Maddy Ferguson

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Madeleine "Maddy" Ferguson is a fictional character in David Lynch's 1990 American TV series Twin Peaks. She is portrayed by Sheryl Lee.

Maddie first appears near the end of the first season, when she travels to Twin Peaks from her hometown of Missoula, Montana. She comes to help her aunt and uncle, Leland and Sarah Palmer, overcome the loss of their daughter, Laura, who had been murdered. Though Maddie seems to be a few years older than Laura, she quickly befriends Donna Hayward and James Hurley, Laura's closest friends, and helps them in their investigation into Laura's death. Maddie, innocent and sweet, stands in stark contrast to Laura, whose personal life is steeped in sex and deception.

Because Maddie is played by the same actress who played Laura, the two characters look identical, excluding Maddie's dark hair and bookish glasses. Maddie even remarks that she and Laura used to pretend they were sisters. At one point, Maddie even appears in a blonde wig in order to lure out one of the suspects.

Like Laura's mother and Laura herself, Maddie has premonitions, including one of a bloodstain on the floor of the Palmers' living room and another of BOB, a demonic entity plaguing the town. Eventually, the identity of Laura's murderer is revealed in the episode "Lonely Souls," when Maddie is herself murdered by Leland Palmer in a violent recreation of Laura's murder. Maddie's death shortly leads to Leland's arrest.

In the week preceeding the night of her murder (i.e., the six prior episodes of season two), Maddy begins to resemble her cousin more and more: her hair (though still dark) straightens, she stops wearing her glasses, and in her carriage and demeanor she behaves more like the character of Laura seen in the prequel movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me than the Maddy shown in the first season. Resemblance to Laura may have been key to Maddy's murder, as it is revealed in Fire Walk With Me that Teresa Banks, the first of Leland's victims, was selected because "you look just like my Laura." Additionally, in the episode where Leland is caught, it is implied that Donna might have become victim #4 when Leland learns that Donna is wearing Laura's sunglasses, given to her earlier by Maddy.

[edit] Relevance in Lynch's work

The notion of pairing similar or identical women with contrasting hair colors and personalities is one that arises frequently in Lynch's work, especially when it pertains to another individual obsessing over their shifting identities.

Other pairs in this trend include Patricia Arquette's characters in Lost Highway and Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring's in Mulholland Drive.

Duality is a strong feature in Twin Peaks, as implied by the name.

[edit] Notes

• Maddie's name is apparently drawn from the main characters of the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo, Det. Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) and Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak). The plot of that film involves a woman assuming an alternate identity by changing her hair color from blonde to brunette, and also her identification with a dead relative.
• Maddie's name also recalls a character in the Edith Wharton novel Ethan Frome: Mattie Silver. The two are described similarly. Furthermore, Mattie also meets a violent end — though not precisely a death — after moving in with her older relatives during an emotionally tense period.
• Maddie hails from Missoula, Montana, which is also the hometown of Twin Peaks creator and director David Lynch.