armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 8 "Gotta Light?"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- Ray drives away from Yankton, in the rental, while Mr. C discovers that 3 tracking devices were placed on the car. He tells Ray to pull up behind a truck, gets the license plate number and enters it into the phone, before throwing the phone out the window.

Well we've viewed Ray as connected to Leland. And we've seen BOB's hosts and enablers as vehicles/connected to them too. Any substance to Ray driving this "rental", which would mean something that doesn't really belong to him, and how we see BOB has never belonging to Leland? Yeah, we think so.

We have the number 3 again, to go with the three Dale's, whom we view as representing 3 aspects of William Hastings: an FBI/good self, a doppleganger/bad self and a tulpa/manufactured self.

Mr. C getting the license plate number draws attention to license plates, while we previously discussed that Dougie Jones' license plate being linked to identity might be trying to convey the Coopers as being the primary choice of transportation for Billy inside of his dream. Meanwhile, Mr. C is trying to get the attention off of himself, which could link to how Billy framed American Girl's dad for the crime he committed. A Ray, the name of Leland's actor, sitting beside him as he does it is wonderfully meta.

We have a truck being used now as a decoy involving identity. In the previous episode, we found out that Richard Horne used the farmer's truck when he went to see Red and when he killed the young boy. However, we also wondered if the Farmer was just another form of Billy, so the confusion, or layering, of identity might be expanded here. In Part 12, Charlie claims that a Chuck stole Billy's truck, but Chuck is just another name for Charlie, as Peppermint Patty could tell us.

The truck has a license plate of DEGWW 8. The phone has a green C (like what Earle wrote around Arkansas), FIRE (like in BOB) with blue triangles on either side and a D and X with a yellow circle with a red dot in the middle. Not completely sure what that all means but this is Part 8.


- Ray says Mr. C must be sore at him for what happened and thanks him for getting him out. He asks how he set it up and Mr. C says Darya told him about the arrest. Ray asks where Darya is and Mr. C tells him she's waiting by the phone until they get somewhere safe. They are going to a place called The Farm. Ray says they won't just let them walk and will look for them. Mr. C states Ray has something he's after. Ray says he has the numbers memorized but thinks it might make him some money. Mr. C directs him off the highway and to the right.

Ray is acting at this point, everything seeming as staged as Mr. C's own arrest, and Mr. C knows it.

Mr. C telling Ray that Darya was waiting by the phone connects perhaps to Audrey saying she was also waiting by the phone for a call from or about Billy.

Now Mr. C and Ray are going to the Farm which can connect to the Farmer in some odd way, further strengthened to how Richard will first see Mr. C there. A farm can also link to the cow that jumped over the moon.

And once again Mr. C betrays how focused he is on getting Betty's coordinates, even though she's supposedly just this unseen and irrelevant character, further making us believe that, in actuality, a lot of the events of The Return are actually motivated by the secretary and she, in truth, is really Naido, her coordinates leading to her.

Ray says he has the numbers memorized and yet he will have them written down at the farm.


- They drive for a while until Ray asks if he can pull over and take a leak. Mr. C permits it. While Ray is supposedly peeing, Mr. C gets the "friend" out of the glove compartment and then gets out and confronts Ray, saying he wants the information. He says Ray is out half a million but Ray disagrees with that, pulling out his own gun. Mr. C tries to shoot three times but the gun doesn't fire. Ray shoots twice and Mr. C falls to the ground. Ray walks towards him to shoot him another time.

Lots of yellow arrows to the right and then some lesser ones pointing left. We theorized that the left led to the truth more. This could be indicating that Billy is still distancing himself from the truth.

Lots of pee breaks this season too, now we can add Ray to Bobby, Cooper and Hawk.

Still more evidence of how badly Mr. C wants those coordinates from Betty in particular. We mean, he's not going after Ruth's body, infact if they want us to believe he or the woodsmen killed her, wouldn't he already have them? They were written on her arm! And why would Jeffries have them either, or why would Mr. C trust them? It's Betty's whose he has become obsessed with. Probably because Betty is real and not a substitute or creation inside of Billy's mind, anyway not until Cooper sees her and recognizes her finally at the Sheriff Station and then quickly swaps her with Diane.

Dale Cooper was shot three times at the very end of Season 1, something Ben reminded us specifically of in Part 7, as if it was of great importance. It might have been, but not in any way often discussed. We've gone on to theorize that directly dealt with Audrey being propositioned at One-Eyed Jack's by her own father. Since that directly involved the dreamer's own conception, his being Audrey and Ben's child, something Billy was trying to deny inside of the dream, the ramification was that Dale Cooper was shot, his being Billy's main avatar and escape from what he truly was. Now, believing that Billy is represented in the mirrors inside of his dream, from his habit of mirroring others, we can find deeper meaning within the fact that Josie Packard, the first woman shown not only in Twin Peaks but the first reflected inside of the first mirror, was the one whom shot Dale. She did it while wearing a mask, which hid her own identity; Josie was stated to also show others what they wanted instead of what was real. Idyllopus Press' own dissection of Part 8 helped us to realize and connect Cooper's having visited One-Eyed Jack's, and what he learned about Laura, with another aspect that concerns this theory. In Laura's autopsy, Albert found a piece of plastic inside of Laura's stomach. It's the J from off of the Jack (the name we believe Billy associates with a make believe version of his father) of a One-Eyed Jack's poker chip, a 1000 one at that. Cooper learns from Jacques - as Audrey has infiltrated her father's brothel without his knowledge - that Leo placed the chip in Laura's mouth and she took a bite from it, swallowing the bit of chip, specifically with the J. This in effect resembled a fake "pregnancy", Laura being an imposter of Billy's mom, the stomach being the belly but not the womb, and the money that Billy feels his mother sold them both out for being not real money inside of Laura but rather a fake poker chip instead. Audrey, on the other hand's own conception was connected to an explosion at a bank, where she heard a guard declare "It's a boy!". Banks contain real money and we even saw some of it falling down after the blast which resulted in Audrey's coma and her eventual violation by Mr. C, which led to the conception of her son. But, like Mr. C being shot in the stomach here, we believe that Dale Cooper being shot in "The Last Evening" in effect conveys Billy's conception/birth, irrevocably tied to Ben walking in to the "little flower" room to be the first to take the "new girl" whom is really his daughter. Ben entering the room, to his daughter's horror, was reflected in a mirror, which is, as mentioned before, a form Billy takes inside of his dream. The Log Lady, for her intro to "The Last Evening" stated that "Life, like music, has a rhythm. This particular song will end with three sharp sounds, like deathly drumbeats." She is comparing Cooper being shot to deathly drumbeats and yet beforehand she stated that this was about life. That is the key: this is all about life, Billy's life, a life he feels should never have been created, and only led to death and destruction, and so those deathly drumbeats aren't necessarily drumbeats at all...they are the first beats of Billy's heart. And what we see next, and what this whole episode revolves around, are abstractions of Billy's pained creation.


- Ray is stopped, as lightning flashes and woodsmen emerge from out of the blue, running to Mr. C's body. Several begin dancing around the body, while three seem to be moving the dirt beneath it until they begin to rub blood all over Mr. C's corpse instead. Ray watches on in horror, falling to the ground. Eventually, a woodsman lifts Mr. C's limp head as an orb with BOB's smiling face is seen coming out of Mr. C's stomach. Ray gets up and drives away as the woodsman continue their dance/healing and we see smoke. A crescent moon hangs over the sky.

We have the flashing blue light most often associated with BOB again. We previously made a link between "Dougie" and Sonny Jim making the light flash on and off in his bedroom, likening it to maybe some illustration of the father's effect on the son.

The song that plays as the woodsmen emerge is Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and after this sequence is over Lynch will even show the crescent moon hanging in the sky. The song is playing so slow and dirge like that it is almost unrecognizable. Now what's interesting about the song choice, and what might strike the viewer more if it was instantly known, is how it links us back again to the Hornes and specifically Audrey's loss of virginity in "The Path to the Black Lodge". For it was directly after giving herself to Jack Wheeler (a wheel being a cycle in effect) Pete Martel offered to take the young woman fishing: "Audrey, there are many cures for a broken heart, but nothing quite like a trout's leap in the moonlight." Moonlight. And where does he supposedly take her? Presumably the same place Audrey referenced Jack said he would take her to too: Pearl Lakes. The same place where Leland Palmer stated he first met BOB! And presumably, while the now deflowered Audrey was off fishing in the moonlight on Pearl Lakes, we saw BOB reach a hand out from the curtains in Glastonbury Grove and then be free completely, as if born somehow. The name "Moonlight Sonata" wasn't given to the musical piece by Beethoven but by Ludwig Rellstab, whom compared the music to being like moonlight on a lake. Now, in Part 7 we were reminded not only of Cooper being shot in Room 315 but of the humming sound that began after Audrey rushed off to have sex with Jack, all as her father called out for her and almost fell to his knees on the steps in his office. The sound began and Ben looked in shock behind him, in the direction of his fireplace. We theorized Cooper being shot in "The Last Evening" and Audrey's loss of virginity and the hum in "The Path to the Black Lodge" both related to Audrey, Billy's mother, being abused by her father and conceiving his child. And in the previous episode both events were referenced, either directly or indirectly. Now we believe we have another illustration of Billy's birth all as "Moonlight Sonata" plays. To further this, the moon is most often associated with mothers and motherhood. To add specific connection between it and Audrey, we have Lynch showing Mr. C's rebirth as occurring during a crescent moon. The pointed ends of the illuminated part of the moon are called horns.

The woodsmen come out of nowhere and it seems that when BOB's host is in trouble they are there to save him. And yet they never did this with Leland. We could argue that it was because he was going to be imprisoned and so there was no use in saving him, but in Part 17, the woodsmen will make a second attempt to perhaps heal Mr. C, whom is similarly condemned. So is the intervention of the woodsmen, in association to BOB, specific to Mr. C only? And is that primarily because he, unlike Leland, masks Billy?

The woodsmen prove themselves to be BOB's helpers here, just as we theorized that they represented enablers of Ben (Billy's dad/grandad). Furthermore, if this is an abstraction of how Billy views his creation/birth we can then believe they show how such people facilitated Ben (the father) abusing Audrey (the daughter) and creating the grandson. Without their enabling, Billy's grandfather/father would have been prevented/stopped in his abuse and Billy would never have been born. Their actions around Mr. C represent this, assisting in his rebirth (illustrating how they kept Ben's atrocious behavior going) and how they urged Billy into existence, as illustrated in his rebirth.

While three woodsmen seem to be dancing around the body, creating a circle, three assist in resurrecting Mr. C. They start off by appearing to dig beneath his body and then by smearing the blood from the bullet wounds all over his body and face. The woodsmen digging a hole echoes the hole left by the Trinity test. However, it can also replicate Billy's mother's vagina and how Billy was born into the world. Similarly, the woodsmen might be covering Mr. C in blood to mimic the image of a child born and covered in blood.

The woodsmen seem to remove an orb with BOB's grinning face from out of Mr. C's stomach while strangely lifting Mr. C's limp head up. Okay, so this shows that Mr. C is dead and BOB is alive inside of him but it also conveys several other things. We have just compared this sequence to Billy's mom giving birth to Billy, but in turn we can see in this moment how Billy, in return, gave birth to BOB: the idea of the abuse running inside of his family personified by some abstraction of his grandfather/father. So when the woodsman lifts Mr. C's head, he could also be showing Billy his own "child" in the very same way a doctor would. The head lifting could indicate how BOB was born mostly in the mind, it being all in his head, which is also how the woodsmen kill and how Billy Hastings will also supposedly die. However Hastings most likely receives his own resurrection like Mr. C, the two being ultimately the same. And BOB is also just another facet of Billy as well, which makes Mr. C giving birth to BOB a variation to how Billy envisions himself as impregnating his mother with himself when Cooper becomes Richard. The scene also illustrates how Billy most likely feels dead inside except for this piece of his father that lives inside of him, compelling him to carry on the suffering. In this way, it can also invoke Ben Horne's poker chip lost inside of Laura Palmer, another creation of Billy, and how Billy became a "chip off the old block."

The scene of the Woodsmen pulling BOB out of Mr. C actually also conjures up another interesting hint that BOB always belonged to Cooper and so that makes their relationship unique from the Leland situation. In the European ending, when MIKE/Phillip has requested a meeting, whilst discussing BOB, the man states what most take to mean: “I was watching, Mr Cooper, for over a year, waiting for BOB to come out again.” However, it could easily read that he had specifically been watching COOPER for a year and waiting for BOB to emerge from inside of him and kill somebody. He then states, afterall, “I’ve known of your interests in the results of his endeavours...I too have been touched by the devilish one," creepily indicating that Cooper holds interest in what BOB does because he has been tarnished by him in some way akin to MIKE. For this theory, that easily goes alongside Billy being Ben Horne's son and MIKE being a form of Jerry, Ben's younger brother, and how both had been influenced by Ben, whom became BOB inside of his son's mind. Quite literally in Part 8 we see BOB "come out" of Mr C(ooper).

Actually, the woodsmen circling Mr. C remind us of the circle of candles seen in the European ending to the Pilot and the candles MIKE/Phillip has lit in his motel in a Missing Piece. There are six woodsmen here, we think, 3 attending to Mr. C and three dancing, whereas the candles in the European ending and the MP were 12, like the sycamores at Glastonbury Grove. We wondered about the significance of 6 and the utility pole, as well as Teresa Banks room number. Could it be an age marking something significant? The 12 we previously proposed might have been the age when Billy lost his grandmother, which might have further pushed him into becoming BOB after he went to live with the uncle.

Smoke helps hide the "devil" and the woodsmen helped hide Billy's father's horrible sins.

And then we have the moon, with its horns, reminding us of the other horned items that haunt the story and how it all should lead us back to the HORNes of Twin Peaks.



- A driving Ray phones Phillip, telling him he thinks "Cooper" is dead, but he had help so he's not sure. He says he also saw something in him. "It may be the key to what this is all about," he claims. He told him where he's going, so he'll get him there.

BOB infact might be the key to everything if we think of him as representing Ben Horne and not Leland Palmer. Ben has just received Dale Cooper's old room key in the last episode and is set to send it on its way to Harry, before Cooper intercepts it and it leads him right to that basement closet in the furnace room of Ben's hotel, which will lead to the convenience store and then the Dutchman's.


