Leland Palmer

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This article is about the fictional character Leland Palmer, for the Broadway actress, see Leland Palmer (actress).

Leland Palmer is a fictional character played by Ray Wise on the David Lynch/Mark Frost television series Twin Peaks, and in the prequel feature filmTwin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

Leland and his family (wife Sarah and daughter Laura) have always been well-known figures in the town of Twin Peaks; they seemed to be the perfect family. When Laura is murdered, Leland’s psychological foundations begin to crumble. After her arrival, Madeleine Ferguson, Laura’s cousin (and spitting image), is of great help to him in learning how to deal with his daughter’s death.

Born February 26, 1944, Leland’s early summers spent at a beach house would change his life forever, when he met a strange neighbour who turned out to be a demonic entity named BOB who would possess him throughout his life. As an adult, he molested and raped Laura throughout her teens, all the while controlled by Bob. It is eventually revealed that Leland killed both his daughter and his niece while under Bob’s control.

Ray Wise's performance as Leland Palmer is one of the strongest in the series: as his character unravels with the growing realization of what he has done, his behavior alternates artfully between that of an anguished father and an insane killer.

Leland is eventually exposed and arrested by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper and Sheriff Harry Truman. He dies in custody following a convoluted series of circumstances in the Sheriff Station on the night of his arrest. At the moment of his death, the memories of his actions while being possessed by BOB return to him. However, Leland also apparently sees a vision of his daughter as he dies. As Cooper explains to the widowed Sarah in the following episode, it was most likely Laura forgiving him and welcoming him into the afterlife.

In the final episode of the series, “Beyond Life and Death,” Cooper encounters what appears to be a doppelgänger of Leland (or at least a representation of some aspect of Leland) in the Black Lodge, who tells him “I didn’t kill anyone.” What exactly is meant by this statement, or by Leland’s sudden appearance, remains unclear. However, it is strongly implied by the episode’s conclusion that in an ironic twist, Cooper himself has now become a new host for BOB.