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“What is Your Name?” – Finale Analysis – Part 2
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return, all episodes. But you really shouldn’t be shocked by that.
The final episode of The Return was met with much controversy, with some heralding it as visionary, and others left feeling angry and cheated. Undoubtedly there were many vagaries and gray areas that people have been pondering ever since. Without further ado, let’s delve into the mysteries lying within Part 18 of Twin Peaks: The Return.
Cooper’s Doppelganger sits in the Black Lodge, stiff, his eyes milky, his body smoldering and engulfed in flames, yet unburnt. He is trapped back in the Lodge and being punished for attempting to avoid returning to the Lodge, as his fate was meant to be by some unknown decree. Meanwhile, MIKE uses electricity to make a copy of Dougie from Cooper.
An important thing to note: The original Dougie was presumably made from the DNA of DoppelCoop, and took on his negative personality traits. However, this version of Dougie was made from the DNA of the Good Dale, and therefore we can conclude that he will be a better father for Sonny Jim and a better husband to Janey-E, who he returns to, as Cooper promised them previously. There is debate in the fan community about whether it really is Dougie who returns to the Joneses, or if it might be the real Cooper, leaving a tulpa in his place. I don’t buy into this theory mostly because I think it would be out-of-character for Cooper to abandon his mission. With all the Doppelgangers and tulpas running around, it can be difficult to keep track of who is who or what, but I think here is a moment where David Lynch was straightforward in giving us a conclusion to the Joneses story.
Let’s take a moment to talk about the Golden Sphere, without going too deep into it as it could fill up several articles of its own. It is interesting to note that both Laura and Dougie are made from golden spheres, though Laura’s is much larger than Dougie’s (But does size really matter?). As Dougie is a tulpa, does this mean Laura is also a tulpa? Does that mean that tulpas can be born the same as ordinary humans? Or does the golden sphere not necessarily denote the creation of a tulpa? Can a being created by one of these spheres also be a human?
As Dougie is embraced by Janey-E and Sonny Jim, the only word he utters in his state of joy is, “Home.” This is a powerful underlying theme of Season 3; returning home. Going back to where it began. And it all began with Laura.
We once again see Cooper leading Laura through the woods, only to hear the sound from Part 1, which heralds Laura’s disappearance. But why? What is this noise? In Part 1, the Fireman plays the sound for Cooper and warns him, “It is in our house now.” This suggests that the sound is caused by whatever is “in our house.” The house could either be the White Lodge, or the Palmer residence. I believe it refers to Judy/Joudy/Jowday being in possession of Sarah Palmer, the house being the Palmer house. If my hunch is correct, this further implies that Judy found Laura, and took her, rather than BOB finding her and murdering her. After Laura vanishes, we hear the same scream from when she vanished within the Black Lodge.
Next, Cooper is back in the Black Lodge, talking to MIKE, which suggests that a time loop is in play here. Has Cooper repeated this mission multiple times? “Is it future, or is it past?” That is the question. MIKE disappears, then reappears, or another version of him appears, in the corner of the room, beckoning to Cooper. They walk through the curtains and meet up again with the Evolution of the Arm, which asks, “Is it the story of the little girl who lived down the lane?” which is a repetition of one of Audrey’s lines, suggesting she has a bigger part in this than is immediately evident. Just what that is remains to be seen. It is also reminiscent of the line from Fire Walk With Me, when the man in the diner asks Agents Desmond and Stanley, “You talking about that little girl that was murdered?”
Cooper does not answer the Arm, and it presses on, “Is it?” We then see the scene of Laura whispering in Cooper’s ear. This might suggest that she is “the little girl who lived down the lane,” but it is not definitive proof. The phrase “little girl” could also be connected to Teresa, Annie, or maybe Audrey. The film The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane is about a young teenager who covers up the murder of her mother and lives by herself in an isolated house, until her landlord’s son discovers her secret and attempts to prey upon her. It contains the Lynchian themes of isolation, small-town mystery, and women in trouble who try to fight their way out. The little girl who lived down the lane could be a blanket statement referring to the women who were sacrifices to the Black Lodge. Audrey’s reference could be coincidental, otherwise she could know something about the Lodge’s rites.
Back in the Black Lodge, Laura vanishes, just like before, and Cooper runs into Leland, who implores him to find Laura. Cooper then walks down the hallway, his hand extended in front of him in a manner stunningly reminiscent of a similar scene in Inland Empire. He seems to be feeling for an exit. He finds one, and leaves the Lodge, emerging in Glastonbury Grove, where Diane is waiting for him. This is the “curtain call” Cooper referred to in the previous episode. He assures her that it is really him, and he asks if it’s really her. This really drives home the frightening fact that you don’t know who you can trust anymore, as there are so many duplicates of people including Doppelgangers, tulpas, and time travel replications. It has been suggested that there is some time-warping here, and this actually happens after the final events of the episode, and is the true ending of Twin Peaks.
It suddenly feels like we’re in another David Lynch movie altogether. Cooper and Diane drive to a desert, and Cooper says he drove 430 miles (although he doesn’t specify the starting point, nor where they ended up). Diane is nervous and repeatedly asks Cooper if he wants to go through with what they’re about to do. Presumably, he told her everything during the car ride, but what we can’t be sure of is what exactly he told her or where he even got the idea from (I’ll get pack to that in a minute, though). He gets out and checks the area, seeming to be feeling the atmosphere for electrical pulses which would be indicative of the presence of a portal. Satisfied, he goes back to the car.
He asks Diane to kiss him, and says, “Once we cross, it could all be different.” After kissing passionately, they begin to drive forward slowly, and electricity begins to pulse and flash, and they go through the portal. Suddenly, it is night. They are driving along the same (more or less) stretch of road. Then, everything goes black. Fade in, exterior of a motel, night. Coop & Diane drive up. He gets out and enters the office, while she waits in the car. Staring out into the desert, Diane sees a duplicate of herself emerge from behind a pillar. Notably, this is another red-haired Diane, not the white-haired tulpa Diane. Could this be Diane’s Doppelganger? Diane seems quite unperturbed. It’s almost as if she knew this would happen. Perhaps because that is not a different Diane, but the same Diane we are following. Let me see if I can put this straight: This is Diane, looking at herself from either earlier or later in the timeline, and she knew this would happen because she has already experienced coming out from behind the pillar and seeing herself in the car. The Fireman very importantly told Cooper, “Remember Richard and Linda.” The word “remember” is important here, as it clearly specifies that this has happened before, and will happen again. Season 3 is one big time loop, everything is recurring and recurring and changing and doubling up on itself. This is most likely why Cooper and Diane know what will happen, they “remember” it from a previous time loop. They “remember” being Richard and Linda.
When Coop exits the office, the other Diane is gone. They then go to a motel and have sex while “My Prayer” by The Platters plays. It is theorized that Cooper and Diane are performing a sex magick ritual, a type of magick often utilized by Jack Parsons and Anton LaVey. In this case, Diane, with her shockingly red hair, would be acting as Cooper’s Scarlet Woman. Some have noted her resemblance to Parsons’s own Scarlet Woman, Marjorie Cameron.
Diane Evans (left) and Marjorie Cameron (right), the Scarlet Women.
The inclusion of the song “My Prayer” adds a tinge of ritual here, and if you’re familiar with my theories on Lynch’s use of sex in film, then you’ll know that Lynchian love scenes have much more than what is on the surface. Obviously apprehensive, Cooper and Diane clearly knew what they were doing and what would happen. They knew they were performing a ritual, and that it would transport them to another world. The implication here is that everything happening in this scene is tied to what the Fireman says in Part 1. He bids Coop to “Remember Richard and Linda” and “430,” as in, remember this event that has technically already happened. This is what you have to go back and do (More confusing time paradox logic here).
