Spoilers are ahead for I Saw the TV Glow’s ending.
Summary
When conceiving their second feature-length film, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun drew on ’90s cult classics for inspiration. WhileI Saw the TV Glowpulls from young-adult television hits likeBuffy the Vampire SlayerandAre You Afraid of the Dark?,the filmmaker has cited David Lynch’sTwin Peaksas a huge influence. FromI Saw the TV Glow’s eerie soundtrackand its more surreal storytelling elements to the atmospheric menace that permeates the film’s suburban setting, it all feels very Lynchian. However, Schoenbrun goes a step further by incorporating unmistakableTwin Peaksreferences, Easter eggs, and thematic echoes.
The psychological horror-drama centers on Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine), teenage outsiders who find connection thanks to their shared love of the monster-of-the-week TV seriesThe Pink Opaque, which chronicles the misadventures of Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan).Both Owen and Maddy find refuge inThe Pink Opaque, and see their truest versions of themselves reflected in Isabel and Tara. Even as theending ofI Saw the TV Glowcements the movie as a story about Owen’s trans identity,theA24 film is perfect forTwin Peaksfans.
9The Use Of Doppelgängers & Doubles
Twin Peaks & I Saw The TV Glow Use This Plot Point To Different Ends
In David Lynch’sTwin Peaks, doubles play a huge role — not just in the series' visuals, but in its plot. At the end of season 2, Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) entersTwin Peaks' Black Lodge, a kind of extradimensional place, in order to save Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham). Previously, Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) calledthe Black Lodge a place of darkness — a mirror of the White Lodge that forces those who pass through it to confront their shadow selves. That’s exactly what happens to Cooper, who is ultimately chased through the maze-like Lodge by his own villainous doppelgänger.
WhileI Saw the TV Glowuses doubles too, its approach is rather different.
InTwin Peaks, the evil Mr. C overtakes Cooper and replaces him in the real world, leading to a rather dark 25 years to unfold between the show’s sophomore outing and 2017’sTwin Peaks: The Return. WhileI Saw the TV Glowuses doubles too, its approach is rather different. Maddy, an out lesbian, sees her best self reflected inThe Pink Opaque’s heroic and knowing Tara. Meanwhile, Owen sees their truest self in Isabel. Later,Maddy even suggests thatThe Pink Opaqueis real, and that theyareTara and Isabel — an inverse of Cooper’s Black Lodge moment.
Twin Peaks
Conceived by Mark Frost and David Lynch in 1990, Twin Peaks is a supernatural mystery-drama series that brings FBI Agent Dale Cooper to the quiet town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of a young woman named Laura Palmer. As Dale continues his investigation of her death, he learns that Laura’s life wasn’t as she advertised it, and the town itself is hiding far more secrets than they let on. The show received a revival for a third and final season two decades later to resolve the cliffhanger left at the end of the second season.
8Maddy Shares A Name With A Very Specific Twin Peaks Character
Maddy Ferguson Is Laura Palmer’s Identical Cousin In Twin Peaks
The name Maddy may seem inconsequential, but it will certainly strike a chord withTwin Peaksfans. The name of Lundy-Paine’s character is the same as that of Laura Palmer’s (Sheryl Lee) older cousin, Maddy Ferguson (also Lee). Meant to look strikingly similar to the murdered Laura Palmer, Maddy is a grounded example of a doppelgänger. When she arrives in Twin Peaks to help her aunt and uncle cope with Laura’s death, Maddy soon becomes fast friends with Laura’s pals, Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) and James (James Marshall).Enmeshed in Laura’s life, Maddy even helps investigate her cousin’s murder.
Essentially, Maddy opens the door to Owen’s self-investigation.
