Part 12 - Let's rock (SPOILERS)

[Ragnell]

I still hold hope but we are running out of time. My main issue is with the Dougie story line. It has started in episode 3 and here we are 9 parts later, half of the show's total running time (!), and he has not tangibly moved an inch from where we initially saw him. When all is said and done and the final curtain falls on the Return, my bet is that most people will point to this and say that too much time was spent on essentially nothing. I get that the town and its world have almost lost their soul and are on a total descent into darkness, I anticipated that, but the way Dougie has been treated does not make any sense. I hope I am proven wrong in the end.

I think you've hit the nail on the head re: Dougie, but not in a cut and dried way. I do believe that many people will point to the time spent with the Dougie stuff as a flaw, but I think that time will prove them wrong as more and more people come to understand and accept the story that has been told. I thought Dougie was a diversion at first, but I've now settled into his storyline, and I now view it as THE story here that most directly ties into the themes of aging and time and returning in the series. I think it's very important, but not everyone will see that or like it.

DougieCoop is now sleepwalking through life, Phillip Gerard implored him to wake up, didn't he? Santo and Johnny song was a bit of a clue too. It could all be a trick as Gerard says, orchestrated by Mr C. Then it would be like a fable where he will wake up once the princess kisses him (Laura, Audrey, Annie?), a mirror image of the Sleeping Beauty. We'll see, time is running short, and Laura has now twice kissed Cooper in the Waiting Room, but not in the "real world".

I'm enjoying it too. And I haven't given up hope, because Dale remaining in this state at the end is unsatisfying. And it's unsatisfying to have someone rescue him by taking care of the big bad Doppelganger he couldn't face in Ep 29 too, so I'm pretty sure he'll get his agency back, and he'll get it back before the Doppelganger is taken care of.

Unfortunately, after this long, any idea of a sudden wake-up that's not somehow worth our time is ALSO unsatisfying. If he just goes through an electrical socket and goes back to Twin Peaks and appears as himself and forgets these people, as others have suggested, this whole thing seems like a waste of time. If he wakes up because the characters we've spent all this time getting to know in Vegas--Janey-E, Sonny Jim, Bushnell, the Mitchems, Candie..etc...--die or disappear from his life, this whole thing seems like a waste of time. The Vegas plot shouldn't simply be a detour. It might be something Lynch would do, but it's not something I can imagine anyone describing as a satisfying journey that NEEDS to happen, unless there's some bearing on the ending.

I think a snap wakeup can happen, as long as Dougie becomes Dale again in a way that makes the whole Vegas plotline worth it. The Vegas plotline needs to have an EFFECT on the storyline beyond simply being a dream or holding pattern for Coop. He has to have a) learned something vital from this, b) formed some lasting relationships, and c) FIXED things in Las Vegas. Now, as of Ep 11 he's repaired a LOT of damage in Las Vegas that appears to lead directly back to Doppelcoop (the insurance fraud scheme being tied to Mr. Todd now, the unhappy state of the Jones family being due to Dougie's manufacture, the Mitchem brothers being cheated out of the insurance money, the old lady being unhappy) but there's still a lot there that needs to be settled before he leaves -- Mr. Todd is still there, Tony is still on the payroll, Bushnell hasn't fully cleaned house, Hutch and Chantel are on their way and ultimately, Cooper hasn't picked up anything in this experience that will help him counter the Doppelganger's massive network. Though he does have a couple rich allies so far. Still, is not quite enough. I believe there has to be some big piece of wisdom Cooper is going to get from this experience.

Now, while I might be wrong about him learning a lesson, I'm sure he's not just leaving this place without a thought about the people. Dale Cooper does not do that. Just leaving Twin Peaks without a word is what the Doppelganger did to Cooper's friends, Cooper's not going to do that to Dougie's friends in Vegas even if the Lodge does suddenly dump him in Twin Peaks.

[Ragnell]

Oh, and I seem to be the only one who thinks this way, but the Dougie scene this ep made me very sad for Sonny Jim. It's crushing how desperately he wants a relationship with his father, and DougieCoop is no position to be a parent or mentor figure for him. I will be in tears if Dale disappears on that little boy.

[asmahan]

Upon rewatch, I realized how profoundly lovely the last scene at the Roadhouse was-- the 30-somethings acting like teens, Trick who's lucky to be alive. A hopeful, beautiful little vignette, even if the Chromatics performance was kinda lacking.

[lotjx2]

I liked this episode, because it was all about Twin Peaks and the FBI case. I do think its such a slow crawl to get to the destination it better worth it. We are down to what I think is the last 6 hours of Twin Peaks without a Dale Copper insight. That is just nuts. We finally get Audrey, because all of her son's sins have come to light. I am not sure, I buy the Audrey is not in the real world. Seems a bit like fans not seeing a tree is just a tree.

