Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

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LostInTheMovies
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Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by LostInTheMovies »

I've noticed that this is one of the areas people seem to disagree about the most.

I would love to hear 2 answers for each of these, what you THINK will happen but also what you PREFER to happen (if you have a preference).

- Do you think the Cooper we meet in the new season will be the familiar Cooper we all know and love from the show, finally escaped from the Black Lodge?

- Or do you think the Cooper we follow will be the evil Coop/doppelganger/Bob host we see at the end of the finale and Missing Pieces?

- If the latter, do you think we will also keep tabs on the good Coop inside the Lodge as we did in FWWM?

- Has evil Coop become a better impersonator since his rather unconvincing performance in the finale and especially the Missing Pieces?

- Will people be aware of evil Coop's actions, or will he do as good a job concealing his dark side as Leland/Bob did before his daughter's death?

- If so, do you think we as audience will be led to question if the good Coop has returned, or will we always be made aware that this is evil Coop we're watching?

- Will evil Coop be imprisoned, or in an asylum, or hiding away, or whatever?

- If the good Coop is still in the Lodge, by what means can he escape - does someone have to rescue him from outside, does someone (like Laura) have to rescue him from inside, or must he engineer his own re-emergence?

- Will we see two Coops out loose in the world together at one point or can only one (or a combination of both in one body) be manifest in the real world? And will other characters see both of them together?

- If the former, will we actually see them share the same physical space, or will we just be generally aware that both are out there and at any moment we could be seeing one or the other?

Please add any further questions you consider relevant to the discussion!
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by LostInTheMovies »

Here are my own answers.

- Do you think the Cooper we meet in the new season will be the familiar Cooper we all know and love from the show, finally escaped from the Black Lodge?

No. And I wouldn't want him to be. Not in actuality, anyway; appearance is another story. See below.

- Or do you think the Cooper we follow will be the evil Coop/doppelganger/Bob host we see at the end of the finale and Missing Pieces?

Yes, for the most part. I think to skip over the resolution to this storyline would be a dramatic blunder, abandoning the best thing the new season has going for it. And given their statements and other works, I can't see either Lynch or Frost abandoning this concept. Frost has been particularly vocal about the potential for playing out this idea, as has MacLachlan. Lynch may not have liked it originally (as some evidence suggests) but all of his subsequent films played with similar ideas.

- If the latter, do you think we will also keep tabs on the good Coop inside the Lodge as we did in FWWM?

I suspect so, and I like this idea if used judiciously, but maybe it will take a while for us to see this because...

- Has evil Coop become a better impersonator since his rather unconvincing performance in the finale and especially the Missing Pieces?

I think he has to be. This would be more consistent with Lynch's other depictions of intertwined good & evil in his later films. It would also provide a more compelling is he/isn't he hook for the new series. I certainly want this to be the case because I don't think the "I haven't brushed my teeth" guy could hold water for very long.

- Will people be aware of evil Coop's actions, or will he do as good a job concealing his dark side as Leland/Bob did before his daughter's death?

This is pretty similar to the previous question, I guess, but I guess what I'm asking is even if people think Cooper is the same person, will they know the horrible things he's done (and blame good Coop for them)? I don't think so because that would negate the dramatic value of evil Coop "passing" for good Coop as far as I can see, unless the plot is about an emergent good Coop trying to overcome the legacy of bad deeds his doppelganger has sown. And for the reasons listed elsewhere in this post, I don't think Lynch/Frost would go that route, nor do I want them too.

- If so, do you think we as audience will be led to question if the good Coop has returned, or will we always be made aware that this is evil Coop we're watching?

I like to think so, again because of the dramatic potential here (I also like to think we won't be seeing the show through Coop's eyes, but through another protagonist, even if Coop is the main subject). But I'm honestly not sure how Lynch/Frost will play this. To "fool" the audience they'd have to give some indication at the outset that good Coop had returned only to later pull the rug on us and reveal he hasn't. I think ultimately they'll go some other route, preserving a kind of ambiguity without the convoluted plotting necessary to "undo" the clear-cut result of Coop's Black Lodge trip in the finale.

- Will evil Coop be imprisoned, or in an asylum, or hiding away, or whatever?

I don't really like this idea. It only makes sense if good Coop re-emerges right at the start of the story and is forced to deal with what he, or his doppelganger, have done. It really seems like the story has to go in the direction of evil Coop still inhabiting the shell of good Coop and getting away with it; that's where all the drama is, and I suspect Lynch/Frost agree.