- At the Roadhouse the MC announces the NIN and they perform "She's Gone Away."

The mic has a pine cone on it, usually found on trees. The last performance we will see at the Roadhouse is "Audrey's Dance". We see Audrey has being represented by Ghostwood forest, which is filled with trees.

The song the NIN originally submitted to Lynch was turned down because he wanted something more ugly, aggressive, menacing and unpleasant. That indicates that the general feel of this episode was to be extremely dark. Those adjectives also perfectly fit how we see this episode dealing with Billy's dark and horrible conception, one of pain and sorrow, and how his eventual birth is actually also the birth of a killer.

While the song wasn't supposedly influenced, from what we know, by any direct lyrical input from Lynch, we aren't always saying things were planned for this theory but that they proved to be providential accidents. "She's Gone Away" perfectly fits with this when we directly link it to what this theory suggests:

"You dig in places till your fingers bleed
Spread the infection, where you spill your seed,"

We mentioned how we view the scene of Ben's father passing the shovel to his eldest son illustrating the passing of the cycle of abuse from father to son. They are digging, just as Dr. Amp talks about and also what the Woodsmen appeared to be doing under Mr. C's body in this very episode. We likewise see Ben's father as spreading his infection when he fathered Ben and that Ben spread his infection into his daughter Audrey, whom carried that seed and brought forth Cooper/Richard/Billy out of it.

I can't remember what she came here for
I can't remember much of anything anymore,

Billy has difficulty in remembering his past, wilfully locking it away because it is too painful. If his mother came to him to continue the cycle (sex) he has blocked it, or rather placed it somewhere inside a fragment of himself where it leaks out inside of his fantasy.

She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away (x2)
Away (x2)

Billy's mother was gone, having left him when she died, which was due to his own actions. It is a pain that haunts him and he can't escape, partially why he searches for her in other women.

A little mouth opened up inside
Yeah, I was watching on the day she died
We keep licking while the skin turns black
Cut along the length, but you can't get the feeling back

A mouth opened up inside of Billy when his mother died. This could tie into how the Lodge spirits feed on pain and sorrow. Billy most likely saw the Red Diamond/Dutchman's burning when he set it on fire, burning with his mom in it. If she was disabled, as we think she might have been, her escape would have been doubly difficult. The skin turning black indicates that it has been burnt, the tongue licking could be either like a dog licking wounds or the act of feeding, just as Billy (sometimes presented as a dog) both wants to save and destroy his mother. He cannot make his mother alive again, nor can he make himself feel things as he previously did. He is dead inside now.

She's gone, she's gone, she's gone away (x4)
Away (x4)
(Are you still here?)

Once again, Billy's mother is gone, having left him by dying. We can't hear it past the noise, but the question of "Are you still here?" could indicate Billy seeing her alive in the woman he murders or his dream where she is the frightening spector of Judy or the more innocent one of Audrey.


- Out in the middle of nowhere, the woodsmen no longer seen, Mr. C sits up "reborn".

Okay, so we see Mr. C sitting up, which represents his and Billy's birth, which this whole episode deals with. And this is leading into yet more abstractions on that theme, none of them particularly pleasant as opposed to his version of Laura (American Girl's) creation.


- July 16th 1945, White Sands New Mexico, 5:29 AM (MWT), a voice counts down for the Trinity test, starting at 10 and going to 0. We see the bomb go off and then go into the explosion where there are a series of different patterns, some fire and lights.

And so we have a travel back into the past (is it future or is it past?), one where we witness the Trinity nuclear bomb test. White Sands is in Jornada del Muerto which translates to "Dead Man's Journey", "Route of the Dead Man" or "Journey of Death". It is an almost waterless 90 mile expanse of desert. Being waterless is akin to fire, while it is possible that the Dead Man in question reflects Billy himself, dead inside and possibly dead on the outside too if he is discovered to be a serial killer. Billy being a killer equates him with death as well, so this is all significant.

The countdown starts from 10, the number of completion. This number occurs within Twin Peaks several times, or, at least the numerology rounding of it. Here it is a common established use for a countdown, but two possibilities occurred to us, the first being that perhaps Billy lost his mother when he was 10, a fact that devastated him. We also have that it is going in reverse, just like the backwards occurrences in the series. That could, in fact, actually hint that the events we see playing out in this segment of the episode are happening in reverse order from how they happened to Billy. That would make this then the birth/abuse of Billy Hastings, both equally as destructive.

Okay, so, for us anyway, this can't be the birth of all evil, as is often stated, because honestly it's 1945 and there were atrocities committed long before that date! By extension then that dissuades us from seeing BOB as being the "evil that men do" as Albert said. No. This is something very personal to one person and that doesn't deal with the birth of evil so much as the creation of that same individual. We can easily connect this event with the explosion of the bank in the OG finale, further helped by the fact we were just reminded of it in the previous episode when Will Hayward brought up Audrey Horne and "That terrible business at the bank" that left her in a coma. A lot of the sequence in "Beyond Life and Death" echoes in this segment of Part 8 and that should stand out even more when we realize that we haven't actually seen Audrey since that scene. Here we see a bomb explosion, which ties in to how Andrew Packard set off the bomb Thomas had planted at the bank with another key. Before the bomb went off, Audrey had requested and drank a glass of water and then heard a Guard receive a phone call, wherein he exclaimed, "It's a boy!". We previously equated the destruction/defiling of nature with incestuous abuse throughout the series, most always associated with the Hornes. We believe Ben and his father's groundbreaking the bluff for the construction of the Great Northern actually dealt with the Elder Horne's abuse of his son. Likewise, we see the whole subplot of Benjamin trying to sell Ghostwood Forest for land development as being symbolic of his abuse of his daughter Audrey. So the Trinity bomb explosion could likely represent Billy's birth and also his abuse, both events the same to him. The word Trinity is interesting with this take on the bomb being used: three members of the same family all being children whom were abused. If anything could result in the creation of something so destructive as "BOB" it could very well be something like this.

A nuclear bomb is something with far reaching and devastating consequences. The abuse within Billy's family was the same, creating a man whom lashed out and destroyed those whom were not even in his family, spreading and eating upon pain and sorrow of people he didn't even know.

Benjamin Horne was born in 1940. He would have turned 5 in 1945 which coincides with the age we theorized Billy was when his mother, and possibly grandfather/father's, abuse of him began. Here Billy could be drawing a line, connecting both events since Ben's abuse also happened when he was only 5.

The Trinity test created a crater, hole, which is what we see Ben and his father digging. A hole also can represent the birthing place.

A bomb is also associated with some secret that was hidden finally being revealed. Thus a bomb fits in perfectly here, the dreamer being the child of a father and daughter. Likely the family didn't know this, like the uncle whom rarely saw the niece or whom misunderstood something he saw with the nephew. And the child himself probably was also lied to until he found out the truth, making his existence akin to a bomb, one that destroyed both his and his mother's life. This brings an interesting parallel to Billy dreaming Laura trying to discover the identity of the abuser she hates in FWWM. He suffered something similar, only, whereas she discovers BOB is possessing Leland, the father she loved, Billy was trying to find out the identity of his father, whom he potentially idealized, and discovered to his horror that it was really the grandfather he hated.

The part that is hard to put into words is how, when we seem to enter the bomb itself Lynch conveys it in both frightening and beautiful images. It is something he obviously still finds some beauty in. Could this be some indication that, despite the series of abuses taking place, that there were moments of genuine love there? That though Billy thinks his mother hated him, she did love him too, or that if he feels he was worthless, that he still had the chance of making something beautiful of his life despite the horror? The use of color strikes us in the face in light of all the black and white imagery seen. Could this further emphasize how Billy had difficulty in seeing colors or shades of gray within his world? That everything was either black or white, like the Red Room floor? Could this also be why he clings to Dale Cooper's essentially Black and White suit?



- At the darkened convenience store, lights start flashing and the woodsmen appear outside of it, jutting in and out, as the light does the same.

Woodsmen can be linked to the destruction of nature and so they make perfect enablers for BOB with the analogy between incestuous abuse and the desecration of nature. Outside of this dream symbolism, they merely stand for all of those people whom enable the abuse either voluntary or involuntary. They are paid or benefit somehow from the situation so they go along with something that is harmful. These are the people whom allowed Billy's father to be immoral in one way or another.

This is a convenience store, the one where BOB and MIKE operated from and also where the meeting scene in FWWM took place. It will be used to take people to the Dutchman's (the ghost of Teresa's hotel), which seems to have equal importance. These are direct counterparts to two HORNE family run businesses: Horne Department Store and the Great Northern Hotel. You could say they are their shadow selves, but they might be the true selves just as much as Coop's shadow self betrayed more of the truth. Now a hotel/motel is a home you make a profit from and a similarity is drawn to the Convenience Store, in a way, since it is stated/shown that people make it into a home too. We have clear instances of homes being tarnished with material capitalism. We theorize that Billy resents his mother for staying with their abusive father, believing it had to do with money. That is a constant theme, as associated with the woodsmen and Ben's being able to buy people off to do his dirty work, be they low lifes like Hank Jennings and Leo Johnson or working men like Emory Battis or Leland Palmer or even his wife Sylvia.


- The Experiment barfs out a stream of liquid/vomit filled with eggs and the BOB orb to earth. We go inside of the stream and then see fire.

This essentially represents how Billy views his birth. Vomit is usually a sign of illness, and he views himself as a sign of his mother's sickness, both wrought from her abuse by their father. We can easily tie this to the sick girl in Part 11, whom hasn't seen her uncle in a long time. The woman driving that girl is constantly honking the car horn, invoking the Hornes.

The Experiment has horns, invoking the Hornes once again.

When he reversed his intent, having sold Ghostwood to Catherine, Ben Horne began a campaign to save Ghostwood for the Pine Weasels. Old myth once held that weasels vomited out their offspring.

The BOB orb is mixed in with the vomit. Is this BOB's birth solely then or does it also imply that the Experiment was possessed by BOB too? That would make sense if we believe Billy views BOB as an imago of his father that possesses him. When his mother abused him, Billy could have equally seen her possessed by the same father. She could also be giving birth to all of Billy's selves, one of which is BOB. Another option could be that the BOB orb being present denotes his role as father to the Experiment's mother regarding all of the eggs.


- We see a glob of gold and go through it. After travelling a little bit, we see the purple sea and travel over it until we see a large mountain with a huge building on it, which turns out to be the Fireman's. It has no windows it seems, but does have a doorway with no actual door on it and we go through it. We see a room with a woman, Senorita Dido, sitting on a sofa and swaying as she listens to music on an old gramophone.

Is the purple sea inside of the gold the reason why a gold pool is found by its entrance close to Jack Rabbit's Palace?

The Fireman's is on one PEAK. Does the name Twin Peaks hint at things being doubled?

This massive building is the Fireman's Place and it seems likely that the mansion room, where Naido was and American Girl is are located inside of it. Now, it is our belief, just as the convenience store and the Dutchman's are versions of the Hornes' places, this is a variation on the Palmers' house...which is really just a dream equivalent of Billy's first victim's family home. So that makes sense why the mansion room is located here: it's the daughter's bedroom, a room Billy trespassed into through a window we are assuming.

There are no windows that we see from this angle. Actually there seems to be only a doorless door. That's wonderful for our belief that Laura, whom we'll see spiritually born soon, is the door to Twin Peaks.

That the Fireman's place is synonymous with the Palmers' will become more clear in Parts 17 and 18. When Cooper attempts to "save" Laura in Part 17, and she asks where he is taking her and he replies "We're going home." However, in Part 18, when he has become Richard, a seemingly less idealized/dreamy version of Cooper, he simply takes her to the Palmer household. We reason that it's because if Billy had not killed American Girl and imagined the world of Twin Peaks to escape his fantasies would have been, well, less fantastic. The fantasy like Fireman's returns to being just a commonplace ordinary house, one which might have been as equally a fantasy to Billy.

The room we enter through it to find has strong similarities to the Palmers'. We have a couch and a divider and we also have a gramophone, a variation on the record player we often saw at the Palmer household, one they often played, just like it is playing here. The first song we heard played on the Palmer's record player was Pennsylvania 6-5000, which we mentioned before was the number to a famous hotel. The Fireman's record player was first seen when the Fireman told Dale to listen to the sounds, which we believe were of an insect and also of what had infiltrated the Fireman's house.

Senorita Dido, we theorize, is a different version of Sarah/American Girl's mom.


- A machine structure begins to set off an alarm at the Fireman's. The Fireman steps out from behind it, shares a long look at Dido, looks back at the alarm and then stares for a while straight in front of him. He looks back at the machine. He turns off the alarm, shares another look with Dido and then leaves the room.

The machine looks like what Phillip Jeffries turned into or is hiding inside, as well as the thing on top of the mansion room that shocked Naido. A whole room of them can be seen inside of the Fireman's. So are they people? This one seems to be an alarm. Interestingly, Phillip Jeffries seemed to serve the same purpose when he pointed out Cooper at the FBI Headquarters in FWWM and then tried to warn Cole about the Lodge meeting. We also theorized, in Part 3, that Naido/Betty was turning it to go back in time to Billy's first intentional victim: American Girl. Which now, come to think of it, that episode title matches the socket number of the room that American Girl is in. Phillip Jeffries will also send Cooper back in time. So Jeffries, and these machines, act as alarms and time machines. And in both cases they alert about the dreamer, BOB and Dale both being Billy, and take them back to the first murdered girl, American Girl and Laura also being the same.

The Fireman, we believe, is a Lodge representation of Leland/American Girl's dad. He was also the waiter at the Great Northern, whom offered Leland the gum he used to chew as a child. Now Leland mentioned he first met BOB at his grandfather's place. This presents an interesting possibility...that the elderly waiter/Giant we saw in the series was actually Leland's grandfather in some form. Technically an employee of Ben Horne, with the waiter being elderly, it also seems likely that he worked for Ben's father as well. Hmm...and if the waiter/Giant was Leland's grandfather...that makes Leland his grandson...the very thing Billy was and haunts the series as in his younger form. That is why the Grandson seems to, at times, align with Leland also, both of them being grandsons. However, it seems likely that Leland's grandfather was benevolent and the relationship between Leland and his grandfather was good, as opposed to Billy's one with his own grandfather whom was also his father. But that could be another reason why he forces BOB onto Leland inside of his dream. Just like he partially hated women like American Girl because they had the ideal life he believed his mother was robbed of, Billy loathes men like her father, whom experienced idealistic boyhoods, not darkened by abusive fathers/grandfathers. So, inside of his dream, he punishes the figures of Laura and Leland to "atone" for the "grievance", making them walk a mile in his family's shoes, so to speak.