Diane is understandably upset while she and Coop are having sex, and covers her face. This is because she remembers the trauma she suffered at the hands of his Doppelganger and is trying not to think about it, but the darkness seeps in, anyway. In the morning, she is gone, and Cooper finds only a note, which reads the following:
“Dear Richard, when you read this, I’ll be gone. Please don’t try to find me. I don’t recognize you anymore. Whatever it was we had together is over. -Linda.”
The implication here is the following: Coop and Diane used sex magick to open a portal to a parallel world, in which versions of them exist, named Richard and Linda. By entering this other world, they have actually merged with their other selves, hence the loss of memory. Lack of recognition is a recurring element in The Return, as well as David Lynch’s other works, most notably Lost Highway where the Mystery Man asks point blank of the protagonist, “What the fuck is your name?” The Return shares many elements with Lost Highway which are worth exploring, but we don’t really have time to get into here. Just take note of the fact that both Lost Highway and The Return have shown us characters having sex in the desert and then switching with parallel versions of themselves. Loss of memory and the inability to recognize familiar people could point to characters merging with these other versions of themselves, causing them to become confused by memories of other lives in other realities. Linda doesn’t recognize Richard anymore because he’s not just Richard anymore, he’s also Cooper, and she’s now also Diane. Even “Richard” seems confused, probably by all these conflicting memories circulating in his mind. People who travel between dimensions, when not Lodge spirits, seem very confused. Just think of Philip Jeffries’ confusion when he appeared in Cole’s office.
[Note: To avoid further confusion, I will continue to call this version of Cooper “Cooper,” rather than Richard. According to the theory I just posited, both are technically accurate, so… let’s just go with that.]
Cooper leaves the hotel, which is different from before, and drives to Odessa, Texas, where he stops at a cafe called Judy’s. Inside, he asks the waitress is there’s “another waitress” who works there. The waitress says there is, but it’s “her third day off,” implying that she’s been missing for three days. Cooper then gets into a fight with three aggressive men with guns, and dispatches them by kicking one in the groin and shooting one in the foot. His behavior here is a bit confusing, as it’s hard to imagine Agent Cooper being so violent. However, he shows kindness to the waitress that is characteristic of Cooper, leading some to posit that this “Richard” version of Coop is a fusion of Agent Cooper and Mr. C. If true, this further suggests that all versions of Cooper are merging, perhaps including ones we’ve never heard of before, like Richard.
Cooper then goes to visit the other waitress at her address (provided by the waitress at the diner). In front of the house is an electrical pole with the number 6 on it, just like the one at the Fat Trout Trailer Park, suggesting a sort of tie between dimensions. Perhaps this is the other world’s version of the Fat Trout Trailer Park? Or, could one use a portal at Fat Trout to get here? There are some odd objects in the front yard as well, including what looks like a noose and a small bronze orb. When Coop knocks at the door, it is answered by Carrie Page, who looks just like the older Laura Palmer we saw in the Black Lodge. Coop says he’s with the FBI and Carrie asks “Did you find him?” It’s never explained who she might be looking for, a lover, a family member, a friend… However, it’s very clear that she’s in some serious trouble, as, when she invites Cooper in, there’s the corpse of a man dead of a gunshot to the head sitting in her chair. She says she has no idea who Laura Palmer is, but seems to agree that her parents are named Sarah and Leland (though this is open to interpretation). Coop tells her he wants to take her to her mother’s house, which was her house, “at one time.” This reminds us of Ronette Pulaski/American Girl in an earlier episode warning Cooper, “My mother is coming.” This strengthens the idea that the “mother” is Judy, who is possessing Sarah Palmer. In any case, Carrie agrees to go with Coop because she’s “got to get out of Dodge anyway.”
Carrie Page’s name is very interesting, because it seems to be tied to the third still-missing page of Laura Palmer’s diary. In a sense, Carrie Page is “the missing page.” The identity of the dead man in the chair is up in the air. Carrie also mentioned to Cooper, “Somebody like you comes around, and I tell him to fuck off.” What does that mean? Who has been coming around? FBI agents? Have other parallel Cooper’s been showing up looking for her, from other dimensions? Or is someone else trying to hunt her down for unknown reasons? Have they been sending hitmen after her? Perhaps she told the man in the chair “to fuck off,” in a sense. It is worth noting that the dead man seems to have a mass on his stomach, which could be a BOB-tumor emerging, suggesting that the man was the host of this world’s BOB, meaning that BOB is potentially defeated in both Coop’s world and Richard’s.
Here’s where things get very, very, very confusing. Very. Coop and Carrie drive to this world’s version of the Palmer house, only to be met by a woman neither of them recognize, played by the woman who owns the house in real life. She doesn’t know who Sarah Palmer is, and says the house was previously owned by a Mrs. Chalfont, and that her name is Alice Tremond. There are a couple of things to note here. Firstly, the name Alice is also used in Lost Highway for the parallel dimension version of Renee. The name is, in both cases, a reference to Alice in Wonderland, a story in which a girl named Alice travels to another, fantastical world, and has trouble holding onto who she is. The names further reinforce the importance of interdimensional travel, as the Tremonds/Chalfonts are heavily involved in characters traveling from their worlds into the Black Lodge. They give Laura the painting that makes her dream of the Black Lodge, they own the trailer under which Chet Desmond finds the Owl Ring before disappearing, and Donna speaks with them in what seems to be an alternate dimension version of a house she visits while working for Meals on Wheels. In short, the Tremonds/Chalfonts are proficient dimensional travelers, which is important here. Portals seem to be near whenever the Chalfonts and Tremonds are.
After chatting with Alice, Cooper and Carrie turn away and walk back towards the street. Cooper suddenly seems disturbed, and asks, “What year is this?” More of the confusion from traveling between dimensions, as this is highly reminiscent of Philip Jeffries in Fire Walk With Me, asking, “May? 1989?” Then, we heard Sarah Palmer’s distorted voice calling for Laura from the house they just left. Carrie turns and looks, and, in that moment, it seems that all of Laura’s memories come flooding into her, and she screams in horror at the revelation. All of the lights in the house go off, and fade to black.
Now, what does this mean? Did Cooper succeed? Did he fail? Is Judy defeated? Is everyone a tulpa? Electricity is of course an important part of the Twin Peaks mythos, and the fact that the electricity shorts out the moment Carrie screams is significant. It implies a loss of power to the Lodge spirits. However, even inferring this leaves us with many questions. What is this dimension, exactly? Is it an alternate timeline? Is it a dimension created to trap Laura? Is it our world? An illusion? None of the above? The episode ends with Laura (or Carrie?) whispering in Cooper’s ear in the Black Lodge, and we still can’t hear what she said.
I think this finale was purposefully constructed to be confusing and inconclusive, to keep the mystery alive, and encourage us to believe that the spirit of Twin Peaks will never really end. I think Lynch and Frost want us to continue theorizing, and, especially in Lynch’s case, believe that what’s important is not definitive answers, but what the show means to us as viewers, as we are taking the journey with the characters, and experiencing their trials, their joys, their failures and victories, loves and heartbreaks, with them. Done right, film and television can change peoples’ lives, and I believe that this was Lynch’s true goal for The Return, and the finale in particular. I don’t know what my conclusive belief is about the ending. I have my clues, my leads, my theories, and here they are for you, to help guide you, should you want them to, to your own conclusions. This has been an incredible journey we have all taken, and, in our various ways, we have all been changed by it. Here’s to keeping the mystery alive.
3 Comments Posted in David Lynch, Mark Frost, Television, Twin Peaks Tagged #PeaksFreaks, #TwinPeaksFreaks, Audrey Horne, Carrie Page, Dale Cooper, Diane, Doppelganger, Dougie, Evolution of the Arm, Finale, Fire Walk With Me, Fireman, Janey-E, Judy, Laura Palmer, MIKE, Richard, Sarah Palmer, Teresa Banks, The Giant, The One Armed Man, Tulpa
“The Past Dictates the Future” Finale Analysis – Part One
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return.