WhileI Saw the TV Glow’s Maddy isn’t a double of Owen, she does help the teen understand their trans identity. Quite early on, Maddy openly discusses her queerness, prompting Owen to consider their own identity. Moreover, her effusive love ofThe Pink Opaque— and its characters — rubs off on Owen. Essentially, Maddy opens the door to Owen’s self-investigation. In the same way Maddy Ferguson is connected toTwin Peaks' dead girl,I Saw the TV Glow’s Maddy is friends with the movie’s “dead” or buried girl — Owen, a.k.a. Isabel.
7A Key Owen Scene Reverses One Of Twin Peaks: The Return’s Most Disturbing Moments
Owen’s Chest Scene Echoes Sarah Palmer’s Judy Reveal
The ending ofI Saw the TV Glowis both harrowing and, strangely, hopeful. After decades of refusing to look inward or accept their trans identity, Owen is living a hollow life. The now-adult character, who even claims to have a wife and kids, is withering away. The toll of keeping a massive secret has caused Owen’s health to deteriorate. While at work, Owen has a panic attack, prompting them to rush to the bathroom. Finally brave enough to glimpse the truth,Owen cuts into their chest to reveal the glowing static of a TV screen.
While Owen finds something precious inside, Sarah reveals an awful truth.
AsI Saw the TV Glowreminds viewers, it isn’t too late for Owen to embrace their truth. The main member ofI Saw the TV Glow’s cast of charactershas taken the first step to fully living their life openly and honestly. The look of the scene, with its not-very-sleek effects and kind of visual bluntness, feels eerily reminiscent of Sarah Palmer’s (Grace Zabriskie) most unsettlingTwin Peaks: The Returnmoment. In the scene,Sarah removes her face to reveal that the malevolent entity Judy lives inside of her. Although visually similar, the moments are polar opposites: While Owen finds something precious inside, Sarah reveals an awful truth.
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Both Menacing Fathers Are Quietly Killing Their Daughters
WhenTwin Peaksreveals who killed Laura Palmer, it was an incredible shock to first-time viewers.Long-possessed by the evil Lodge entity called BOB, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), Laura’s father, murdered the teenager.Even more disturbing,Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which serves as a prequel to the series, confirms that BOB-as-Leland had been abusing and harming Laura for years. InI Saw the TV Glow, Owen’s father, Frank (Fred Durst), doesn’t say much, except for a tone-setting, cutting line about The Pink Opaque being a show “for girls.”
Throughout the film, Frank is a hostile presence.
Owen clearly takes Frank’s words to heart. Instead of openly watchingThe Pink Opaque, the closeted teen sneaks over to Maddy’s house and collects VHS tapes that Maddy records in order to escape into the comforting world ofThe Pink Opaque. Throughout the film, Frank is a hostile presence. He looms in the background of scenes, acting as a silent prison guard to Owen’s true self. In bothI Saw the TV GlowandTwin Peaks,father figures are not just menacing, but killers who destroy their daughters— one literally and one in a more emotional sense.
5In I Saw The TV Glow & Twin Peaks, Electricity Bridges Other Worlds
Electricity Helps Cooper Travel Between Realities & Signals Owen’s Arrival In The Midnight Realm
InTwin Peaks, electricity, utility poles, and static are connected to other realms and dimensions. InFire Walk With Me, Agent Desmond (Chris Isaak) visits the Fat Trout Trailer Park to investigate the murdered Theresa Banks' former home. While there, a utility pole with a string of numbers on it is a prominent focus;several Lodge beings, as well asTwin Peaks' iconic ring, also crop up near the utility pole. InThe Return, electricity and power lines are Cooper’s way out of the Lodge and, later, allow him to cross over into a different reality of sorts.
WhenI Saw the TV Glow’s Owen encounters a downed power line, the character seemingly crosses over…
After crossing over into an alternate timeline by investigating an area near a series of power lines, Cooper, who goes by the name Richard, tracks down the alt-version of Laura Palmer, who goes by the name Carrie Paige. Outside Carrie’s house in Odessa, Texas, the utility pole from the trailer park looms.There are plenty of other instances where electricity and electromagnetic fields seem to bridge different realms inTwin Peaks.Similarly, whenI Saw the TV Glow’s Owen encounters a downed power line, the character seemingly crosses over intoThe Pink Opaque’s Midnight Realm.
