9 Twin Peaks Easter Eggs, References & Influences In A24's Hit New Horror Movie

Spoilers are ahead for I Saw the TV Glow’s ending.

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Summary

I Saw the TV Glow
and
Twin Peaks
share themes and plot ideas, especially when it comes to shared identities, doubles, and doppelgängers.
The film pays homage to
Twin Peaks
with references to characters like Maddy or locations like the Roadhouse.
With an atmosphere of menace and a reliance on the blurring of the real and unreal,
I Saw the TV Glow
feels connected to
Twin Peaks
.

When conceiving their second feature-length film, writer-director Jane Schoenbrun drew on ’90s cult classics for inspiration. While I Saw the TV Glow pulls from young-adult television hits like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, the filmmaker has cited David Lynch’s Twin Peaks as a huge influence. From I Saw the TV Glow‘s eerie soundtrack and 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 unmistakable Twin Peaks references, 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 series The Pink Opaque, which chronicles the misadventures of Isabel (Helena Howard) and Tara (Lindsey Jordan). Both Owen and Maddy find refuge in The Pink Opaque, and see their truest versions of themselves reflected in Isabel and Tara. Even as the ending of I Saw the TV Glow cements the movie as a story about Owen’s trans identity, the A24 film is perfect for Twin Peaks fans.

9 The Use Of Doppelgängers & Doubles

Twin Peaks & I Saw The TV Glow Use This Plot Point To Different Ends

In David Lynch’s Twin 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) enters Twin Peaks‘ Black Lodge, a kind of extradimensional place, in order to save Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham). Previously, Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) called the 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.

While I Saw the TV Glow uses doubles too, its approach is rather different.

In Twin 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’s Twin Peaks: The Return. While I Saw the TV Glow uses doubles too, its approach is rather different. Maddy, an out lesbian, sees her best self reflected in The Pink Opaque‘s heroic and knowing Tara. Meanwhile, Owen sees their truest self in Isabel. Later, Maddy even suggests that The Pink Opaque is real, and that they are Tara and Isabel — an inverse of Cooper’s Black Lodge moment.

Twin Peaks
Mystery
Drama
Crime

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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.

Cast Russ Tamblyn , Sheryl Lee , Kimmy Robertson , Dana Ashbrook , Grace Zabriskie , Everett McGill , Ernie Hudson , Mädchen Amick , Ray Wise , Kyle MacLachlan Release Date May 23, 1990 Seasons 3 Network Showtime , ABC Streaming Service(s) Amazon Prime Video Writers David Lynch Directors Mark Frost Showrunner Mark Frost Main Genre Mystery

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8 Maddy 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 with Twin Peaks fans. 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.

While I 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 of The 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 to Twin 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.

7 A 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 of I Saw the TV Glow is 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.

As I Saw the TV Glow reminds viewers, it isn’t too late for Owen to embrace their truth. The main member of I Saw the TV Glow‘s cast of characters has 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 unsettling Twin Peaks: The Return moment. 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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6 Owen’s Dad Has A Lot In Common With Leland Palmer

Both Menacing Fathers Are Quietly Killing Their Daughters

When Twin Peaks reveals 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. In I 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 watching The 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 of The 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 both I Saw the TV Glow and Twin Peaks, father figures are not just menacing, but killers who destroy their daughters — one literally and one in a more emotional sense.

5 In 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

In Twin Peaks, electricity, utility poles, and static are connected to other realms and dimensions. In Fire 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 as Twin Peaks‘ iconic ring, also crop up near the utility pole. In The 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.

When I 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 in Twin Peaks. Similarly, when I Saw the TV Glow‘s Owen encounters a downed power line, the character seemingly crosses over into The Pink Opaque‘s Midnight Realm.

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9 Questions & Mysteries Twin Peaks Season 4 Could Answer 7 Years After Ambiguous Ending

Twin Peaks season 2 may have ended on a cliffhanger, but Twin Peaks: The Return also leaves viewers with just as many — if not more — questions.

4 The 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 reading The Pink Opaque episode 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 that The Pink Opaque episode guide lists all the bands who play at the Double Lunch, the show’s small-town bar. A clear reference to Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s The Bronze, the Double Lunch’s name is also an ode to Twin Peaks‘ iconic Double R diner.

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3 I 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 the best parts of Twin Peaks is revived by I 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 of Twin Peaks‘ small-town strangeness. The Roadhouse has a significant role in Twin 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 where The Pink Opaque starts to bleed into Owen’s reality.

2 I 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 of The Pink Opaque begins 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 from The Pink Opaque.

The Return also features several monologue moments…

The would-be exposition dump feels charged with emotion. Not only is Brigette Lundy-Paine’s performance compelling, but the 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 from Twin 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 Return also 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.

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1 The 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 Glow writer-director Jane Schoenbrun noted that Twin Peaks season 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” (via IndieWire). By looking inside themself, Owen lets their true self out of the carefully constructed prison they built, completely reversing Twin Peaks‘ traumatic ending and replacing it with a hopeful one.

I Saw the TV Glow is now playing in theaters.

I Saw the TV Glow
PG-13
Drama
Horror

I Saw the TV Glow is a horror film by writer-director Jane Schoenbrun, released in 2024. A young man named Owen is introduced to a late-night TV show that reflects their reality. As the two begin to bond over the series, it suddenly is canceled, causing Owen’s view of reality to shatter.

Director Jane Schoenbrun Release Date January 18, 2024 Studio(s) Smudge Films , Fruit Tree Distributor(s) A24 Writers Jane Schoenbrun Cast Justice Smith , Brigette Lundy-Paine , Danielle Deadwyler , Fred Durst , Helena Howard , Ian Foreman Runtime 100 Minutes