- If the good Coop is still in the Lodge, by what means can he escape - does someone have to rescue him from outside, does someone (like Laura) have to rescue him from inside, or must he engineer his own re-emergence?

I've never cared for the "outside rescue" bit. It feels too conventional to me, and misses the essential point about the Lodge being a realm where one confronts onself. The idea of Laura having to help Cooper is really interesting in its own way, but ultimately I think the responsibility to release himself from the Lodge will lie with Cooper himself, in some sort of collaboration with other forces. That's just more in the spirit of Twin Peaks, Lynch, and maybe especially Frost, who was always fond of making Coop's human and spiritual struggles a central feature of the story.

- Will we see two Coops out loose in the world together at one point or can only one (or a combination of both in one body) be manifest in the real world??

Maybe we will learn that good Coop is out alongside evil Coop, a true Dostoevskian "double" situation. But this might defeat the purpose of the idea that the Lodge is an otherworldly realm, subject to its own rules. When it can clearly penetrate the outside world and does on many occasions, it usually manifests to certain people who are attuned to its frequency either generally or in that specific moment given the circumstances (Laura seeing the Tremonds in FWWM, Donna seeing them on the show, Maddy witnessing Bob crawl across the couch, Coop's visions of the giant, and so forth). Then again, Truman presumably sees the curtains of the Red Room in Glastonbury Grove (his reaction certainly suggests as much) and no less a materialist than Albert encounters Jeffries, unless you believe that's all Coop's dream! So I'm going to say this is a distinct possibility, and while I feel ambivalent about the idea I'd want to wait until I see how they handle it before judging.

- If the former, will we actually see them share the same physical space, or will we just be generally aware that both are out there and at any moment we could be seeing one or the other? And will other characters see both of them together?

This, I feel a bit more down on - it seems to undermine the potency of the "double" idea (remind me: in Dostoevsky's story, which I've not read in a while, nobody sees the protagonist and his double together, do they?). Stuff like Jeffries literally zapping into Buenos Aires feel too on-the-nose to me. I love the way Lynch plays with the supernatural in his work, giving it a tinge of "it's all in their head" psychosis but then subverting it with evidence that, in fact, the dreamscape he's showing us is more real than ordinary physical reality and can defy Newtonian laws. It's a delicate balance to maintain and seeing two Coops together in the outside world might violate it too much. As for whether Lynch will do it? Maybe, but only if he plays it in the what-the-hell-are-we-watching, where-are-we-right-now sense of Mulholland Drive or Inland Empire.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by squealy »

I've said all this before on other threads but since you asked:

My feeling is that the time has passed to tell the story of Cooper possessed by Bob. Resolving that cliffhanger needed to happen back then, not 25 years later. It's not a situation that could hang in the air unresolved for 25 years, in my opinion. In the new series, they can't show us what happened back then because the actors are much older, and they can't work with Bob in the present day unless they recast him. I know everyone wants to know how things turned out, but they can't just pick up the story from where it left off.

If it were up to me, I would create a new situation that causes Cooper -- the real Cooper -- to come back to Twin Peaks, and forces him to deal with the memories and consequences of whatever happened back then, and another supernatural threat.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by LostInTheMovies »

squealy wrote:I've said all this before on other threads but since you asked:

My feeling is that the time has passed to tell the story of Cooper possessed by Bob. Resolving that cliffhanger needed to happen back then, not 25 years later. It's not a situation that could hang in the air unresolved for 25 years, in my opinion. In the new series, they can't show us what happened back then because the actors are much older, and they can't work with Bob in the present day unless they recast him. I know everyone wants to know how things turned out, but they can't just pick up the story from where it left off.

