Didja Know?

 

"Diane..." The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper is an audio tape compilation of Agent Cooper's recordings during the first season of the series, crossing into the second season premiere. It includes recordings not revealed in the episodes.

 

The writer of the previously unheard recordings is not credited on the packaging or cassette, but was reportedly Scott Frost, who also wrote The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper and a couple episodes of the TV series.

 

The early segments of the compilation take place shortly before Episode 0A: "Wrapped in Plastic" and do not entirely jibe with the segments in the same period in The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper.

 

Some of the recordings we see Cooper make in TV episodes are not present on this compilation.

 

Characters mentioned or heard on these tapes

 

Dale Cooper

Diane

Laura Palmer

Teresa Banks

Sheriff Truman

The Log Lady

James Hurley

Bobby Briggs

Lucy Moran

Ed Hurley

The Norwegians

Josie Packard

Andrew Packard

Albert Rosenfield

Dr. Hayward

Deputy Hawk

Audrey Horne

Philip Gerard

The Icelanders

Mike

Bob Lydecker

Waldo

Jacques Renault

Leo Johnson

Deputy Andy Brennan

Dr. Jacoby

Pete Martell

Shelly Johnson

Catherine Martell

Nadine Hurley

Ronette Pulaski

The Third Man (Leland Palmer possessed by BOB)

 

 

Didja Notice?

 

Track 1 is just the opening theme of Twin Peaks.

 

Track 2: Cooper's first recording in this collection reveals that he has just bought a "Micromac pocket tape recorder" at Wally's Rent-to-Own at 1145 N. Hilltop in Seattle, WA. The brand and store appear to be fictitious, though there is an 1145 N. Hilltop Lane in Seattle. Cooper states he was in Seattle to conduct a fiber samples procedures seminar, which he has just wrapped up. At this point, he has not yet been informed of the murder in Twin Peaks; he receives the new assignment later that morning. In The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper, he was in San Francisco, CA, where he and Diane were based, when he was told of the assignment.

 

Track 2: Cooper records that he is picking up a new black suit at Wo's House of Cloth, "upping my total to five--one for each day of the week, presuming I don't have to work weekends." Wo's House of Cloth appears to be a fictitious business.

 

Track 2: Cooper's remarks to Diane imply he had been about to return to Philadelphia. But The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper implies he and Diane are still based out of San Francisco.

 

Track 3: Cooper takes a commuter flight from Seattle to Spokane, where he will pick up a bureau car to drive to Twin Peaks. Spokane would be roughly 180 miles from Twin Peaks.

 

Track 3: Due to the high rain levels in Washington, Cooper brings what he calls the "businessman's friend", Totes for the feet. Totes is generally known for its cold-weather gloves.

 

Track 5: In Spokane, Cooper stops at the bureau office there to pick up a car, saying he'll be driving on Highway 2 due east. Highway 2 is an actual highway passing through Spokane, though from Spokane, Cooper would be travelling more northeast on it than "due east".

 

Track 6 is the first recording we heard Cooper make as he drives to Twin Peaks in Episode 0A: "Wrapped in Plastic". He states that it is 11:30 am as he approaches Twin Peaks. But he arrived in Spokane at just 10:15, so even if began the drive to Twin Peaks right away, it should still be well past 12:00! He also remarks that the gauge is on reserve, riding on fumes and he better tank up when he gets into town. Since it was only about a two hour drive and 180 miles from Spokane he must have had a fairly low tank before he even started and didn't bother to gas up before he left!

 

Track 7: It is now 3:10 pm as Cooper walks into Calhoun Memorial Hospital to meet Sheriff Truman for the first time. What was he doing all that time from 11:30 to now?

 

Track 9: The first 5 seconds of this track sound like an unintentional recording Cooper made, with a noise like someone making a gunshot sound with their mouth and then something that sounds like a coin or another small metallic object being dropped. After the recording click is heard again it's the recording of Cooper and Truman opening Laura's diary at the Sheriff's station from Episode 0B: "Northwest Passage". The track ends here with the last statement we heard Cooper make in this scene, "Diane, I'm holding in my hand a small box of chocolate bunnies." But logically, it seems we should hear more of the recording here; I don't think he would have ended the recording with just that statement.

 

Track 10: Cooper tells Diane he has a list of people he wants background checks on, including the Log Lady. Why does he want a background check on her? Surely she's not a suspect? Is his sixth sense simply telling him she's a person of interest?

 

Track 11 is one that we hear Cooper begin reciting in Episode 0B: "Northwest Passage" as he walks from the meeting room in the sheriff's station, down the hallway. In the episode, the scene cuts after he says, "Looks like I'll be staying locally at a place called the Great Northern..." Here in track 11, he goes on to say it sounds like the kind of place where when you lie down you won't forget to dream.