The two-part finale for Twin Peaks: The Return left many fans reeling, whether thrilled or dismayed. It’s taken a long time to process it, but now that I think I have some solid theories to present to you, let’s not waste any more time, and jump right into my analysis of Part 17, with a separate article analyzing Part 18 to come.
The episode begins where we left off with Gordon, Tammy, and Albert after the disappearance of the Diane Tulpa. Gordon has a moment of exposition so that he can retcon the ending of Season 2. He talks about Judy, who’s actually Jowday, and Phillip Jeffries’ involvement with her, or it. This leads to some seeming inconsistencies with the way Judy is referenced in Fire Walk With Me and The Missing Pieces, where we are strongly led to believe that Judy is a human woman. A way of explaining this away is that Jowday was an inhabiting spirit, which called itself “Judy” while it was possessing a female body.
Gordon also mentions that Phillip Jeffries “doesn’t really exist anymore, at least not in the normal sense.” Of course we know that Phillip Jeffries is inside some kind of machine now. I think this has something to do with the altered timeline, which has all but erased Jeffries from existence. That’s why Albert and Gordon barely remember him, and why Jeffries will later mention something about Gordon remembering “the unofficial version.” I believe this indicates that Gordon is, to an extent, aware of the altered timeline. The “official version” of the timeline is the one we see in the show: “The unofficial version” is the one we saw in Fire Walk With Me, which is being erased.
Then comes a big reveal: The “two birds with one stone” line was actually said by Cooper 25 years ago to Gordon. He told Gordon that if he disappeared like Jeffries and Desmond, to do everything possible to find him. He said he was “trying to kill two birds with one stone.” This could mean Cooper was trying to take out both BOB and Jowday. This retcon calls into question just how much of the past events Agent Cooper has actually been in control of. It’s heavily implied that his entry into the Black Lodge was anticipated, and made part of his plan with Briggs and Cole. For unknown reasons, it was kept secret from Albert. However, Gordon says that he isn’t sure if the plan is unfolding properly, as he expected to hear from the real Cooper by now. I believe the setback to the plan was the unanticipated creation of Dougie by DoppelCoop, which hindered Cooper.
We return to the jail, where Naido and the drunk have finally fallen asleep, so Chad is able to execute his escape. Now, much has been made of the drunk and his potential connections to Chad, Billy, and Naido, and why he disappears later. I honestly don’t think we have enough information to go on with him. There’s a decent possibility that he’s Billy, but he may also just be a weird character put in by Lynch for his odd humor. Sort of like the sweeping scene, but a character instead. Admittedly, however, it is odd that, when the drunk wakes up, Chad is discouraged from his escape attempt, and, later, when the drunk passes out but everyone else is awake, Chad continues his escape attempt. Also, judging by his weird sores and injuries, he may be addicted to the Sparkle drug. It’s also very curious why he isn’t in a hospital…
Meanwhile, Jerry turns up naked in Wyoming. This could just be for comedic effect, but the first thing it made me think was that he had been struck by lightning, which can sometimes knock the clothes off of people. Now, you may point out that, if it was lightning, there would have been obvious signs, and it would have been mentioned. I think there were no signs because it wasn’t literal lightning, but a spiritual lightning. In Native American lore, lightning represents a spiritual awakening, usually granted by a thunder bird. You can read more about the connection between the thunder birds and Twin Peaks here. Perhaps Jerry had an epiphany?
DoppelCoop’s coordinates take him to Jack Rabbit’s Palace. He approaches the pool of liquid gold next to the lone sycamore and time begins to skip as the portal opens. DoppelCoop makes it into the White Lodge, but Briggs has laid a trap for him. This is probably part of the plan he put together with Cooper 25 years ago. DoppelCoop is caught in a machine, and, instead of making it to the Palmer house like he planned, the Fireman sends DoppelCoop to the Sheriff’s Station, for the final confrontation. We see many of the dome-shaped machines working in a room, as DoppelCoop is transported away.
As he arrives, Naido sits bolt upright. When Andy and Lucy see him, they assume he’s Agent Cooper and are excited, until Andy remembers his vision from his meeting with the Fireman, in which he’s leading Lucy down the hallway. However, he doesn’t seem to know what to make of this. But once Agent Cooper refuses coffee, I think that clues Andy in that something’s wrong. He runs to get Hawk and tell him. Meanwhile, Chad is executing his big escape in the jail. Naido wakes up the drunk, who begins tearing the tube out of his nose angrily. Andy enters the jail, looking for Hawk, and gets held up by Chad, only to be rescued by Freddy. Upstairs, Lucy gets a call from Agent Cooper, and figures out how cell phones work.
This ongoing gag about Lucy and cell phones, I think, is a joke about Twin Peaks, both the show and the town, being perpetually stuck in the 1950s. It’s also a little play on the existence of Doppelgangers, and a person being in two places at once.
Anyway, Lucy turns bad ass and guns down DoppelCoop, which is what Andy’s vision was foretelling. The real Cooper, via phone call, warns Frank Truman not to touch the body, while Andy brings the occupants of the jail cell, Naido, James, and Freddie, but notably not the drunk, into the Sheriff’s office. He was probably previously instructed to do so by the Fireman. Then, three Woodsmen show up and begin trying to resurrect DoppelCoop. I believe that the blood they rub on his face is actually a representation of Garmonbozia (remember, it was represented as blood during the ending of Fire Walk With Me). This should revitalize him, but it doesn’t work. Instead, just as the real Cooper arrives, the BOB tumor erupts from DoppelCoop’s stomach and attacks Cooper. Freddy steps forward and challenges BOB, narrowly defeating him, fulfilling his destiny.
One of the most commonly raised complaints about Part 17 is the showdown between Freddie and the BOB tumor. Fans complained that it was ridiculous and mindless — too easy for the big showdown with BOB himself. This uncharacteristic anticlimax led fans to wonder if Lynch was making a joke, perhaps about superhero franchises, where problems are often solved by punching things. An interesting theory says that, had the series continued in the 90’s, Nadine, who had super strength at the time, would have been to one to punch BOB out. Once her story arc was altered, Freddie was supposedly created to fill the void.
But why is Freddie, the chosen warrior of the White Lodge, from England? It’s so seemingly out of the blue. However, I think there’s a reasonable explanation.
In the past, the Black Lodge has made good work of removing the agents of the White Lodge. They took Agents Jeffries, Desmond, Stanley, and even Cooper. They killed Bill Hastings when he started to talk. They took the real Diane and replaced her with a Tulpa agent. They killed Laura Palmer. They even took Audrey, who was a close friend of Agent Cooper’s and may have had a larger role to play. They possessed Sarah Palmer. They killed Major Briggs. The White Lodge needed to find agents that the Black Lodge wouldn’t see coming. They used Andy and Lucy, two of the last people who might be perceived of as a threat to the Black Lodge. They may have brought Laura Palmer back from the dead. So someone far from Twin Peaks, who the Black Lodge couldn’t get to and corrupt, was an ideal candidate.
Cooper puts the ring on his Doppelganger’s finger, and its body disappears. Cooper asks Frank for his old room key, saying that Major Briggs told him that “Sheriff Truman would have it.” This strengthens the idea that Briggs had some ability to time travel through his dealings with the White Lodge. As the FBI arrive, Cooper notices Naido, and his face becomes interposed over the following events. This is because Cooper, has dreamed all of this before. In effect, he already watched himself do all these things, that’s how he knows what will happen. The interposed face is the dreaming Cooper watching all of this happen.