If it were up to me, I would create a new situation that causes Cooper -- the real Cooper -- to come back to Twin Peaks, and forces him to deal with the memories and consequences of whatever happened back then, and another supernatural threat.
Out of curiosity, would you just leave the resolution of that storyline to Frost's book and/or a few lines of dialogue in the first episode? I mean it has to be at least acknowledged or else everyone would be watching the entire time waiting to see Bob in the mirror! (Which is a kinda cool idea but not, I think, what you were going for with this suggestion.)
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by squealy »

LostInTheMovies wrote: Out of curiosity, would you just leave the resolution of that storyline to Frost's book and/or a few lines of dialogue in the first episode? I mean it has to be at least acknowledged or else everyone would be watching the entire time waiting to see Bob in the mirror! (Which is a kinda cool idea but not, I think, what you were going for with this suggestion.)
Er... I haven't thought it out that far. But obviously I wasn't suggesting that it not be acknowledged at all! Nor that it would only be mentioned in the book. I guess I could imagine something like the way Cooper's past with Windom Earle and Caroline was handled. We didn't need to see that to understand what had happened and how it affected him.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by Rami Airola »

- Do you think the Cooper we meet in the new season will be the familiar Cooper we all know and love from the show, finally escaped from the Black Lodge?
I think the season either opens with a scene where the good Cooper escapes (or is rescued) or the good Cooper is still in the Black Lodge. I don't think the situation has been solved yet. If they want to explore a new storyline, I think they won't let the old one be solved in Frost's book, but they will have a quick scene where it happens right in the beginning of the season.

This is also how I prefer it to be; at least address it in some way in the show.
- Or do you think the Cooper we follow will be the evil Coop/doppelganger/Bob host we see at the end of the finale and Missing Pieces?
Yes, I think it's the "evil Coop" at least for a while. But I don't think Cooper will be blatantly evil the whole time. Just like Leland seemed to be a nice guy, Cooper can be to, or at least act as one.

Regardless of what happens, I think they will keep us wondering whether Coop is good or not. Even if the good Coop is out, they will let Cooper be less resistant to his bad side, and I think it will mostly be shown as Cooper getting irritated way more easily. Quite like a frustrated person in real life becomes more quick to bursts of anger and developes some annoying behaviours.

- If the latter, do you think we will also keep tabs on the good Coop inside the Lodge as we did in FWWM?
Yes. Maybe the "evil Coop" has dreams where the "good Coop" is walking around the Lodge.

I would prefer it be addressed in some way.

- Has evil Coop become a better impersonator since his rather unconvincing performance in the finale and especially the Missing Pieces?
Yes. As I mentioned above, I don't think Coop is blatantly evil the whole time.

That's what I prefer it to be too, although out of curiosity I would like to watch him being totally insane :D I don't think that would make a good show, but that's something I'd like to see how it works. Not preferring that though.
- Will people be aware of evil Coop's actions, or will he do as good a job concealing his dark side as Leland/Bob did before his daughter's death?
I don't think people will be aware of that.
- If so, do you think we as audience will be led to question if the good Coop has returned, or will we always be made aware that this is evil Coop we're watching?
As mentioned above, I think part of the story wil have us guessing what the situation is.
- Will evil Coop be imprisoned, or in an asylum, or hiding away, or whatever?
I don't think he will be hiding away or be imprisoned. If something, he would be in asylum, but I doubt that too.

I prefer him still to be an FBI agent.
- If the good Coop is still in the Lodge, by what means can he escape - does someone have to rescue him from outside, does someone (like Laura) have to rescue him from inside, or must he engineer his own re-emergence?
I think he will be rescued, or at least in some way helped to get out. Annie has told Laura in FWWM to write "the good Dale is in the Lodge and he can't leave" to her diary, and Lynch himself has said in the book Lynch on Lynch that he knows Laura wrote that down, and if I remember correctly he also said someone will find it some day. If there has been that kind of a cryptic clue hidden for the whole time, I think it would be really sad and disappointing to not use it. And if Cooper would get out by himself or if Laura would help him out, that clue would be totally useless.

- Will we see two Coops out loose in the world together at one point or can only one (or a combination of both in one body) be manifest in the real world? And will other characters see both of them together?
I kinda don't think that will happen, put I'd prefer something like that to happen.
- If the former, will we actually see them share the same physical space, or will we just be generally aware that both are out there and at any moment we could be seeing one or the other?
Perhaps it would happen in the same way the security camera scene happened in FWWM.

Actually now as I think of it, maybe this double-Cooper thing is actually going to happen in a way or another.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by Rami Airola »

squealy wrote: Resolving that cliffhanger needed to happen back then, not 25 years later. It's not a situation that could hang in the air unresolved for 25 years, in my opinion.
Why's that?

