Parts 3 & 4 - Call for help & ...brings back some memories (SPOILERS)

[cdjordan]

Brand new poster! Just binged through all four episodes.

I love what I'm seeing, but it's very in line Mulholland Drive -- scattershot mysteries with an eerie, artificial vibe that seemed destined to come together into some sort of tangentially logical, certainly emotional, resolution. I'm absolutely willing to let that play out. I've seen more than a few people take issue with the wooden acting so far, but ... I don't get that. That always seemed like part of Twin Peaks' soap-opera pastiche, and has been an element of Lynch's work in general, drawing attention to the uncanny nature of the camera (and doubling, and memory, and all sorts of ideas that go along with awareness of the camera). It isn't standard stilted-acting woodenness either--there is at once a genuine awkwardness to it that colors real-world interactions in a way I think we rarely observe closely enough to give credit, and a sense of measured uncanny that helps put Lynch's worlds at edge. Present a lot of his imagery with less artifice, it looses a lot of its impact. Make the uncanny part of a viscerally uncanny world, and it plays and affects. That's always been part of the secret. (Though I wasn't aware it was any kind of secret and thought everyone was on board.)

My explanation for the second doppelganger -- our "Dougie" -- at this point is one that I see has already been posted here. Bad Coop says he has a way to avoid being pulled back into the lodge, and we know from The Arm that for Cooper to leave, there must be a two-way exchange. When "Dougie" is pulled back into the lodge, MIKE comments that he was "manufactured for a purpose, which has now been fulfilled," after which the doppelganger becomes a small gold sphere. Later, MIKE holds the sphere up to Cooper saying, "You were tricked," and reiterating that only one of the two Coopers can exist simultaneously. I'd be very surprised if the explanation is indeed anything other than that a second "decoy" Cooper was manufactured by Bad Coop, who intended for it to trade places with the real Cooper instead.

Intrigued about the "mother," and whether we'll see any more on that. I'm also curious about how Laura's role is supposed to dovetail with her apparent peace at the end of Fire Walk With Me, which seemed to take place, through Twin Peaks' chronological weirdness, after the events of the series.

But yeah, a lot of people are going to hate this. Could've seen that coming a mile away.

Amen!

[rocketsan22]

Random observation but sound effects from the video game Galaga can be heard during casino scene...

[mtwentz]

So speaking of Drugged out Mother, this Rancho Rosa is a pretty seedy place for something that looks like a nice new suburban development. You've got one house being used by a prostitute and another by a drug addict.

I wonder what if any significance Rancho Rosa will have to the overall plot. Is it yet another Lynchian example of 'things aren't what they seem"?

[oldforce]

So speaking of Drugged out Mother, this Rancho Rosa is a pretty seedy place for something that looks like a nice new suburban development. You've got one house being used by a prostitute and another by a drug addict.

I wonder what if any significance Rancho Rosa will have to the overall plot. Is it yet another Lynchian example of 'things aren't what they seem"?

Also accurate satire of actual America.

[Mr. Reindeer]

So speaking of Drugged out Mother, this Rancho Rosa is a pretty seedy place for something that looks like a nice new suburban development. You've got one house being used by a prostitute and another by a drug addict.

I wonder what if any significance Rancho Rosa will have to the overall plot. Is it yet another Lynchian example of 'things aren't what they seem"?

Also accurate satire of actual America.

It'll be interesting to see if the show is a bit more topical this time out. DKL seems almost aggressively averse to letting current events influence his work (OJ and Lost Highway aside), but Mark has become very vocally political (and that even seeped into TSHoTP a tad). The Ben/Jerry scene toyed with the idea of more liberal weed laws in a harmlessly fun way that felt more topical than anything in the original show.

[Normonaut]

The main reason I think Dougie's life may not have been real, is how his kid reacts to GoodCoop.
First of all he gives a thumbs up from the hallway when Cooper touches his old gun shot wound, just like the waiter.
Second of all he doesn't say anything, you'd think a kid would talk more around breakfast, especially if his father was suddenly changed. (I supposedly cried when my dad shaved his mustache )
Third he keeps guiding Cooper, pulls out chair, sits him down, shows him how to eat. All while chuckling quietly.
Fourth, the kid looks nothing like any of the parents. The difference isn't so huge that you'd automatically go "ok what's going on, why is the kid black" (for example), but big enough to give you that feeling of something being... off.