The Fireman's relationship with Senorita Dido seems somewhat estranged. This would actually go along perfectly with Leland's Between Two World's interview where he makes it seem that he truly loved Sarah in the beginning, but then things changed and they seemed to distance themselves from each other. However, they are still aware and acknowledging each other.

When the Fireman stops and turns towards the camera, what he would be looking at would be the doorless door of the mansion. Afterall, the camera zoomed into the building and then straight to the door and through it, finding this room, where Dido was listening to the music. So if he's looking in consternation at the door, this could fit with our seeing Laura as a door and the general importance of doors leading Billy to certain dreams. It could also fit in perfectly then with the Fireman scuttling off to create Laura, the door that leads to Twin Peaks. More eerily, his focus on the door could deal with his later words to Dale that "It is in our house now." He might be aware that something evil is coming to threaten his and Dido's sanctuary and so the doorless door is of great concern to him. On a far out extension of this possibility, he might be making Laura as a door to distract "it" from entering his house, essentially creating her as a door to lead "it" elsewhere. However, by in preventing Laura's death, Billy then had her become BOB instead which led to her becoming the very door to this doorless one that led him straight into the Fireman's/Palmer's house.


- The Fireman goes up a set of stairs, that look like they belong in a movie theater, and then turns right.

Hmm...very interesting that the Fireman's seems turned into a movie house all of a sudden. Those were what Billy grew up on, old movies/tv and books, anything with a story he could escape into. Now the Fireman's/Palmers' is turned into a place dedicated for such things. That works in two ways, the first that Billy projected all of his family's horrors onto the Palmers (American Girl's family) instead. It also helps to illustrate that what Billy resented about American Girl's family may not have been true. While not as horrific as his own family situation was, usually what we see as any "perfect" family is in itself an illusion. Each family has their own problems and sorrows, no matter how they hide them. In the Palmers/American Girl's it was probably that the mother and father had drifted apart to where the father was seeing prostitutes and the mother might have had her own affairs, as perhaps illustrated by Shelly's distraction from her daughter. The daughter might have felt ignored/forgotten about and so she was prey to someone mentally unwell like Billy to obsess over without her parents realizing it.

We have previously wondered if the left side offered the truth and the right fell more in with illusion.


- The Fireman walks across a floor and then up some steps to a movie screen. He makes a motion and clips of the Trinity bomb going off, the woodsmen at the Convenience Store and the Experiment barfing out BOB suddenly appear on the screen. It freezes on the BOB orb and the Fireman stops, turns and levitates.

So, while the Fireman is watching the bomb and the Woodsmen, it is still BOB he focuses on, pausing his image...and so Laura becomes a result of BOB in particular. The Fireman has a direct idea to combat him it seems, or maybe to balance it out, setting out almost to enact his own more positive version of what he just saw.

Once again, this seems to be about "projection" which is what we believe Billy often does with his victims and their families.


- Senorita Dido is shown walking across the floor, as lights flash. She walks to the movie screen where BOB is still paused. A spotlight shows her shadow and then her walking the steps as she nears BOB's image. When she gets near to the screen it switches to stars in space.

Hmm...this is interesting. When the Fireman was walking there were no flashing lights but when Senorita Dido is coming across the floor there are. So, since we associate the flashing light with BOB (and the relationship between a father/son or father/child) is this a result of BOB being paused on the screen or the Fireman creating the Laura orb in the air?

If the flashing lights were because of BOB, it could foreshadow - with our viewing Senorita Dido as a representation of Sarah/American Girl's mom - that BOB (Billy) is coming for the woman. This could essentially be strengthened by the fact that we see Senorita Dido's SHADOW first moving towards the image of BOB. It could also indicate how American Girl's mom was essentially fooled by Billy, the real killer of her daughter, into believing a lie: that the father had killed their daughter. At this stage, the Fireman is ascended and at a distance from Dido and we won't see the two together again.


- She looks up happily to see the Fireman spewing/singing out what looks like a golden galaxy as he hovers in the air above her. Suddenly a golden orb appears out of the mini galaxy and drifts down to Dido whom holds it. We see Laura's homecoming Queen portrait in the orb. Dido kisses the orb then seems to send it on its way, floating up to a pipe type thing that then shoots it to the projected image of earth on the movie screen. Dido smiles at its journey as the Fireman continues to spew out the gold galaxy.

Now we have Laura's birth to go along with BOB's. However, while BOB's was associated with sickness, this is a more beautifully portrayed affair, with Laura almost sung into existence, her coming from out of what looks like a galaxy and not vomit. Therein lies the difference between Billy and his victim: Billy was not wanted, equated with a sickness more than anything, whereas American Girl was wanted and was infact the whole world to her parents.

If we view the Experiment as Audrey (Billy's mom) and the Fireman as Leland (American Girl's dad) this whole scene, paired with BOB's birth, bears a wonderful connection to the scene in "Cooper's Dream" where Leland breaks down over his daughter's death and Audrey, watching him from behind a totem pole, cries as she deals with complicated feelings for the father she seems to hate and love. Both characters reappear now, in this episode, in different forms and yet dealing with riffs on the same subjects that brought them to mutual tears in that episode: Audrey/Experiment having born her father's child and Leland/Fireman fathering the daughter he is set to lose to her child. Shared sorrows, shared births.

Dido obviously loves the Laura orb. In this, we have another difference between BOB/Billy and Laura/American Girl, that the latter was the creation of a union that did share love between them, natural, while Billy was the result of a daughter being used by her own father for his selfish gratification, as well as the spreading of the abuse that had also been forced upon him.

We have the interesting possibility here that Laura was not sent to destroy BOB so much as to balance him out. A pool of oil lies outside of the entrance to the Black Lodge while a pool of gold lies outside of the one to the Fireman's; those colors match the respective colors of BOB and Laura's orbs. It's also the colors of the pedestal where the Owl Cave Ring rests inside of the Red Room. This could even be hinting at the warring forces of good and evil inside of Billy himself, when viewed from a certain angle.

We also have the possibility that Billy could be under the warped delusion that American Girl was created for him and that the Fireman and Dido serve him by making her (Laura) for him. Afterall, Billy is a narcissist. He could believe that she was also created to help "save" him, something he punishes her for when she inevitably fails, him needing to dig his own self out of the shit and save himself rather than have someone else sort out his issues.


- We go from 1945 to 1956, August 5th, the New Mexico desert. In the desert one of the eggs that the Experiment barfed out hatches and a creature emerges which looks part frog, part moth. It crawls over the sand.

Okay, so this is actually happening a day after Ben Horne's 16th birthday party, if we're going by the supplemental information, his birthday being the 4th of August.

This is one of eggs that the Experiment barfed up and we believe that the emerging creature inspires the mask that the grandson wears, which is also like the Jumping Man's face. It is a frog and moth hybrid. Now, at his room at the Great Northern, Cooper could often hear the sound of insects and frogs. Dale/Dougie was also fascinated by a moth orchid in the previous episode. Frogs jump, like the grandson was doing outside of the Red Diamond. This one, however, being just born, seems to crawl, almost like a baby. We see this as being another representation of Billy. It came to earth with BOB, another aspect of Billy, that one being the imago of the father.

Earlier, we discussed how Mr. C being shot here was like his being shot at the end of the first season. In the second season opener, Will Hayward shows that one of the bullets got Dale as well as a wood tick. Not the same insect, mind you, but still an insect.


- A full moon is shown.

The moon's connection to motherhood again might be being established, as well as the symbol that lies beneath it, the one that Mr. C is searching for. Is he looking for his mommy? The scratches on the card were likely made from the safety/diaper pin on the addict mother's desk. Mr. C's search for Judy could also echo Laura's search for BOB in FWWM. What Billy is choosing to deny by forcing this on Laura and Leland, is the answer that Mr. C is really searching for: Judy is his mother.


- A girl and a boy walk together in the dark. "Do you like that song?" the boy asks, the girl says she did. She finds a penny. It's heads up, she exclaims, which means good luck. She looks at the Abe Lincoln on it. The boy hopes it brings her good luck.

We are seeing this girl as another representation of Audrey/Billy's mom. She's still young but on the edge of becoming a woman. This is most likely the age that Billy's mother was when she became pregnant with him...and this innocent walking with a boy could just as easily be twisted into the veil her father used to hide the fact that it was he whom had gotten her pregnant; He blamed it on someone else.

Very important here...the girl finds a penny before her soon to be impregnation by the frogmoth. This is the endlessly repeating theme within the series that Billy links his birth and childhood to money, believing his mother made them stay with their abusive father for the financial stability and material comforts he offered. It links to Audrey chaining herself to the bank vault door, where all of the money is kept, before her own conception of her son. And later on we will see the very same woodsmen, whom leads to the impregnation of the New Mexico girl, resembling Abe Lincoln, the same man on the penny the girl found. Billy's father/grandfather equally used money to help others facilitate and keep the abuse of his daughter secret, just like Ben Horne paying off several people for his own sins, like we often saw revolving around his plans for Ghostwood. Billy's mother than becomes a sacrifice to riches as well, giving a different meaning to Audrey chained to the bank.

The girl seems very happy to find the money, showing perhaps an interest in riches. However, it can also just be the luck it involves, although fortune is another word for luck. Dale/Dougie works at Lucky 7 Insurance and we theorized when he touched the 7 on the logo, after a maternal kiss from his "wife", he was recalling his mother (Audrey).

When Audrey went to the bank in the OG finale, Dell Mibbler said it was his fortunate day. When the bank exploded, we saw his glasses along with falling money.

We saw a coin play a pivotal role in the scene between Red and Richard, Audrey's son, and we believe what is about to happen echoes Audrey's conception of Richard.


- A woodsman is seen descending from pure air and soon he's on the road, approaching a car containing a middle aged couple driving towards him. "Got a light?" he asks the driver repeatedly as lights flash. Another woodsmen shows up as the driver seems somewhat entranced and his wife freaks out. The man finally drives away as more woodsmen are seen.

Hmm...the Woodsman first approaches a man inside of a vehicle for a light. We speculated that the woodsmen were representative of Billy's father/grandfather's enablers, whom were often associated with vehicles in the series.

Could this couple also be partly symbolic for the Log Lady and her husband? We suspected he had worked for Ben Horne and had been killed by Ben also, that being the devil and the fire he had met. The Log Lady we also theorized was the same as the woman honking the horn and trying to get the sick girl to see the uncle and the woman whom came to Teresa's trailer. We saw them as representations of the wife of one of Billy's grandfather/father's workers, someone whom suspected Billy's mom was being abused and tried to help but was ultimately thwarted.

"Got a light?" was what RICHARD Tremayne asked in "Arbitrary Law" right before he set off the sprinkler system that motivated BOB to vacate from Leland, killing his host in the process.


- The young couple continues to walk, the girl asking if the boy lives in town. He says he does. She says by the school and he asks how she knows, which she replies, "I just do." The girl states she thought he was going with Mary. He says that's over. She asks if he's sad about that and he answers no. She repeats that's good and they stop outside of her house. She says it was good of him to walk her home and he admits he wanted to. He asks if he can give her a kiss, she seems reluctant and he says just one. He kisses her and she says, "Just..." before running off to her house. "See you," they exchange. They wave, she enters the house, and he walks away.

That the girl knows where the boy lives is often used to further Mark Frost's depiction that she is really Sarah Palmer. We aren't really going to argue that because we believe that Billy confuses people inside and outside of his dream, not to mention his projecting his family directly on to the Palmers, and so his mother and American Girl's mom could also very likely be morphing. Or it simply could be that she's been paying secret attention to this boy, she does know he's been seeing Mary afterall.

Mary happens to be the name of the nurse (?) Sylvia has looking after Johnny. She might, or might not, be the same Mary that Natalie and Angela despise, but whom has been going out with the Clark Angela fancies. So, um, is there any chance, given the confusion over time and everything, that this boy is Clark and the girl is Angela? The whole Mary/Clark/Angela situation mirrors the Tina/Billy/Audrey triangle, with Audrey dreaming about Billy, just like Angela was dreaming of Clark. That could link Audrey to this girl. It was also stated that Angela had lost her mother. A while back, with the introduction of Blackie "Black Rose" we wondered if Billy's mother's mother had died, which might or might not have been from the grandfather/father's doing. BLACK Rose was the dead maternal grandmother, the RED Rose was the mother and the BLUE roses were the women Billy killed because they reminded him of his mother. The maternal grandmother's death certainly would have allowed the father to abuse the daughter more freely however, and we don't know what the New Mexico girl's family situation is; her mother might be dead.

The girl seems highly reluctant about that kiss, trying to explain something and then stopping. If she was being abused by her father and was afraid he was watching and she'd be "punished" it could explain why. Billy had a similar situation play out in his dream of FWWM when James comes to speak to Laura and she's nervous because Leland is watching. This girl tries to confess/explain something again after the kiss but goes to her house instead. If she was being abused, she wouldn't know what to say or how to tell him that.


- The Abe Lincoln woodsman goes to a radio station, KPJK, which is broadcasting the Platters song "My Prayer". A mechanic working on a vehicle is listening to the channel, as is a waitress at a diner (Pop's). So is the girl who was walking with the boy. She sits on her bed, the bedroom window open and the curtains blowing in the night breeze, dreamily listening to it.

The Woodsmen seem to enjoy broadcasting/radios. Above the convenience store they seem to use radios for different purposes, we just see them most often from the back.

Audrey Horne once said her own "prayer" to Dale Cooper, in the 2nd season opener, and it has its own accompanying piece of music, one that then was often featured during the romantic scenes, one being when she went to Cooper's room to talk about her father and then crawled into Cooper's bed, which, it being her family's hotel was really her own bed, so Cooper was sleeping in her bed too.

Hmmm...we have a mechanic, which deals with cars again, which we discussed were connected to helping Billy's grandfather/father, plus a waitress. This goes with Big Ed and Norma actually. It also can go with the mechanic "Jack" whom we discussed was connected to Billy's father in certain ways and that Teresa (a substitute for Billy's mom) once worked as a waitress. A mechanic keeps certain "drives" running smoothly while a waitress services hunger. Is this about how Billy's grandfather/father used Billy's mom to satisfy his appetite and his various drives? The waitress works at a place called Pop's afterall.