[jakemartinez]

I liked this episode, because it was all about Twin Peaks and the FBI case. I do think its such a slow crawl to get to the destination it better worth it. We are down to what I think is the last 6 hours of Twin Peaks without a Dale Copper insight. That is just nuts. We finally get Audrey, because all of her son's sins have come to light. I am not sure, I buy the Audrey is not in the real world. Seems a bit like fans not seeing a tree is just a tree.

I didn't believe Audrey was in a coma or in some other world or with her psychiatrist until I saw the crystal ball on his desk... the song sleepwalk playing at the end of Part 7... etc. It just seems so weird. It really does seem like a therapist trying to talk someone out of a delusion...

[Cappy]

Re: Twin Peaks The Return is Audrey's dream/delusion

A few odd angles to consider in relation to the theory that TP:TR is Audrey's dream/delusion:

- The duality of BadCoop and DougieCoop: It is not uncommon for victims of abuse (or other hurtful actions) to split their abuser into two halves: an ideal "real" personae and a bad "not real" personae. Some viewers of FWWM (or at least this viewer) have interpreted Leland and BOB with this in mind; BOB being a sort of construct in order for Laura to deal with her trauma. Leland is real when he is being Leland, but when he is committing abuse, he is not real or someone else entirely.

I think if Audrey feels as if she has been impregnated(or possibly even raped) and left with a child, then she could possibly be dividing Cooper into two halves as well. She attributes all of the pain in her life to an evil version of Cooper, and creates an idealized pure Cooper in Dougie. Whenever she is confronted with the pain caused by Cooper, it can be written off in a sense because that's not the real Cooper. The real Cooper is a good person with a wife and a son and he brings good fortune into everyone's life, Audrey imagines.

Cooper is divided because Audrey can't reconcile the wonderful way he once made her feel with the soul crushing pain he has inflicted on her.

- Ben Horne's flirtations with Beverly: This is a really troubling aspect of this theory, and I think it goes back to the way the original series really let Ben off the hook for various infractions. In the original series, Ben slept with Audrey's classmate Laura, and tried to do the same with Audrey, although he did not realize this was Audrey at the time. I think the show really brushed this under the rug and didn't want to deal with, as did the characters of the show. It always kind of bothered me how, after Laura's murder was resolved, Audrey settled into working as her father's assistant. I just never bought her forgiving him, especially that quickly.

If this is all Audrey's dream or augmented reality delusion, then why does she need her father to be flirting with a woman who is roughly her age, and who holds a job that she once had? I think she could be trying to imagine a better version of her father, one who is of high morals, one who can refuse urges.

The flirtations between Ben and Beverly persist because on some level Audrey is disturbed by her father's behavior. It's something she can't ever fully get over. Also, it's telling that during one scene in particular, when Ben and Beverly are trying to pinpoint the source of the strange sound in the office, the camera moves and zooms into the wall. Audrey had a hole in the wall, in Ben's office, where she could spy on him and gleam insight into his world. It was through this very hole in the wall that she witnessed things that could have had a very damaging effect on her, such as Ben making out with Catherine Martell, an event which pushed her sobbing into Cooper's room. If Audrey is in some other place dreaming this up, or having this as a nightmare, maybe she is witnessing it all through a peephole into the world.

- Laura is the one: If this is all Audrey's process of coping with trauma and coming to terms with reality, then where does Laura Palmer fit into all of this? I have no idea.

[Ragnell]

I liked this episode, because it was all about Twin Peaks and the FBI case. I do think its such a slow crawl to get to the destination it better worth it. We are down to what I think is the last 6 hours of Twin Peaks without a Dale Copper insight. That is just nuts. We finally get Audrey, because all of her son's sins have come to light. I am not sure, I buy the Audrey is not in the real world. Seems a bit like fans not seeing a tree is just a tree.

It does remind me a bit of the "Dougie is a dream/alt universe/the past" ideas, but those directly contradicted information we had from the show. (Gerard's complaint about one of them having to die being the first to come to mind.)

Audrey still being in a coma... explains things. Like how no one ever calls her or mentions her when discussing Richard. Or how she has a completely different social circle. Why didn't Jerry or Sylvia call Audrey when Ben hung up on them, when she clearly has money and a stable life? Why hasn't Richard bothered her? Why doesn't she just leave the house? Had she been introduced in Part 3, or even Part 9 or 10, then we could probably excuse her absence when her family has been so active so far. But now that we have seen EVERY Horne EXCEPT her, and by process of elimination she's the ONLY Horne who can be Richard's mother,... Well, that makes no sense to then just have her pop up alive and well and completely disconnected from this in Part 12. If she's somewhere in the hospital or even the Great Northern tended by a couple of nurses who are talking about Billy's disappearance and a stolen truck that explains all of that.