Next is a moment that almost seems like exposition, but it’s all very confusing exposition. Bobby arrives, as do Albert, Gordon, and Tammy, and Cooper launches into a speech. He explains that Garland Briggs “was well-aware of what is going on today.” He then says, “Now, there are some things that will change. The past dictates the future.” This is a fairly clear indication that Cooper intends to alter the timeline, or knows that someone else will. Naido runs over to Cooper and touches hands with him, and the curse placed on her by the Black Lodge burns away, with much black smoke. The facade cracks, revealing Diane, who has candy-red hair. It would seem that, after attacking her and taking her to the Black Lodge, DoppelCoop trapped Diane in the form of Naido, who could not communicate, and was disguised so Cooper couldn’t recognize her, then made a Tulpa to take her place in the outside world.
People have drawn a connection between Diane and Jack Parsons’s second wife, Marjorie Cameron, who also had neon red hair. Parsons believed that Marjorie was an “elemental” created by a ritual he’d performed, who was destined to help him with his magic.
Cooper and Diane kiss passionately, and the interposed image of Coop’s face disappears, suggesting this is where his dream ended. However, the face reappears a moment later. Coop asks Diane if she remembers everything, and she says she does. To me, this implies that she is also part of Cooper’s plan. Time starts glitching, as if it is stuck in one moment. With much distortion, the Cooper face says, “We live inside a dream.” The “regular” Cooper says to everyone that he hopes he sees them again, then stresses, “every one of you.” This suggests that he knows some of these characters do not exist in other timelines.
Then, everything fades to black. Coop and Gordon call out to each other, almost as if asking, “Are you ready?” because they next move is together, along with Diane. They walk through the darkness and enter what seems to be a basement, filled with machines, like James saw a few episodes ago. However, it’s all very dreamlike as this basement seems to be made up of various other environments. It’s reminiscent of the basement BOB appeared in in the original series, as well as the one James saw, and includes the door to Coop’s old room at the Great Northern. We also hear the hum that Ben and Beverly have been hearing, which apparently indicates the nearness of another dimension. Some have suggested that this is the basement of the Great Northern, and the old key was repurposed for a door down there once the switch was made to key cards.
Cooper’s face fades out, for good this time. We see many doors down here, which to me suggests different dimensions are accessible from here. Coop enters one door and tells Gordon and Diane not to follow him. He looks back and them and says, “I’ll see you at the curtain call,” a reference to his meeting with Diane at the portal of the Black Lodge, the “curtain call” obviously referring to the red curtains in the waiting room. It also has a more meta interpretation, as the curtain call can also indicate the part of a stage production, after the play when the curtains go down, and the actors come out to take a bow. I noticed also that the black paint near the door he enters is speckled with white and looks remarkably similar to the background when we see him falling through non-existence.
Cooper meets up with MIKE, who recites the Fire Walk With Me poem, which causes electricity to flash. They are transported to The Dutchman’s to visit Phillip Jeffries. We see the Jumping Man leave down the stairway, which may suggest some collusion between he and Jeffries.
Cooper gives Jeffries the date of Laura Palmer’s murder, and MIKE begins shaking his head. Perhaps he is sad, thinking of what happened, or perhaps he sees the folly of what Cooper is trying to do. Jeffries says he’ll find the date for them, and says, “It’s slippery in here.” The way he says it makes it clear that the two statements are connected, but what does the latter mean? I think it means that time is “slippery,” that it often glitches and is hard to keep hold of. He tells Cooper to say hi to Gordon, who will apparently “remember the unofficial version.” Read this as: “He will have residual memories of me from the erased timeline.”
Jeffries begins to spout some confusing dialog here.
“This is where you’ll find Judy. There may be someone. Did you… ask me this?”
I’ll get back to that in the next article, though. Bear with me. He then shows them the Owl Cave insignia, which turns into an eight, then an infinity symbol, with a small dot traveling along it. This suggests an infinite loop, that Cooper has done this before. After the dot moves along the lemniscate for a moment, there’s a mechanical clank and it stops, as Jeffries finds the right time for Cooper. He says, “You can go in now,” mirroring when, in the Lodge, MIKE tells him, “You can go out now.” He then implores Cooper to remember, probably, to remember the alternate timeline, which holds some pertinent information. MIKE, who has been shaking his head all this time, says, “Electricity.” Right on queue, electricity crackles and time jumps as the energy is produced to transport Cooper back to the night Laura was murdered.
We see events replay. Laura leaving with James to the woods, then James leaving her. This time, Cooper is watching. He was all along. Laura even sees him, and screams. After James leaves and Laura is alone in the woods, Cooper appears to her. She recognizes him from her dreams, and takes his hand. Her body, wrapped in plastic, disappears from the shore. He tells her, “We’re going home,” suggesting that he plans on taking her back to her house.
We cut to the Palmer house in what seems to be the 25 years later time period, and Sarah Palmer, who’s been possessed by Jowday all along, grabs the iconic photo of Laura, and, wailing the whole time, attempts to destroy it with a broken liquor bottle. Time skips, and no matter how many times she tries to stab the photo, she can’t damage it. In short, Jowday wants Laura dead, but cannot harm her. Laura is protected.
However, as Cooper is leading Laura by the hand through the woods, periodically checking to make sure she’s still there, we hear the sounds that the Fireman played for Cooper at the beginning of Part 1, and Laura vanishes. We hear Laura’s death scream, and Cooper looks despondent. Jowday couldn’t kill Laura, so she took her.
But, where is Laura now? Will Coop see Gordon and Diane again? What was Phillip Jeffries talking about? Find out in the thrilling conclusion, when I analyze Part 18 of Twin Peaks: The Return!
7 Comments Posted in David Lynch, Mark Frost, Television, Twin Peaks Tagged #PeaksFreaks, #TwinPeaksFreaks, Agent Cooper, Agent Preston, Albert Rosenfield, Analysis, Andy Brennan, Black Lodge, Deputy Hawk, Diane, Doppelganger, Finale, Fire Walk With Me, Freddie Sykes, Garmonbozia, Gordon Cole, How do cell phones work?, Jack Parsons, James Marshall, Jerry Horne, Judy, Killer BOB, Laura Palmer, Lucy Brennan, Major Briggs, Marjorie Cameron, MIKE, Naido, Philip Gerard, Phillip Jeffries, The Giant, Theories, Thunderbird, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks 2017, White Lodge
Drink Full and Descend: The Secrets Revealed in Part 8 and What They Mean
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return Parts 1 – 8.
Since the airing of Part 8, the episode has proved to be the most divisive one yet among fans, with some citing it as the most revolutionary thing to air on network television, with others dismissing it as arbitrary nonsense. For those looking to delve deeper into the mysteries and coded messages of this episode, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take this journey together, and see if we can’t make some sense of things.
The episode begins where the last episode left off, with Doppelganger Cooper riding in the car with Ray Monroe driving. They dispose of a police tracking device, DoppelCoop lies and says that Darya is waiting for them, tells Ray they should go to a place called “The Farm,” and they drive off the highway to a secluded area. DoppelCoop gets out a pistol with the intention of killing Ray, but Warden Murphy, who had the pistol placed in the glove compartment as part of their deal, has double crossed him, removing the firing pin from DoppelCoop’s gun. Ray pulls out a gun of his own and shoots DoppelCoop, who falls to the ground, fatally wounded. A fog appears, and out of the darkness emerges the soot-covered woodmen we’ve seen in the South Dakota murder mystery. Some begin dancing in a manner reminiscent of the Jumping Man from Fire Walk With Me and some begin pawing at DoppelCoop, digging through his guts and smearing his face with blood. They eventually pull a tumor with BOB’s face on it out of DoppelCoop’s stomach. It’s pretty safe to say this represents BOB himself, the “inhabiting spirit,” living like a parasite within his host. I don’t think he’s a literal tumor inside his vessels, but this is how it manifests to the terrified Ray, who watches, paralyzed with fear. Eventually he summons the strength to run to his car and drive off. The fog disperses.