The girl sits listening dreamily to the song on her bed. Is this the song she was talking about with the boy earlier? As said before, Audrey said her own prayer to Cooper. This song will replay when Diane and Dale have sex in Part 18, when we theorize he is imagining Diane is his mother (Audrey). The words of the song are as follow:

"When the twilight is gone
And no songbirds are singing
When the twilight is gone
You come into my heart
And here in my heart you will stay while I pray

My prayer is to linger with you
At the end of the day in a dream that's divine
My prayer is a rapture in blue
With the world far away
And your lips close to mine

Tonight while our hearts are aglow
Oh, tell me the words that I'm longing to know

My prayer and the answer you give
May they still be the same for as long as we live
That you'll always be there at the end of my prayer"

They are a nice compliment to "Questions in a World of Blue" where the dream that should have been divine has ended. We suspect that Twin Peaks is partly Billy's dream and that inside of it he has placed his mother inside of her own dreamworld where they can be together. That is another function of the dream.

The girl is holding a teddy bear, like Johnny Horne will have. Her wallpaper is of roses, like the Blue Roses. She has two windows joined at the corner of the room. One of the windows is open. We suspect that Billy enters his victims' room through the window. The curtains are blowing and we are reminded of the curtains in the Red Room. There is a glass of water close to the window. Audrey asked for a glass of water before the bank exploded and she soon after became pregant, Billy Hastings had a glass of water at the police station and soon the Woodsman will repeat a weird monologue about water too.


- The Woodsman enters the radio station and kills the receptionist working there by crushing her skull in. He then goes into the main Broadcast room and grabs the DJ's head in a similar fashion. The mechanic, the waitress and the girl all look as the song is stopped.

Hmmm...well this receptionist doesn't seem too different than a secretary, so that theme comes out again. Considering that she gets killed and so does the DJ, we can form a parallel between these two poor doomed coworkers and Sam and Tracey, and by extension Billy and Betty, especially since their heads get crushed like all of the above, minus Betty.

So the receptionist seems to be entranced against her will to go to the woodsman and then forced onto her knees. This is uncomfortably like a coerced rape of some sort.


- The Woodsman begins to repeat a very strange message over the airwaves, "This is the water. And this is the well. Drink full and descend. The horse is the white of the eyes and dark within."

So the Abe Lincoln Woodsman, just connected to money by the penny and whom also is a servant of BOB, is giving a broadcast that influences the listeners and will lead to people becoming unconcious and the girl impregnated by the frogmoth.

The Woodsman mentions water, "This is the water. And this is the well. Drink full and descend." We went into the water previously but let's do another analysis. Well, when Audrey chained herself to the bank, in the original finale, she asked the bank worker to get her a glass of water. Frankly, that was a little odd. Why wouldn't she have made sure she had some before she chained herself if she knew she might be there for a while? For that matter, why would she ask for water when it would lead to her having to pee? But for some reason it was included. And then what we see is Mibbler, the bank employee linked to the handling of the money, is the one whom holds it up for her to drink...She drinks full and soon descends into a coma when the bank explodes. In another money focused theme, we can look at money as the "water" that some people live for. A bank would then become the well that holds the money. We can then view the act of the girl's impregnation, and how the chant about water enables it, as an analogy of how Billy's father/grandfather used his wealth to ensure that people looked the other way when he abused his daughter and eventually got her pregnant. There is a glass of water on the girl's window sill when the frogmoth comes to her as well, strengthening the connection between the girl and Audrey. Then, in Part 1, what would directly follow the OG finale besides the intermission of FWWM, Lynch clearly shows a glass of water on the table before Billy Hastings, as he sits behind the two way mirror, his head in his hands. We likened this scene to the glass box in NYC, stated how we believed Twin Peaks etc...was all going on inside the man's head and likened him also to a mirror. That he is shown with a glass of water, connecting him to Audrey and the Woodsman's chant, is significant. The water is even pointed out when Macklay offers him coffee and Billy replies, "I'm good with the water."

"The horse is the white of the eyes and dark within" is usually used for the belief that Sarah looked away from Leland abusing their daughter. Well, we believe that Billy projected that whole scenario onto the Palmers so this could be true, to a certain extent. When BOB/Leland drugs Sarah's drink, she hesitates, knowing something is wrong, but he coaxes her into finishing it. So that shows someone suspecting something but easily being persuaded to turn a blind eye. However, this scene takes place in front of a mirror which we argue Billy is. Billy reflects what people want him to be and he can also reflect them as what he wants to see them as instead, and in the Palmers case he wanted them to bear what truly belonged to his family. So the turning of a blind eye can then fit the Hornes instead, as also indicated by the owl light (a source of enlightenment) appearing during this scene. We also have the fact that Sarah is drinking milk and not water in that scene. The looking away of Ben's abuse of Audrey led to darkness. It created Billy (the Magician) whom longed to see through that darkness, and chose playing with fire to do it. It also led to death, irrevocably linked to the horse, when Billy killed his father and mother and a string of women whom similarly reminded him of his mom. One of the women he killed might infact be Sarah/American Girl's mother, to prevent her from remembering something that connected him to her daughter's death.

Okay, and so Billy might be mixing up/projecting people, this girl could still represent Sarah/American Girl's mother partially as well. She effectively went to sleep, forgetting something which could incriminate Billy of American Girl's death. The frogmoth effectively blinds her to it and restricts her from telling on him, which could lead to her death when she sees again and tries to regain her voice.

The white horse seems linked to death, so this all ties back to death and how the Trinity test happened in the Jornada del Muerto.


- The waitress and the mechanic fall unconscious as they listen to the broadcast and the frogmoth crawls slowly towards the girl's house. The girl meanwhile looks at her radio and lies down on her bed and falls asleep or into unconsciousness. The frogmoth flies up to her window and enters it. As the girl lies unconscious, the frogmoth goes up to her. Suddenly she opens her mouth and it crawls inside of it, disappearing into her. She swallows.

The girl falling into unconsciousness is portrayed differently than the mechanic and waitress. She appears to be almost falling asleep more than passing out. Billy dreams a more gentler violation of his mother, saving the harsh reality for other figures like Laura and Diane.

The frogmoth, which had been crawling still like a baby towards her house, suddenly uses its wings and flies up to her window. Now the window is how BOB used to pay Laura a visit. We also saw Dale gain access to the mansion room through a window. Now we have the frogmoth visiting this girl through a window. Of course, as stated before, we suspect Billy killed American Girl by climbing in through her bedroom window and that might be his repeated routine while killing.

The frogmoth coming to the unconscious girl perfectly reflects how Mr. C went to see Audrey, while she was in a coma, and impregnated her with their son Richard. It echoes it to the very fact that the frogmoth seems to impregnate this girl with itself and Dale Cooper, whom really is just Mr. C, will become Richard in Part 18. Essentially Cooper impregnated Audrey with himself, just like the frogmoth does here. We've said before that this represents how Billy believes he in essence violated his mother with his conception. He raped her as much as their father.

Actually, this scene reminds us in a way of what we took to be Dale's doppleganger being born into the world on the series finale too. We saw the Red Room curtains as being representative of his mother's birthing area and his violent struggle out of them being the shadow self's violent birth. As the frogmoth enters the girl, we see the shadow of the girl's bedroom curtains billow behind the sleeping girl, which echoes that scene, the frogmoth still symbolic of Mr. C/Billy. Only, whereas the Twin Peaks original finale depicted a birth this was a depiction of the conception.

This being an illustration of Billy's painful conception, we return back to the Experiment barfing up the eggs and BOB and how now we have witnessed the conception that led to that birth and the destruction that followed.

This scene could also hint that, when Mr. C visited Audrey at the hospital, he also placed her safely inside of her own dream where he could be with her while at the same time causing pain and sorrow outside of her dreams, but without her knowing about it.

The frogmoth entering the girl brings back the Fireman's statement that, "It is in our house now," the frogmoth potentially being the insect sounds on the gramophone as well as a representation of the grandson/Billy, and how the two names the grandson went by - Chalfont and Tremond - will be invoked when Richard/Cooper brings Carrie/Laura to what should be the Palmers' (Fireman's) house.


- The Woodsman finishes the broadcast and crushes the DJ's head. He then walks out of the station into a night that begins flashing and then into darkness as a horse neighing is heard.

The violent disposal of the receptionist and the DJ contrast with the almost peaceful invasion of the girl, which we believe is Billy's mom. Perhaps this could also be his punishing those whom facilitated his mother's abuse and his conception, while gently protecting his mother's memory, although it still can't help but come off as creepy.

We see the flashing light synonymous with BOB but then the woodsman goes into darkness as a horse neighs. This could once again go with the journey of death, the horse going hand and hand with death. It also is a throwback to Dale seeing the Red Room curtains lift and a white horse standing in the darkness, which we theorized represented the death of Billy's dream or self. Come to think of it, that could also fall back to the whole, "the horse is the white of the eyes and dark within" line.


- The credits roll over a scene of the girl still lying unconscious on her bed. She seems to be having a pleasant dream which eventually sours.

This goes along with the belief that the frogmoth entering the sleeping girl also indicated how Mr. C (Billy) placed Audrey (his mother) inside of her own little dreamworld when he visited her in the hospital. The girl looks like the dream she is having is pleasant and then her face contorts and it looks as if it has suddenly turned bad. This happens to Audrey as well when she can't find Billy and starts to question who she and Charlie are. This leads to her running to Charlie and pleading with him to get her out of there when the Roadhouse falls into violence. We believe the equally frightened Charlie grants his wife's request, showing Audrey the truth...that he really is Billy too, the mirror, and she is still in her coma and dreaming inside of his own dream, hence why she is in the hospital gown and the white light and the sound of electricity permeates around them. A faint sound of electricity/static can also be heard as the New Mexico girl sleeps, electricity potentially linked to dreaming.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 7 "There's a Body All Right"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- Out in the middle of the woods, Jerry Horne looks confused and anxious. He calls Ben, whom at the Great Northern, knows it's his brother calling but receives no answer to his repeated "Jerry". Finally Jerry speaks, saying someone stole his car. Ben, in confusion, repeats it, and Jerry says his brother is saying the same thing. Jerry says he's high and he doesn't know where he is.

And so we begin Jerry Horne's spiritual odyssey, following his exposure to Amp's nightly broadcasts of enlightenment. It will directly follow MIKE's own spiritual journey, linking the characters. Jerry begins his by realizing he is lost in the woods, looking at them as if he doesn't recognize them. This fits in with our belief that Ben Horne's abuse of his daughter, Audrey, was manifested as the Ghostwood project inside of Billy's dream, Audrey being the woods themselves. Jerry was directly involved with the project, being Ben's legman so to speak. He was most often sent away from the Great Northern and Twin Peaks, helping to communicate with investors, but leaving the main work to his brother. We believe this portrayed, to Billy, how his uncle was most often distracted or sent away from the place where his father/grandfather, mother and himself lived so the uncle would not discover that Ben was abusing his own daughter. Jerry, more or less, couldn't see the forest for the trees. Right now, however, he is realizing something is wrong. He looks at the woods as if seeing them for the first time. This is the uncle's first step in realization, beginning to see things finally for what they are. However, he still depends on his brother, turning to him in an attempt to help him out of the confusion.

The woods in Twin Peaks have always seemed to belong to Ben Horne, more or less, Ghostwood having been his pet project before Catherine got hold of it, although woods shouldn't belong to really anyone...like his daughter should never have been viewed as a possession either. Now we have Ben's brother having a moment in his "brother's" woods. This can directly invoke Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." That poem begins with the line, "Whose woods these are I think I know," as a man stops by those woods on his way elsewhere. The poem ends with the famous line, "And miles to go before I sleep." That line will be quoted by the woman honking her car HORN(E) in Part 11, the one trying to get the visibly ill girl home to see the uncle she had not seen in a while: "Her uncle is joining us. She hasn't seen him in a very long while. We're late! We've got miles to go! Please, we have to get home! She's sick!" That sick neice was another representation of Billy's mom (Audrey) and the uncle his own uncle too (Jerry). This scene, Jerry's whole plot in The Return, connects to that scene. Billy understands on some level that if his uncle, whom experienced a spiritual rebirth, had seen what was happening to the neice (Billy's mom) he could have helped her and them all. Unfortunately, just like the problem with the traffic blocking the sick girl and the woman in the car, Ben's enablers, themselves, connected to cars, Billy's mother was not saved by the uncle.

Jerry is still wearing his and Ben's mother's hat.

Hmm..this business of stolen cars is interesting. This episode will also feature the plot of the farmer's truck having been stolen and the cops questioning "Dougie" about his stolen car. We equated those whom enabled Ben's abuse of Audrey as beings woodsmen, most of whom were connected to vehicles (Leo and his Corvette, Leland and his convertible, Emory and his collection of car models). Now, before he escapes the woods and Ben's control, we reckon, Jerry's car has been stolen. Is Jerry refusing to be his brother's enabler? We also saw the various Coopers as being Billy's favorite vehicles inside of his dream, as maybe evidenced by the attention to Dougie's license plate in the last episode and Hastings driver's license being the first we saw of his character. We theorized, on the other hand, Laura was the door which took him to the dream of Twin Peaks. However, by the end of Part 17/18 there are indications that BOB/Billy managed to possess Laura Palmer instead, infact switching his main vehicle. Could she be another stolen car to go along with the others? Billy switching his avatar inside of the dream or acquiring another one, just as Mr. C switched his Mercedes for the Lincoln in Part 2?


- At the Sheriff's Department, Hawk shows Frank the three pages of the diary he found. He's sure that these are what Margaret wanted him to find and states that there were 4 in total, so one is still missing. One is about Laura's dream of Annie from FWWM and what Annie told Laura to write down about the good Dale being stuck in the Lodge. When Frank asks Hawk how the pages came to be in the bathroom stall door, Hawk shows him a page where Laura is upset and says she knows it isn't BOB and knows who it is. Hawk believes it was Leland whom hid the pages, possibly when they brought him in for Jacques' murder and he was afraid of them finding them when he was frisked. Frank reaffirms that Dale came to town after Laura's death and Laura never knew him, and the words came from Annie in a dream. Hawk goes through the message, that the good Dale was in the Lodge and couldn't leave, but says that Harry and Doc Hayward took Dale to the Great Northern when he came out of the Lodge with Annie. Hawk reasons that whatever came out with Annie mustn't have been the good Cooper. Frank asks who else saw him that day, since he left shortly after that. Hawk replies Doc Hayward and he's not sure who else. Frank says they should report this to Harry.

