[ad_1]
In the early 1990s, the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in Twin Peaks was inescapable, and everyone wanted to know who did it — including political figures who led some of the most powerful countries in the world. That was the case with Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union between 1985 and 1991. In Brad Duke‘s book Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks, one of the producers of the iconic David Lynch series, Jules Haimovitz, reveals that the former Soviet leader reportedly once used his connections to try and learn the answer to the big mystery before it aired.
Gorbachev Tried To Find Out Who Killed Laura Palmer by Asking George H.W. Bush
In the early 1990s, Jules Haimovitz was the president of Aaron Spelling Productions, one of the companies behind Twin Peaks. They had just sold half the company to a financier called Carl Lindner, who was a supporter of George H.W. Bush and was friendly with the President. One day, Lindner called Aaron Spelling himself and asked who killed Laura Palmer. Spelling wasn’t directly involved in Twin Peaks‘ affairs, so he relayed the questions to Haimovitz, who also didn’t know.
Things started snowballing, though, with Spelling pressing Haimovitz and telling him that it was “really important” to get the answer, so Haimovitz contacted David Lynch himself. “I can’t tell you,” Lynch answered, and that was pretty much the end of it, from the filmmaker’s perspective. Haimovitz tried again, but earned another non-answer, and remembers: “That’s when I realized David [Lynch] had no idea who killed Laura Palmer.” After that, Haimovitz thought it best not to press or antagonize him. Haimovitz told Spelling about Lynch’s response and asked who wanted to know; a lot of people had been mobilized to try and get this answer, after all. “President Bush,” answered the executive.
What happened, according to Haimovitz, is that Mikhail Gorbachev contacted Bush to inquire about the identity of Laura Palmer’s killer. Bush, not knowing, called Lindner, and he contacted Spelling, who in turn asked Haimovitz. The latter was the one to directly ask Lynch, who, being Lynch, wasn’t ever going to answer, regardless of whether he had already settled on the culprit or not.

Related
Where To Stream David Lynch’s Surreal Masterpiece ‘Twin Peaks’
Remembering the late, great David Lynch.
‘Twin Peaks’ Was Inescapable in the Early 1990s, Even to Gorbachev
Twin Peaks aired in the U.S. from April 1990 to June 1991, ending its run six months before the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. It was the end of the Cold War, with the USSR opening up to the world after Gorbachev’s reforms, and the U.S. turning its attention to its economy and internal affairs. With that in mind, Gorbachev apparently thought it would be a good idea to ask Bush whether he knew who killed Laura Palmer. This mystery was in everyone’s minds at that time, and everyone who watched Twin Peaks obsessed over it.
What’s interesting about Gorbachev’s curiosity is actually the timeline of events. Twin Peaks would only begin airing in Russia in 1993, almost two years after the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. So how could Gorbachev, in a country as closed as the USSR, have watched Twin Peaks before that? He is regarded as the leader who started to open the USSR to the world, eventually leading to its dissolution, and his position was certainly one powerful enough to get access to whatever he wanted. Talking to The Moscow Times, however, Gorbachev claimed he had “no memory” of the series.
It’s definitely not surprising that someone in a position such as Gorbachev’s would want to know the answer to an era-defining mystery such as Laura Palmer’s death. Queen Elizabeth II, for example, once chose to watch an episode of Twin Peaks instead of a private Paul McCartney concert. It’s a testament to how many people wanted to try to unpack the show’s many mysteries — not just the identity of Laura Palmer’s killer. Unfortunately, the powers that be at ABC pressed David Lynch to reveal it much earlier than planned, pretty much ruining Season 2 and eventually leading to the series’ cancelation shortly after. But the mystery itself and the obsession was so widespread that it apparently hooked even important political figures like Gorbachev.
The two original seasons of Twin Peaks are available to stream on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

An idiosyncratic FBI agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
- Release Date
-
May 23, 1990
- Seasons
-
2
- Story By
-
david lynch
[ad_2]
Source link