We had one mention of Audrey back in Part 7 specifically to state she was in a coma. We found this out BEFORE they ruled out Johnny as Richard's father. If the point of that statement was just to make us think Doppelcoop was the father of Richard, or establish he could be, they could have EASILY put in a line about Audrey being Richard's mother somewhere. They did not need Sherrilyn Fenn onboard to do that. I understand the no contact based on not having the actress, but not the no mention. However, if it's important we get reminded of the bank explosion, and know she was comatose afterward in the ICU because she's still in that coma now, then it also explains why that was the ONLY mention prior to seeing her.

And there's a poetry to Audrey still being in a coma, too. In the last ep, Audrey slipped into a coma the day the Doppelganger got loose and the town started going to hell. It would be strangely fitting if she was in a coma, and finally woke up just as the good guys made a SIGNIFICANT advancement on one of the 3 battlefronts. It would underline her inherent goodness if part of the tide turning was her awakening as well.

Finally, this is an odd scene that can be redeemed in the future to be a good or great scene. If we learn that Audrey's still in her coma... then this scene is BRILLIANT. This is a far more imaginative and interesting way to introduce her than to show her on the bed, unconscious. Instead we see inside her mind, see the hell she's been trapped in for 25 years.

It's definitely a wishful fan theory, but it's one of those wishful fan theories that WORKS with what we've had and explains ALL of the weirdness nicely. That's not to say there's nothing better Lynch/Frost could do, just that this is a top notch theory and its the one I'll be going with until it gets disproven in show.

[Troubbble]

In addition to Happy Times, I just noticed another ironic book title in Charlie's office: Pronto

I saw Happy Times during the episode and mentioned it aloud to my girlfriend, but missed Pronto! Almost just did a spit-take at work - that's friggin' hilarious.

Can relate to everyone's frustration on a certain level but I still take certain comically-overlong scenes as playful ribbing, and details like that just add to the fun for me... It's everything but David walking onscreen to wink at the audience.

(If that bothers you, remember that each part was edited with the entire story in mind. Have some faith in Mark and David [and Dwayne!] that there's plenty of time for all you're hoping to see before the end!)

[lotjx2]

Ben mentions Richard had no father. That alludes at some point Audrey was in his life. So, Richard stole a truck and we get the same Billy/Chuck story about a truck being stolen? I doubt it was not a coincidence. I am not in the Audrey is in a coma. No one has mentioned Hank, so is he in a coma too?

[jakemartinez]

Ben mentions Richard had no father. That alludes at some point Audrey was in his life. So, Richard stole a truck and we get the same Billy/Chuck story about a truck being stolen? I doubt it was not a coincidence. I am not in the Audrey is in a coma. No one has mentioned Hank, so is he in a coma too?

Hank died in prison. It was revealed in Mark's book.

[jakemartinez]

Ben mentions Richard had no father. That alludes at some point Audrey was in his life. So, Richard stole a truck and we get the same Billy/Chuck story about a truck being stolen? I doubt it was not a coincidence. I am not in the Audrey is in a coma. No one has mentioned Hank, so is he in a coma too?

Spoiler:

Hank died in prison. It was revealed in Mark's book.

[jakemartinez]

Ben mentions Richard had no father. That alludes at some point Audrey was in his life. So, Richard stole a truck and we get the same Billy/Chuck story about a truck being stolen? I doubt it was not a coincidence. I am not in the Audrey is in a coma. No one has mentioned Hank, so is he in a coma too?

Spoiler:

Hank died in prison. It was revealed in Mark's book.

[jakemartinez]

sorry, didnt mean to post multiple times!

[Deep Thought]

Ben mentions Richard had no father. That alludes at some point Audrey was in his life. So, Richard stole a truck and we get the same Billy/Chuck story about a truck being stolen? I doubt it was not a coincidence. I am not in the Audrey is in a coma. No one has mentioned Hank, so is he in a coma too?

Audrey certainly doesn't need to be in a coma. Diane in MD had similar internal struggles play out on screen as she was blowing her brains out.

[Ragnell]

No one has mentioned Hank, so is he in a coma too?

No, but we've only seen his ex-wife and she alluded to having been in an abusive marriage. Now, if Hank's uncle, father, son, brother and mother ALL showed up, and his mother and father both had multiple conversations about his son without ever mentioning him... that would be kind of weird, and I'd think something was up.

Audrey certainly doesn't need to be in a coma. Diane in MD had similar internal struggles play out on screen as she was blowing her brains out.

Yeah, but I lean towards the coma theory since it's already been seeded in show.