Hawk states one of the pages is still missing. There is an indication that the missing page might turn out to be Carrie Page. This can even make wonderful sense if we look at the pages here and the belief this theory holds that, by the end of Billy's reworking of his dream to help deal with the new threat of his discovery, thanks to Betty and American Girl, he has it so BOB possesses Laura Palmer and Sarah is murdered. One found diary page, afterall, deals with Dale's identity and a dream. The next, not read on screen, has Laura stating she didn't need a mask on Halloween. Then we end off with her freaking over who BOB really is. If the pages were going in chronological order the missing PAGE would tell you who BOB really is. In this case, thanks to Billy's manipulations...BOB is really Laura Palmer and we find this out thanks to Carrie Page.

There it is pointed out again how the pages, linked to Laura's inner thoughts, were found inside of a door, going along perfectly with our view that Laura Palmer is the door that lead to Twin Peaks. Weren't the pages in the first stall door too? Laura is the ONE, door number one.

Unfortunately, while the door connection is great for this theory the whole secret diary pages themselves are hard to reconcile with the timeline other than through dream logic and fantasy manipulation on the dreamer's part, just like the introduction of the secret diary in the first place. Laura had already given the diary to Harold Smith before she had the dream with Annie or discovered who BOB's host was and there is no indication whatsoever she went to Harold's house on every whim to go and scribble stuff down in it.

Hawk's reasoning that Leland hid those pages makes absolutely no sense too. Why would he have still have had the diary pages on him days after Laura's murder? And the thought that he put them in the stall door when he was brought in for Jacques' murder because he was afraid they would frisk him...Really? Aren't they supposed to frisk a suspect before they are arrested? And why, when the cells are equipped with toilets, would they allow a suspected criminal use their washroom? Nope. That's silly. What might not be so silly is if there is a reason why we're supposed to remember two characters and their relation to each other to connect those dots. Lynch is bringing both Leland and Jacques to our attention. This is what's important because we should remember that connection later on in the episode. But whereas this is used by fans to possibly further condemn Leland Palmer we believe the truth will turn out to actually be the opposite: Leland's memory is being invoked because he's on the verge of being further cleared. We just have to remember this, have knowledge of the Between Two World Palmer interview, and pay attention to names, those of characters and actors.

Who hid the pages? We still believe it was Billy through one of the Coopers, them having access to this washroom and their memory invoked by the two images of the Native Americans that Hawk saw, plus Mr. C having smashed his head infamously in a different washroom. The intriguing possibility is that this might all just be a part of Mr. C's plan still and that he and Dale, split as they were, were both working towards the same end goal: BOB possessing Laura. Afterall, what if Mr. C switching cars held a major clue before his trying to avoid being sent back to the Lodge? What if this was all about Billy trying to avoid being sent to prison, just like he avoided prison the first go around for Twin Peaks, when he had killed American Girl? So this has always been about this, about digging himself out of the mess, and inside of the dream it involved switching it so Laura became BOB's vehicle, which would involve her killing Sarah, representing how Billy murdered American Girl's mom to prevent her identifying him as her daughter's killer? This brings more hidden meaning to Coop using the ladies room and Laura's diary being in the men's room stall's door: Billy/BOB (male) was going to hide behind Laura (a woman). It also gives other meaning to "It is in our house now" and the grandson's names living in Laura's house.

Annie is never once stated to be Dale Cooper's girlfriend. More evidence that Billy found that whole "plot" inside of his dream just a necessary evil in order to protect Audrey Horne and once again get where he needed. Afterall, we argue that Billy's true love was his mother and all other women eventually disappointed him compared to her. Annie was disposable.

It's pointed out that Dale was taken directly to the Great Northern and that Doc Hayward was with him. We've always had issue that a supposedly sick man was taken to his hotel room instead of the hospital. But that might just deal with how the Great Northern masked the Red Diamond/Dutchman's, Billy's real childhood family home and how this revolved around the trauma Billy suffered there. We also think William Hayward is covertly important, being the only character bearing the "Billy" name in the OG series. It's being pointed out that Hawk doesn't know who else...the answer is Audrey Horne did. The bad Dale saw Audrey and it was all thanks to a "Billy's" maneuvering.


- Frank tries to tell Harry about Cooper but hears bad news from his brother, presumably about his health, and so postpones it, telling Harry simply to do him a favor and beat this thing instead.

Poor Harry. Could his bad health mirror in any way, though, how the dream Billy had of a better father was also always dying on him in face of the truth?


- The truck Billy was using when he hit the child is now at a Farmer's place. Andy is interrogating the Farmer who seems to be very nervous and wants him to leave. Andy wants to know if it wasn't him driving, then who was it? The farmer says he will tell him the whole story somewhere but not here. He insists Andy has got to get out of there and Andy says he'll meet him at the logging road above Sparkwood and 21. The farmer asks if that's by Jones' and Andy says just past Jones', by the creek. The farmer looks at his watch, nervously, and says he'll meet him in two hours, at 4:30. He then pleads with Andy to go and when he does, the farmer goes into his house, closing the door behind him.

The second stolen vehicle in this episode, to go with what we previously discussed.

Ummm...why isn't the truck being impounded by the police as being part of a crime? Wasn't that the reason why Shelly couldn't sell Leo's transport, because it had been involved in a crime? Did the farmer also drive it back to his place? How did it get here. It doesn't look like the place Richard left it.

So this is one of the main possibilities for Audrey Horne's mysterious Billy inside of many viewers head. And we aren't going to argue with that because it makes sense. Afterall, later, Audrey's storyline will involve how Billy's truck was stolen by a Chuck, and then Charlie learns something unbelievable he refuses to tell her, which sounds awfully close to Richard, her son, stealing this unnamed guy's truck. But that is the thing...we see everyone has carrying a piece of the dreamer, whom we argue is Billy, so they ALL are Billy including this guy.

Why is the Farmer so nervous? He looks like he wants Andy out of there for the Cop's sake as much as his own. If the Farmer wants to meet in two hours, at 4:30, then that places this at 2:30...which is close to 2:53...time and time again. That fact plus the heavy electrical sound when we see the open door later (doors being linked to where the dream might take Billy) make us believe that this Farmer is going somewhere or someone is coming to see him, Lodge/dreamer related. We mean, it could be Richard he's scared of but the certain little touches are too odd to indicate someone as simple as Richard, whom we are shown outright punishing Miriam for talking to the police. Why save us from seeing Richard punish this man then? Unless, that isn't exactly it.

Story being referenced connects to Billy creating these numerous stories in "Twin Peaks" connecting this dude to Billy.

Hmm...Andy wanting to meet the Farmer at the logging road above Sparkwood and 21 is interesting. After the scene where Cooper longingly touched the number 7, which we believe Billy associates with his mother, it showed the lights at Sparkwood and 21, which we then connected to the hit and run boy and his mother, whom we saw as symbolic of Billy and his mother again, and the boy's death illustrative of Billy's innocence/goodness being killed off because Billy believed it would be easier for him to survive that way. Now that area of Sparkwood and 21 is going referenced alongside a logging road, logging involving cutting down trees and hurting woods. We see trees as symbolic of people in Twin Peaks and Ghostwood forest as representing Audrey, it's desecration being linked to her abuse. Since this meeting between Andy and the Farmer involves the death of a boy we see as Billy's innocence, does that connect to his destruction being akin to that of the abuse his mother suffered? Billy being the son of her abuser, that makes sense. To top off all of these possibilities we have the name Jones' used, connecting it directly back to the scene where Janey-E Jones kissed "Dougie Jones" in a motherly fashion.

The time is directly pointed out to us, by a Billy candidate, and how close it is to 2:53, 23 minutes away. An arranged meeting is supposed to happen at 4:30, which involves Richard Horne having killed the boy. In Part 18, Dale Cooper will travel 430 miles, only to eventually become a Richard.

The door is closed. It will be open when we see it next. Doors are important, from the red door of the Jones' to Laura being what we see as the door to Twin Peaks.


- Frank talks to Doc Hayward over the phone, whom asks about Harry. Frank says he's under the weather and then asks if he can talk to the Doc over Skype and gets his handle. The two start chatting "face to face".

Behind Frank there are statues of corn, an owl and a buck. We constantly state the owls are really the Hornes, Billy is often represented as a buck and the corn is the pain and sorrow Billy feels over his unnatural birth. It's called garmonbozia, which is a nod to Greek mythology and the food of the Greek gods. The Hornes are Twin Peaks version of such, living up on the bluff of White Tails (another buck reference) Falls as if it were Olympus. This is the first time we see Frank's office and surroundings. Oddly before we saw him using Hawk's office when Doris barged in on him. Lynch seemed to be purposely waiting for this office, with those items to be shown, for the moment Frank (and us viewers) first hear about Mr. C and Audrey.

Will Hayward mentioning he gave a diagnosis in a chair should be mentioned because we previously wondered if chairs were connected to tricks in any way. Will once also performed a trick with a red rose...or he tried. Was the eczema he diagnosed the Sparkle rash?

Have to point out for the umpteenth time this guy is the only Bill in the original series. Don't trust him.

Interesting how the Skype thing starts with Hayward starting out as a blue square. Mr. Todd received a red square, apparantly Mr. C showing his displeasure and ordering Lorraine to be killed and replaced with Ike. We wondered if red meant something illusory and blue something more true.


- Frank asks if Will Hayward remembers what happened the night Harry called him in to examine Cooper at the Great Northern. Will claims he can't remember what he had for breakfast, but he remembers that. He says Coop was acting strange. He took him to the hospital and had him checked out while he made the rounds. About an hour later, he caught him sneaking out of intensive care, fully dressed. He turned and looked at Will with that strange face again. The Doc called out but Cooper turned and walked away. Frank asks what he was doing in intensive care. Hayward replies he thought he might have been checking in on Audrey Horne after that terrible business at the bank and her being in a coma. Suddenly, Frank switches the conversation, asking about the fishing where Hayward is. The Doc makes a joke about catching two brown trout in his pajamas two days ago and then, when asked, goes on to describe the breakfast he had with them. The two men say goodbye to each other, Hayward hoping whatever this is about works out all right. Frank looks contemplative after the video call ends.

Remember how Will Hayward says he can't remember what he had for breakfast this morning because he'll end the conversation by describing what he had for breakfast two days ago. Suspicious.

So this is when Richard Horne was conceived. We even wondered if Mr. C intentionally smashed his head on the Great Northern bathroom mirror so he had a reason to be brought to the hospital to see Audrey, what he wanted not needed. And remember how the only Billy in the series at the time is now stated to have brought him here, so it would be Mr. C and a Billy in conjunction that necessitated it. Mr. C essentially played out the original legend of Sleeping Beauty, Zellandine and Troylus, here with Audrey, the girl sleeping while he had sex with her and conceived a child, one he eventually becomes at the end of The Return. We believe this showed Billy's feelings that he had violated his own mother with his conception, being the incarnation of their father's rape of her and her abuse. And yet, Mr. C taking her in a coma is so very different than BOB's usual MO and what happened with Laura or Diane, and even Maddy and Darya, where their fear was desired. This was almost gentle for both Mr. C and BOB because Audrey couldn't respond in a way we'd expect them to usually want. Infact, with what they did with Audrey it couldn't be frightening for her or painful, seeing as though she would have been being monitored and any stress might have alerted the doctors. Mr. C's "visit" to Audrey was not normal in any way and should be given more attention. Most likely, Billy did not want to harm this adored version of his mother, but wished to keep her safe instead. It is even possible that it was during this encounter he locked her away safely inside of her own dreamworld, one where he could protect her further, even if it only enacted what their father did to her with his own isolation and gaslighting. Which reminds us, Audrey was sleeping during the act, putting her on level with the dreamer. They are equal, the dreamer and this woman. Why? Because she is the dreamer's mother and he loved her above all. This was partly all done for and because of her afterall. For "The Condemned Woman" we mentioned Robert's Desnos' poem "I Have Dreamed of You so Much" having been the original choice of poem. That would have perfectly captured Billy's tormented feelings for a woman he can never be with and whose dream self might be preferred. And we once again reference the last part of the poem, "I have dreamed of you so much, have walked so much, talked so much, slept so much with your phantom, that perhaps the only thing left for me is to become a phantom among phantoms, a shadow a hundred times more shadow than the shadow the moves and goes on moving, brightly, over the sundial of your life."

Audrey being hooked up to the monitors, electricity, when this happens brings another factor to this along with the coma/dreaming, what with electricity and the Lodge spirits. Then the son she conceived whilst sleeping and "plugged in" gets electrocuted and disappears, only for the father, or part of him, to pass by the transmission towers and then become the son eventually.


Why is it a point to mention that "Cooper" was fully dressed after his visit to Audrey? Did he visit her in his dark suit? Mr. C didn't seem to share Dale's fashion sense, nor did Dougie. If it was the dark suit, does it tie into Laura's whisper he used it to hide the truth? Is it more indication that, just like Charlie, Mr. C was also hiding the truth from Audrey?

Did Mr. C take the Owl Cave ring from Annie during this time too? If he did, it also emphasizes how disposable she was in a way to Billy's dream, just like Hawk just referring to her as some woman, and that Billy's queen whom he had protected against Windom was truly Audrey Horne the whole time.

Okay, so Frank's reaction to what Will told him about "Cooper" visiting Audrey is more potential evidence for the "Judy is Audrey" side of this theory. We mean, Hayward has just mentioned another person that Dale Cooper interacted with after leaving the Lodge and does Frank Truman ask about it, like why an FBI man like Cooper would be visiting a high school girl? No. He quickly and inexplicably changes the subject! If that doesn't fall into the "we aren't going to talk about Judy" category we don't know what does. And nobody else will talk about Audrey too, other than Richard, her son. So that makes a Bill, as in William Hayward, and a Richard, but no one else, not even Ben or Sylvia, her parents. You think they might, but no. People don't want to talk about Audrey, they want to leave her out of it, just like she was also left completely out of FWWM.

Okay and now we also have the insinuation that William Hayward is suspect because he can perfectly describe his breakfast from 2 days ago, complete to the Huckleberry Jam, when he said he couldn't remember his breakfast that morning. Something isn't right with this guy, as hinted with by his name.