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4The Double Lunch Is A Reference To Twin Peaks’ Iconic Diner
I Saw The TV Glow’s Bar Also References Buffy The Vampire Slayer
When Owen (Ian Foreman) first meets Maddy at the high school, she’s readingThe Pink Opaqueepisode guide. Eager to share her love of the supernatural teen series with Owen, Maddy rattles off facts about the show. A small detail that Maddy drops in a seemingly throwaway line is thatThe Pink Opaqueepisode guide lists all the bands who play at the Double Lunch, the show’s small-town bar. A clear reference toBuffy the Vampire Slayer’s The Bronze,the Double Lunch’s name is also an ode toTwin Peaks' iconic Double R diner.
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3I Saw The TV Glow’s Musical Performances Pay Homage To Twin Peaks’ Roadhouse
Phoebe Bridgers, Sloppy Jane & King Woman Perform During I Saw The TV Glow
One of thebest parts ofTwin Peaksis revivedbyI Saw the TV Glow— and it may be a little unexpected. While Schoenbrun’s film is able to create an incredibly singular atmosphere, there’s no denying its echoes ofTwin Peaks' small-town strangeness. The Roadhouse has a significant role inTwin Peaks: The Return: Not only do real-life bands perform at the Roadhouse, but it acts as a bridge between the real and the unreal. Similarly,the Double Lunch boasts live performances and is the place whereThe Pink Opaquestarts to bleed into Owen’s reality.
2I Saw The TV Glow Uses Monologues As Effectively As Twin Peaks: The Return
Both Projects Turn Exposition Into Big Character Moments
After Maddy reappears in Owen’s life, she takes her former friend to the Double Lunch on the edge of town. As the world ofThe Pink Opaquebegins to bleed into the characters' reality, and as Maddy suggests that she and Owen are actually Tara and Isabel, the character launches into several monologues. The most substantial unfolds in a planetarium housed inside the high-school gym. While Maddy recounts her own experiences of moving away and feeling suffocated,she blurs her life with plot points and metaphors pulled fromThe Pink Opaque.
The Returnalso features several monologue moments…
The would-be exposition dump feels charged with emotion. Not only is Brigette Lundy-Paine’s performance compelling, butthe scene reads much like a monologue from a stage play, with the camera staying tight on Maddy’s face. The technique is reminiscent of certain iconic scenes fromTwin Peaks. In the original series, Major Garland Briggs (Don S. Davis) recounts a meaningful dream to his son, Bobby, delivering the touching experience in a monologue-like way.The Returnalso features several monologue moments, notably when The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson) speaks with Hawk and when Wally Brando (Michael Cera) bids farewell to Twin Peaks.
Jane Schoenbrun’s direction is a confident and ethereal experience.
1The Ending Of I Saw The TV Glow Is An Inversion Of Dale Cooper Being Trapped In The Lodge
Owen Has A Way Out At The End Of I Saw The TV Glow
In interviews,I Saw the TV Glowwriter-director Jane Schoenbrun noted thatTwin Peaksseason 2’s cliffhanger ending of a BOB-possessed Cooper slamming his head against a mirror in the real world was “lodged” in Schoenbrun’s subconscious. The filmmaker has even said that the moment “felt like unfinished business, if not like trauma,” and that they “[wanted] Dale Cooper to get out of the Lodge” (viaIndieWire). By looking inside themself,Owen lets their true self out of the carefully constructed prison they built, completely reversingTwin Peaks' traumatic endingand replacing it with a hopeful one.
I Saw the TV Glowis now playing in theaters.
I Saw the TV Glow
I Saw the TV Glow follows teenager Owen, who navigates suburban life until introduced by classmate Maddy to a mysterious late-night TV show.
