Part 5 - Case files (SPOILERS)

[N. Needleman]

I love the Dougie stuff. It works far better than it has any right to. It's a minute examination of Cooper/Kyle not unlike Laura/Sheryl's personal odyssey in FWWM.

I am also #TeamJade.

[IcedOver]

Maybe I am in the minority, but I really enjoy the DougieCoop/DroolCoop stuff. I think Lynch/Frost have effectively stripped away all of what we though was Coop, and left behind nothing but his most primal, childlike essence.

That's a good way of looking at it, but it's your own way. At the moment I think they're just concentrating on the absurdist aspects of it. I hope this plotline either gets resolved (i.e., Coop's soul or whatever returning to his body) or evolves in a way that we can get a new look at the character.

[dkenny78]

Maybe Bad Coop was in town a little longer then we think? Maybe he was hiding out in Windom's cabin? After all, his metal briefcase seems to be the same.

Interesting theory! Personally, I would love to get some more detail on what exactly happened in the relative aftermath of the S2 finale. We know from 'The Secret History' that Evil Cooper visits the Briggs household the same day as last scene of the finale (Tuesday, March 28, 1989). Bobby says that Major Briggs died the next day and Cooper left town "soon after that" - so he could have stuck around for a little while.

[Mr. Reindeer]

I have precisely one issue with DroolCoop: he holds his urine until someone shoves him into the bathroom......but once he's in there, he knows exactly how to unzip his fly and point at the toilet? I know, I know, suspension of disbelief. But it immediately jumped out at me as inconsistent with the rest of his behavior/evolution. If you're gonna do that particular gag, you gotta commit.

Otherwise, I find it a charming, amusing and heartbreaking portrayal of innocence, inability to connect with one's surroundings, and loss of memory. Comparisons to Being There are spot-on. Kyle is note-perfect in every scene. It works far better than it has any right to.

[Elad Repooc]

The question is, is Dougie Cooper going to wake up gradually in stages, or is he going to suddenly wake up?

Or what if Dougie Cooper and Evil Cooper swap places?

But one question that has always bugged me about Bob possessing Evil Cooper: is Evil Cooper only evil because Bob is possessing him? Or is Bob possessing him because he's evil? What would have happened if Bob had possessed Good Cooper instead? Would we have had two Evil Coopers? One who is evil because Bob is inside him and one who is already evil anyway?

It's just always struck me as odd that Bob even needs to be possessing Evil Cooper if Evil Cooper is already evil.

I mean, Bob was possessing Good Leland, which made him do bad things. But then in the lodge at the end of Season 2 we saw a doppelganger of Leland with weird eyes who presumably was not possessed by Bob because Bob was running around with Windom Earle and Evil Cooper.

Also, the "arm" was the evil part of Mike, which is why he tore it off. But the "arm" has a doppelganger too. So is that Evil Arm and Ultra Evil Arm?

I often wonder if David Lynch just throws random ideas together just to see what happens. Maybe this is why he always refuses to explain his films. Maybe he has no idea himself...

[gladhand]

Does anyone think that evilcoop will impersonate agent coop? Maybe some of those shots we see of Cooper in the trailer are actually evilcoop with short hair and suit?

Haven't we already seen this? When Cole & Albert interview Cooper in prison in EP4, it's really the evilcoop, with the weird voice, is it not? That was a great scene. Really weird and tense. Probably my fave scene of the series so far.

Side note....I wonder what will bring Carl Rodd into the new story, I'm looking forward to some Carl Rodd....where are the Chalfonts? and not a word about Annie or Chester Desmond yet?

Well there was a tease of the fat trout trailer park in an April Trailer, so it seems likely the action will go back there (Portland, Oregon, right?). I'll bet Carl's still running the place. Let's hope he's sorted out that woman's god damned hot water.

I'm becoming increasingly hopeful of seeing Bowie. I know I'm probably setting myself up for disappointment, but he was alive for half of the shooting, and given what we've seen so far, his character is being set up enough as a big part of the narrative (even in this revised version of the show following Bowie's illness and passing) that DKL MUST have reached out to him at some point.

It feels likely that Jeffries will play a significant part in the plot. The little clip in Buenos Aires in this episode suggests there is more to come. I suppose he did manage to record two albums in secret without anyone knowing in advance, so it's possible he contributed somehow. Even if it's just a recording of some baffling dialogue, it would be great.

Or maybe DKL has a bit of extra footage from the FWWM scenes, not used in the missing pieces, that he can somehow weave into this series? The scene of Dougie/cooper coming out the lift reminded me a little bit of the lift scenes that feature in Phillip Jeffries' legendary Washington scene in FWWM.

