Margaret Lanterman (), better known as the Log Lady, is a character in the television series Twin Peaks (1990–2017), created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. She appears in both seasons of the show, the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, and the 2017 revival series.
The character is portrayed by Catherine E. Coulson. The Log Lady was her final role, as she died of complications from cancer in 2015, two years before the airing of the revived series; she appears in five episodes, in scenes shot shortly before her passing.
Character overview
The Log Lady is a fixture in the town of Twin Peaks by the time of Laura Palmer's murder, and most residents in the town regard her as crazy. This is mainly due to her habit of always carrying a small log in her arms, with which she seems to share a psychic connection, often dispensing advice and visions of clairvoyance which she claims come from the log; prior to the murder, she delivers moving and cryptic warnings to Laura Palmer herself. The Log Lady does not interpret the messages transmitted by the log, but instead functions as a medium for the information it conveys.
In attempting to solve Laura's murder, Dale Cooper often makes use of the Log Lady's apparent ability to communicate, through the log, with a possibly supernatural realm. Cooper gradually loses his access to this realm as the series progresses, and the Log Lady becomes a less central figure, though she does provide Cooper with at least one useful tip.
When the series was syndicated to Bravo, Lynch created new Log Lady introductions for each episode ranging in length from under a minute to about three minutes.
History
Conceptual history
According to David Lynch, the Log Lady was an old idea of his, where he had intended to do a television series based on the character called "I'll Test My Log with Every Branch of Knowledge". The idea came about while working alongside Catherine Coulson on the set of Lynch's directorial debut, Eraserhead. The series would've focused on a middle-aged woman caring for a small child of indeterminate origin, whom she would have taught lessons by way of the log's example—such as subjecting the log to a dental examination to demonstrate the need of tooth checkups.
History within the series and feature film
It is revealed that the Log Lady's husband was a lumberjack who died in a fire on their wedding night decades before the events of the series. (The Log Lady later says that her husband "met the devil".) Nothing is revealed of her husband beyond this, save for that at some point before he died, her husband returned from a trip to Glastonbury Grove (which served as an access point to the metaphysical realms of both the White and Black Lodges) with a jar of mysterious oil, which he claimed was for "opening a gateway". (However, when the story of her husband's death is first related in the series, Deputy Hawk mentions that the wood "holds many spirits", so it is possible that her husband's spirit resides in her log.)
On February 18, 1989, five days before Laura Palmer is murdered, Margaret briefly encounters Laura outside the local roadhouse, the Bang Bang Bar. Putting her hand to the log and then the stunned Laura's forehead, Margaret intones: "When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first, and the wind rises, and then all goodness is in jeopardy."
On the night Laura is murdered, Margaret later claims "my log" witnessed "two men, two girls" both approaching Jacques Renault's cabin—which is located a distance away from her own cabin home in the woods. And then, not long after, she alleges the log heard the screams of a girl.
The Log Lady first comes to the attention of FBI Agent Dale Cooper at a town meeting on February 24—the day after Laura Palmer's murder, which Cooper is investigating. She later approaches Cooper in the Double R Diner, who is clearly skeptical at her claim "my log saw something that night."
Four days later, Cooper arrives at the Log Lady's cabin alongside Sheriff Truman, Doc Hayward, and Deputy Hawk. Cooper is now more open to the log's power following his questioning (perhaps also noting the local men's reverence for the Log Lady's knowledge).
The Log Lady also provides advice to the other townspeople, most notably an other-worldly message she tells Major Briggs to deliver to Cooper and, it is strongly implied, to Donna Hayward in a note mentioning Laura's involvement in the Meals-On-Wheels.