Cooper back in time by flipping the switch. Given that the key Jade mails reaches Twin Peaks before 10/01, I can’t see any other explanation. And yes, while the scene of Dougie and Sonny Jim definitely takes place out of order, I think the only reason for it is that Kyle MacLachlan would’ve otherwise not appeared in that episode. So Lynch included it as a flashback to something that happened a couple days previously. I expect to make revisions after it’s over and I’ve had a chance to watch all the episodes again.
August 29th, 2017 at 2:47 am
Dian (e) = naiD (o) …..???
August 29th, 2017 at 1:23 pm
I do agree with this. Diane is Naido!
August 30th, 2017 at 12:35 am
But Diane is European. And Naido is Asian
September 1st, 2017 at 8:48 am
Hey! Great summary. One thing I’m confused about. Just rewatching the first episodes I found that in Episode Seven when around minute 22 of the episode, when Tammy shows both finger print records, you can see the date 9/22 on the South Dakota one.
That should be the date they took Mr. C. in right?
If so then this might affect many parts at the beginning of this proposed timeline.
Can you check on this?
September 2nd, 2017 at 6:30 am
boo-boo, flub, slip-up……
September 4th, 2017 at 1:41 pm
I noticed a very small omission, the scene where Johnny Horne runs into a wall is absent. I worked it into the morning of that day.
If you watch a lot of the Hawk beginning his investigation using the boxes of material from the Laura Palmer case you’ll see that they in all likelihood happen on the same day. There is one scene where the table is littered with coffee cups and donut boxes, in the following scene it is cleaner but you know, they may have grown tired of working around the junk and cleaned it up. The clincher is that Lucy is wearing the same clothes.
Regarding the Saturday issue with Dougie going to work, you know, the M-F work week doesn’t exist for everyone anymore. The office looks quite empty in the following scene where Sinclair confesses to Bushnell. I am not surprised at all that Bushnell is working on a Saturday and Dougie, being his new star player, was probably asked to work. To me their presence at work on a Saturday in the new normal where less people do more work is a non-issue.
Some of the scenes work well if things are split and massaged a bit. Here’s an example from the editing lab: When Bobby et all are going up the mountain don’t play the whole scene. Start with Nadine marching to Big Ed’s gas farm, This also works well because all of the morning scenes in Twin Peaks are misty/overcast and the Nadine scene is sunny. After she frees Ed go to Bobby and company trooping around in the woods. They pause and Bobby tells his story. Before they continue cut back to the Big Ed scene where he goes to Norma and play it out to the end, crossfade from the end of the Otis Redding song and the sky back to the woods and Bobby and Co find Naido.
September 5th, 2017 at 1:06 pm
Film izle
September 8th, 2017 at 8:08 am
This is a very helpful Twin Peaks post – the latest series was incredible. Best moment – Lynch and French woman!
August 14th, 2018 at 10:58 am
Part One: My log has a message for you.
Day One: Wednesday, September 21
Cooper and ??????? in black-and-white room – ?
This scene actually takes place towards the end of the series. Notice that Cooper isn’t wearing his FBI pin when he’s talking to the Fireman in part 1. He is still trapped in the Black Lodge when part 1 begins, and is wearing his FBI pin. He loses his FBI pin when he becomes Dougie. So Cooper’s conversation with the Fireman happens after he wakes up from being Dougie, and before he enters the doorway that takes him into Fire Walk With Me.