Line #11 Fridge/TwinPeaks


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2	!! Refrain from using [[Administrivia/FirstPersonWriting first person pronouns]], please. This is a Fridge page, not a forum.
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4	!! The Original Series
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7	* Dale Cooper seems to have a nutty approach to investigating the murder - throwing rocks at things and using dreams - which can be read as a parody of Literature/SherlockHolmes and his rational, logical ilk. The character claims to use science and rationality, but everything they do is based on insight and illogical leaps that happen to be true. Cooper uses the least rational investigating techniques on Earth, and he's equally as correct. It puts a new spin on his character - maybe he's actually GenreSavvy, and knows no matter what he does everything he does will lead him closer to the killer.
8	** Cooper's techniques also ''[[SubvertedTrope don't work]]''. He's no closer to finding out who Laura Palmer's killer is after the majority of the series than when he started. Cooper is a BunnyEarsLawyer of the highest order but his biggest successes in the series come from his actual detective work. One might argue he does throwing rocks and investigating dreams because, [[{{Pun}} well, he hasn't got a clue.]]
9	** Arguably the techniques work in the first season. Cooper treats his dream in symbolic terms, and there is no indication that the Red Room is a real place.
10	** There actually was solid evidence to arrest Leland as Maggie's killer. He claimed to have dropped her off at the bus station the morning after he killed her, while the autopsy on her was precise enough to confirm she died the night before (this was solid enough to not let Ben off the hook whom they arrested a little afterwards). I really thought Cooper would speak to Donna or Leland and figure this out only instead Laura just told him via magic...Great job there Coop. Just wait until everyone tells you via magic.
11	** Though when it comes to Cooper's rock-throwing method, it's worth remembering that it ''did'' work -- it pointed him to the one and only person on his list who witnessed Laura's murder. He just didn't have enough information yet to put the pieces together.
12	* Take a good, long look at the opening title screen. The outline of the misty mountain behind the Twin Peaks sign forms what looks like a woman's face, looking up. The shot is framed, from the beginning of the show, [[spoiler:to ''represent Laura looking out from inside the black lodge.'']]
13	* Gordon Cole yelling at Windom's bonsai tree might be another quirk of his, but he yells because of his deafness. But Cole's hearing aid may have picked up on the bonsai tree's bug, so in essence, he was yelling at the tree on purpose.
14	* Cooper's habit of giving people a thumbs-up to indicate his assent might initially seem like just another of his endearing quirks, but given that his boss is extremely hard of hearing, it makes sense that he would get into the habit of communicating non-verbally whenever possible.
15	* The very fact that Laura's line to Cooper in the Season 2 finale about when she'll see him again corresponds ''exactly'' to the length of the gap between that episode...and the upcoming Season 3. Seriously, it's almost as if the "premature" cancellation was Lynch's plan all along...and now he's paying it off! Well played, Mr. Lynch...well played.
16	* May cross with WMG but, "one and the same" doesn't mean the giant and the midget, is about the realm of Twin Peaks and the lodges. [[spoiler:BOB got inside Leland Palmer in a literal and spiritual way]] and much like victims of sexual abuse can become abusers themselves as is implied that [[spoiler:the spirit of BOB in Leland is what drove him to rape Laura]] and that [[spoiler:Laura being possessed by BOB in both senses mirrors her loss of innocence]]. What happens in one peak occurs in the other.
17	** It helps that [[AgentScully Albert]] describes BOB as the evil that men do.
18	*** Albert is of course quoting Julius Caesar, wherein the full line is "The evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones; so let it be with Caesar", said by Mark Antony at Caesar's funeral. This context is illuminating: when Brutus later sees Caesar's ghost, it identifies itself not as Caesar but as "Thine evil spirit, Brutus" - i.e., the personification of Brutus' own evil act of killing Caesar. Like BOB, the ghost is the manifestation not of a person but of a concept.
19	** Think about the last episode, [[spoiler:Earle kidnaps Annie and Cooper goes to the rescue but Cooper has to enter the Black Lodge to face his fears. These are, as he mentioned in past episodes, his faults as an agent which are shown in full detail. What follows is Windom Earle getting his head "fired up" by BOB and it finishes with Cooper coming back only with Annie consumed by BOB aka, the evil of men]]. What if something arguably more mundane happened that day?
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23	* Donna has an in-universe one in the pilot as she puts together in a few seconds the fact Laura Palmer is missing from her seat, the somber announcement, the secret message being relayed to the teacher, and the mood in the room to realize her best friend is dead. Also counts as an especially TearJerker AwesomenessByAnalysis scene.
24	* In the bar scene in the movie, a man is seen putting something in a bottle of beer and giving it to Donna, suggesting he roofied her.