Ray leaves a voicemail for Philip Jeffries (or who he thinks is Philip Jeffries). His speech is slurred with fear, and I had a hard time understanding, so I took the trouble of transcribing it for anyone who might need help.
“Philip? It’s Ray. Uh… I think he’s dead. But, he’s found some kind of help, so, I’m not a hundred percent. And I, and I, uh… I saw something in Cooper. It may be the key to what this is all about. …Yeah, I told him where I’m going, so if he comes after me, I’ll get him there.”
We then cut to the Roadhouse, where an Emcee introduces “The” Nine Inch Nails (I’ve been a fan of them for over ten years and I’ve never heard them referred to as “THE” Nine Inch Nails, so I’m wondering if this was a mistake by the Emcee). The lyrics are from a song written back in 2016 for their album Not The Actual Events, so it’s possible it was written for The Return, as Reznor’s involvement had been announced by then. I love his performance here, because it seems animalistic and reminds me of the Jumping Man a little bit.
As with all of the band performances so far in the show, the lyrics seem to relate to occurrences in the episode. Here they are, for reference:
You dig in places till your fingers bleed
Spread the infection, where you spill your seed
I can’t remember what she came here for
I can’t remember much of anything anymore
She’s gone, she’s gone, she’s gone away
A little mouth opened up inside
Yeah, I was watching on the day she died
We keep licking while the skin turns black
Cut along the length, but you can’t get the feeling back
(Are you still here?)
-Nine Inch Nails, “She’s Gone Away”
I’ll get back to these lyrics as the episode unfolds, but we’ll say for now that this is a dead on description of the relationship between Laura and BOB. Returning to the episode, we see the supposedly dead DoppelCoop suddenly sit up and open his eyes. What could this mean? DoppelCoop and BOB are now separated. Presumably, the woodsmen took him back to the Black Lodge (We’ll see later that they seem to be handlers for BOB). A few episodes back, MIKE told Cooper, “You’ve been tricked. Now one of you must die.” Does this count as a death? Does this mean we’ll see the promised return of Agent Cooper next episode? Will he finally wake up from his Dougie-induced stupor? We can only guess for now. Unfortunately, the episode cuts before we can find out more. Fortunately, we get a lot of back story in what remains of the episode. It’s just a matter of deciphering it, using knowledge gained from The Secret History of Twin Peaks, and a bit of educated guesswork.
July 16th, 1945. White Sands, New Mexico. 5:29 AM (MWT).
The Atomic Bomb goes off during its first test. Destroying the environment and murdering countless human beings, the A-Bomb is one of the greatest evils that men do. We travel inside the blast, going down to the atomic level and witnessing the explosion of atoms and particles. Space itself it torn open, and we see…
…a convenience store.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the famous convenience store we’ve been hearing about. It was mentioned by MIKE in the original series, and then we saw the Dugpas meeting above it in Fire Walk With Me. Now we see the exterior of it, through the newly torn rift in the dimensions. It’s teeming with the woodsmen. This tells us two things: 1) They are probably the same as the three woodsmen from Fire Walk With Me, and 2) They are probably Dugpas. Time distorts and lights flash as they move in, out, and around the convenience store.
We then see the Experiment, the monster from inside the glass box, floating in empty space. She vomits out a strand of what looks like creamed corn, inside which are little eggs and the tumor with BOB’s face. This seems to lend credence to the theory that the monster is BABALON, the “Mother of Abominations” which Jack Parsons wrote about. In The Secret History of Twin Peaks, Jack Parsons speaks to Douglas Milford, and mentions White Sands, Nevada, and how the Atomic Bomb tests made the area perfect for a ritual he plans to do, in which, at the behest of the Goddess BABALON, an Elemental Spirit will be summoned. Parsons calls this Ritual “The Working,” and planned to open up a “second” gate out in the desert. Where the first gate is, we aren’t told, but this Elemental could very well be BOB.
The creamed corn travels through the atomic blast and the tumor becomes a gold sphere, like the kind that emerged from Dougie. This object is directly linked with the creation of beings by the Black and White Lodges. We then overlook the same purple ocean which Cooper saw in Part 3. In the middle of it is a tall rock, atop which is a palace. We close up on a narrow window and look through it, into the palace. Inside we see a scene reminiscent of a hotel from the 1930s, which may be the same room we see the Giant and Cooper talking in at the beginning of Part 1, as we see the same gramophone sitting next to the sofa. There’s also another strange bell device, like the kind Naido threw the switch on before throwing herself into space in Part 3. A glamorously dressed woman named Senorita Dido sits on a couch, swaying to some music.
Quick aside on the correlations with the mythical character Dido: After being robbed of her inheritance by her brother, Dido fled to the land of King Iarbas, and asked that he grant her land to live on. He agreed to give her the amount of land that she could encircle with a piece of oxhide. So Dido cut the oxhide into fine strips, and surrounded a nearby mountain with it. There, she founded what would become the prosperous city of Carthage. So, here we can see some minor similarities, in that they both live in palatial buildings atop mountains. It’s not much, but it’s there.
The bell-device starts buzzing, and the Giant emerges from behind it. He examines it, checking the gauges on the side, and then pressed a button on it, which causes it to stop buzzing. I think of this along the lines of a phone, and the Giant basically just said, “I’ll take it in the other room.” He leaves the sitting room, goes up some stairs, and enters a theater which looks to be the same as Club Silencio (it’s the same shooting location, I believe). If you’re a fan of the Lynchverse theory, this should send chills down your spine. There’s another bell device in here. On the screen, the Giant witnesses the atomic blast, the convenience store, and the Experiment expelling BOB. In response, he levitates and expels some golden lights from his mouth as Senorita Dido enters the room and watches on awe. A gold orb containing the soul of Laura Palmer floats down to her, and she kisses it and sends it on its way to Earth. This is a pretty clear sign that Laura was created in some way by the White Lodge in order to oppose BOB. She may have been destined to die all along, in order to enter the White Lodge and help stop him. Now, I don’t think Laura was “manufactured” like Dougie, but, rather, seeded. Laura was a real person who was born and lived and died, whereas Dougie probably sprang forth fully-formed, and disintegrated rather than dying normally as a human.
Now, back to the New Mexico desert. It’s 11 years after the atomic blast. One of the eggs released by the Experiment is now hatching. From it emerges a strange creature that is a fusion of a locust and a frog. It begins to make its way through the desert. This bug is, most likely, an embryonic BOB, searching for his first host. One resourceful Redditor made the connection between the creature and this legend from Chinook mythology, which lines up with much of the Twin Peaks mythos.
Meanwhile, two teens are walking home from a date.
Now, I want to address this once and for all. Despite popular theories, this cannot be Sarah and Leland Palmer, nor Margaret Lanterman, as Leland and Margaret are said to have been born, raised, and died in Twin Peaks. Leland’s whole family is from Washington state. All I can find out about Sarah’s background is that she went to college in Washington state, where she met Leland. There’s no reason for any of them to be in New Mexico at this time, and it makes even less sense that BOB would be possessing either Sarah or Margaret. It is far more likely that these are the Robertsons, who, when Leland Palmer is a child, have a summer house at Pearl Lake, and transfer the inhabiting spirit to him.
The girl finds a penny on the ground and gets excited because she says it’s good luck. We’ve seen quite a few coins of significance this season, and I can only guess what it could mean, if anything. It’s possibly all a coincidence. It’s worth noting, however, that the girl rubs her thumb over the image of Lincoln, and the actor who plays the main Woodsman, Robert Broski, specializes in Abraham Lincoln impersonations.
Robert Broski, a.k.a. the Woodsman, as Abraham Lincoln.
