Mr. Reindeer wrote:LateReg wrote:I never specifically logged the white horse, or made the Billy connection, but I have mentioned the two guns thing, and have wondered the same thing regarding the breakdown of multiple realities. I could be wrong, but I thought we could trace where both the 2nd and 3rd cowboys' guns are on the floor. If that is the case, it would be very strange if it were a continuity error since the sequence would likely be shot chronologically. That said, it's strange because I looked for all this on my recent viewing and I didn't notice the two guns thing for the first time since I first noticed it, and I thought I might have somehow been wrong this whole time!
No, only one Cowboy's gun is on the floor.
Cowboy 1 draws his gun; Cooper kicks him in the groin and takes his gun, placing it on the table.
Cowboy 2 reaches toward his rear waistband, and Cooper shoots him in the foot. His gun is never seen until it magically appears in Cooper's hand behind the counter.
Cooper tells Cowboy 3 (Jagwar Cop!) to put his gun on the floor, and Cooper picks it up.
Okay, I have new info on this that proves neither of us was totally correct. Cowboy 2 indeed drops his gun. He takes it out and nearly shoots it. It's very fast thanks both to movement and editing, but it is in his hand and drops it as Cooper shoots him - I rewound and slow motioned it. However, there is only one gun on the floor afterwards, that belonging to the third cowboy, which Cooper picks up, as you said. He carries what appears to be two guns (other than his own) over to the fry cooker, but later places three in the fry cooker. This is another genuine continuity mystery, since one suspects it was shot in sequence.
My major thought during this viewing is something I had been brewing for some time. Why was the decision made to not have Parts 17 and 18 play as one continuous film, as they did with Parts 1 and 2, and 3 and 4? This is a structural choice that Lynch had to have made with some intent. Had he wanted both parts to play continuously but thought that the beginning of Part 18 was redundant, he could have easily edited them in the first place so that the scene of Cooper losing Laura in the woods only plays once, in one episode or the other. Or, even, just left it exactly as is so that he loses Laura, followed by "The World Spins," followed by Mr. C burning and Dougie returning home, followed by Cooper again losing Laura in the woods, despite occurring within minutes of the same footage at the end of Part 17. This could have worked, too, perhaps even more mysteriously...or perhaps less so, had it given the game away to get us thinking that things are for sure happening multiple times, over and over again. At any rate, I think it's a fairly important question as to why Lynch never intended on branching the two Parts as he did with the first four installments, and I'd like to know why.