An FBI agent in a dark suit stands by his car outside a chrome diner, dictating into a microcassette recorder while holding a small box of chocolate bunnies, misty pines behind.

Original artwork, not a still

Dale Cooper

Diane, I'm holding in my hand a small box of chocolate bunnies.

— Twin Peaks • 1990

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The joke is in the disproportion: a murder investigation, and the thing the FBI agent needs to report is a box of candy. It shows Cooper's delight in small pleasures and his habit of treating the ordinary with ceremony, which is why the show feels so warm inside such a dark story. Fans quote the formula as 'Diane, I'm holding in my hand...' whenever they want to announce anything trivial in the grand manner.

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In context

Spoilers for Twin PeaksShow the scene

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper has come to Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of Laura Palmer. In the pilot ("Northwest Passage", 8 April 1990) he opens his first morning in town by dictating a message to Diane, the colleague he reports to, noting the trees, the mileage and the cherry pie at the Lamplighter Inn. Later in the same episode, after a stop at the Double R Diner, he addresses Diane again about the small box of chocolate bunnies in his hand. It is one of many such asides, sent to her throughout the series.

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