Persistence of 3

Interesting that as Frost descibes himself as a Jungian and then goes on to talk about Cooper's shadow self he refers to Dougie and not Mr. C..

Not to be missed... https://vimeo.com/251269227

So Dupar's —a great coffee shop in the Studio City nieghborhood of Los Angeles is closing next month. Dupar's is famous as one of Lynch's haunts (I saw him there once with Issabella Rossillin in the early 90s). It's also said to be a location where Lynch and Frost conjoured up the narrative for Twin Peaks. Dupar's is famous for thier pies and donuts. It was said they were the ones who supplied both during the original TV show's prodcution. I recalled that Dupar's got a shout-out in the "Welcome To Twin Peaks" Access Guide that was published back in the day. Feeling sentimental and wanting to confirm my recollection, I pulled out my copy for the first time in forever. Sure enough the reference is there. Guess what else is there? Page: 109, the "Proposed Prison Facility". It reads: "A pet project of nobody really knows who, the proposed maximum security prison to be build on an unspecified sit (sic) is annually tabled, shelved or otherwise shot down by a majority of town council members. The firm DLMF Creations, architects for the project, has submitted five concepts but none have been accepted and paid for. Pictured here is the latest. Sheriff Truman remains on the fence about the whole thing but Ben Horne recognizes a business opportunity when he sees one. The fight of this may be almost as bloody as the Ghostwood Development Project" Huh. Guess I'm going to have to read through that book again to see what other seeds of Season Three, The Return, Limited Series Event that also came to fruition!

Wishful thinking? There was always hope for a season 3 despite the shabby reality of the ratings. ABC didn't put that title card in the show, the showrunners did. Perhaps there was hope that 'putting it out there' would result in a groundswell that might change the network's mind. It was a groundswell that got those final two episodes aired in the first place. Once ABC moved the show from Thursdays (where it had been struggling) to Saturdays the ratings tanked entirely. They stopped running episodes in April with only two left. The reamaining faithful viewers were PISSED. A massive letter-writing campagn ensued. The newtwork relented and aired (dumped) the final two episodes in June on one night. The television "season" was over in May. It was, litererally the least they could do for the show next to not airing it at all. After all they'd already paid for it. That said, the production date on the show would have likely been in February or March, post would have wrapped soon after. That's when "To Be Continued" would have been put on there —and with Lynch's blessing one assumes as the final hour was his episode. It probably got removed by Lynch later for the same reasons. Just a guess.

For what its worth Mark Frost retweeted that Twitter post. Casting Jeremy Davies as the other henchmen —in this light— is a great bit of misdirection. Since he's the more recognizable of the two our attention is apt to be more on him thus allowing Lynch to hide Ronnie Blevens in plain sight.

I'm in the midst of a rewatch of 3 right now. Day one I did six episodes, days two and three were 3 episodes in a sitting. I'm finding that it's pretty tight the second time around. One has a greater sense of what takes place in a story day (2-3 episodes seem to cover a story day compared to the original series which was strictly one story day per episode). Knowing what's going to happen and which characters are recurring and which are incidental can't help but effect the way one takes in the story. The overall effect is leaner and not as rambling than my initial impressions. I'd say a second veiwing is essential to appreciate what's going on. Already halfway through and really my only nagging question at this point is who exactly is claiming to be Phillip Jefferies when Bad Coop makes the call from the skanky hotel room? Was that ever explained? I don't think it was so in that case my suspicions lean heavily towards Albert.

It can be problematic presenting a case for the lapel pin given that we're talking about a franchise which capitalized on a production error to create Killer Bob. Mr Lynch has given us precident after all. That said, I think this is different. At some point in their discussions Lynch and Frost had to have realized they couldn't tell the story they wished to tell unless Cooper's lapel pin disappears. So they dispensed with it at the most convenient time. I'd go so far as to suggest the business with his shoes left behind —despite the ubiquitous talk of shoes in the original run— was a big misdirect. Look there not here. Later, Dougie/Coop seems to understand perfectly well that his pin is missing and appears to be telling us that each time he reaches for a lawman's badge. Once it was established that there would have to be scences establishing the pin and scenes without then it would fall to the costume department to monitor where they were in the story and how to depict Cooper. Yes, continuity errors happen. This seems like something intentional, like leaving the bat symbol off of Batman's cosutme. It's kinda conspicious when you think about it. Of course one could wonder whether or not the opening black and white scene with Cooper and the Giant was scripted for the opening or whether it was something that was found later in the edititng room.

