Part 18 - What is your name? (SPOILERS)

[Ross]

So Cooper failed because he tried to save Laura, but Gerard and the Giant sure seemed to be onboard and guiding him towards this plan. Right? I mean didn't the Giant's clues lead him on that path?

[Mr. Reindeer]

The "curtain call" line was intriguing. When that line was first stated, I expected we'd see a literal curtain call (ala the closing credits of "Inland Empire") with all the cast appearing and bowing, perhaps in front of red curtains. Now I wonder if that's a hint for a bonus episode, Missing Pieces of some sort, or maybe even Season 4. (Part 18 was so disappointing I hope there's a bit more story - somewhere.)

Yes, I was expecting much the same. And it just seemed to suggest that things would wrap up, one way or the other.

Not that I'm complaining. But it did seem an odd choice of words for Cooper, as if he knew how things were going to end - and then they seemed not to really end at all.

Maybe it expresses his overconfidence/hubris (which, according to Needleman and LostInTheMovies's interpretations, which i quite like, is a huge theme of the finale). He's convinced that he is going to fix everything and convinces the audience of it as well, setting both him and us up for a classic rug-pull.

[Meaxylon]

the 'are we being followed?' scene was great. When they turned off the road, I was waiting for the lights to reappear.

definitely reminded me of Kubrick's "Lolita", a film Lynch often has proclaimed his love for (and a movie i love as well)

Yes! Lolita, I was thinking the same. The being followed scene, and all that driving. But also the scene where Humbert has tracked her down (years after she disappeared), to find her living a dreary life in some dump (working as a waitress too!).

[TheGum]

Gerard wants to restore order and rules, I believe the giant is fond of humanity and is trying to push Dale towards a realization of and liberation from his own suffering. He helps him move from lesson to lesson, from surviving the shooting to now. Think of that first scene from the Return as you would a therapist session, "remember these things" remember this the next time you are thrown out there. It may even happen after the ending.

[cgs027]

Sorry if this has been answered (and it may have been across multiple posts), but just trying to summarize:

When we see Laura's corpse disappear from the waterfront, are most people interpreting that as Coop saved her life and she wasn't killed? So, she is still part of that "reality"? Or, is she gone from that reality, period -- and dropped into this Carrie Page alter-ego/skewed universe? Or, is the general consensus that there are multiple realities pushing against one and other here?

Not sure I've wrapped my head around what her corpse disappearing means in terms of where she is existing at that point.

[Ross]

So in the end, no surprise cast at all. What happened to whoever mtsi saw??

[Mr. Reindeer]

Interview with Julee Cruise prior to the episode airing:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/mu ... y,amp.html

This makes me sad to be honest. She was excited.

Interesting to note that the article says she hadn't watched any of the show, planning to marathon it at the end. So presumably she just watched Part 17 (or her portion of it) in isolation without any context for what the timbre of the show has been? Maybe she doesn't realize that the majority of the artists have been relegated to the end credits?

Don't get me wrong, I feel she was kind of wasted -- I didn't love her lip syncing to a 25-year-old track, particularly one from one of the most powerful moments from the original show. The ending of 17 was great, but not on the same level of the ending of Episode 14. Honestly, I get her frustration that her "performance" was cut down, but I'm sort of glad we didn't linger on the song too long.

[thedougpa]

Anybody notice the faint reversed footstep sounds as Richard and Carrie walk up Alice's steps?

[Mr. Reindeer]

I would love to see Sheryl star in a possible Season 4, but I'm not sure she'd be playing Carrie Page, who seems slightly Deer Meadow wrong herself, a crooked product of Cooper's foolish meddling. She works in the bough of Judy. She tries to keep a tidy house but blows men's brains out.

I'm not so sure she killed that guy. It seems pretty weird for a murderer to invite an FBI agent in, then go on a road trip with him. She's obviously worried about someone coming after her, so perhaps that person killed the dude in the chair?

[Mr. Reindeer]

Anyone else expected more Mother (was it implied she's Judy?), Jumping man, Sarah?

Yep. Not gonna lie, a bit disappointed we didn't see more of these three, or have any resolution on the NYC box. I guess we're to assume Mr. C was the millionaire? However, I did LOVE Sarah's brief scene in Part 17. One of the creepiest moments in the whole TR.

[Mr. Reindeer]

Was the guy that he shot in the foot pulling a gun or some other sort of weapon at that moment? Otherwise I'd have a hard time imagining Cooper - as we knew him - shooting somebody in the foot quite so nonchalantly, or doing so without at least attempting a less violent solution first. He went from "these jerks aren't listening" to "time to fight" pretty quickly there.

He shot Jean Renault in cold blood while Jean was simply holding a tray of food. Obviously a bad dude, but not an imminent threat to anyone in that moment.

[Mr. Reindeer]

Was singing it abstent-mindedly & realized that Chromatic's Shadow was definitely written with the last episode in mind:

At night I'm driving in your car
Pretending that we'll leave this town
We're watching all the street lights fade
And now you're just a stranger's dream
I took your picture from the frame
And now you're nothing like you seem
Your shadow fell like last night's rain

A mixed perspective of Carrie/Laura, Richard/Cooper, and Sarah

Nah, DKL and Dean Hurley asked Johnny Jewel for a song from his upcoming album and this was the first option he sent (per Dean Hurley's KEXP interview). Very few songs were written FOR the show -- Vedder's song being the rare exception, although even then, I don't think they told him anything particularly specific about the story.

[Tailsun]

Anybody notice the faint reversed footstep sounds as Richard and Carrie walk up Alice's steps?

Yes - I just finished a rewatch with my favorite headphones and noticed a lot of subtle sounds that help us understand that something is very wrong about this new world. Quiet reversed footsteps and reaction shots that seem reversed and/or sped up. Last night there was some discussion about whether it seemed like "Richard" noticed something when he turned around and made a gesture with his arm just before Laura's scream - there's no doubt that you can hear a very faint crackling noise, the one that is "in our house now."

I also went back and grabbed the audio from the brief glimpse of the Jumping Man descending the convenience store stairs in Part 17. The sound of extremely sped up speech was apparent even last night, so I slowed it down to see if there was anything there. There is absolutely a voice, perhaps an exchange between two people, that seems to play once and then repeat itself at a slightly higher pitch. But there is so much noise surrounding it that even after fiddling with an EQ I couldn't latch onto much of anything apart from a couple words that may or may not be my brain filling in the blanks.

I can post up the audio if anyone would like to take a stab at it. It'd be interesting to see what other people hear (if anything) and compare.

[tlk]

I don't think there's one explanation to The Return. There will never be 'one' explanation.

Guess it's an unpopular view on this board.)) Or on any other internets for that matter )))

[Audrey Horne]

Yeah... Um... Yeah... I got nothing to add. That was quite a... something.

Lynch really, really loves Laura Palmer, Kyle Maclachlan, and Laura Dern.