In Leland's case Mike said Bob has been near for nearly 40 years, which I think is to be understood that Leland has been affected by Bob for that long period of time. The situation with Coop could've well been going on for 25 years.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

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I honestly can't imagine that the new season wouldn't deal heavily with the implications of the final image of episode 29. It may not be the way we anticipate, but it's hard to picture Cooper returning and being the same sort of salt of the earth idealist he was for most of the series, his entire struggle with Bob being a thing of the past. I think it's rather likely that final image is one of the central reasons why the show is coming back after so many years. I mean think about it, if episode 29 had resolved most of the threads of the season instead of dropping that gnarly cliffhanger on us, would the interest in a revival be so strong? What would be the reason we need to go back to this story? It's also telling that Kyle Machlachlan was the earliest cast member signed, which suggests Cooper is an essential element in this new chapter of the story. I'm having trouble concocting a devil's advocate argument that there is some other aspect of the Cooper character that needed resolution other than his fate at the end of episode 29.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by squealy »

Rami Airola wrote:
squealy wrote: Resolving that cliffhanger needed to happen back then, not 25 years later. It's not a situation that could hang in the air unresolved for 25 years, in my opinion.
Why's that?

In Leland's case Mike said Bob has been near for nearly 40 years, which I think is to be understood that Leland has been affected by Bob for that long period of time. The situation with Coop could've well been going on for 25 years.
Maybe it's just the way that specific moment in the last scene of the series is played, but it seems less like Bob is going to be lurking within Cooper, only occasionally coming to the surface, the way it seemed to work with Leland, and more like he has taken full possession of Cooper's body, with the real Cooper entirely absent and hidden away in the Black Lodge. The situation seems a lot more urgent.
I honestly can't imagine that the new season wouldn't deal heavily with the implications of the final image of episode 29. It may not be the way we anticipate, but it's hard to picture Cooper returning and being the same sort of salt of the earth idealist he was for most of the series, his entire struggle with Bob being a thing of the past. I think it's rather likely that final image is one of the central reasons why the show is coming back after so many years.
You are right of course. But I feel the 25 year time gap and the death of Frank Silva makes it difficult to really resolve the cliffhanger in an immediate, on screen way.

That said... These are creative, clever guys. Hopefully they have a solution that I could never conceive of in a million years.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

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Of course 25 years and the death of Frank Silva were things Frost and Lynch had to deal with from the moment they started thinking about a revival. It's just speculation on my part, but I'd suspect a big part of the reason they mutually agreed it's worth it to come back to Twin Peaks is they both came to an agreement on how the Cooper-Bob thing can be handled 25 years later without Frank Silva in an interesting way.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

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FauxOwl wrote:I mean think about it, if episode 29 had resolved most of the threads of the season instead of dropping that gnarly cliffhanger on us, would the interest in a revival be so strong? What would be the reason we need to go back to this story? It's also telling that Kyle Machlachlan was the earliest cast member signed, which suggests Cooper is an essential element in this new chapter of the story. I'm having trouble concocting a devil's advocate argument that there is some other aspect of the Cooper character that needed resolution other than his fate at the end of episode 29.
But maybe resolution isn't what Lynch is after. (Is it ever?) Consider that all the way back in the year the show was cancelled he was given an ideal (and rare) opportunity to resolve the cliffhanger, and he chose to not really do that (and in fact to add new layers to the original mystery). He may not be as focused on following up episode 29 as we think.

But I think the only thing we can predict is that it's not gonna be predictable!
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by Sid »

- Do you think the Cooper we meet in the new season will be the familiar Cooper we all know and love from the show, finally escaped from the Black Lodge?

No.

- Or do you think the Cooper we follow will be the evil Coop/doppelganger/Bob host we see at the end of the finale and Missing Pieces?

Yes, and I like it that way.

- If the latter, do you think we will also keep tabs on the good Coop inside the Lodge as we did in FWWM?

Yes. Maybe in form of dreams and visions by another character.

- Has evil Coop become a better impersonator since his rather unconvincing performance in the finale and especially the Missing Pieces?

He must have, otherwise he won't be able to use Coop as a vessel for very long.

- Will people be aware of evil Coop's actions, or will he do as good a job concealing his dark side as Leland/Bob did before his daughter's death?

Only people close to Coop (Good Coop) will sense something is off.

- If so, do you think we as audience will be led to question if the good Coop has returned, or will we always be made aware that this is evil Coop we're watching?

I hope they make us wonder.

- Will evil Coop be imprisoned, or in an asylum, or hiding away, or whatever?

For many years I thought this might be the case. But it would be too close to Windoms' story. So I think not.

