“The Norwegians are leaving!” Seeing those four simple words conjures one of the more memorable scenes in the Twin Peaks Pilot episode. This scene was shot a Kiana Lodge which doubled as both the interior of the Great Northern Hotel and Blue Pine Lodge, home to the Packard family, in this first episode. Let’s take a closer look at the location and the scene which has some notable differences from script to screen.
LOCATION AND HISTORY
Kiana Lodge is located at 14976 Sandy Hook Rd NE in Poulsbo. The approximate coordinates for this spot are 47°41’59.3″N 122°34’56.8″W.
Opened in 1937 as a retreat for Seattleites looking for an escape from the city,  the Suquamish Tribe purchased this private wedding and meeting location from Bob Riebe in 2004. While visitors are welcome, please call ahead to check their schedule – (360) 598-4311. They prefer visitors give paying clients privacy and to plan a visit when no events are happening.
The scene was shot on March 20, 1989 on the second to last day of principle photography.
THE NORWEGIANS ARE LEAVING
This scene opens with Concierge hostess Julie Duvic (played by Diane Caldwell) ringing a bell and shouting, “The Norwegians are leaving!” Her character’s name was inspired by the real Julie who was a location liaison for this original episode.
The script doesn’t contain any of this dialog. Rather the Norwegians appear to have learned of the death from a nearby television.
INT. GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL LOBBY – DAY
On a small TV monitor at the front desk, continuing the report on the news about Laura. Watching are the DESK CLERK and the group of Norwegians we saw earlier in the day, who are in the process of checking out of the hotel. Two BELLMEN are loading their baggage on a trolley.
LOCAL REPORTER’S VOICE
(voice over, on the TV)
… cheerleader, Homecoming Queen, most popular girl in school, friend to many in the community. Seventeen years old. Laura Palmer, found dead this morning, the victim of violent crime …
I visited the lodge on January 22, 2020 after a nearly 24 year hiatus. The Tribal artwork is still found in the lobby but the desk, which was most likely constructed for the episode, was long gone.
One thing has always bothered me about this scene. Notice how the computer monitor at the front desk is turned while it’s facing the opposite direction earlier in the episode.  Maybe the front desk hostess was showing something on the screen. Who knows? Life is full of mysteries, Donna.
NORWEGIANS IN THE LOBBY
The scene continues with a pan of the lobby that’s now full of people wanting to check out. As previously described, two BELLMEN are loading their baggage on a trolley.
My gut tells me the two Bellmen are the same two servers standing by during breakfast. This image above is the full view of that breakfast as the camera pans left during the scene.
Another look at the lobby from my January 2020 visit.
The camera pans left across the commotion.
The camera stops as the bellman pick up some luggage and a woman resembling Piper Laurie steps into frame. It’s probably not her. Then again, with that curly orange hair, maybe it is.
Here is the entire lobby in one shot.
Why I didn’t use the panoramic photo option on my phone I’ll never know.
AUDREY HORNE’S DELIGHT
One of the most notable omissions from the script is Audrey Horne. In the broadcast version, we see her taking delight at the shenanigans she started. She’s hiding behind a giant wooden column that’s still at Kiana Lodge today, with its cracks and discolored details.
BEN AND SVEN
Audrey is watching her father’s attempts to keep the Norwegian businessmen from leaving. Â Ben (played by Richard Beymer) stops Sven Jorgensen (played by the late Arnie Stenseth who passed in February 2020). Â In the script, the action takes place inside.
During above, we see Benjamin Horne, the Translator, and Sven Jorgenson, the group’s leader, are standing beside a nearby column, speaking in hushed, urgent tones.
HORNE
– Mr. Jorgenson, I urge you to reconsider, I want to appeal to your best nature –
The Translator tries to translate simultaneously and then struggles to keep up with them both. Â
The action most likely takes place to the right of the front doors. Silly me didn’t take a photo that matched the shot directly.
The Lodge’s exterior was renovated in the 2000s, so the exterior looks slightly different. During my first visit to Kiana Lodge on August 9, 1996, I captured some video footage of the original exterior.
Audrey continues watching the scene unfold, overjoyed to see her dad struggling.
The scripted dialogue does contain additional lines for Ben where he says Audrey went to the same high school as Laura.
SVEN
(over the translator)
Best nature? We have best nature at home; no
violent crime, crime rate nothing –
HORNE
It is a great injustice to judge our community by this horrible exception to the rule, I have a daughter myself, she’s the same age, she goes to the same high school –
SVEN
Everyone here have gun! Not good!
HORNE
Sir, you are throwing away the investment opportunity of a lifetime –
SVEN
Better that then to throw lifetime away –Â Â Â
HORNE
(to the Translator)
You keep out of this!
Here’s another look at the exterior from August 1996. How I wish I had a time machine!
AUDREY’S WOODEN COLUMN
After the translator is dismissed, Audrey can’t contain her self.
The scene concludes with her watching the failed attempt to keep the Norwegians from departing. The Norwegians are gone! Notice that Audrey has a double piercing in her ear.
This isn’t the last time we’ll see Audrey’s wooden column. Ben Horne has an 8″ X 10″ photo of her standing by the column on his desk in Episode 2004 from Season 2.
A better shot is seen in Episode 2007 when Ben Horne is arrested in his office.
Most likely this was a publicity shot taken during filming in March 1989. It’s wild she is wearing the same pink sweater in both that photo and the video from One Eyed Jacks.
THE NORWEGIANS
Aside from the bell ringing and Julie’s call about the Norwegians leaving, the other memorable element from this scene is the soundtrack.
Titled “The Norwegians,” the track composed by Angelo Badalamenti was first released as a bonus track on the “Twin Peaks – Season Two Music and More” CD release in 2007.
When it was released on June 23, 2011 as part of the Twin Peaks Archive, track notes for the Audrey Horne bundle explained how people could hear it.
“Unveiled as a bonus track from the 2007 ‘Season Two Music and More’ Soundtrack, ‘The Norwegians’ was streamable through the subscription-based www.davidlynch.com until [2010]. For those who owned the season two CD, the access information was hidden before the CDs track one index (accessible by rewinding the disc behind track one of a standalone CD player), where one could hear the Alicia Witt piano-accompanied poem from season two followed by a code to unlock the Norwegian track online.”
David Lynch delivered the code which was “Booth 34, x5149.” Once entered into the phone booth, the track was revealed.
Like the Norwegians, I’m gone. Off to write another article.