An observation about Cooper. In the original series as well as FWWM when we see him in his black suit he's always wearing his FBI lapel pin. This isn't always so in the Return. In fact, the only time he wears his lapel pin are during the Lodge scenes prior to his exit through the #3 socket. So it wasn't just his shoes that didn't pass through to the other side. As an imperative of the narrative this makes good sense since Jade, then the casino operators and everyone else down the line would have noticed and reacted accordingly. Hookers and gambling operations would certainly take exception to a federal agent. So it goes to pass, through the remainder of the story Cooper no longer wears his lapel pin. Yet, watch part one again. When we see Cooper recieving the Giant/Fireman's clues, Cooper isn't wearing the pin. I think this pretty much establishes how much the story is being told out of sequence. The Cooper getting these clues is the Cooper from the 'end' of the story.

Defintitely at the time. Wasn't aware they were scrubbed for 'the complete mystery' set.

Both season 1 and 2 ended with a card that read 'TO BE CONTINUED'. Season 3 did not. Plus, the aforementioned absence of electrical sound over the final Lunch/Frost logo suggests to me that its done.

Well it certainly could explain why the Lynch/Frost logo at the very end appeared without the electricity sound.

Those were great moments. He treats Mike like a cohort. When Cooper plucks his hair and asks about the seed, it pretty much demonstrates how very much aware of what's going on and how things work.

I think the reason that Coop got out of his hospital bed, raring to go (aside from that being a call-back to Coop getting up from his hospital bed after being shot in season 2) is because he's got a schedule and a plan to fulfill. It seems as though all that time in the lodge(s) wasn't spent sitting in a black chair waiting but rather taking meetings with Mike and the Giant and any other entitity available to give Cooper the lowdown to help him understand what was necessary to make things right at the soonest available opportunity. It just so happened that the next opportunity was 25 years later. Twin Peaks, The Return pretty much opens with Cooper in conference with The Giant, who, in his eliptical way, was pretty much explaining to Cooper what needed to be done. Mike seemed to be there every step of the way offering all the assistance that he could. It all may have made little sense to the viewer but it made perfect resonant sense to Coop and his subsequent actions once he was (finally) awake described someone fully briefed and ready to go.

So, just spitballing here but is it possible that Janey-E is really Dianne? I wish I could connect those dots in a clear way but I can't. That said, we're taking the word of Tulpa-Dianne that she's her sister when she may be using the term metaphorically.

It appears as though we've gone a full cycle with the colors on the show. Roughly the first third of the season the dominant color note was yellow (Jade's jeep, Janey-E's phone, The Giant's orb, etc.). The second third featured the color red (Major Brigg's chair, Cherry Pie, red shoes, etc.). Episode 14 appears to have announced the final green phase in the sequence when Dianne stepped out dressed all in green —usually her attire is a wild combo of these three colors— and sat in a green chair. And let's not overlook hand in the green glove. I don't think it's possible to ascribe literal meaning to the colors but ever since the recurring motif of the traffic light at Sparkwood and 21 of season 1, Lynch has been promoting the idea that moments in time are transitioning from one phase to another analogus to the light and color of a traffic light.

So, the colors are changing from yellow to red. The Lucy / Andy scene underscores that. Janey-E has gone from yellow to pink twinsets. Dougie drinks from a red mug and then is distracted by a passing pair of red high heels. Major Brigg's chair is upholstered in red. If the traffic signal at Sparkwood and 21 is any indicator of the tonal range of moods in the story it's only a matter of time before the color emphasis shifts from red to green.

Note to self, don't post hungry.

