Mr. Todd

[Deep Thought]

Ok, since we have Laura Palmer and Ronette Pulaski show up in Mulholland Drive, I think we can assume there is some overlap between the two universes; at least I have always thought that after seeing them in Club Silencio. (I see TP and MD as taking place in the exact same universe actually). With that bias in mind, I think it is helpful to look to MD for insight into The Return.

Take Mr. Todd’s roll in The Return. One thing that jumped out at me watching episode 2 for the first time was the similarity in the characters of Mr. Todd and Dan in MD. This was obviously triggered by the same actor playing both people, but also aided by the dialog and delivery.

“Roger, you better hope you never get involved, with someone like him.”

Mr Todd.jpg (21.15 KiB) Viewed 10137 times

“I hope I never see that face, ever, outside of the dream.”

Winkies.jpg (29.66 KiB) Viewed 10137 times

I am leaning towards Mr. Todd existing in the same realm as I believe Audrey inhabits at the moment (through episode 14), that is, as a mental state rather than a “real” person, even though there would be no conflict should either be inhabiting both. I don’t look to TR as being a literal story, so I give some leeway to even the supposedly “real” characters like the Fusco brothers as also being representative of some aspect of a character or situation. If Mr. Todd is strictly a respectable hit man, he is an awfully inefficient and frankly quite boring one; but he excells at passing along messages and unlocking information kept in secure locations.

More interesting to me is his place in the chain of communication, which parallels that in MD:

MD Chain.jpg (79.56 KiB) Viewed 10087 times

TR Chain.jpg (72.84 KiB) Viewed 10087 times

I look at this as further evidence for what Mr. Todd’s true role in The Return is. Whose head he is in is still up for debate, but I'm thinking Cooper's.

[Novalis]

I love Patrick Fischler's ability to smile and look terrified at the same time. It's a very distinctive, mortified grimace; all the smile lines come out but he looks truly lost in the horror. As if the depth of what he has seen, or knows about, is simply too great to process in any other way than to shamefacedly grin about it. It's a perfect unspoken level of communication, and profoundly unsettling.

His short scene in MD was for me absolutely legendary. I was overjoyed when he appeared in the Return.

The mystery of Duncan Todd seems to be that while he's obviously a professional in his line of work with his own underlings, he is somehow deeply compromised and to all intents and purposes hostage to someone far more powerful: someone who, we sense, can simply end him if he drops the ball. As a link in a chain, he maybe does not know the full consequences of the part he plays, and this is probably a good thing and maybe the only thing that keeps him sane and efficient; still, we get the sense that he suspects just how bad it might be, judging from how he speaks of his superior in the chain of command. He's certainly felt, if not actually witnessed, 'something bad'.

As noted, the sincerity with which he hopes never to see that face again (MD) definitely carries over to the statement 'you'd better hope you never get involved with someone like that' in The Return. The latter builds on and utilises the content of the former. I wonder how this would scan for someone who hadn't seen MD; for me it feels almost like required background, as if the dialogue was written to evoke the same context of holy dread.

[claaa7]

I love Patrick Fischler's ability to smile and look terrified at the same time. It's a very distinctive, mortified grimace; all the smile lines come out but he looks truly lost in the horror. As if the depth of what he has seen, or knows about, is simply too great to process in any other way than to shamefacedly grin about it. It's a perfect unspoken level of communication, and profoundly unsettling.

His short scene in MD was for me absolutely legendary. I was overjoyed when he appeared in the Return.

%100... that short scene in this Winkies is one of the most powerful things Lynch has ever directed and that owes much to Fischler's ability to try to hide this bottomless terror with a smile. can you believe that the original ABC producers was absolutely adamant about that scene having no place whatsoever in the Pilot they were producing. smh.

shouldn't Ike be leaving his message of leave of absence to DT (i love that a hired hitman contacts his boss to clear a medical leave), yet he say "message to J.T."? Hmmm....

[alreadygoneplaces]

Ok, since we have Laura Palmer and Ronette Pulaski show up in Mulholland Drive

We do?

I think there are definitely deliberate references to MD in the Return, but definitely wouldn't go as far as thinking they're part of the same narrative universe. But that is a fun way to look at it.

As for Duncan Todd, I didn't interpret him as being a hitman at all- more a powerful businessman, possibly the so-called 'billionaire'. I would guess that D.T. is the registered, oblivious owner of the glass box, but he himself is owned by the doppelgänger, exploiting his money and networks.

[claaa7]

Ok, since we have Laura Palmer and Ronette Pulaski show up in Mulholland Drive

We do?

it's long been debated that we see Sheryl Lee and Phoebe Augustine, or at least two unmistakable look-alikes, in Club Silencio.. i still think that it is Sheryl Lee but who knows

[Deep Thought]

As for Duncan Todd, I didn't interpret him as being a hitman at all- more a powerful businessman, possibly the so-called

Agreed he's not up for doing the killing himself, but he does pass the messages to kill along. Definately a facilitator.

it's long been debated that we see Sheryl Lee and Phoebe Augustine, or at least two unmistakable look-alikes, in Club Silencio.. i still think that it is Sheryl Lee but who knows

I honestly didn't know this is a point of debate. I've always assumed it is Sheryl Lee and Phoebe Augustine in Club Silencio. I'll have to take a closer look!

