World of Blue - Archived Forum 2007-2022

While watching the Mystery Man last night, I got a strange notion. What if he was Bob? He got into Fred's house because "he invited him", just like Leland in Twin Peaks. Then, Fred proceeds to murder his wife.

Any thoughts?

I feel that they are similar, but there is one difference. Or should I say that his character is evolved from Twin Peaks, through FWWM. While in Twin Peaks BOB is clearly demonic force that is responsible for Leland's evil deeds while he is just another victim. During FWWM Leland is showed to participate the action and being at least partly responsible. He also has remorse and quilt. And he says that he always thought that Laura knew it was him. When we get to Lost Highway, this demonic character has diminished completely to a figment of Fred's imagination, meaning that it is Fred who is 100% responsible. It is Fred's subconscious that creates this Mystery Man as it is incapable of admitting that he himself is the source of his evil and darkness and not some outside force. When we get to this, it links also Frank Booth from Blue Velvet to this. As Lynch have said, we ourself have this Frank inside us.

This in no gospel, though, just my personal opinion.

To me, the Mystery Man is not imagined - he is a spirit from the Black Lodge. But this interpretation requires that you believe that all of Lynch's films from the Twin Peaks pilot onwards are set in the same universe. There is a strong argument for this, which my wife is working on!

I say! I thought I recognised your name from the Kate board.

Face In The Leaves wrote:I say! I thought I recognised your name from the Kate board.

No - that's my Evil Doppelganger from the Black Lodge.

Is Mystery Man Bob ? No. But he's certainly a relative.

I like to see Bob as the personnification of Anger and Lust (well... mostly Lust).
To me, the Mystery Man is the personnification of Jealousy. I don't know if he comes from the Black Lodge but in this case, there are some other deadly sins that could be personnified by Lynch.

Whatever... To me, neither Bob nor the Mystery Man exist.
The whole Twin Peaks story and the whole Lost Highway one could be explained without them. They're just creation of the human mind (not only the Leland/Fred's one) to justify the horor we commit/see in our today's life.