Annie Speculation (SPOILERS)

[N. Needleman]

I think Annie was fully intended to be 100% real back in the day, but there was spec even then about her origins from fans. I do think it's possible that over the years Lynch/Frost changed their minds and perhaps decided to turn her into some sort of White Lodge totem/analog to Dougie. That'd be kind of nifty as a twist - but I can see the hot takes now about erasing her from the narrative. I'd just like to see her once more, and she wasn't exactly one of my favorites but her presence is relevant, however briefly.

[Agent Earle]

Those are not "hot takes" per se, more like quite reasonable and legitimate concerns. Unless you categorize any opinion that questions a creator's decision regarding his creation as a "hot take".

[Burns's Suite]

I know this theory has floated around for ages, but the entire Dougie storyline does seem to lend (at this point at least) some credence. But then that still begs the question; why would Annie send Laura the message in FWWM if she was purely created to send Coop to the Lodge?

2016 cast list or not, I'm still holding on to the belief that we will see Annie at some point this season. She's one of the few members from the original who's (possible) appearance this season would be kept secret for a reason. Plus, it seems a little unfitting to end the original run on "How's Annie?" if it's addressed only with a line or two.

[4815162342]

I think Annie was fully intended to be 100% real back in the day, but there was spec even then about her origins from fans. I do think it's possible that over the years Lynch/Frost changed their minds and perhaps decided to turn her into some sort of White Lodge totem/analog to Dougie. That'd be kind of nifty as a twist - but I can see the hot takes now about erasing her from the narrative. I'd just like to see her once more, and she wasn't exactly one of my favorites but her presence is relevant, however briefly.

hot take

[N. Needleman]

How, exactly?

[Cappy]

I'd also like to add this to the evidence pile:

- The Giant warning Cooper, right before he kisses Annie. It's assumed he's generally warning Coop about Windom and the Lodge, but I think it's significant that he appears to Coop just before he and Annie lock lips.

- In the finale, everyone is fine with Annie being taken to the Black Lodge, even acting as if nothing is wrong at all. Norma is seen laughing with Ed at his house, and Shelly is joking with Bobby at the diner. No one seems phased by her disappearance, like they have no memory of her, or they are somehow unaware of her dilemma.

- This is really circumstantial, but it always felt a bit off to me: when Norma is describing the Miss Twin Peaks pageant to Shelly and Annie, she tells her employees that she wants to see one of them win, because the town needs a good moment in light of recent events. Annie is quick to blurt out, 'Oh, Laura Palmer' (i'm paraphrasing obviously). Despite the fact that Annie was living in seclusion during that whole situation, she seems to be aware of it. In itself that can make sense, as it was likely a huge news story for that region, so I'm sure she heard about it on the bus ride into town, or maybe she overheard diner customers talking about it off camera. Also, she could've read that newspaper that Roger Hardy from the FBI is seen reading, the one where Leland's death is on the front page. But why does she feel the need to blurt out 'Laura Palmer', when clearly it's a sensitive subject for everyone? How many other characters just blurt her name out like that after Leland's wake? I know that Annie's inability to read social cues and her general clumsy people skills are a part of her character. It's just that the way she delivers 'Oh, Laura Palmer' is almost as if she said it not as a spontaneous reply to Norma, but almost like she was already thinking about it. I know I am reading too much into this insignificant detail, but when considering all the other incongruities about Annie's role, it's worth looking at her social awkwardness as well.

[Cappy]

Personally, I hope Annie was real, but as long as she gets agency I'm good. For example: she was made to guide Coop to the Lodge, but her FWWM message is her acting against that 'programming' out of her own free will.

Yeah, that's kind of what my thinking is too. She was somehow able to assert her own free will and help Cooper and Laura.

[Yps]

maybe Annie's stuck in the black lodge. The missing pieces from FWWM show the nurse stealing the owl cave ring from Annie. We know from Laura Palmer that while wearing the ring apparently condemns the wearer to pergatory in the black lodge, it also protects the wearer from being possessed by Bob.

I know this theory has floated around for ages, but the entire Dougie storyline does seem to lend (at this point at least) some credence. But then that still begs the question; why would Annie send Laura the message in FWWM if she was purely created to send Coop to the Lodge?

2016 cast list or not, I'm still holding on to the belief that we will see Annie at some point this season. She's one of the few members from the original who's (possible) appearance this season would be kept secret for a reason. Plus, it seems a little unfitting to end the original run on "How's Annie?" if it's addressed only with a line or two.

[Cappy]

I'm not sure if Annie is in the Black Lodge anymore or not. I know that time in the Twin Peaks Lodge cosmology isn't necessarily linear, but I suspect that if the ring was taken from Annie in the hospital, then maybe she wasn't fully pulled back into the Lodge, or she isn't there at all. Annie's uneven status could be due to the fact that she's stuck between the Lodge and the real world.

I wonder if in the past 25 years in limbo could've turned her into the vaguely feminine glass box monster that killed those two in New York. In FWWM, Annie does have some sort of face wound that might be suggestive of the glass box monster's lack of nose and eyes. My initial idea was that this creature was the Arm's doppelganger following after Cooper, but if that were the case, why would it suddenly turn from a tree to an almost female human shape?

If the "purple room" is sort of a conduit between the Lodge and the real world, then this would make a little sense (emphasis on little). Unreal Lodge construct Annie can't return home so she occasionally attacks the transfer station between worlds.

I sort of hope I'm wrong about this, but just a thought.

EDIT: Also, the glass box monster can't be documented by video cameras (at least not accurately), similar to how Annie couldn't be documented by Maj. Briggs' dossier in Secret History.

[BOB1]

The Annie-was-manufactured theory doesn't sit right with me. But I'm genuinely curious if it isn't her who is drinking.

[Mr. Reindeer]

The Annie-was-manufactured theory doesn't sit right with me. But I'm genuinely curious if it isn't her who is drinking.

Nursing a rum & tonic at the Great Northern, mayhaps?

[CuriousWoman]

I really enjoy the idea of Annie being manufactured to lure Cooper in the lodge, especially since the character was conceived quickly by the writer for this purpose.

But I don't think that she knows about it, if you are a fan of Buffy the vampire slayer, I imagine it to be kinda like

Spoiler:

Dawn's situtation

Her disappearance would quickly explain most incoherences about her and many things from season 2 would get a new angle and save most of the Miss Twin Peaks story arc. (especially if we consider the possibility of Lana being a governmental assassin sent to kill Milford and who seriously wanted to win the pageant only to enter the Lodge herself.)

I almost regret liking it so much in case it is later proven to be wrong.

[Cappy]

I'm secretly hoping it's Sarah Palmer that Albert was referring too. If Cooper has any sort of otherworldy element about him, then Sarah would be able see it. Cooper is a strong sender, with or without BOB or a doppelganger.

Plus a scene where Sarah and DoppelCoop stare each other down through the dirty glass plate of a prison visitation room would be super intense.

[Cappy]

But I don't think that she knows about it, if you are a fan of Buffy the vampire slayer, I imagine it to be kinda like

Spoiler:

Dawn's situtation

Bingo. That's exactly what I think is going on with Annie.

[Gabriel]

But I don't think that she knows about it, if you are a fan of Buffy the vampire slayer, I imagine it to be kinda like

Spoiler:

Dawn's situtation

Bingo. That's exactly what I think is going on with Annie.

Yeah I've wondered about this too. And Lana...