- If the good Coop is still in the Lodge, by what means can he escape - does someone have to rescue him from outside, does someone (like Laura) have to rescue him from inside, or must he engineer his own re-emergence?

That's a tough one. I used to think Major Briggs could attempt to enter the Lodge with additional help from the Log Lady. If and how he would be able to rescue Cooper I don't know. But I could picture them giving it a try.
Now I believe Cooper will have to do it on his own, maybe with some insight given by Laura or other Lodge inhabitants.

With Catherine Coulson and Don Davis sadly no longer with us I can even think of a scenario in which they actually tried to enter the Lodge or prepared to do so but were stopped (killed?) by evil Coop.

- Will we see two Coops out loose in the world together at one point or can only one (or a combination of both in one body) be manifest in the real world? And will other characters see both of them together?

I don't think we will see two Coops as individuals outside the Lodge. Maybe there will be a point when good Coop is able to gain some control over evil Coop. What others will see is a split personality.

Hhm, after reading again through my answers I see too many paralles to Lelands' story. No career in screenwriting in my forseeable future :lol:
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

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squealy wrote:
FauxOwl wrote:I mean think about it, if episode 29 had resolved most of the threads of the season instead of dropping that gnarly cliffhanger on us, would the interest in a revival be so strong? What would be the reason we need to go back to this story? It's also telling that Kyle Machlachlan was the earliest cast member signed, which suggests Cooper is an essential element in this new chapter of the story. I'm having trouble concocting a devil's advocate argument that there is some other aspect of the Cooper character that needed resolution other than his fate at the end of episode 29.
But maybe resolution isn't what Lynch is after. (Is it ever?) Consider that all the way back in the year the show was cancelled he was given an ideal (and rare) opportunity to resolve the cliffhanger, and he chose to not really do that (and in fact to add new layers to the original mystery). He may not be as focused on following up episode 29 as we think.

But I think the only thing we can predict is that it's not gonna be predictable!
Good points. Perhaps "resolution" is the wrong word, though I believe Nevins has been dropping that word fairly liberally as it relates to the new season. I don't think Lynch's choice to focus on Laura Palmer in FWWM had to do with a lack of interest in Cooper's fate... and I think the new layers that were added were an indication that he was very much open to continuing on with the Cooper thread at some point (particularly given the elements we see in The Missing Pieces). FWWM's direction I think is more indicative of Lynch's desire to complete the story of Laura Palmer, rather than an indication he wasn't interested in returning the Cooper story. I don't think he wanted to throw both stories in the same pot so to speak, so there were only hints dropped about Cooper while the focus remained squarely on Laura Palmer.
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by Shloogorgh »

- Do you think the Cooper we meet in the new season will be the familiar Cooper we all know and love from the show, finally escaped from the Black Lodge?
Good Coop will still be trapped in the lodge, and if/when he does escape, he'll be deeply scarred, unless escaping costs him his memories.
- Or do you think the Cooper we follow will be the evil Coop/doppelganger/Bob host we see at the end of the finale and Missing Pieces?
Most likely
- If the latter, do you think we will also keep tabs on the good Coop inside the Lodge as we did in FWWM?
If not in the lodge, then perhaps reaching out to other characters in dreams and visions
- Has evil Coop become a better impersonator since his rather unconvincing performance in the finale and especially the Missing Pieces?
If evil Coop is still out and about, then he has to be convincing
- Will people be aware of evil Coop's actions, or will he do as good a job concealing his dark side as Leland/Bob did before his daughter's death?
maybe the truth has started to come under scrutiny, and I would think evil Coop didn't stay in Twin Peaks
- If so, do you think we as audience will be led to question if the good Coop has returned, or will we always be made aware that this is evil Coop we're watching?
I would expect some toying with the audience
- Will evil Coop be imprisoned, or in an asylum, or hiding away, or whatever?
I'd prefer it if he was at large
- If the good Coop is still in the Lodge, by what means can he escape - does someone have to rescue him from outside, does someone (like Laura) have to rescue him from inside, or must he engineer his own re-emergence?
some kind of combined effort, but outside help being a necessary part of that
- Will we see two Coops out loose in the world together at one point or can only one (or a combination of both in one body) be manifest in the real world? And will other characters see both of them together?
Perhaps some characters will see Good Coop in time stop visions (similar to Cooper's own visions of the Giant) and both Coopers become visible. I don't think we'll see any physical world confrontation between the two Coops though
- If the former, will we actually see them share the same physical space, or will we just be generally aware that both are out there and at any moment we could be seeing one or the other?
I think if Coop gets out, he'll get his body back, but until then anything could happen with manifestations from the lodge
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Re: Cooper in season 3: good Coop or evil Coop?

