John Thorne wrote up a Notes section that we couldn’t fit into Issue 4 or Issue 5. We figured we would publish them here to point out some interesting moments in Parts 17 & 18. For a complete episode guide of Season 3 check out Issue 3 (Parts 1-10) & Issue 4 Parts (11-18).
Part 17 Notes:
- Cole has kept the “Jowday secret” from Albert for 25 years.
- What does Cooper’s “Two birds with one stone” comment mean? Stop Bob and Judy?
- Cole is uncertain that the plan is unfolding properly because they should have heard from Cooper by now. The “plan” that Cole kept secret explain much about his behavior (stagnant in Buckhorn, knowing more about Diane than he let on, etc.)
- Cole’s “That makes two us” comment refers to the fact that he and Bushnell are both Cooper’s boss.
- Jerry and Ben Horne’s story ends here.
- Because Mr. C is shown caged in the Fireman’s realm we can assume that he has fallen into a trap set by Briggs, Cooper and The Fireman.
- Is Diane released from a cyst similar to the one that contains Bob?
- Diane’s fingernails are now painted only black and white. (The red from her Tulpa version is gone.)
- The story ends at 2:53, the number of completion. Cooper now passes through a door and effectively begins another dream. The superimposed face is the unifying element; the transitional presence. Passing through the door is critical. In effect, Cooper leaves the world, the fictional realm, of Twin Peaks and travels to another.
- Was the “plan” to restore Diane?
- Mike at last chants the words, “Fire Walk With Me” and there is strong transition. Did Cooper long to see through the darkness of future past? Is this what he has been longing to get to? A new future from the past?
- When Cooper and Mike come through the door into The Dutchman’s, they turn to their left. When Mr. C came through the same door, he walked straight across the courtyard. Why? (Two different Jeffries?)
- Jeffries says Cole will remember the “unofficial version.” Is he referring to timelines that will be altered? (He then says, “This is where you’ll find Judy.” Is he referring to the “unofficial version”? What else would it be? Unless it is a response to a different conversation.)
- Jeffries’ responses: “There may be someone” and “Did you ask me this?” seem like parts of another conversation.
- Cooper’s materialization in the woods resembles the way he disappeared before The Fireman in the first scene of Part 1.
- When Laura sees Cooper she says, “I’ve seen you in a dream. In a dream.”
- When Cooper takes Laura’s hand the image transitions from black-and-white to color, indicating a departure from past and Laura’s removal from that timeline. This removal prompts a horrific response from “Sarah Palmer;” if she is (or represents) Judy then she has been defeated at this point. (Or at least denied.) Is she responsible, then, for abducting Laura from Cooper in the woods? (Unclear).
- Sarah Palmer’s (Judy’s) angry response in stabbing the picture parallels the response we see from Lula’s mother at the end of Wild At Heart.
Part 18 Notes:
- It is vital to the narrative that we see the bad Cooper destroyed and a new Dougie created *before* Cooper returns to the Red Room. Those pieces complete a separate narrative.
- Arguably, the new Dougie retains the memories and the moral compass of the Cooper version since he was created from Cooper’s hair. (Otherwise he might be heading back to Jade.)
- Cooper’s transition back to Red Room is abrupt as if he suddenly awakens (like he did in ep 2 of TOS). There is no passage through curtains or doors.
- The Arm repeats Audrey’s comments about “the little girl who lives down the lane.” This seems to trigger Cooper into remembering Laura’s whispered comment to him. Cooper is also spurred to action at this point; he is not a passive figure. Potentially, the girl who lives down the lane is Carrie/Laura.
- Diane and Cooper’s greeting to one another after he emerges into Glastonbury Grove is markedly different than their reunion in Part 17; it appears as if she has not seen him for many years. They are much more tentative in regards to each other (they do not kiss). Diane is also dressed differently than she was in all earlier episodes.
- How does Diane know to be at GG at that specific time? A great deal of story has transpired outside the frame. We have not seen everything and must piece together a fuller narrative.
- How does Cooper know which direction to drive?
- Cooper and Diane’s kiss seems to be a good-bye.
- Does Diane see a double of herself as a way of disassociating herself from what she has to do in the room with Cooper? Does she, in effect, become Linda at this point? (Did Laura do the same kind of “masking” when Leland/Bob abused her?)
- Cooper and Diane go into the room 7 of the motel.
- After they cross, Cooper and Diane seem more automated, as if following “programming” or directions. Cooper seems to know what to do and directs Diane.
- When Cooper and Diane kiss in the motel, the Platters song plays (same as Part 8).
- The town of Odessa recalls “The Odyssey” [Expand for notes]
- Of course, Cooper had to complete this journey alone.
- The first thing Carrie/Laura says to Cooper when she opens the door is, “Did you find him?” (Presumably the man who shot the other man now lying dead in her house.)
- Carrie “Page” is almost certainly the missing page from Laura’s diary.
- Carrie says she has to leave because of a “long story.”
- The dead man in Carrie’s house seems to have some protuberance at his stomach, similar to the “cyst” which housed Bob in Mr. C. (This could simply be expanding gas in the dead man’s stomach).
- The drive from Odessa to Twin Peaks is depicted as drive deep into the night. We never see Cooper and Carrie stop to sleep, nor does another day pass. Carrie never changes her clothes. They arrive at Twin Peaks deep in the dark of an endless night . . .
- As they cross the bridge into Twin Peaks, there is a music cue. Bridge crossings are important to Lynch (see Straight Story).
- Important to note that Cooper has been descending through deeper and deeper levels of reality (or going further and further “inside”). From TP sheriff’s station, to black space, to Great Northern, to Jeffries, to 1989, to Red Room, to Glastonbury Grove w/Diane, to motel, to Odessa, to dark night in TP. (Or is it a circle?)
- Twin Peaks is different than the one we saw in earlier Parts.
- There are no credits for the actors playing the fry cook or elderly patrons at Judy’s.
- The Lynch Frost logo is silent (no electric sounds).
For more notes check out Issue 3 (Parts 1-10) & Issue 4 Parts (11-18).