meanwhile

(new to the forums hi) I thought this episode was brilliant and beautiful even if it's a jarring change from the previous ones. This episode specifically cements my belief that twin peaks is a huge allegory, drawing on western mysticism/ceremonial magic. Most obviously, the Woodsman looks like he's covered in tar, he's painted that much darker than the other characters. He and the other dark figures represent the shadow of normal people, an embodiment of their worse traits that they ignore or bottle up, just like the Black Lodge doubles are the shadows of specific people. This concept is also referenced in the Woodsman's poem, "the white of the eye and the darkness within." I also thought this episode specifically had a lot of social commentary. It seems like the dark figures looking like hobos is drawing on and criticizing many people's distrust/fear/suspicion of homeless people. The bomb detonation was obvious. I believe Lodge beings manipulating technology is an extension of that moral the bomb gives, demonstrating how technology can be used to hurt others in a very tangible way. The Lodge's connection to electricity, the "mother" being a mannequin on a cg gradient background, both point away from the Lodge being any sort of natural, even if alien, phenomenon. The Lodge (and by extension the evil of mankind) are monsters of our own making. Lastly, what if the Lodge was created to punish humankind for the bomb (etc) instead of hurting people because it feels like it? What if they aren't evil, they're just doing what they were made for?