Post by Mordeen »

I'm chiming in on this with the opinion that EVERYTHING Lynch filmed, whether deleted or not, is canon to Twin Peaks because he filmed it for a reason. It came from his imagining of what Twin Peaks is. That said, here I go:

- Do you think the Cooper we meet in the new season will be the familiar Cooper we all know and love from the show, finally escaped from the Black Lodge?

No way. The idea that this would be glossed over seems so completely artistically vacant that if they do it, I actually might tune out of the show. If Lynch didn't like this direction for Coop he would have changed it along with the many other things he didn't like about the Episode 29 script. Nor would he have filmed an additional scene for FWWM about it.

- Or do you think the Cooper we follow will be the evil Coop/doppelganger/Bob host we see at the end of the finale and Missing Pieces?

Absolutely, initially. The Q&A here will bear out my additional thoughts on this.

- If the latter, do you think we will also keep tabs on the good Coop inside the Lodge as we did in FWWM?

Also absolutely, because you can't have one without the other. Even if Cooper is not allowed to walk happily into the sunset (I have very specific thoughts about how Bob will use Cooper's 'ganger to destroy Cooper's chances at that), there will still be a conflict between the two where one or the other will win out, because it's at the heart of this tale.

- Has evil Coop become a better impersonator since his rather unconvincing performance in the finale and especially the Missing Pieces?

I don't look at it as an unconvincing performance. I've always seen it as an intentional directorial choice to demonstrate that Bob isn't just inhabiting the Good Cooper like he was inhabiting Leland, but rather that he created the Evil Cooper (doppelganger) and was so completely uninhibited that he went overboard, like a drunk at a party, or a child. That's what gets him caught.

- Will people be aware of evil Coop's actions, or will he do as good a job concealing his dark side as Leland/Bob did before his daughter's death?

Because of the above, CooperBob will get caught almost immediately. I feel strongly this will be at the heart of Frost's novel.

- If so, do you think we as audience will be led to question if the good Coop has returned, or will we always be made aware that this is evil Coop we're watching?

n/a

- Will evil Coop be imprisoned, or in an asylum, or hiding away, or whatever?

Asylum. Look at how Bob behaved in Leland's skin when LelandBob was caught. Howling, raving, boasting. Except this time I think Cooperbob will try to physically escape his imprisonment, not Bob just suiciding the host to escape as a spirit.

- If the good Coop is still in the Lodge, by what means can he escape - does someone have to rescue him from outside, does someone (like Laura) have to rescue him from inside, or must he engineer his own re-emergence?

Laura sacrifices herself by giving Cooper the Angel that he brought her in FWWM. Laura was always meant to be tragic.

- Will we see two Coops out loose in the world together at one point or can only one (or a combination of both in one body) be manifest in the real world? And will other characters see both of them together?

I don't think a doppelganger can exist outside the Lodge if the true soul gets out. Paradox. I think when Laura helps Coop fly the coop, he'll be thrust into the doppelganger and we'll see an Emmy Award-winning performance.

- If the former, will we actually see them share the same physical space, or will we just be generally aware that both are out there and at any moment we could be seeing one or the other?

My above answer should make this question n/a, but I'll address it for the simple reason that I feel the "which twin is the good guy" struggle we've seen so many times in film and TV is a bit too cliche for the likes of Lynch/Frost. Kinda like the "here are our protagonists driving in a car when suddenly and shockingly they're broadsided by another car" has been used so much in recent years that it's neither sudden or shocking anymore.

Added Question:
- If the new season addresses the existence of "both" Coopers, do you think one will defeat the other, or will they both exist at the end of the show?

Yes, there will be a real struggle between them, a "rematch" of sorts for Cooper to face the demons that got him trapped in the Lodge in the first place.

Added Question:
- If one does defeat the other, who will emerge victorious?

Good Coop, but he will be so shattered by what was lost that he'll be just as tragic as Laura, but still alive. If anything, I think Cooper's only good outcome is that in the end, he goes off to Tibet, never to be heard from again. . .but still shattered.

-Mordeen
Moving Through Time. . .
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