Twin Peaks Episode #007 - The Rough Cut

Recently on a trip to Los Angeles to interview cast and crew members for an upcoming Twin Peaks project, I made several wonderful and strange discoveries. The others we can get into later, for now let's talk about two amazing rough edits of Twin Peaks episodes that, quite honestly, shouldn't really exist anymore. Most of these early cuts were tossed or erased. As Season Two rolled around and secrecy was increased, this further placed a lid on the possibility of artifacts like these surviving the years. The Rough Edit to #006 we previously examined here. For now, let's dig into Mark Frost's masterpiece of pace and parlance.

Notes: No music is included in #007 with only one major exception. The recording is on VHS tape and is timecoded in the upper right and left portion of the screen. The tape is dated 02/27/90. The script to #007 is the only I'm missing. So, this will be a scaled down description of the rough cut.


In the first scene of James and Donna in Jacoby's office, the usual differences come into play. No music of course and sound effects are rough with no dubbing. Most overdubbed lines are missing (James: "Weird" etc.)

In Easter Park we have more of the same with possible alternate takes from Jacoby and James' bike is very loud.

At One Eyed Jacks there is no background chatter.

There is no wide shot the first time we view Blackie's surveillance screens.

As Hawk and Big Ed listen in on Coop's investigation, we hear slightly different dialog from Jacque: 

Transmitted version:

Cooper: Jacque, how long have you been dealing blackjack?
Jacque: Long enough to spot a card counter.
Cooper: Do you always let card counters buy you a drink?
Jacque: I don't see tips like that everyday.

Rough cut:

Cooper: Jacque, how long have you been dealing blackjack?
Jacque: Long enough to spot a card counter.
Cooper: Do you always let card counters buy you a drink?
Jacque: A thousand dollar chip, you got my attention.

The rest of the scene of Jacque and Coop remains the same with one exception. This scene always had one rather obvious dub.

Transmitted version:

Cooper: One more question Jacque. You know Leo told me all about that night at the cabin with the girls. I'm curious about the chip, how did that happen?

Rough cut: Cooper: One more question Jacque. The night up at the cabin with the girls. I'm curious about the chip, how did that happen?

Audrey at One Eyed Jacks is missing background chatter.

Shelly and Leo scene is the same.

We have some differences in the Jacque arrest scene:

Transmitted version:

Truman: Is Lucy talking to you yet? 
Andy: As we say in the law enforcement game, it's a cold trail.
Truman: Ah women! Hawk (over the radio): Harry, Hawk here. The trout is heading upstream toward the net.
Truman: Hold the line. We'll set the hook. You got a 20 on Agent Cooper?
Hawk: He's downstream about 10 minutes. He'll probably miss the catch, but he'll be there when we grill him.
Truman: Copy that. We'll make our move as soon as the big fish shows his fins. Ready Andy?
Andy: Ready Harry.

Rough cut:

Truman: Is Lucy talking to you yet?
Andy: No. As we say in the law enforcement game, it's a cold trail.
Truman: Women. Hawk (over the radio): Harry, we got a suspect rolling south into your area. Truman: Hawk, hold back. We'll make the first move. Fellas, we make our move as soon as he stops. Truman: Ready Andy? Andy: Ready Harry.

The scene with Maddy, Donna and james listening to Laura's audio tape has some major differences and must be considered a highlight of the #007 rough edit:

Transmitted version:

Laura: Hey, what’s up, doc? It's Laura in case you haven’t guessed. It’s Thursday the twenty-third, and I’m so bored. Actually, I’m in kind of a weird mood. God, James is sweet ... but he’s so dumb ... and right now I can only take so much of sweet. Hey, remember that mystery man I told you about. Well, if I tell you his name then you’re gonna be in trouble. He wouldn’t be such a mystery man any more but you might be history man. I think, a couple of times, he’s tried to kill me. But guess what, as you know, I sure got off on it. Hmm, isn’t sex weird? This guy can really light my f - i - r - e as in red corvette. Uh-oh, here comes mom with milk and cookies. Later Lawrence, bye-bye...

Rough cut:

Laura: Hey, what's up, doc? It's Laura Palmer in case you haven't guessed. It's Thursday the twenty-third, and I'm so bored. Actually, I'm in kind of a weird mood. I just know I'm gonna get lost in those woods again tonight. Remember me telling you about that mystery man? Well, his name is... well I don't think I want to tell you that yet. But I think I'm gonna to see him tonight. Little Red Corvette. I'm gonna tell james I can't see him anymore. He's so good to me, it makes me wanna scream. And I know if I stay with him that I'm just gonna wanna drag him down. Makes me sick. Someday I might tell you all my secrets. Thank you for trying to help me Lawrence. Etcetera, etcetera...

Needless to say, the above dialog is a truly amazing discovery. Not the words in themselves necessarily, but to hear Sheryl Lee say these lines is something that I think all hardcore Twin Peaks fans can appreciate to the fullest extent. I actually wonder if this tape is the last example left of this dialog. So much has been lost and/or destroyed, we should feel lucky about what has survived. It should be noted that most of Sheryl's dialog sounds like an alternate take to what we've heard before.

The scene of Leo and Shelly has the usual alternate vocal takes.

The scene of Nadine attempting suicide has one major difference. There is a temp track playing of Patsy Cline's Crazy!! 

The scene in the rough edit of Josie and Hank is missing Hank's line "I've been going over this in my mind and..." Also, "Sign sealed and delivered" missing.

The scene with Pete and Catherine is the same.

The scene with Lucy and Andy is the same. "Uh-Oh" is missing.

Jacque hospital is the same. Mark Frost's overdub is missing.

Pete / Catherine missing minor vocal dubs. "It's not here either - damn" by Catherine is missing.

No major differences in the Hank/Norma scene.

Big Ed discoveres Nadine - no difference.

Sheriff station - no difference.

One Eyed Jacks - no difference.

The scene with Leo attacking Bobby has the same dilog but with completely different vocal takes. No "later Leo" dub.

Shelly/Catherine - no difference.

Leland killing Jacque - no difference.

Pete goes into fire - the same. No 'Catherine' overdub from Pete.

The tape ends right when Coop picks up the letter from Audrey. The ending is removed on purpose. Possibly to keep the ending a secret.

In Summary

This tape represents a fascinating glimpse into the construction of an episode of Twin Peaks. Clearly the highlight here is the additional dialog from Laura Palmer during the scene with Maddy, James and Donna. Without this tape surviving, who knows if these wild lines would have been long forgotten. Speaking of wild lines... Well, we'll save that for another day...