Get ready for a slice of cherry pie and coffee, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Season 3 is almost here. It’s been over 25 years since we last saw agent Cooper and the gang, so David Lynch and Twin Peaks’ fans are ecstatic about Season 3. Co-created by Mark Frost, Twin Peaks debuted in 1990 and audiences were blown away. The series brilliantly coalesced soap opera-esque drama with satire, humor, horror, and suspense in a world of supernatural mystery. Viewers had never seen anything like Twin Peaks, and like much of David Lynch’s work, many people felt the series was ahead of its time. It is often regarded as one of the greatest television series ever made, and that’s a monumental statement considering the show only lasted two seasons (plus one movie serving as a prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me).

If you have yet to see Twin Peaks, both seasons are currently streaming on Netflix. It is highly recommended that you watch them before viewing Season 3. This is not the type of show you can just jump into and figure out what’s going on; even fans who have seen the first two seasons, a plethora of times, are still asking questions. The below recaps, painted with a broad brush, are for those that have seen the series and need a reminder of what transpired over 25 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7d0Lm_31BE

Twin Peaks: Season 1 Recap—Who Was Laura Palmer?

Set in the fictitious town of Twin Peaks, Washington, the series opens up with Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) being found dead and wrapped in plastic. The seemingly quiet and peaceful town is shook to their core. Sheriff Harry S. Truman and his deputies, Andy and Hawk, are out of their element; so FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) arrives to Twin Peaks to help solve the question, who killed Laura Palmer?

During the investigation it is revealed that Laura Palmer lived a double life; she was cheating on her abusive boyfriend, Bobby Briggs, with the motorcycle-riding rebel James Hurley, and she was prostituting herself with the assistance of drug dealers Leo Johnson and Jacques Renault. Throughout Season 1 of Twin Peaks, Laura Palmer’s father, Leland Palmer, unravels and has a series of nervous breakdowns. Laura’s best friend, Donna Hayward, starts dating James. James and Donna team up with Laura’s cousin, Maddy (also played by Sheryl Lee), to investigate the murder. During their investigation, they find out that Palmer’s psychiatrist, Dr. Jacoby, was obsessed with Laura.

Though there were plenty of suspects, none of the aforementioned people are the ones who killed Laura Palmer. In a pivotal point during the first season, Cooper has a dream that he meets a one-armed supernatural being named Mike. Mike tells Cooper that Laura Palmer was killed by a another otherworldly being named Bob. Cooper also meets Laura in his dream along with The Man from Another Place (a dwarf in a red suit with extremely interesting speech patterns and he is also known as Mike’s left arm). When Cooper wakes up, he tells Sheriff Truman that if he can decode his dream he’ll know who killed Laura Palmer.

Cooper and the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department locate the one-armed man, a traveling salesman named Phillip Gerard, that Dale saw in his dream. Gerard says he does know a man named Bob. Bob turns out to be a veterinarian who tends to Renault’s pet bird. Agent Cooper concludes that Renault must be the murderer. Cooper and the gang lure the drug dealer into a trap, and Renault ends up being shot and hospitalized. Leland learns that the supposed murderer of his daughter is in the hospital, and he goes there and kills Renault. At the end of the Twin Peaks: Season 1 finale, Dale Cooper is shot in his hotel room by a mysterious figure.

Twin Peaks: Season 2 Recap—Who Killed Laura Palmer?

Lying shot in his room, Cooper is visited by The Giant (another otherworldly being), and he gives Cooper clues to who the murderer is. Jacques Renault did not kill Laura Palmer, but Dale Cooper is determined to find out who did. While Donna and Maddy continue to investigate the murder, they find out that Laura had a secret diary—technically a second secret diary (Dr. Jacoby was in the possession of the first one)—and the Twin Peaks’ officers gain possession of the book. They learn that Leland had a friend named Bob, and that he sexually abused and raped Laura for years. Laura Palmer began using drugs to cope with this trauma. It is later revealed that Bob, the evil spirit, is in fact Leland when he murders Maddy.

Possessed by Bob, Leland confesses to the murders and commits suicide. As he dies, Leland (now free of Bob’s possession) tells Cooper that he has been possessed off-and-on by this spirit since Bob molested him as a child. He then sees a vision of Laura welcoming him to the afterlife, and he dies in Dale’s arms. So, to answer the famed Twin Peaks’ question of who killed Laura Palmer, Leland killed Laura while possessed by Bob.

The rest of Twin Peaks: Season 2 is primarily Dale Cooper trying to uncover the origin of Bob and where he is currently hiding. He learns of the existence of two extra-dimensional realms located deep in the woods of Twin Peaks, the White Lodge and the Black Lodge, and that Bob, The Man from Another Place, and The Giant come from these portals. Cooper has started to date Annie (Heather Graham), and she is kidnapped by Earle (Dale’s old partner turned nemesis) and taken to The Black Lodge. Cooper finds the entrance to The Black Lodge and enters the mysterious realm.

Earle tells Cooper to give him his soul in exchange for Annie’s life. Dale agrees and Earle stabs him. Bob then appears and tells Earle that he can’t ask for Cooper’s soul, and kills Earle. A doppelganger of Cooper appears, and Bob and the doppelganger chase Cooper throughout The Black Lodge. This is the first time in the Twin Peaks series that Dale Cooper has shown fear.

Flash-forward and Cooper and Annie are found in the woods. Annie’s injuries are severe enough that she is hospitalized. Cooper only suffered minor injuries and returns to his room at the Great Northern Hotel in Twin Peaks to get some sleep. When he wakes up he goes to brush his teeth, and his reflection in the bathroom mirror is that of Bob. He then smashes his head into the mirror and laughs maniacally.

Twin Peaks: Season 3 Start Time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsdRG0mJj-w

Little is known about Season 3 of Twin Peaks, but there are some spoilers out there for those who are interested. But most fans, who have waited over 25 years to get a third season, are avoiding them at all costs. Episode 1 of the new season airs Sunday, May 21, 2017, on Showtime at 9:00 p.m. ET., and as David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Season 3 tagline says, “It is happening again.”

[Featured Image by Showtime]