25	* The [[GainaxEnding ending scene]] of the [[CliffHanger second season finale]] in its '''entirety'''. [[spoiler:The real, good Coop is trapped in the Black Lodge while [[GrandTheftMe his body has been hijacked by BOB]], a demonic rapist serial killer that forced his last host to torment and murder his own daughter!]] We have no clue what horrors went down during those 25 years. To make matters worse, time flows differently in the Black Lodge than in reality; [[spoiler:[[AndIMustScream it's unknown what 25 years in that place could feel like to Cooper]] ]] and [[spoiler:[[NotHimself what it could do to him psychologically]] ]].
26	** ''The Secret History of Twin Peaks'' and ''The Return'' [[spoiler: confirms this to be true. Major Briggs is murdered by Doppel-Coop, Dopple-Coop raped Diane, he may be the father of Richard Horne, he's involved in terrifying criminal activity across the country, and regularly commits murders which he's smart enough to clean up after. In short, he's been a one-man plague on humanity for the better part of two and a half decades.]]
27	* The Arm refers to the liminal space of the Black Lodge as "The Waiting Room". True, it is a place Cooper 'waits' in for a long time; and it is a place that briefly contains a waiter, the other self of the Giant. But a third meaning is possible: this is the room that the Lodge had prepared for Cooper. The room that was waiting for him.
28	* Dick Tremayne's seemingly innocuous act of lighting a cigarette [[spoiler: triggers the sheriff's office sprinklers, causing Leland/BOB to become so agitated he breaks free of his restraints.]] In "The Return", Dick's smirking line [[spoiler: "Got a light?"]] is echoed [[spoiler: or predicted? ]] in a different and equally disturbing circumstance.
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31	!! The Return
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33	* You know the series catchphrase, ''Who Killed Laura Palmer''? The one that there are posters and t-shirts of? Well, think about the DoubleMeaning: In the original run, it's revealed [[spoiler: BOB killed Laura, in the form of Leland. Or was it Leland himself following his darker impulses? ''The Return'' and ''Fire Walk With Me'' both lend themselves to an ambiguous interpretation. Especially since in ''The Return'', it's shown that BOB can let someone do bad things while in full control of themselves as he simply latches on and feeds on the ensuing suffering.]]
34	** There's also the harrowing implication that the negligence of Laura Palmer's friends and community members "killed" her by ignoring all the warning signs of what was going on: up to and including authority figures in the community like Jacoby, who seems to treat his patients more as victims to taunt and provoke - and even her own mother, who is completely oblivious until being [[spoiler: overtaken by JUDY]], another Black Lodge spirit who seems to have it in for Laura. [[spoiler: does JUDY kill Laura as well? The ending of ''The Return'' leaves the question up in the air]].
35	** Then there's the spirits of The White Lodge, who may have [[spoiler: created Laura as TheChosenOne]] and set her up to [[spoiler: die in a HeroicSacrifice]] without her knowledge after a lifetime of suffering. So, in effect, ''they'' [[LightIsNotGood killed Laura Palmer as well]].
36	** The Chalfonts/Tremonds seem determined to "kill" Laura Palmer in their own indirect way [[spoiler: by letting a doppelganger/tulpa of Laura Palmer roam around unaware of her identity]] and prevent her from ever finding out. They are entirely justified as it's hinted [[spoiler: there are some very nasty consequences when she does]].
37	** The ending of Part 18 implies that [[spoiler: even Cooper has some hand in "killing" Laura by, what appears to be, accidentally erasing her personality after trying to save her.]]
38	* Dougie Jones is said to have "episodes" where he "spaces out" so it makes sense [[spoiler: people don't necessarily react to Agent Cooper's catatonic state]] the way normal people would. Indeed, the one person who does react to it with an appropriate reaction in the prostitute he was with, is someone who obviously doesn't know Dougie very well.
39	* Mister C's rampage across the entire United States seems to strain credibility as it's very clear law enforcement agencies don't even know he exist until 25 years later and bad luck. This despite the innumerable bodies he leaves behind and the fact he has a criminal syndicate which includes everyone from rednecks to Las Vegas mobsters. [[spoiler: Then you remember Doppel Coop has all the memories of an FBI agent as well as BOB's supernatural powers as he displays in the prison. It's very easy to understand how he keeps off the radar of authorities now.]]
40	** It also makes sense [[spoiler: that he can do all this since he's ''immortal.'' The Woodsmen will continually revive him no matter what sort of violence he gets up to.]]
41	* Why does BOB let [[spoiler: Dopple Coop do the steering in their relationship? Well, BOB is all about feeding on the pain and suffering of his victims. In Leland's case, it was torturing Leland's own daughter for decades. In Dopple Coop's case, he has an endless stream of victims and terrified associates. Dopple Coop is just so much BETTER at doing evil than BOB.]]