Elsewhere in the same area, the Woodsman from the South Dakota jail cell drifts down from pure air. More appear, and they stop two cars on the highway, the sound of crackling electricity following them. What happened to the people in the first car, we don’t see. They approach the second car, and the Woodsman, unlit cigarette hanging from his lips, asks the couple, “Got a light?” This is similar to the phrase “Fire, walk with me,” as both are requests for fire. He repeats this question a few times, and time seems to slow down for the people in the car as the woman screams. Her slowed-down shriek of horror is similar to Maddy’s screams as she is being attacked by BOB in Season 2, suggesting that time distortions follow the Dugpas.
The man in the car seems hypnotized by the Woodsman, unable to move or stop from staring at him, until he manages to break the spell, and, wisely, drives out of there before the woodsmen can surround the car. They seemingly escape unscathed, as the woodsmen continue into town to fulfill their purpose. They take over a radio station, killing the only two occupants. The way the Woodsman kills the pair is similar to the old style of electric execution chairs. He grabs the top of their skull and an electric charge goes into their brain, causing it to bleed. He finishes by crushing their skulls. The Woodsman takes over the radio booth, and recites a spell over their air waves.
“This is the water
And this is the well
Drink full and descend
The horse is the white of the eyes
And dark within.”
This repeats several times, and let me come back to it in a moment. As he repeats the words, people listening to the broadcast collapse. Whether they die or simply fall unconscious, I can’t say. The girl from the date earlier, who is now home sitting in bed, goes to turn off the radio, but, seemingly hypnotized, just goes to sleep, allowing the flying frog to come in through her window and crawl down her throat, presumably to grow into the BOB-tumor inside of her. This is the story of how BOB came to our plain of existence in this era. This was the purpose the woodsmen needed to fulfill. They came to the desert to make sure BOB found a host, and, now that he has, they depart, for the time being. These creatures seem to be BOB’s caretakers in some way, as they were there when he found his first host, and they appeared when his last host died (or… nearly died). Do they answer to a higher power? Are they looking out for BOB due to the orders of the mother monster? Perhaps…
Now, let’s analyze some lyrics, which, as a music geek, I love to do. We’ll start with the spell the Woodsman recites. “The water” may be the inhabiting spirit, and “the well” probably means the source of the spirit, the Experiment we saw expelling the eggs from her mouth. The Woodsman gives the command to the host to swallow the frog-bug whole, so that it can take her over, and she can descend into darkness. The horse reference is harder to connect, and some theorize it has to do with the drugging of Sarah Palmer, as she is the one who saw the white horse in the original series. I am more wont to connect it to the white horse being death. The horse is white, like the pale eyes of the Doppelgangers, and it is a representation of death, so it is dark like oblivion. This part of the spell could be causing the death/unconsciousness of the non-host listeners.
Now, to the NIN song. This part, I don’t think is necessary, but fun to analyze. The act of digging in places “’til your fingers bleed” sounds a lot like hardcore drug addict behavior, which may tie in to Laura’s drug problem. The infecting and seed spilling is all about Leland and BOB’s attempt to jump from his body to Laura’s. And, of course, Laura’s gone away… or maybe the host is the one he’s talking about disappearing as BOB takes over? The mouth opening part is a nice foreshadow of the girl swallowing the frog-bug. “[T]he skin turns black” is a fairly good description of the monochrome woodsmen. The question ate the end, “are you still here?” I think is actually DoppelCoop wondering if BOB is still with him. And that’s a question we’ll all have on our minds until July 9th.
Well, that about sums up my analysis. What an episode that was! If you have any questions about something I missed, please post in the comments below!
2 Comments Posted in David Lynch, Mark Frost, Movies, Twin Peaks Tagged #PeaksFreaks, #TwinPeaksFreaks, Agent Cooper, Babalon, Chinook, Doppelganger, Dugpa, Fire Walk With Me, Jack Parsons, Killer BOB, Leland Palmer, Margaret Lanterman, MIKE, Mythology, Nine Inch Nails, Part 8, Philip Jeffries, Robert Broski, Robertson, Sarah Palmer, Senorita Dido, The Giant, Theories, Trent Reznor, Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks 2017, Woodsman
Two Birds With One Stone: What is the Importance of Richard and Linda? (UPDATED)
Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return episodes 1 – 7.
In Twin Peaks: The Return – Part 5, we were introduced to a particularly despicable new character, who assaults and threatens a woman, is involved in shady dealings with a corrupt police officer, and, perhaps most devious of all, smokes in a non-smoking area. Many fans were shocked and dismayed to see this character credited as Richard Horne, the potential offspring of fan favorite Audrey. But is he really? What is the importance of Richard in the new series? Why does the Giant mention his name to Cooper?
The first question we have, of course, is, just how is Richard Horne related to the Hornes that we know? Let’s examine all the possibilities.
If he’s not a cousin, related to some branch of the Horne family we’ve never seen before, then he must be the son of either Ben, Jerry, Johnny, or Audrey. Johnny is perhaps the least likely candidate, though not out of the question, as his mental condition complicates social interactions. Richard could always be a bastard son of either Ben or Jerry, as both are well-known philanderers, or Jerry could have had a child with a wife or girlfriend (Maybe Heba?) Of course, Ben and Sylvia could have had another child, but considering the state of their marriage, especially after the debacle at the Haywards’, I’d say this is even less likely than Johnny being the father.
The most probable situation is that Audrey is Richard’s mother, which leaves the question of paternity. The fact that Richard has his mother’s name implies an absent father. Audrey did have sex with Jack Wheeler before he departed for South America, but I find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t tell Jack he was a father, or that he wouldn’t come back for him. Jack seemed like an honorable enough guy, I doubt he’d abandon his child. Something could, of course, have happened to Jack, preventing him from ever returning. But there’s no way Jack was Audrey’s only suitor. Could Bobby be the father? He and Audrey did have some flirtatious moments in season 2. But, as bad as Bobby has been in the past, he seems to have turned over a new leaf, and I don’t think Bobby would be absent from his son’s life. It could also be someone we’ve never heard of, who Audrey met in the aftermath of season 2. But there’s one final, disturbing possibility.
Sherilyn Fenn in a Twin Peaks photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly.
In Part 7 of The Return, Doc Hayward mentions that, after the events of the season 2 finale, he saw Cooper’s Doppelganger leaving the ICU. When questioned about why Cooper would be in the ICU, Doc says that he thought Cooper was visiting Audrey, who was in a coma after the bank explosion. Could it be that Cooper’s Doppelganger impregnated Audrey while she was comatose? The possibility is horrifying, but makes a lot of sense.
Before I continue, I want to address the idea that Cooper was actually visiting Annie, to steal back the Owl Ring, or try to kill her, and the mention of Audrey is just to throw us off. To me, this just doesn’t stand up to closer examination. Why mention Audrey, and not Annie? They had already talked about how Annie was with Cooper the night they both entered the Black Lodge, so why wouldn’t Doc think Cooper might be visiting Annie? I’m not saying that Doppelcoop didn’t want to get the ring back ( he obviously does get it, since Dougie has it later,) but, firstly, it’s no longer with Annie, it’s with one of the nurses, and secondly, mentioning Audrey then makes no sense. Why would Lynch and Frost bring her up for the first time in the new series if she was just a red herring? I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to mention her here and now. I think if he had been visiting Annie, it would have been a time to be direct. And if he had been trying to kill Annie, I think Doc also would have mentioned something about it, either that Annie was dead, or that there was trouble in the ICU immediately after, or something else. SOMETHING. No. I think Lynch and Frost mentioned Audrey because she is important here, and they want us to think about her.