Add that to all the other weird stuff going on (wife hardly reacting to his behaviour, random dude suddenly appearing at the casino telling him his name and address etc) and I think we're on to something?

Maybe Dougie was real, he was the target of an assassination after all, but maybe the life GoodCoop is being led into was not actually Dougie's life.

[wxray]

It'll be interesting to see if the show is a bit more topical this time out. DKL seems almost aggressively averse to letting current events influence his work (OJ and Lost Highway aside), but Mark has become very vocally political (and that even seeped into TSHoTP a tad). The Ben/Jerry scene toyed with the idea of more liberal weed laws in a harmlessly fun way that felt more topical than anything in the original show.

I wouldn't find that interesting, I'd find that disastrous.

One of the best things about Twin Peaks (and most of Lynch) is escapism. We get to ride away from this world (for the most part) with this show. Some societal things pop up (teen issues, drugs, etc.), but it is more as an observer, than a preacher. I haven't read Frost's stuff, but hearing that past presidents were involved in the plot is enough to turn me away.

I need escape, man. Don't bring this world on me! Enough writers and comedians are on their soapbox already. We don't need more.

[Mr. Reindeer]

It'll be interesting to see if the show is a bit more topical this time out. DKL seems almost aggressively averse to letting current events influence his work (OJ and Lost Highway aside), but Mark has become very vocally political (and that even seeped into TSHoTP a tad). The Ben/Jerry scene toyed with the idea of more liberal weed laws in a harmlessly fun way that felt more topical than anything in the original show.

I wouldn't find that interesting, I'd find that disastrous.

One of the best things about Twin Peaks (and most of Lynch) is escapism. We get to ride away from this world (for the most part) with this show. Some societal things pop up (teen issues, drugs, etc.), but it is more as an observer, than a preacher. I haven't read Frost's stuff, but hearing that past presidents were involved in the plot is enough to turn me away.

I need escape, man. Don't bring this world on me! Enough writers and comedians are on their soapbox already. We don't need more.

Oh, I sincerely doubt it will be overt in any way. And now that you mention it, the cocaine stuff in the original show (coming off the '80s) was probably comparable to the sort of minimal thing I'm expecting.

[Mibbler]

Another topic that has´t been mentioned yet:

In the scene where we first see Gordon & Albert at Philadelphia FBI headquarters gathered in a meeting, Albert is telling Gordon about a brutal murder commited by a man against his wife. He tells this man says he´s innocent and that he knows who really killed her but he doesn´t want to talk about it to avoid putting in risk national security. He also tells this man has said to Chris (one of the FBI agents present in the meeting) that he himself had left six objects in his garden of Georgetown as clues to find the killer. As Gordon carefully inspects these objects, the camera shows us the following:

-A photograph of a insinuating blonde woman in bikini.
-Pliers.
-A photograph of two women in bikini with sunglasses posing as if they were having a sunbath.
-A photograph of a little boy dressed in sailor´s uniform.
-A machine gun.
-A pot of pistachios?

After looking at these objects, Gordon only says: "The congressman´s dilemma!".

So, what do you think of this scene? Is the crime they are talking about ANOTHER murder probably commited by BOB possesing someone? At least, it looks so. Are you able to guess any meaning from those objects? I´m totally not. And, by the way, what is the meaning of Gordon´s sentence? I suppose it may be an american idiom, but I don´t get it...

[mtwentz]

I wouldn't find that interesting, I'd find that disastrous.

One of the best things about Twin Peaks (and most of Lynch) is escapism. We get to ride away from this world (for the most part) with this show. Some societal things pop up (teen issues, drugs, etc.), but it is more as an observer, than a preacher. I haven't read Frost's stuff, but hearing that past presidents were involved in the plot is enough to turn me away.

I need escape, man. Don't bring this world on me! Enough writers and comedians are on their soapbox already. We don't need more.

Oh, I sincerely doubt it will be overt in any way. And now that you mention it, the cocaine stuff in the original show (coming off the '80s) was probably comparable to the sort of minimal thing I'm expecting.