- At the station in Buckhorn, Lieutenant Knox arrives and wants to see the prints that Macklay lifted, assuming they came from a crime scene. She's shocked when Macklay tells her they were lifted from a body. At the morgue, Knox is shown the body and asks where the rest of it is. Macklay motions they don't know. She asks the age of the body and expresses shock that he was in his 40s and died only 5 or 6 days ago. She won't tell Macklay who the body belongs to and goes into the hallway to phone Colonel Davis, telling him it isn't just a body this time but him. Davis knows he has to call the FBI now. Knox informs him about the body missing the head and being the wrong age. Davis expresses doubt but Knox verifies it, as a dark figure begins to come down the hallway, causing an electrical hum. Davis tells her to stay there and he will get back to her but needs to make that call, as Knox notices the woodsman nearing. She ends the call, Davis starts his, and she tells Macklay and Constance that the case soon won't be theirs.

Should mention this whole head being missing from the Major is kind of odd because Matt Lillard (William Hastings) and George Griffith (Ray Munroe) appeared in a film called "From the Head" together, a film David Lynch saw and liked.

So is the Major a time traveller too? Only he went from 1989 to whenever The Return takes place.

We should have mentioned it earlier but Colonel Davis' name is most likely a nod to Don S Davis whom played Major Briggs. We should have mentioned it because it is most likely relevant to another character whom we suspect is a nod to a certain actor, a character whom will make his reappearance at the end of this episode.

So Garland was at several crime scenes as he was time traveling to here and now when he finally died? Are we understanding this part of the story any better? What crime scenes was he at, Mr. C's? The ones that Billy committed maybe?

The dark figure is a woodsman, one of BOB's helpers. He causes a loud electrical sound, going with the electricity theme. Did a woodsman visit the farmer? Or was that still a transformation and Billy/dream related?

Soon the FBI are coming to Buckhorn...and Billy.


- Back in his office in Philadelphia, Gordon Cole is whistling in his chair as we see the photo of an ear of corn on his wall and the one of the bomb explosion behind him. Albert comes in and describes how badly his encounter with Diane went and how she knew it was about Cooper and told him, "No fucking way." Albert went home dripping wet and almost catching pneumonia. Cole knows they need Diane to speak to "Cooper" and Albert states it's Gordon's turn. He agrees to go with his boss after he makes the man say please.

We have a photo of corn (as in garmonbozia or the corn - possibly diseased - on Hawk's map) and a bomb appearing on the very episode that offers up the possibility, that turns out to be true: that Mr. C took advantage of Audrey Horne, when she was in a coma, following a bomb ecplosion, leading to the conception of her son Richard. And to top it off, Cole is whistling "Engel" by Rammstein, a whistle that was done by a band member named RICHARD. This is hitting us with the conception of that particular character and remember how Dale Cooper becomes Richard by series end. The bomb explosion leading to BOB's arrival on earth and the impregnation of the New Mexico Girl by the frog moth will all echo Audrey conceiving her son. We've already theorized that incest is being compared to a perversion/desecration of nature in the series, like Ben's father passing him the shovel so the Great Northern can be built on the bluff. We'll see the actually untarnished bluff of White Tail Falls when Ben's son, Johnny, collides with a photograph of it in Part 9, which leaves behind a hole on the wall. A bomb is also a euphemism for a horrible and unwanted discovery...like if you were to discover that your grandfather was also your father. The corn, when creamed, is pain and sorrow and sustenance for the Lodge spirits. We believe it represents Billy's own tormented feelings about his birth. He was his mother's pain and sorrow incarnate, a living personification of her abuse by her own family. He too might imagine that family feasting on it, blaming them for his existence and relishing his pain, except for maybe his grandmother. On Hawk's map the black corn was described as, "It's fertility...But it's-it's black, diseased or unnatural. Death." Billy associates both the corn and the bomb with his conception and birth, as well as his mother's eventual death. We also have what the photos are essentially of, the corn being phallic and the bomb leaving behind a hole, like the ones Ben and his father dug. Like the creamed corn, both mother and father's sexuality combined, the corn and the hole can represent something similar. On the other hand, it could also mean "corn hole" the term for anal sex and what Richard threatens to do to his own uncle, bringing the imagery once again to Richard Horne. Where did Richard pick this threat up? It's likely that, he, just another form of Billy, was abused by his father/grandfather (Ben) and so he threatens to hurt as he has been hurt. And remember too, the photo on the other wall is of Franz Kafka, the same one seen hanging in Billy Hastings' house, bringing Richard back to Billy.

Can an ear of corn also indicate that Billy heard bad things happening between his grandfather/father and mother and wishes he hadn't, reasons for Cooper being angry about hearing the Norwegians (whom were involved with Ghostwood) at the Great Northern and Gordon Cole's difficulty in hearing at all, which might all be in his head since he heard Shelly perfectly.

It is possible that Cole is whistling "Engel" by Rammstein, which depicts the narrator not wanting to be an angel because, as opposed to Laura, Billy did not want to become an angel, but chose to hurt instead. Infact, the only way that Billy might have been able to get his fictionalized version of his victim, American Girl, to become like him was through trickery, in both cases having the righteous seeming Cooper lead her astray when he told her not to take the ring and by physically leading her out into the woods in Part 17/18 where she was vulnerable to BOB.


- At Diane's place a younger man let's Cole and Albert in and then bids adieu to Diane, whom comes out dressed in a robe. Diane is hostile and Gordon tells her Dale is in a Federal prison in South Dakota. She fixes them damn good coffee and they tell her something is wrong with Cooper and they need someone who knows him well to talk to him and then report back to them. Cole tells her it's important and involves something she knows about. She repeats Federal prison, South Dakota.

Diane having chosen a younger man to have sex with might once again be influenced by Billy's mother having targeted him sexually and his confusion, once again, between those women he is attracted to and his mom.

Diane is still the cover for Betty inside of Billy's fantasy, and a tulpa at that. So we have a mixture of illusion, projection and truths all mixed into one when it comes to any Diane we meet.

Cole makes it a point to call Cooper Diane's boss, just like Hastings was Betty's.

- On a private jet heading back to South Dakota, Diane is still hostile and Tammy shows Cole and Albert the difference in fingerprints of Dale from 25 years ago to his latest arrest. Albert realizes they were reversed to make them similar. Cole uses the "yrev" Mr. C greeted him with. Tammy asks what it means. Cole praises Tammy and tells her to hold out her hands and flip them over (palms down). He says a word for each of Mr. C's initial 10 word greeting to match each finger, hinting that the spiritual mound/finger had "very" backwards. As Diane listens in, they show Tammy the last known photo of Cooper outside of his house in Rio. By the time it checked out, it belonged to some girl from Ipanema.

The windows seem to disappear at times on the plane in the shot of it flying. What that means, don't know, but it has to do with windows so it gets mentioned.

Tammy's hands are placed so the palms are ignored. When trying to find the secret of Twin Peaks, we essentially have to do the same to the Palmers.

So the ring finger is being described here with the spirit, tying the Owl Cave ring to it. Later we will see that whatever is possessing Sarah Palmer has a swollen and darkened spiritual finger. Mr. C reversed the word very on the spiritual finger. We still suggest the backward angle helps hint that Billy, the dreamer, is a mirror, unclear in his own personality but mirroring what people wish to see, or what he wants to see them as, back at them.

The last photo of Mr. C is really of Al Capone's home in Florida which gives this more of a dreamcast, along with the girl from Ipanema, obviously the song, having bought it afterwards.

- At Yankton Prison, Diane insists she talk to Cooper for only 10 minutes and alone. She braces herself and talks to him in the same room Cole and company did before. Mr. C says he knew it was going to be her and it's good to see her. Diane wants to know when that was. Mr. C asks if she's upset, Diane asks what he thinks, Mr. C believes she's upset. Diane asks again when the last time they met was. Mr. C answers at her house. She says that's right. When asked if he remembers that night, he replies he always remembers that night. She concurs and asks "Who are you?" He replies he doesn't know what she means. She demands he look at her and when he does, she becomes upset and puts down the curtain.

Diane, or rather her tulpa, doesn't seem to know who Mr. C is and that can go right to the "real" Diane too, whom might not know who Dale Cooper is when it comes down to it, with her feeling his face in Part 18, like Naido/Betty, her true self we argue, does. She wants to know who he is in the same way that Laura did with BOB. Her confusion can be compared with Ray's lack of confusion close to his death, where he seems to know exactly who Mr. C is. We, of course, say he is really Billy, the dreamer, the same answer for Laura's question, aimed at her ceiling.


- Diane and the FBI walk out of the prison, with Cole thanking Murphy and instructing him to keep Mr. C until he hears from them.

Does Murphy disregard this instruction or follow it, considering that Ray was a paid FBI informant?


- An upset Diane tells Gordon that it isn't the Dale Cooper she knew and it isn't just the passing of time. She says something is missing and points to her heart. She breaks down and clasps onto Cole who doesn't hold her back. He asks if he needs to know about the last time she saw Cooper and she says she'll tell him someday before toasting to the FBI and drinking the small bottle of booze Albert gave her on the plane.

This is Dale supposedly without his heart and yet, we once again state his treatment of Audrey was not necessarily cruel, but something different, which warrants notice.

Gordon seems to sense there is something wrong about this Diane. He doesn't seem to want to hold her as if it freaks him out, even when he tries. What she's accusing "Cooper" of he seems to sense from her too...which adds a nice little complimentary angle to the possibility that Betty was hiding something also, or wasn't as outright innocent as she showed herself to be to others, putting her on level with Billy, albeit to a lesser degree. Tulpas we believe, afterall, represent those people whom put on a false show to fool others.


- Put back in his cell, Mr. C tells a guard to tell Murphy he has a message for him and wishes to speak to him in his office. When the guard balks, he tells him to tell the warden it's about a strawberry.

More about this Mr. Strawberry...who is that exactly?

Interesting how Mr. C steps back into the shadows/darkness after the conversation with the guard has ended, considering he was termed as a "shadow self"


- At the logging road, Andy waits in vain for the Farmer, his patrol car's door open. There's a flash back to the Farmer's where we see his front door open now too and hear the electrical buzzing. Andy looks at his expensive watch and sees it's 5 after 5. He goes back to his car, giving up.

Hmm...Andy's door being open as he waits, which reflects the Farmer's own open door, is interesting. It's probably just so he can hear the police radio but it's too big to just be coincidence either, doors being important to Twin Peaks.

The electric buzzing at the Farmer's could indicate that a woodsman is nearby, like when Knox was talking to Davis. Or is it closer to Billy, and how an electrical sound was coming from Billy Hastings' head? Or Cooper traveling through the #3 socket. Maybe the Farmer is Billy, one of his many avatars, and he left the building/dream so to speak.

Where did Andy get such an expensive watch? And why is the month listed as 10? We think that Lucy will mention them not being good at time later, but is this also a hint, 10 being the number of completion and this instant of it being connected to the Farmer, whom is in some way connected to Billy and electricity?


- Warden Murphy waits as 2 guards bring in Mr. C and he tells them to sit him down and leave. They are left alone, without the security camera and with the Warden holding a gun. Mr. C reminds him of the dog leg they found on him, telling Murphy it had 4 legs, one was in his trunk and the others went to people whom he doesn't want coming around, if something bad should happen to him. and it has to deal with what he is thinking about right now. Murphy asks how he knows about this. Mr. C answers Joe McCluskey and the warden sits down. Mr. C wants a car and a friend in the glove compartment and to leave at 1 am. He won't do anything to Murphy because he's not interested in him and nobody will hear about Joe McCluskey or "your late Mr. Strawberry" again. The Warden seemingly concedes.

Dogs are in connection to whatever is going on with Murphy...A connection between dogs and the grandson, Cooper, Hastings and even Ben Horne has already been established in various ways, from the song "Black Dog Runs at Night" accompanying the grandson, to Cooper being called a chihuahua, or the wolf knocker on Hastings door or Ben being called a dog by Catherine.

What is the info that the Warden is thinking about with Mr. Strawberry? Honestly we don't have a clue still. A Joe McCluskey being the reason that Mr. C knows of it doesn't help much either, other than both Murphy and McCluskey are Irish names and McCluskey comes from County Derry and there are a few odd Stephen King's "It" coincidences in The Return: A Bill(y) being involved with a Audrey, Audrey close to Audra, a Beverly, whom is married to a Tom, being attracted to a Ben and all the red balloons. But we really have nothing concrete. The stairs, the way Murphy rubbed his mouth and that a "Joe" brought the shovels to Dr. Amp, plus the fact Murphy has a son, seem to link to our belief that Billy was possibly abused by his father/grandfather. But it's not concrete and with Mr. Strawberry being called "late" it seems probable he's dead. Of course, reddit user Kaleviko (whom is awesome at noticing tiny details and we wish to thank for pointing out so much things over there) that Lynch made it a point, when Janey-E is showing the photos the money lenders took of Dougie and Jade, to show how "You're late" is mispelt to "your late" on the back of the one Janey-E is holding up for "Dougie" to see. He reasoned it was hinting that Mr. C really meant to say to Murphy, "You're late, Mr Strawberry." It is more likely that Murphy murdered this Mr. Strawberry and that's why he wasn't taking calls and also why he's late. But it could also less likely be that Mr. C is insinuating that Murphy was at some time Mr. Strawberry, but he isn't any more. Maybe Murphy's son was molested and Murphy murdered the molester. That would keep with the general theme. Another odd thing to mention, because it happens in the same episode, is the Farmer being late for his meeting with Andy. We don't know what the heck he's a farmer of anyway...he might be a strawberry farmer.

Mr. C remembers Ray is here, and with the premeditated dog's leg, it suddenly becomes evident he planned all this to get the coordinates Ray has...from the "unseen" secretary Betty. Once again, though she remains not directly introduced to us and seemingly unimportant, she has driven a lot of Mr. C's narrative so far, as well as the FBI's AND the introduction of Diane into the proceedings, whom we argue is her counterpart in Billy's fantasy. We maintain that Betty is incredibly important to this Return to Twin Peaks because she threatened the dreamer's freedom and safety, just like it had been threatened when he first created Twin Peaks, and so he needed to return to that dreamworld to help deal and sort it out.