"We lived among the people. I think you say, convenience store. We lived above it. I mean it like it is... like it sounds." Yet the convenience store doesn't appear to have a second floor. If it's the same convenience store, that is. What if was the timbers which held up the roof of the store that was where they lived? Inside them. Like insects trapped in amber. Perhaps, like much of the west and southwest, the convenience store was built with wood from the environs of the Pacific Northwest --or in this case the area around Twin Peaks specifically? That somehow spirits trapped within the wood were released by the events of Trinity? Might begin to explain what "woodsman" were doing wandering a desert region? [sp]

RE: the Phillip Jefferies scene in FWWM I feel like the key to that scene is in the opening lines. Cooper approaches Gordon Cole's desk and rather earnestly says (as if to remind Cole) that it's "10:10am on February 16th". On it's face the opening to this scene plays like several others in the movie --with a pointed and obvious establishing note. Another outrageous example of this is a cut to Leo and Shelly in thier home as Leo shouts, "This is where we live Shelly". On one hand it's a funny and quirky economy that Lynch employs throughout FWWM to establish various scenes but what if it's also a mis-direct? Because on the other hand, with the Jefferies scene here's a moment that seems to suggest that Cooper --and even Cole-- have been anticipating 10:10am on February 16th. Now that it's here, the thing they suspected --or perhaps knew-- would happen, is happening.

I'm wondering if Janey-E is Cooper/Dougie's guardian angel figure? Has this been commented upon? The guardian angel played a prominent role for Laura Palmer in FWWM and I'm feeling like we're seeing that dynamic again. Janey-E is always there to bail Cooper/Dougie out. Her every scene (even the one with the low-lifes in the park) is Janey-E doing something to help Cooper/Dougie along --be it tying his tie, getting him to work or getting him out of a jam with others. The tricky part is how Lynch depicts guardian angels. For Laura, they appeared as the literal archetype of the form. While for Cooper/Dougie it appears to be a figurative representation of the form. In both cases (Laura and Cooper), a vulnerable character is aided by one whose apparent role is to safely guide their charge through a perilous transition.

That tune Gordon Cole whistles at his desk sounded to my ears to be the theme to Amarcord. Which translates to "I remember". Which, funnily enough, by the time he got to the end bit, he couldn't remember.

Numbers within the show frequently are, add up to, or are divisible by 3. It's all over the place. We're fully 1/3 of the way through the series. I suggest this is why Cooper appears to becoming out of the (Dougie) woods. I'll go so far as to say that the first third of the series will shows him 'lost', the second 1/3 will show him 'returning' and the final third will show us full-on Cooper, 'home'. My 3¢.

>>I saw this theory being passed around last night which has now made me think he won't become Cooper until he retrieves what he lost in transitioning back into the real world, that being his shoes. The scene in this episode where he stares longingly at the statue's shoes kinda reinforces that, in my interpretation. Where would he get his shoes back you might ask?<< I considered this as well but my answer to the question is Audrey. The 'missing' room key to The Great Northern is enroute back to Twin Peaks. I'm guessing that we'll discover that Agent Cooper's possessions (the ones left in his room) are still being held somewhere semi-forgotten, in storage because young Audrey Horne sentimentally refused to have them disposed of when Cooper failed to return to claim them. Or something like that.

Good one!

It is difficult to take something like that seriously, well at least literally. But you never know. In the book "Lynch on Lynch" and later excerpted in the Criterion Collection edition of Eraserhead, Lynch was asked: Coulson has said that years before her appearance as The Log Lady in Twin Peaks, you predicted she would appear in a television series one day with a log. Was that a joke? No. I had this idea during Eraserhead that I described to her and Jack and whoever would listen. [Laughs] And it was called I’ll Test My Log with Every Branch of Knowledge! It’s a half-hour television show starring Catherine as the lady with the log. Her husband has been killed in a forest fire and his ashes are on the mantelpiece, with his pipes and his sock hat. He was a woodsman. But the fireplace is completely boarded up. Because she now is very afraid of fire. And she has a small child, but she doesn’t drive, so she takes cabs. And each show would start with her making a phone call to some expert in one of the many, many fields of knowledge. Maybe on this particular day she calls a dentist, but she makes the appointment for her log. And the log goes in the dental chair and gets a little bib and chain and the dentist X-rays the log for cavities, goes through the whole thing, and the son is also there. Because she is teaching her son through his observations of what the log is going through. And then sometimes they go to a diner and they never get to where they’re going. That was the idea. You’d learn something each week, see? For real! In an absurd sort of world. How did that manifest itself finally in Twin Peaks? Well, we were shooting the pilot, and we’re coming up to this scene in the Town Council meeting and it struck me that Catherine had to be in this scene. And all she was gonna do was hold a log and turn the lights on and off to get people’s attention—there’s something about a lady with a log, you know . . . we got a lot of feedback about her, and so she became like a regular character.