I don't think it's topical except to the extent the 'underbelly' of America- that which lies beneath the polished veneer- has always been there.

However, I do expect the drugs the kids are using to be more in line with what kids use today. Opiods, crystal meth, etc.

[counterpaul]

And I absolutely do see Coop in COOPER. A key scene is when he begins to intuit what Ray is up to from talking to Darya. "This is quite an interesting thing to think about. A game begins." As much as it breaks my heart, that is Coop--it's a twisted inversion of Coop, but it's Coop.

It's funny - when I heard that line of dialogue, my first thought is that it sounded like the kind of thing Windom Earle would say. But it makes sense that Cooper would draw from his experience with Earle.

Earl might say something like, "A game begins," but it wouldn't be in that tone and he would be much less likely to say something like, "This is quite an interesting thing to think about." Earl liked to be right, and he liked to know exactly what was going on at all times. He had no patience. Mysteries frustrated Earl. They were roadblocks he wanted to ram through as quickly as possible. They weren't inviting to him.

No, this is Coop coming through. He's intrigued by the mystery and he's savoring the sensation of letting his intuition go to work.

[asmahan]

Another topic that has´t been mentioned yet:

In the scene where we first see Gordon & Albert at Philadelphia FBI headquarters gathered in a meeting, Albert is telling Gordon about a brutal murder commited by a man against his wife. He tells this man says he´s innocent and that he knows who really killed her but he doesn´t want to talk about it to avoid putting in risk national security. He also tells this man has said to Chris (one of the FBI agents present in the meeting) that he himself had left six objects in his garden of Georgetown as clues to find the killer. As Gordon carefully inspects these objects, the camera shows us the following:

-A photograph of a insinuating blonde woman in bikini.
-Pliers.
-A photograph of two women in bikini with sunglasses posing as if they were having a sunbath.
-A photograph of a little boy dressed in sailor´s uniform.
-A machine gun.
-A pot of pistachios?

After looking at these objects, Gordon only says: "The congressman´s dilemma!".

So, what do you think of this scene? Is the crime they are talking about ANOTHER murder probably commited by BOB possesing someone? At least, it looks so. Are you able to guess any meaning from those objects? I´m totally not. And, by the way, what is the meaning of Gordon´s sentence? I suppose it may be an american idiom, but I don´t get it...

Seemed like a visual non-sequitur joke, like the prostitutes and school kids in FWWM

[wxray]

I wouldn't find that interesting, I'd find that disastrous.

One of the best things about Twin Peaks (and most of Lynch) is escapism. We get to ride away from this world (for the most part) with this show. Some societal things pop up (teen issues, drugs, etc.), but it is more as an observer, than a preacher. I haven't read Frost's stuff, but hearing that past presidents were involved in the plot is enough to turn me away.

I need escape, man. Don't bring this world on me! Enough writers and comedians are on their soapbox already. We don't need more.

Oh, I sincerely doubt it will be overt in any way. And now that you mention it, the cocaine stuff in the original show (coming off the '80s) was probably comparable to the sort of minimal thing I'm expecting.

I don't think it's topical except to the extent the 'underbelly' of America- that which lies beneath the polished veneer- has always been there.

However, I do expect the drugs the kids are using to be more in line with what kids use today. Opiods, crystal meth, etc.

Yep, that's OK. I love Lynch's duality of thought about the American experience. One minute there is an ear in the field, the next a firetruck rolls by with a dalmatian on the fender. Just don't tell me that PETA complained about the dalmation.

Seriously, the drug use has evolved. Looks like she was popping opiods.

[Jerry Horne]

I'm all in on the Rancho Rosa is not a real place theory. Another clue would be that Rancho Rosa is not only a location on the show but the name of the production company. Rancho Rosa being two things at once. We also have the initials being the Same as the Red Room (although everybody in Rancho is helping D/C)

One topic I don't see being discussed is is why Dougie/Coop is being guided to the winning slots?

[Mibbler]

One topic I don't see being discussed is is why Dougie/Coop is being guided to the winning slots?

I think the spirits of the lodge are, as always, following their our agenda and help Cooper not because they wish him good, but because Bad Coop has broken one of their rules (the same as when BOB broke the rule of taking Theresa´s garmonbozia in FWWM) and want to restore things...