- Outside of the Lucky 7, Janey-E waits, as Coop/Dougie remains scribbling at his desk and Tony pesters him about what he and Bushnell talked about. The secretary comes in and tells "Dougie" that police are waiting to talk to him and Tony bids a hasty retreat. As they begin questioning him about his car, Janey-E bursts in taking over. They fall under the assumption "Dougie" is saying it was stolen and Janey-E says it has been missing for a few days. Bushnell has entered the office and listens in. Janey-E describes the car in negative terms, calling it terrible and previously owned. She lectures them briefly. Eventually, Mullins steps in asking if they found the car. They admit they did and it was involved in an explosion tied to car thieves. Janey-E says there you go. She then says they have to go home because their son, whom is being looked after, is waiting for supper. The police say they need to fill out forms, but says they can do it later. They leave and Mullins says he was going to ask about the paperwork "Dougie" did but he can do that later too.

We go straight from the Murphy and Mr. C scene to a scene where the cowboy statue is shown, taking aim. Now, this could actually strengthen the belief that Murphy's situation involves his son's molestation. We believe the cowboy represents how Billy imagined his own father to be a cowboy whom would one day appear to rescue him. The question is, did Warden Murphy play the role of cowboy and saved his son, or did Mr. C play the role of cowboy and save Murphy's son from him?

Hmmm...Janey-E, just like Andy, has a car door open, this time the passenger side. That can drain the battery so these two instances seem intentional. Are we supposed to be thinking of car doors, a linking of how we saw Cooper as Billy's main vehicle inside of his dream and Laura as the door to the dream? Is it hinting again that he's planning to switch? Or are we to link this scene to Andy waiting for the Farmer who never showed up, like Janey-E is waiting for Coop/Dougie, whom isn't either, a visual suggestion that the Farmer and Cooper are the same, Billy, we presume.

Seeing Dougie's secretary, we forgot to mention how her flirting with her "boss" could be another reflection of the whole Hastings/Betty affair.

There are 3 detectives, all Fuscos, keeping with the theme of three, most prominently displayed in the 3 Coopers.

During the conversation with the cops, Dale/Dougie seems most interested in the police themselves and the badge, both linked to his lawman status, we assume. Less easy to explain would seem to be his fascination with T Fusco's tie. Until it's noted that it has diamonds on it. The first initial of this detective's name brings us back to Teresa with a T, whom lived and worked out of the Red Diamond City Motel. We believe she was, of course, Billy's substitute incarnation for his mom, the one whom died in her place in his dream. Audrey was the Queen of Diamonds, both at One-Eyed Jack's and to Windom Earle, whom seemed to want to take her as his Queen until Annie was named the Queen at the Miss Twin Peaks contest. Coop/Billy is drawn to the Queen of Diamonds.

And this is the third time (to go with the three detectives) that a stolen vehicle comes into play in this episode. We began with Jerry's, continued to the Farmer's truck and now have this, with Dougie's stolen and exploded car. That explosion bit conjures up memories of Betty again and how she'll be stated to have died when her own car went kablam. However, this is also working out to be a nice foreshadowing to the piece of this theory which suspects that Billy will switch it inside of his dream so Laura really was possessed by BOB, keeping him free from imprisonment again. That switches up "vehicles" as BOB likes to refer to his hosts. Laura herself will become a stolen car and it will cause what seems like an explosion of sorts when the lights seem to burst out at the end of Part 18.

Sonny Jim is referenced and pay close attention to what is said about him: "Now, if you don't mind, our son's home alone waiting for his supper, and in case you think we're neglecting him, he's being watched by our neighbor as a favor, and we'd like to go. We were supposed to be home by now" That whole situation is going to be replayed and we will see the emotionally painful ramifications later in this episode with Beverly and someone whom has become like a child almost to her too, one whom has been kept waiting, reinforcing how Billy viewed his mother as both mother and wife, but neither entirely successful.

- Walking out of the building, Janey-E talks of the insurance on the cars and lectures her husband about his gambling and how they need the money for Sonny Jim and the future, when Ike suddenly appears. Coop/Dougie restrains him, and sees the Arm telling him to twist Ike's hand off. He and Janey-E manage to scare off Ike whom goes running. Janey-E embraces her vacant "husband". Later, police and reporters talk to the Joneses and passerbys whom gush over "Dougie's" bravery. There's a spotlight on a chunk of flesh left on the gun Ike left behind.

More illustration on how Billy associated his mother, despite her earlier words to the police, as being overly concerned with material comfort and money. Even after paying back the money lenders, they'd still have like $400,000, so why isn't that enough for her?

Leaving the building, Coop/Dougie becomes entranced by a white Phalaenopsis Orchid...otherwise known as a MOTH orchid. Infact, phalaenopsis is greek for "moth appearance." So we essentially have the frog moth hinted at before it's appearance in the next episode. This is great also because Harold Smith raised orchids and Harold and the grandson were linked, the grandson first shown living next door to him and both stating, "je une ame solitaire". We also believe that the mask the grandson wears is of the frog moth, and we believe the frog moth impregnating the girl represents how Audrey conceived her son whilst also unconscious and without consent. The frog moth impregnates the girl with itself just as Richard will have seemingly impregnated Audrey with himself when we consider the fact that Cooper, a part of the father, becomes Richard by the end of the series. We believe the grandson is a younger form of Billy and he sees his conception as having violated his mother as well. We also think one of the childish scribbles on "Dougie's" homework kind of looked like the orchid, and all of this still brings Lynch's "The Grandmother" to mind, which also featured plants.

Janey-E using the word future invokes the Magician/Fire poem. She wants to save the money for the future but we believe that Billy's mom had no future with her son, his having burned down the motel where they lived. This will, once again, be echoed in the upcoming scene between Beverly and Tom.

Coop/Dougie seems to instinctively take over, sensing the danger to Janey-E and himself in the form of Ike. Janey-E being representative of Audrey, and Billy's dream partially existing to protect his mom, this comes naturally.

The Arm urges Cooper to twist the man's hand off and we previously wondered if it, being representative of Billy's uncle and this diminutive killer being representative of Billy's homicidal urges, it was trying to show how the Uncle had wished the good aspect of his nephew would have made it impossible for his evil side to hurt others by this act of mutilation that mirrored his own inside of the dream.

With Janey-E's sudden praise and reliance on her "husband", Billy might believe that if he had been physically strong enough to protect his mother from the father/grandfather, she would have shown him more constant affection, care and respect.

The broadcasted accounts of "Dougie Jones'" bravery further displays Billy's narcissism.

The chunk of flesh on the gun, and how it is spotlighted, might be intended to make us remember the chunk of flesh found in Billy Hastings' trunk. We, of course, believe it belonged to Betty and hinted at her being Billy's true murder victim instead of Ruth.


- Night at the Great Northern, and Beverly talks to Ben, showing him a humming that began sometime last week but is louder now. They try to pinpoint it's location in her office, next to his, but can't find it. On their way to another spot, she says this might he of interest and throws Cooper's old room key, which finally showed up in the mail, at Ben. He states it's an old one, them having switched to cards 20 years ago. He reads that it's for room 315 and remembers that's the room where Special Agent Cooper was shot. Bev asks who Cooper was and Ben explains he was FBI, investigating the murder of Laura Palmer. She asks who Laura Palmer is and Ben states that's a long story. They smile at each other and Ben tells her to have maintenance check out the humming and intimates it's late and she should go home. She begins to get ready and he intimates she should call him Ben. She tells him "Goodnight Ben," before she leaves and he calls her Beverly. After she's gone he looks contemplative and stares at the keyring/key before returning to his office. The camera focuses on the first area where they stood to hear the humming, where a lamp stands.

We're honestly not too clear about the timeline, but it isn't too unreasonable to believe that the humming at the Great Northern began around the conjunction and Dale's exit from the Lodge. Now it has most likely gotten louder because the key that Dale had on him, the one to room 315, has returned. But, if we think of that ringing sound we'll remember the specific moment when Ben Horne heard it inside of his hotel, one he seems to have forgotten about. It was when he was calling out to his daughter, Audrey, when he had fallen to a squat on the stairs (he used to have stairs) in his office. She was rushing off to give her virginity to Jack and he didn't want her to go and the sound startled him, coming from behind him in the direction of the fireplace. Now it's back again and it has to do with Dale Cooper and his room key. Only now his room will be in a basement closet in the furnace room...We believe that is because both closets and basements are places most often associated with dark family secrets, and the furnace room, most often associated with fire and BOB which were both connected to abuse in the series, and they are all really the same and all have to do with Cooper...for he really masks Billy. Audrey didn't lose her virginity to the too-good-to-be-true dream man Jack...she lost it to Ben Horne, her father and Billy, the grandson, was the result. That's the most family oriented and worst secrets one could harbor.

That it's Ben Horne and his assistant whom are trying to locate this sound dealing with what we perceive to be the Horne family tragedy echoes Billy's own relationship with his secretary Betty, whom also discovered her boss's own dirty little secret.

The sound itself seemed linked to MIKE, whom we believe represents Billy's uncle. He'll be waiting inside of the basement closet, ready to recite the Magician/Fire poem to Coop when he enters it. He'll also be there to guide him to the Dutchman's. Both likely deal with the fact that they provide shards of Billy's painful past, his being the Magician whom longed to see through the darkness of a childhood, shrouded in abuse, and whom chose to play with fire, burning down the motel (the true self of the Great Northern) where his family lived.

Interestingly, as Gisela Fleischer pointed out in an article at 25YL, on the opposite side of the wall, where Beverly first believes the sound is coming from the loudest, a photo of White Tail Falls hangs, similar to the one that Johnny will run into and cause to fall off. This goes back to the purity of the land and then it's desecration, which clearly is illustrative of the unnatural harm of incest. This further links the humming sound to the theory that this is all about the creation of Billy and how, his being the result of a father raping his own daughter, tormented the child and had devastating results not only for his own family but for others as well, as is evidenced by the mention of Laura Palmer (the American Girl) here.

Cooper is associated with the investigation of Laura's murder. That he masks the killer makes this whole work ultimately David Lynch's own complex variation on Sophocles Oedipus Rex, where a man investigates a murder, never realizing he is the killer, whom was sexually/emotionally involved with his mother as well. This further drives home the Greek mythology aspects of Twin Peaks.

Why does Ben first mention that Cooper was shot in that room, we wonder? He doesn't mention that Dale solved Laura's murder first, or how he had saved Audrey (she's left out of it again) he brings attention to the shooting instead. That makes logical sense. We theorized that the shooting of Dale Cooper was really in direct relation to Audrey being in sexual danger by her father at One-Eyed Jack's. Billy, whom understood what that moment truly meant at Jack's, reeled and the repercussion of it for Cooper, his avatar, having failed inside of the dream in avoiding something so close to reality was the dream spinning more into the fantasy to adapt and fix things. Now Ben is directly associating that event with the returned key, and thereby the humming sound as well.

Ben's attraction to a much younger woman is accentuated in this scene, possibly hinting at his feelings for his daughter, whom Beverly resembles. Of course, we reasoned that Billy's dream partly tried to redeem his grandfather/father to further distance Billy's dream "reality" from the truth, so Ben behaves himself here...and yet encouraging the use of their first names undermines that supposed redemption. The cheetah could not change his spots, as also indicated by the spotted cat statue seen in Ben's office. Interestingly, Diane wore a spotted cat print in this episode too.

The way Ben is holding 315's key makes it look very much like a ring or circle, like the Owl Cave Ring or Cooper's or MIKE's relationship with BOB.


- Beverly returns home and meets a nurse, Marge, leaving, whom reports it's been a rough day and how Bev's husband was given extra pain medication and hasn't eaten because he was waiting. She also tells Beverly that her husband has been missing her.

Marge comes from the word Margaret. The nurse is also wearing glasses like Margaret Lanterman. We previously mentioned how we see the woman in the car with the sick girl as being a form of Margaret. We now believe this nurse is another. Maggie at the police station might as well be too, since she pointed out that Doris' behavior stemmed from the pain she suffered over the loss of her son. So now we find this Marge looking after Beverly's sick husband, complimentary to the woman in the car with the sick niece. We thus see Tom has another form of Billy.

It is mentioned repeatedly that Tom hasn't had his dinner, and has been waiting, directly connecting him to Sonny Jim, whom Janey-E had stated, "our son's home alone waiting for his supper." That Tom has been missing Beverly recalls Janey-E's defensive remark, "and in case you think we're neglecting him, he's being watched by our neighbor as a favor." Meanwhile, Beverly being late, goes perfectly with Janey-E's statement, "We were supposed to be home by now"


- Her husband Tom is sitting in a wheelchair in front of an older model of TV. She apologizes for being late and asks if he's hungry. He states he heard her driving up. She's persistent about dinner while he is insistent on knowing why she was late. "Are you hungry?" she asks him, "Not really," he replies. Bev snaps at Tom, at first saying she knows he's sick and suffering and then claiming she's lucky to have the job, for the money, and finally snapping at him not to fuck it up.

Tom sitting in front of a TV, and not a new flat screen model either, makes us think of this theory's belief that Billy was alternately neglected and abused and so he sought refuge in stories (books, TV and movies) to escape, eventually turning to the ones inside of his mind instead.

Tom is obviously very sick and disabled. His situation actually recalls how Carrie Page's house looks like she might have been caring for someone similarly disabled. The dead man perhaps?

Beverly's husband further accentuates the similarity of Janey-E Jones saying they were late going home and fixing Sonny Jim supper, since he repeatedly questions where his wife was and why she was late.

While Tom's attention is on where his wife was, Beverly's focus is on food and feeding him instead, as if by feeding him she can make everything better, ignoring the fact he is in emotional pain because he missed her. This shows a contrast in their priorities and further highlights how Billy believes his mother's interests were more in physical comfort and wellbeing than emotional health. Billy still sees his mother as having sold them both to their father for material comfort. Beverly goes from understanding her husband's pain to becoming defensive, once again focusing on the money, to then outright blaming him and warning him not to fuck it up. Meanwhile, it is obvious that Tom is sick. The increased pain meds isn't a good sign. He probably knows he might not have long left. His thoughts are probably not on money but rather spending what time he has left with the woman he loves.