I think, especially in the scheme of the narrative, it makes the most sense for Richard to be the spawn of Cooper’s Doppelganger. It fits. It would explain Richard’s tendency for evil actions (although many characters are evil, without such an excuse), the fact that he has his mother’s surname, and why the Giant mentions him to Cooper in the first scene of the first episode. He is clearly important. All this would make sense if he was Cooper’s son. But, the Giant also says it is important to remember someone named Linda, who is mentioned in Part 6 of The Return. What does she have to do with Cooper and Richard?
For the sake of thoroughness, I want to throw out the idea that Richard is from a previously unseen branch of the Horne family, and Linda could be his mother. Someone has also suggested that Linda is actually Audrey in hiding, and that she was crippled after the bank explosion, hence why she needs a wheel chair. As of now, I don’t have a lot of evidence to support that theory, so let’s move on.
My theory is that Richard and Linda are both the children of Cooper. They are the “two birds,” and Cooper is the “one stone.” Richard is the son of Audrey and Cooper’s Doppelganger, conceived when Audrey was in a coma after the bank explosion. Linda is the daughter of the Good Dale and Annie, conceived before they entered the Lodge at the end of season 2. I think Linda is also a soldier who was crippled in combat, explaining how she could be so young and need a wheel chair, and government assistance. That is also why Carl Rod says “F***ing war” while he and Mickey are talking about Linda, which otherwise is a non sequitor. It also falls in line with the later revelation that Frank Truman’s son was a soldier who committed suicide. He and Linda may have even known each other, both being soldiers from the Twin Peaks area.
Some have suggested that Linda is the result of Doppelcooper’s sexual assault on Diane, but it doesn’t make sense that she would end up in Deer Meadow when Diane lives in Philadelphia. It would be an odd coincidence, even if the child was given up for adoption. I think it’s far more likely that Annie is the mother, and this could possibly be a situation reminiscent of Clive Barker’s novel The Great and Secret Show, in which two opposing entities, one “good,” the other “evil,” sire offspring to battle each other. Incidentally, this novel has a lot of common themes with Twin Peaks: Small towns with many secrets, and lots of supernatural occurrences happening beneath it all. The sequel, Everville, even takes place in the Pacific Northwest.
If all this is true, I think that Richard and Linda will be instrumental to the conclusion of the show. This would nicely bring things full circle, taking us back to that first scene between Cooper and the Giant. I cannot predict what will happen, but I think it will call for an emotional and profound conclusion, with Cooper facing the dark half of himself and having to reconcile with it.
UPDATE (08/04/2017)
It seems undeniable at this point that Audrey is Richard’s mother, and it’s probably only a matter of time before we get in-show confirmation. The only thing left to really prove is that DoppelCoop could be Richard’s father. Some fans have resisted the idea, finding it harder to believe that Richard is the spawn of DoppelCoop raping a comatose Audrey, rather than him just being the result of her fling with Jack Wheeler, or another man she might have met in the interim, which is, of course, still plausible. These fans ask the question, “Isn’t it much more likely that DoppelCoop went to reclaim the Owl Ring, rather than to sexually assault Audrey for some reason?”
Let me start by saying: I think he did both. It’s obvious he reclaimed the Owl Ring, but that doesn’t negate him visiting Audrey. Especially since many of us seem to be forgetting the most crucial element to DoppelCoop’s character: He is the Shadow Self of Dale Cooper, containing all his darkest, innermost thoughts and desires. It brings to mind the tagline, “In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.” Not even Dale Cooper. He probably had libidinous thoughts about Miss Horne, which is probably why DoppelCoop targeted her. Perhaps it was even part of DoppelCoop’s endgame to procreate, and Richard Horne may prove to be a bigger player than we might think.
What are your thoughts on this theory? Where do you think Richard Horne’s character will go from here? What do you think this means for Audrey’s role in The Return? Comment below!
9 Comments Posted in David Lynch, Mark Frost, Television, Twin Peaks Tagged #PeaksFreaks, #TwinPeaksFreaks, Annie Blackburn, Audrey Horne, Balthazar Getty, Benjamin Horne, Clive Barker, David Lynch, Doppelganger, Frank Truman, Jerry Horne, Johnny Horne, Linda, Mark Frost, Richard Horne, Sylvia Horne, The Giant, The Great and Secret Show, Twin Peaks 2017
5 Comments Posted in David Lynch, Mark Frost, Television, Twin Peaks Tagged #PeaksFreaks, #TwinPeaksFreaks, Agent Cooper, Aliens, Analysis, Black Lodge, Black Magic, Bob Engels, Communion, David Lynch, Dugpa, Folklore, Garmonbozia, Ghostwood, Heyoka, Killer BOB, Laura Palmer, Lilith, Major Briggs, Mark Frost, MIKE, Mythology, Owls, Project Blue Book, The Giant, The Owls are not what they seem, Thunderbird, Twin Peaks, White Lodge, Whitley Strieber
Through the Darkness of Future’s Past: The Magician and the Devilish One
Written for Twin Peaks Freaks by Eden H. Roquelaire.
Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Twin Peaks the series and Fire Walk With Me.
“Through the darkness of future’s past, the magician longs to see. One chants out between two worlds… Fire Walk With Me.”
Undoubtedly, one of the most fascinating arcs of Twin Peaks was the mystery of MIKE and the One-Armed Man, Philip Gerard. Unfortunately, Gerard disappears from the series after Season 2, episode 9 (“Arbitrary Law”), and his reappearance in the film Fire Walk with Me brings up more mysteries than answers.
After watching Fire Walk With Me, I think I was left with the most questions about MIKE and BOB. There were a lot of things bugging me. What were the origins of MIKE? Was he an ordinary man once, or a spirit like BOB? Was the Man from Another Place truly helping Cooper, if he was indeed the “evil” left arm? Why, indeed, was the Man From Another Place a representation of MIKE’s arm? Who is MIKE, anyway, and whose side is he on?
Angels and Demons:
My first theory involving MIKE also involves the Angel seen at the end of Fire Walk With Me. It is an important point that angels seem to exist in the Twin Peaks universe, or else some being is using the image of an angel to appear to humans. The being that Laura sees is her angel, the one she was hoping for, and, in her perception, the angel came for her in the end. Most likely, this was an emissary from the White Lodge, taking the appearance of an angel in order to appear to Laura when it came to guide her to the next plain of existence.
So, if angels exist (to an extent) in the Twin Peaks universe, is it possible that they appear anywhere else in the series?
When I first saw Cooper’s dream sequence, where MIKE is introduced, my mind immediately drew an association between him and the Archangel Michael, based mostly just on their shared name, and their connections with Christianity. As I delved deeper, I found that this association actually makes even more sense than I initially thought, and helps to explain his relationship with BOB. Correlations can be found between MIKE and BOB, and the Archangel Michael and the Dragon of Revelations.
MIKE is the Archangel Michael, adversary of the Devil/Dragon/Lucifer, who will strike him down during the Apocalypse. In Muslim lore, the Archangel Michael is believed to have wings the color of emerald, paralleling the stone in Owl Ring and the color of the infamous Formica table. Michael is also said to have been given dominion over the forces of nature, such as wind, snow, rain, and lightning — wind being a recurring element in David Lynch’s movies, and lightning tying in with the symbolism of the Dugpas. Michael is also an angel strongly associated with repentance, and MIKE is first presented to us as a repentant killer, desperate to atone for his crimes after seeing “the face of God.” Michael’s planetary affiliation is Mercury, the planet of alchemy and ritual magic. In Roman mythology, Mercury is the God of Magicians, which connects to the Magician who “longs to see.”
BOB is Lucifer/the Devil/the Dragon, who, with “the fury of his own momentum,” breaks away from the other Dugpas (similar to how Lucifer leaves Heaven, wanting to run his own Kingdom). Both are strongly associated with fire, death, and “the evil that men do.” When we first see BOB in Cooper’s dream, he is in the basement. This can have psychological connotations, such as representing evil’s residency in the depths of the subconscious, but it could also connect to the Devil’s place in subterranean Hell. In the battle that takes place in Revelations, Lucifer, in the form of a Dragon, battles the Archangel Michael, and is finally defeated. This conflict between the two mirrors MIKE’s need to defeat BOB.