42	* Lucy doesn't "get" cellular phones, and is confused and terrified when Sheriff Truman reveals he's talking to her from just outside the station when she thought he was calling from a fishing holiday in the mountains. It's a very strange moment, but recall Lucy's past behaviour, back to the original series' pilot: she's extremely specific about where things should be, and spends a long time explaining on which phone and which line calls will be coming through. The idea that someone she's talking to might be ''anywhere'' is entirely contrary to her lifelong worldview.
43	* Cooper comes across Leland Palmer at the start of the season, his spirit seemingly trapped in the Black Lodge. He tells Cooper to "Find Laura". At first this just seems like his mind is so far gone he doesn't realize Laura is dead and beyond helping. But, in light of the final episode, [[spoiler: it might very well be that during the time he spent in the Black Lodge he also came to understand that it is possible to go back in time to prevent her death.]]
44	* The Roadhouse in Twin Peaks seems to attract some pretty big name acts for a small venue in a backwater Washington town, up to and including internationally popular artists such as Music/NineInchNails and [[Music/PearlJam Eddie Vedder]], who ordinarily sell out stadiums. However, the fact that these artists are respectively referred to as ''The'' Nine Inch Nails and Edward Louis Severson, rather than being a bit of {{Malaproper}} on the presenter's part, might be a hint that the series is happening in an alternate universe to our own. Sure, Nine Inch Nails the world-famous industrial band would probably never play at such a dump, but ''The'' Nine Inch Nails, an obscure band from LA with zero industry clout, might. Similarly, Eddie Vedder the grunge icon would be far too big to play at such a tiny venue, but Edward Louis Severson, a no-name singer-songwriter from Seattle, would be right at home there. Considering that the final episode takes place in [[spoiler: what seems to be ''our'' universe, as shown by the Palmer house being inhabited by its real life owners in the final scene]], it seems likely that the series takes place in an alternate world with minor differences from our own, such as certain musical artists never getting as big as they did in real life.
45	* Janey-E has sex with Dougie when he can't give verbal consent is slightly less creepy when you remember that she's witnessed him subdue a PsychoKnifeNut purely by reflex. If Dougie didn't welcome her advances (especially since she was on top during the whole thing), he definitely would have made it clear.
46	* When Cooper escapes the Black Lodge, and before or after he emerges in the observation box in New York, he plummets through a claustrophobic black void covered in white spots like static. In "Episode 8/Gotta Light?", we discover that same spotted void in the aftermath of "Trinity", the first atomic bomb test in 1945-era New Mexico. The radioactive fallout has long since dissipated, but the overall harm of that first test by the Manhattan Projects is still reverberating through time...
47	** It is notable that in the aftermath of the "Trinity" test, fallout descended on neighbouring areas in the form of a white mist. When this settled on local livestock it resulted in a temporary loss of hair, which grew back white. A connection, perhaps, to Leland Palmer - and the line "The Horse is the white of the eyes, and dark within".
48	* When Cooper comes across MIKE in Part 17, he greets him with an enigmatic warmth, reciting the "Fire Walk With Me" poem in his normal voice (rather than the Black Lodge backwards-speak). Whatever meaning you attach to the poem, it's clear from his tone that MIKE is affectionately saluting Cooper, and acknowledging everything they've gone through together. After 25 years, perhaps the poem has now taken on a new meaning for both of them.
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51	* When first broadcast, Laura Palmer's promise "I'll see you again in 25 years" seemed as mysterious as anything else said in the Black Lodge. With the Return being broadcast a real quarter-century after that line, it takes on a tragic, terrifying new meaning. Time itself fades into nothingness in the Lodge. When Cooper sees Laura again, this is the only way he knows how much time has passed...
52	** Similarly, where the line "When you see me again, it won't be me" originally might have indicated the presence of an avatar of the Arm (or the Man From Another Place) on Earth. In the new series - with the original actor not making a return - it becomes a prophecy of his strange transformation.
53	* Heather Graham wanted to return to the series as Annie Blackburn but was told they didn't need her for it. [[spoiler: That's because it's very likely Bob and Doppel-Cooper murdered her as their first act upon exiting the Lodge.]]
54	** [[spoiler: In fact, it's a FateWorseThanDeath. She's catatonic and has been for the past twenty-five years.]]
55	* [[spoiler:So BOB and Mr. C have been essentially sharing a headspace for 25 years. The literal personification of evil, and an evil clone of a brilliant FBI agent, in one body. Imagine the horrific rampage that's been going on all that time. It was enough that Mr. C barfed up a huge amount of garmonbozia, anyway.]]
56	* 11 years after the "Trinity" test in New Mexico - the detonation of an extremely bright and destructive atomic bomb - the Woodsmen descend on the area, one of them repeatedly asking "Got A Light?".
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Context Fridge / TwinPeaks