Wasn't Mulholland Drive originally conceived as a TP spinoff?

[Deep Thought]

By the way, I think Audrey (through episode 14) is having similar issues with her lines of communication as are Diane Selwyn and Copper(?) in the pictures above. Hers would maybe go Charlie - Tina/Chuck - Billy - and for now at least an unanswered phone on the nightstand similar to Diane's.

[alreadygoneplaces]

I honestly didn't know this is a point of debate. I've always assumed it is Sheryl Lee and Phoebe Augustine in Club Silencio. I'll have to take a closer look!

Wasn't Mulholland Drive originally conceived as a TP spinoff?

My eyes tell me one of them probably is Sheryl Lee, but the other surely isn't Phoebe Augustine. I think (if it is Sheryl Lee) their inclusion- at most- entertains the possibility of interpreting it that way, without necessarily putting it forward as an intended meaning.* Lynch has his thing for blonde/brunette duality (unfortunately, imo) and I think that pair in club silencio are there simply as 'a blonde and a brunette', allowing us to make of that what we will (Betty and Rita? Laura and Ronette? Darkness and light? (yawn, if the latter) )

*That said, I don't know too much about how much the plan for MD changed since it's initial conception. I'd always assumed it'd totally become its own thing.

[Mr. Reindeer]

Both Lynch and John Neff have said that it's not Sheryl Lee in MD.

DKL rather enigmatically says in the Rodley book that, while he and Mark planned MD as a TP spinoff, "Nothing was ever written and nothing was ever discussed. It was just that - the name."

[Deep Thought]

Both Lynch and John Neff have said that it's not Sheryl Lee in MD.

I guess it's a case of "who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes"? There may be some wiggle room with Phoebe, but if that's not Sheryl Lee I'll eat my dinner.

By "same universe" I mean the universe of the mind, as opposed to aliens or spirits. Not too much of a stretch. Although I accept TP may indeed be about those other things, it's not the way I look at it.

*Neff also insisted (on the old TP Gazette board) that on the FWWM DVD, the Pink Room sound mix was not altered, so I'm not too sure how in the know he is. Even though he worked on that DVD sound mix, I don't think(?) he ever saw the original in the theater.

[Mr. Reindeer]

I guess it's a case of "who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes"? There may be some wiggle room with Phoebe, but if that's not Sheryl Lee I'll eat my dinner.

Honestly, I see almost zero resemblance to Phoebe Augustine. I admit that the blonde looks a lot like Sheryl (albeit I think a bit heavier than she was then), but if this was an intentional Easter egg planted by Lynch, why on earth would he then lie when it was discovered?

[Rhodes]

It's definitely not Phoebe Augustine and I'm 95% sure it is not Sheryll Lee. Those estimates do not even take into account Lynch's statement.

[Deep Thought]

Good thing I'm hungry!

[BOB1]

Never heard about it, either, but whatever. Back to Mr Todd, I don't like the guy No, I mean, I just trolled the NYC Box thread saying that my theory is it was redundant, and unfortunately I have a similar feel towards Mr Todd. Actually, I have it with a big majority of what was shown in the first two parts but well... It's just that I could try some interpretations as to who he is, whose mind he lives in or is he real or who is the powerful boss that he never wants to see outside of a dream but really, what if there was no Mr Todd at all in this story? What does he really add to the story? I can't even answer my own question because truth is, I hardly remember anything Mr Todd did or said. I know he always sits in one position and there was a red square or something on his screen and you reminded me of this piece of dialogue which indeed resembles Mulholland Drive. But basically his screen appearances didn't seem meaningful to me. Sorry for being useless in this thread!

[Deep Thought]

Never heard about it, either, but whatever. Back to Mr Todd, I don't like the guy No, I mean, I just trolled the NYC Box thread saying that my theory is it was redundant, and unfortunately I have a similar feel towards Mr Todd. Actually, I have it with a big majority of what was shown in the first two parts but well... It's just that I could try some interpretations as to who he is, whose mind he lives in or is he real or who is the powerful boss that he never wants to see outside of a dream but really, what if there was no Mr Todd at all in this story? What does he really add to the story? I can't even answer my own question because truth is, I hardly remember anything Mr Todd did or said. I know he always sits in one position and there was a red square or something on his screen and you reminded me of this piece of dialogue which indeed resembles Mulholland Drive. But basically his screen appearances didn't seem meaningful to me. Sorry for being useless in this thread!

This is something I touched on, or at least tried to. He is a redundant relayer of information. I had to combine the series of screen grabs above cause I couldn't get all my pics in one post, but I had titled Mr. Todd's picture "Conduit." His counterpart in MD had much less screen time. Perhaps he is, like suggested, being set up to be the money man for Mr. C. Still, I look at his role, and others like Charlie, as "functions" rather than characters.