Another intriguing clue into the nature of this relationship is that MIKE refers to BOB as his “familiar.” This implies that, though he is “similar” to BOB, they are not equal, as BOB would seem to be his servant. A familiar, in Black Magic folklore, is a demon that takes animal form to serve a witch or warlock. This would imply that BOB was once servile to MIKE, and perhaps the other Lodge spirits, until he gained “the fury of his own momentum” and broke away.
Piecing these clues together begins to weave a convincing narrative: MIKE and BOB are spirits, possessing human forms, who work together, killing and sowing misery in order to collect garmonbozia for themselves and the other Lodge spirits. However, BOB becomes greedy, and breaks away from the rest of the spirits, stealing all the garmonbozia for himself. At some point, MIKE has a divine revelation, repents, and removes his own left arm, which severs his connection with BOB. (Perhaps this betrayal is what spurred BOB on to leave in the first place?) As part of his penance, MIKE attempts to hunt BOB down and stop him. However, here is where we reach one of many contradictions in MIKE’s character: If he is now seeking penance, and no longer wants to kill with BOB, why does he want his share of the garmonbozia, or pain and sorrow?
It could be that, in spite of what he may wish to be, MIKE is still a Lodge spirit, and thus needs to consume garmonbozia in order to survive. Another theory is that he is still being manipulated by his evil left arm (the Man from Another Place), who is seeking his portion of pain and sorrow. The third, and, in my opinion, most depressing theory, is that MIKE is lying when he pretends to be an agent of good. He has not repented, he is still a creature of the Black Lodge in body, mind and spirit, still happy to subsist on the pain and sorrow of others. He only works with Cooper in order to find BOB faster, and claim his share.
The Magician Who Saw the Face of God:
Another point of interest: In the dream where Laura meets Cooper in the Black Lodge, she believes that he is MIKE, and, in an early draft of the script, Cooper reaffirms this, saying “Laura and I had the same dream, but in her dream, I was MIKE.” Considering the recurrence of chronological anomalies in Twin Peaks, could it be possible… that Cooper is MIKE?
“Bob and I … when we were killing together … there
was a perfect relationship; appetite and satisfaction. A
golden circle.”
It has been noted by fans that we never see MIKE’s true face in the same way that we see BOB’s. Some have theorized that the true face of MIKE is the Man from Another Place, but I would argue that he is “the Arm,” as he says, and therefore can’t be the face as well. So… is it possible that Agent Cooper, in the future, becomes MIKE? In my article predicting the potential future of Cooper, I propose that he is destined to become a shaman, or magician, in order to defeat BOB. Following this logic, he could become the same magician from MIKE’s poem, the one who can look back “through the darkness of future’s past,” as he seems to do in Fire Walk with Me when he warns Laura not to take the ring. Cooper, like MIKE, most likely ends up killing together with BOB after his return from the Black Lodge, perhaps until he (or rather, the Good Dale) experiences the visitation from the Angel alongside Laura (this could represent “the face of God”). At this point, speculation becomes more tricky. Cooper taking off the left arm could mean a few different things, and perhaps isn’t meant to be taken literally. He may have a confrontation with the Man from Another Place (who states, “I am the arm”), which leads him to freeing himself of BOB’s influence. It may very well be that Cooper becomes trapped in a time loop, his evil Doppelganger freely killing with BOB, while the Good Dale, trapped in the Lodge, becomes a powerful magician, and uses his powers to communicate back through time to give himself vital clues about BOB’s identity, and try to save Laura Palmer.
However, this would mean that his goal is potentially impossible, as it would cause a paradox if he were to succeed in saving Laura. This could explain some of MIKE’s seemingly erratic behavior, as he is repeatedly going back to this point through time, and trying different methods, in desperation, to save Laura and help his past self stop BOB. Perhaps this is the reason for MIKE’s reference to his relationship with BOB being “a golden circle”: A direct reference to Cooper’s ring, which he gave the giant. Perhaps MIKE is telling him, “I know something about you that no one else would know.”
“Who do you think that is there?”
It could be that, once Cooper ascends to being a shaman, he becomes an agent of the White Lodge, in other words, an angel. And an Archangel at that: He is to be their warrior, who will cast down the Devilish One. MIKE could be an honorific title bestowed upon him as an Archangel, or it could be a code name so that he can remain unrecognized by his younger self.
The Left-Hand Path:
On the general symbolism of hands and arms in the Twin Peaks mythos, there are many points to consider, some less obvious than others. There are numerous references to rings, which, of course, are worn on hands, but also have their own significance within the series. One ring, the “Owl Ring,” directly connects to the significance of arms. Before Teresa Banks died, her arm was said to have gone completely numb. It is implicated that there is a connection between this phenomena and the wearing of the Owl Ring, as Laura’s arm goes numb when she awakes with the Owl Ring in her hand. When the doorway to the Lodges are about to open, hands of the townsfolk are seen trembling violently, apparently in reaction to the celestial and/or interdimensional event. One of the earliest and most memorable references to arms is Laura’s statement, “Sometimes my arms bend back,” referring to the fact that her arms were bound behind her the night she was murdered. This has no tie-in with the mythos of Twin Peaks, but it serves as an essential clue in Cooper’s investigation, and reinforces the recurring motif of hands and arms. During the Lodge sequences, Laura is seen to make a few cryptic hand gestures. The so-called “Meanwhile” pose, which is theorized to be a version of a Tibetan Buddhist hand sign, meaning “Fear not,” and is a warning to Agent Cooper not to feel fear in the Lodge. What Laura could also be saying is that, in the meanwhile until she and Cooper meet again, he will be achieving this state of zen fearlessness. The nose tap, which probably refers either to Laura’s cocaine use, or the disclosure of a secret, or both. A nose tap often is used to indicate some kind of secret communication is taking place, and that is just what is happening when Laura makes the gesture to Cooper. Finally, there is the “snapping and pointing” gesture, which has not yet been given a satisfactory translation. It may be connected to a similar gesture Laura makes while having sex with a client in “the Pink Room,” and thus could have some sexual meaning.
MIKE having removed his left arm is very telling, as following “the Left Hand Path” is a term for being a follower of the Devil. By cutting off his left arm, he is cutting off his connection to “the devilish one.” However, nearly all other symbolism involving hands involves the right hand. This could simply be because the majority of people, including the actors in these scenes, are right-handed, and tended naturally to use their right hand. However, I would imagine that if David Lynch wanted it to be the left hand, he would specify it, and it would have shown up as such. The use of the right hand rather than the left hand, if one wanted to ascribe meaning to it, could signify a person’s alignment to the steps of the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path, which are Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
Hands are a significant symbol in Twin Peaks, because they represent a individual’s actions; i.e., the good or evil that one does, which is such an integral point in the narrative.
It is my conclusion, based on this evidence, that there must be a final confrontation between MIKE and BOB, the Archangel and the Dragon. And there will be, however, not in the form that we might expect, especially with BOB’s actor, Frank Silva, having sadly passed away in 1995. How this resolution takes place is anyone’s guess, but it would be fitting if it took the form of Agent Cooper confronting his own inner Devil and casting it out. An important recurring symbol in the series is duality, and the need for balance. It is only fitting that the series should end with Agent Cooper restoring balance within his own soul, as well as the town of Twin Peaks.
“Even the ones who laugh are sometimes caught without an answer: these creatures who introduce themselves but we swear we have met them somewhere before. Yes, look in the mirror. What do you see? Is it a dream, or a nightmare? Are we being introduced against our will? Are they mirrors? I can see the smoke. I can smell the fire. The battle is drawing nigh.”
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