 

Track 11: Lucy can be heard telling Cooper that the Great Northern is up on Meadowlark Hill, just below Whitetail Mountain. Whitetail Mountain is one of the twin peaks of Twin Peaks (the other being Blue Pine Mountain).

 

Track 12 is Cooper's opening monologue from Episode 1: "Traces to Nowhere".

 

Track 13 is Cooper's addendum to the recording above about Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys, also from the above episode. At the beginning of this short track we hear the sound of Cooper disengaging himself from the boot apparatus from which he was hanging upside-down as seen in the episode. But in the episode, Cooper clearly turns off the recorder after dictating Track 12 and doesn't turn it on again until after he has disengaged from the boots.

 

Track 14: Cooper remarks that a large group of Norwegians just suddenly checked out of the Great Northern amidst much turmoil. He speculates something scared them off. We know it was Audrey's little performance in Episode 0B: "Northwest Passage", which informed them of the horrific murder of Laura Palmer.

 

Track 15: Cooper comments that Josie Packard inherited the Packard Sawmill when her husband Andrew was killed in a boating accident a year-and-a-half ago. This would place Andrew's "death" (he anticipated the attempt and went into hiding, allowing everyone to believe the murder attempt succeeded, as revealed at the end of Episode 18:_"Masked Ball") in the summer of 1987.

 

Track 15: Cooper warns Diane to never drink coffee that has been anywhere near a fish. This refers to the "fish in the perculator" incident in Episode 1: "Traces to Nowhere".

 

Track 16 seems a bit of a cheat, as it takes place the night of Episode 1: "Traces to Nowhere", and Cooper tells Diane he is at the RR Diner and it must be where pies go when they die. While he does have his first slice of RR cherry pie in this episode, he makes the "where pies go when they die" statement two episodes later in Episode 3: "Rest in Pain", and that not on tape.

 

Track 17: Cooper tells Diane that tomorrow he's taking Harry and the gang on a rock-throwing trip to Tibet. This is a reference to the "deductive technique" he introduces them to in Episode 2: "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer".

 

Track 18: Cooper tells Diane about the "Jack with one eye" note he finds slipped under his door, then he says, "Now to sleep, perchance to dream." The quote "To sleep, perchance to dream" is from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

 

Track 20: Cooper remarks, "Albert Rosenfield has arrived, and, with his usual charm, has completely won over the local population. As Sherman did in Atlanta." During the U.S. Civil War, Union general William Sherman employed a harsh scorched earth policy as his troops marched through Confederate states, winning victories but earning bitter enmity from the southern population and even from some of his Union allies.

 

Track 24: Cooper states that Audrey is 18 years old since last August 24th. But the Twin Peaks collectible card set has her birthday listed as August 15, 1972. Not only is the date different, but if she was born in 1972, she would be only 16 at the time the series takes place.

 

Track 26: Cooper comments on the bad breath of llamas. This is a reference to his close encounter with one at the Lydecker Veterinary Clinic in Episode 4: "The One-Armed Man".

 

Track 29: Cooper states that Jacques Renault's cabin is near the Pearl Lakes.

 

Track 33 has Cooper making a quick recording in a dark corner of One-Eyed Jacks during his and Ed's mission there in Episode 6: "Realization Time". At the end of the recording he remarks on seeing Jacques Renault now sitting down at the card dealer's spot of a blackjack table across the room. But in the episode, Cooper is already seated at a card table with another dealer when Jacques then comes in to relieve the dealer.

 

Track 36 is the final recording Cooper makes near the end of the season one finale, Episode 7: "The Last Evening".

 

Track 37 is the recording Cooper makes while lying on the floor of his hotel room, bleeding from a gunshot wound, as seen in Episode 8A: "May the Giant Be With You".

 

Track 38: Cooper asks Diane if she's ever known any really tall men. He is referring to the Giant he saw in a vision in Episode 8A: "May the Giant Be With You".

 

The final track on the cassette is the musical piece "Dance of the Dream Man" by Angelo Badalamenti.

 

Memorable Dialog

 

the big little recorder.wav

coffee-scented hot water.wav

what airlines do to coffee.wav

they call her the Log Lady.wav

like a river.wav

when you lie down you won't forget to dream.wav

if you could bottle this air.wav

perchance to dream.wav

Black Lake Cemetary.wav

a Blackfoot legend.wav

she wants to play detective.wav

the far reaches of llama hell.wav

have you ever known any really tall men.wav 

 

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