Was There a Riverdale Reference on Twin Peaks?

The eighth episode of David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks revival baffled and thrilled fans so [...]

By Russ Burlingame

The eighth episode of David Lynch and Mark Frost's Twin Peaks revival baffled and thrilled fans so much that the vague possibility of a crossover with another TV series is only like the tenth most interesting thing that came out of it.

Now, to be clear, it is not really a crossover -- but at one point in the episode, which hopped around through space and time, the viewer was transported to a diner.

Not uncommon for Twin Peaks, right? There are diners all the time. The Double R is one of the most consistently-used settings in the first two seasons of the show.

Well, yes. But in this case, the diner isn't in Twin Peaks. It is, though, called "Pop's," and fans on Twitter couldn't help but notice a similarity between the logo for Twin Peaks's Pop's and Pop Tate's Chock'lit Shoppe on The CW's Riverdale...

...a coincidence made even more glaring becuase Madchen Amick, who plays Double R waitress Shelly Johnson in Twin Peaks, also appears on Riverdale in the role of Alice Cooper, mother of Betty and Polly.

The odds of someone like Lynch intentionally making a reference to another show seem fairly remote. Still, given how much DNA Riverdale shares with Twin Peaks (even beyond that casting choice), it seems like the kind of cosmic coincidence that would tickle even Lynch.

Since it was announced, Riverdale has worn its Twin Peaks influences on its sleeve, with the first season revolving around a murdered teen and references by the produciton company to Twin Peaks in early marketing materials.

The first season of RIVERDALE found our characters reeling from the tragic death of high school golden boy Jason Blossom. For many who had seen their home as perfect, safe, and innocent, the investigation into Jason's murder peeled back the layers of their hometown to reveal a place bubbling over with secrets, mysteries, and scandals. Archie Andrews (KJ Apa), for instance, grew from a sweet, all-American kid into a young man acutely aware of the darker side of life—he broke his best friend's heart, had a forbidden relationship with his music teacher, and grappled with whether he wanted to follow in his dad's salt-of-the-earth footsteps. On the positive side, Archie repaired his friendship with Jughead Jones (Cole Sprouse), found some success as a musician—thanks in part to Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray) and her band, the Pussycats—and found a new romantic interest in femme fatale Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes). New to town, Veronica spent the season trying to atone for her "bad girl" past, all the while wrestling with her beloved father's criminal legacy—and contending with a mother, Hermione (Marisol Nichols), who might not be as innocent as she claimed. Veronica became fast-friends with Archie's girl-next-door neighbor, Betty Cooper (Lili Reinhart), who did some growing up of her own this season.

After Archie's rejection, Betty threw herself into running the school paper, "The Blue and Gold," where she discovered a better romantic match in sardonic outsider Jughead. Together, they tracked down Betty's sister Polly (guest star Tiera Skovbye), who had been sent away by their overbearing mother Alice (Mädchen Amick). Under the guise of writing for the school paper, Betty and Jughead investigated Jason Blossom's death—which led to them discover that Jughead's father—FP Jones (guest star Skeet Ulrich)—was involved with covering up Jason's murder. Meanwhile, Jason's twin sister Cheryl (Madelaine Petsch) ruled the school as Riverdale High's venomous, merciless Red Queen—until she learned the true identity of Jason's killer. As the town breathed a collective sigh of relief that Jason's killer had been found out, another terrible crime occurred, in a space that had been considered one of the town's safest, most innocent places. If Jason Blossom's murder revealed the slimy underbelly beneath Riverdale's surface, as we enter Season Two, the shooting of Fred Andrews threatens to plunge the entire town into utter darkness.

Based on the characters from Archie Comics, RIVERDALE is from Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios, in association with Berlanti Productions, with executive producers Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa ("Supergirl," "Glee"), Greg Berlanti ("Arrow," "The Flash," "Supergirl," "DC's Legends of Tomorrow"), Sarah Schechter ("Arrow," "The Flash," "Supergirl," "DC's Legends of Tomorrow") and Jon Goldwater (Archie Comics).

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