It is safe to say at this point that Dougie is now a ball bearing (?), and the two remaining Kyle characters in the show are the original cooper (who people think is Dougie) and the evil cooper? That's how I'm viewing it.

[counterpaul]

Funny that the consensus seems to be that Doris was portrayed as an unreasonable lunatic and Frank as henpecked. While I agree that there is some element of "henpecked husband" in the scene, I also thought the joke was that Frank gives her literally NOTHING in terms of emotional or practical support. He didn't bother to tell her that he got her dad's car looked at two hours ago (he couldn't send a quick text?), his "bucket" advice is wildly unhelpful. I thought her exasperation was very much justified, even if it was exaggerated as if playing to the cheap seats (intentional stylistic choice, I have no doubt). I took the gag as being about a marriage where the partners are wildly unsuited for one another in terms of temperament, not "aren't women so crazy?"

And Clark's performance tickled me more than anything Lucy or Andy have done so far. The weird little gesture where she pulls her sweater open for no reason is hysterical.

Thank you! This is exactly my feeling about the scene. In fact, I find myself identifying WAY more with Doris than Frank. As she says, he IS impossible!

The absurd humor comes in how both of their natural personalities are exaggerated, and the implication is that it is the many years they have spent trying to navigate their differences that have done it. Doris's body language is absolutely hilarious! It's like she feels as if she has to do everything possible just to try and elicit ANY kind of human reaction. And it doesn't even work!

Try to watch the scene from Doris's point of view. It's there to be seen.

[Jerry Horne]

Maybe Bad Coop was in town a little longer then we think? Maybe he was hiding out in Windom's cabin? After all, his metal briefcase seems to be the same.

Interesting theory! Personally, I would love to get some more detail on what exactly happened in the relative aftermath of the S2 finale. We know from 'The Secret History' that Evil Cooper visits the Briggs household the same day as last scene of the finale (Tuesday, March 28, 1989). Bobby says that Major Briggs died the next day and Cooper left town "soon after that" - so he could have stuck around for a little while.

So Coop hides out in Windom's cabin for a month or two. Secretly contacts Audrey, convinces her to keep things quiet, they do the deed and she has twins Richard and Linda.

Flash forward and the Giant informs Good Coop where to find Richard and Linda (Apt. 430) so he can kill them.

I'm making this up as I go along, don't judge me!

[polishq]

Here's a new theory: Dougie Jones was manufactured from Agent Chet Desmond, who was last seen reaching for the Owl Cave ring and whose character was invented in the first place as a replacement for Agent Cooper (since Kyle had initially planned not to participate in FWWM). Plus Chet already looked a bit like Cooper so it would have made the manufacturing process a little easier.

[Jerry Horne]

Speaking of which, when Coop is in the purple world room, his hair changes from Coop hair to Chester hair. If I remember right.

[Cappy]

One thing I wonder about the ring found in Maj. Briggs:

Was this ring of the Dougie and Janey-E that we have seen in Season 3, or was it the ring of Doug Milford and of his many wives? Considering Maj. Briggs' relationship with Doug Milford, it sort of makes sense that he would have access to this artifact.

Maybe Doug Milford from Secret History is just a huge red herring, but having read it before watching S3 it's hard not to connect him with the Dougie played by Cooper.

[IcedOver]

One thing I wonder about the ring found in Maj. Briggs

Who says that's him? Did I miss something?

[Mr. Reindeer]

One thing I wonder about the ring found in Maj. Briggs:

Was this ring of the Dougie and Janey-E that we have seen in Season 3, or was it the ring of Doug Milford and of his many wives? Considering Maj. Briggs' relationship with Doug Milford, it sort of makes sense that he would have access to this artifact.

Maybe Doug Milford from Secret History is just a huge red herring, but having read it before watching S3 it's hard not to connect him with the Dougie played by Cooper.

Huh. Interesting point. Also worth noting that Dougie Milford spent much of his life as a directionless hedonistic alcoholic -- much like the real Dougie Jones, apparently -- before finding purpose in government service.

[polishq]

One thing I wonder about the ring found in Maj. Briggs

Who says that's him? Did I miss something?

The scene at the Pentagon in part 5 confirms that the fingerprints from the headless body are a match with Briggs. But oddly his fingerprints have been popping up in various places 16 times over the past 25 years.

[qbin2001]

So Mr. C convinces Audrey he is the good Coop and they have two children together, Richard and Linda?

Come on. You can't be serious...