It's eerie but a part of this scene echoes the dinner scene between Laura and BOB/Leland, but it can go right over the viewers head, as it did with us. Beverly is focused on food, just as BOB was, that always being his interest. Meanwhile, like Laura, Tom is in too much emotional torment to bother with such trivial things as appetite. Infact, Beverly and Tom here echo directly two bits of dialogue from the scene in FWWM. The question of "Are you hungry?" and the response "Not really." It is easy then to see that Beverly, a substitute for Billy's mom in this case, is like BOB, her focus on appetite. This can lead us to the belief that Billy saw his mom as possibly possessed by their father at times, his interests etc...and she passed that aspect on to him in his own vulnerability (sickness). We can also then see that Laura, as Carrie Page possessed by BOB, was in the same situation as Beverly at the end, with her own disabled husband perhaps. Of course, being BOB she might have disposed of him, having no need for morals or the like, but meant for us to recall this scene in retrospect.

And on this note of remembering the dinner table scene in FWWM, and how it might have truly been more accurately occurring between Billy and his mom, and the earlier invocation by Hawk of Leland and Jacques, we're leading into a scene which, whether modern Twin Peaks thought would like it or not, might actually be the further absolution of Leland Palmer...


- At the Roadhouse, the janitor sweeps the floor to Green Onions as Jean Michel stands behind the bar. He gets a call about a John whom requested two blondes but refuses to pay because he apparently found out they were underage. Jean Michel states they had IDs and that his family has owned the Roadhouse for 57 years and he's not about to lose it for a couple of straight A 15 year olds. He owes him for two, he restates.

For his interview in Between Two Worlds, Leland Palmer admitted to having had relationships with girls younger than his daughter. Yet, he still denied doing the things he was accused of, which we take to mean abusing Laura, killing her and Teresa and raping and almost killing Ronette (btw his having not killed Ronette, Billy's real victim, but rather only Billy's dream substitutes, might further indicate Leland was innocent). In The Missing Pieces, Teresa's call to Jacques, where she found out the chicken John was Laura's dad, involved her cover story that a John had found out she was underage and didn't like it. Now we have the lookalike of Jacques Renault receiving a call about another John having found out the two girls sent to him were underage and his not liking it. We believe this completely is supposed to be linked to Leland's words in his Between Two Worlds interview, as well as to back up Richard Horne's insinuation that Charlotte and her friend were pretending to be older than they were. Leland Palmer, or American Girl's dad, did go to prostitutes, some of which were 15, and thus younger than his daughter, but he wasn't aware of it. It was consensual, if not legal. Leland just was given his get out of jail free pass which leads in perfectly to the next scene...


- At Yankton Mr. C and Ray Monroe walk out of their cells and then drive out of the prison in a beige rental. Warden Murphy watches them go.

And now we finally see Ray Monroe again and he's getting to walk out of his jail cell free. This is Ray, whom shares Leland's actor's first name, just like Colonel Davis shared Major Briggs actor's last name. This is the visual exoneration of Leland Palmer. Finding out later that Ray was only in there because he was acting undercover for Cole lends a whole other aspect to things. Leland was, afterall, always Lynch's scapegoat so he needn't answer the question of who killed Laura before he was ready and compromise his artistic integrity. This is his secret way of clearing Leland and thanking Ray Wise for doing all he asked of him, on blind faith, even though it made him uncomfortable, while other actors balked, thinking they understood the characters more than Lynch did. And not only this, Ray gets to be the person whom confronts Mr. C by telling him he knows who he really is, something Diane didn't even know. Good job Ray Wise! Your belief in Leland's innocence came through, it just was done in a clever and subtle way for only the Wise-est to see.

Murphy watching them go still teases something extra behind that Strawberry story.


- Meanwhile, back in Twin Peaks, at the Double R, as Sleep Walk plays, a young man named Bing runs in asking if anybody has seen Billy. He is told no and then runs off as the diner carries on with business.

Is this about the Farmer? That would seem the most likely, seeing as though he didn't show up for his meeting with Andy and his fate was in question since he was nervous and might have upset Richard Horne. And yet it is never stated for sure that it is...and it might not even matter since we argue that every Billy is Billy and several other non-Billys too. Why...infact everyone is Billy, a shard of him!

Sleep Walk is a great song to use here, when Bing introduces the grand mystery of Billy for us all. Billy is the dreamer, he technically sleep walks amongst all the people Bing is asking the question of. And yet, they might not realize it or who the heck he even is! The question might also be impossible to answer when Billy is a mirror showing others what they or he wants to see and not the real him. The question is HAS anybody seen Billy? The real Billy?

Sleep Walk also featured in the film Sleepwalkers, in which Madchen Amick, who plays Shelly in this scene, starred in. That film showed the incestuous love between a mother and son whom feed on the death of young women to survive and keep their relationship alive.

The continuity errors, as well as Bing showing up as having already been in the diner, lead to the possibility that two realities are at work here. That goes with our theory that Billy's dream split into two possibilities, one where Laura died and another where she became BOB, as easily as coffee goes with pie.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 6 "Don't Die"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- Outside of the Lucky 7 Insurance building Coop/Dougie is still standing at the statue. Now, however, he is apparently trying to stick his left hand up the sleeve. The police/security man whom approached him earlier comes up to him again, saying he already warned him about loitering. He asks Coop/Dougie both his name and where he lives and Coop/Dougie answers Dougie Jones and home. The man asks where home is, but Coop/Dougie doesn't reply, getting obsessed with the man's badge instead. "Lancelot," he finally answers, and the man knows he means Lancelot Court. Red Door, Coop/Dougie adds. The cop asks if he's been drinking or is on medication. Coop/Dougie just replies "Case Files". The cop tells him to come with him.

It is very interesting how Cooper is fooling around with his left arm, making the hand missing. This can obviously tie to MIKE/Phillip, whom has no left arm. What makes this also of note is how he was previously touching a foot of the statue. The right foot. That's the same foot that Jerry Horne rebels against when he believes it doesn't belong to him, paralleling MIKE's journey. We theorize these two characters are the same in fact, both representations of Billy's uncle. We also believed that a cowboy figure played the role of Billy's imagined dad. Is this hinting that Billy's uncle was more in line with that role, even if he wasn't willing to see it, just like Bobby balked at his own disciplinarian father? Or is it actually saying that Billy's uncle was his real father, and that's why Richard Horne looks like Jerry. Um...Marilyn Monroe was involved with both Kennedy brothers and this started out as that story, and Audrey does resemble Marilyn...guess, we'll keep that in mind but still go with Ben, because there are more hints lying in that direction. But Billy's uncle might still have been closer to the father he imagined or wanted, even if he didn't realize that until his dream was crumbling.

When Cooper answers home, he looks at his left arm with the hand up the sleeve. On some hidden level, does Dale, like Mr. C, consider the Red Room home and MIKE/Phillip, whom lives there, part of his family? This also wonderfully (family) ties in to how we theorize that MIKE represents Billy's uncle and Billy lived with him after his mother, grandfather/father and great grandmother/grandmother's death. Perhaps, Billy realizes now, when he is close to being punished for his crimes, that that his time with his uncle was home, the man wanting what was best for him afterall, and having never hurt him in the same way his parents had.

Coop obviously remembers being an FBI man and admires the badge.

Lancelot, we went into before, connects to Glastonbury Grove and the legend of King Arthur. We also mentioned how we see it as representative of the birthing area of Billy's mom. Venus, we also mentioned, is connected to the King Arthur legend through the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. In the story of Zelladine and Troylus she urged the latter to have sex with the sleeping former (echoing Mr. C with Audrey Horne) which resulted in one of Lancelot's ancestors.

Hmmm...why does Cooper reply "Case files" to the question of if he's on meds or has been drinking or taken anything? Obviously, he took the case files but is it also because Billy used his fantasy about the Laura Palmer case AS his drugs and alcohol, a fantasy life to help him cope?


- We see the red door of the Jones' house and then see Sonny Jim in bed, reading a book.

This is a story very much dealing with doors, them leading to the various dreams that are offered to the dreamer. It fits in perfectly then with the scene of Sonny Jim reading, for books are very much the same as dreams: they offer a door to walk into a different world through.

Sonny Jim depicted reading a book in his bed further points out how the dreamer used his love of stories to escape his pain. The book also leads us to recall Lynch's painting, "Billy finds a book" released the same year as FWWM and how that film also featured Laura with two books with stories by "Billy's": William Makepeace Thackeray's "The Rose and the Ring" and William Saroyan's "The Human Comedy". Sonny Jim is definitely a version of the younger Billy.


- The cops bring "Dougie" back home asking if Janey-E recognizes him. She tells them he is her husband. They tell her he's disoriented. She replies that's on a good day. He didn't know the address still, just the color of the door. Coop/Dougie is still obsessed with the man's badge. The cop hands Janey-E an envelope left on the doorstep and leaves. Janey-E apologizes for having forgotten "Dougie" has no car and still wonders where it is. She tells him she'll fix him a sandwich.

If Dougie usually acts like Coop/Dougie does, then he needs serious help!

Janey-E being his wife/mother again.


- At the table, both eating sandwiches, Janey-E tells "Dougie" she's taking him to see Dr. Ben tomorrow. Coop/Dougie tells her his stack of papers are case files. She wonders what the wordless envelope is. Janey-E tells "Dougie" he needs to go upstairs and say goodnight to Sonny-Jim whom has been waiting for him. She points out that it's upstairs when he walks right by it.

We finally see Janey-E getting to eat! Coop/Dougie obviously had a bigger appetite though.

Them having a Dr. Ben is interesting. The main Doctor in the OG series was Dr. William Hayward, the only Bill in the OG series. Now there's a Dr. BEN, the name of the man we believe is Billy's father, the same man Dr. Hayward almost killed in the OG finale for fathering Donna, Hayward's own daughter.

Coop/Dougie suddenly taking the chip bag and eating from it, isn't a great sign about the true nature of his character, what with the corrupted characters often associated with bad food: Chad, Chantal, Hutch, Carrie Page.

We've touched on the staircase at the Palmers, the one beside the addict mother, the one Murphy went up after giving the phone to Mr. C and the stairs that have to be climbed above the Convenience Store to reach the Dutchman's. According to a deleted scene, Audrey also pushed her brother Johnny down a flight of stairs. We also mentioned how Lynch's "The Grandmother" featured a stairway to great effect, one that actually resembles the one at the Convenience Store. Now it's being pointed out that "Dougie's" supposed to go upstairs to see his son. Murphy will also die near the stairs to his front door, his son going down the stairs to see him. Definitely something with stairs but not with the Palmers so much again, more with a theme of sons, father and mothers.


- Upstairs, Coop/Dougie walks right by Sonny Jim's room, whom is still reading. Coop/Dougie walks by the door again and notices Sonny Jim, whom motions him to sit on his bed. Coop/Dougie comes in, and after another motion, sits on the bed. He offers the boy a chip, whom declines, stating he already brushed his teeth. Coop/Dougie places it on the bed. Sonny Jim asks if he can leave his cowboy light on and if he will stay with him until he falls asleep. Sonny Jim puts his book away and then claps and turns on the cowboy light. Coop/Dougie claps and turns it back on. "Dad," the boy says and claps again. They start clapping and turning the light on and off.

Finally a bedroom that LOOKS like an actual age appropriate bedroom. As we said, Billy lacked an understanding of this before, having grown up at a motel and then at his grandmother's and finally at his strict uncle's. Apparently Billy has now lived long enough and seen what normal children's bedrooms look like to envision what he would have liked his own to look like. You know what, though? It's still not modern, seeming to have older art, decorations and toys.

The bedroom has a space and cowboy theme. This space theme goes more with the space related aspects we've seen in Twin Peaks and Donna's question of falling in space than what we saw of Laura and her family ever did. The cowboys we still believe have to do with Billy's imaginary version of his dad, someone encapsulated by Harry Truman.

The bedroom actually looks like it would fit more perfectly in Audrey and Charlie's also very modern house than the Jones' more modern home. More hints that Sonny Jim is really another Billy and Audrey is really his mom.

Sonny Jim pats the bed for his "father" to sit, almost like he was a dog.

Coop/Dougie now not only eats the bad-for-you food but also offers a child one too, which is really bad in the context of how junk food is portrayed in The Return.

So, Sonny Jim finally speaks, being a good boy and declining the chip and saying, "I already brushed my teeth," which instantly recalls the third thing that Mr. C said, once free from the Lodge, and lying in his own bed: "I need to brush my teeth." We also saw Shelly, when she was playing the role of "mother" to her husband, brushing Leo's teeth.

Coop/Dougie doesn't listen to his "son's" words and places the chip on the bed. This isn't exactly a great underlying implication either, his still pushing the "corrupting" item.

Sonny Jim asks if he can keep his cowboy light on. We've seen lights as offering illumination and in this way clues for us. His light is of a cowboy, the very thing we theorize Billy used to imagine his father being. This might have been because cowboys were often depicted as coming and saving the day, as well as often helping children, like in "Shane."

The book that Sonny Jim was reading was a Hardy Boy book. Hardy Boys were amateur detectives, perfect inspiration for Billy having imagined himself as a detective inside of his own fantasy. The book is The Secret of the Old Mill. Now a mill played a large role in Twin Peaks. A character is also named Frank in it, like in Truman, and Chet, as in Desmond. It also has trains (like the one where Laura was murdered) and a bicycle (like the one Ben discusses his father bought him). Although he does eventually show up, the Hardy Boy's dad is expected but never comes at the start of the book, echoing how Billy hoped for an imaginary father whom also never showed up.

Sonny Jim turning his cowboy light on now is odd. Why was he previously reading by flashlight in his dark bedroom when he could have left the light on the whole time? Now, he wants to sleep with the light on, but Coop/Dougie keeps turning it off? Was there a point meant to be made between the son wanting the light, while he slept, and the "father" wanting the darkness, as in "through the darkness"? We now have another instance where Coop/Dougie didn't exactly follow what the boy wanted, just like with the potato chip. It's all presented as a cute little funny moment but the possible underlying connotation of it comes off as disturbing if we were to just look at it: a father comes into his son's bedroom and keeps doing what that son doesn't want him to, despite his son voicing what he does and doesn't want. Okay, and so this is all happening inside of a bedroom, and involving a light, which features cowboys, which we believe was the dream image that Billy used to hide his real father behind...just as this is being portrayed as something fun and good but the implication is something else. And to help strengthen this, we have the earlier connection made between Mr. C...And now the lights going on and off...just like with BOB. Father and son creating a flashing light together. Maybe that's the essence of BOB and that effect: the father's influence taking over the son, light turning to dark.


- Janey-E finally opens the envelope and doesn't like what she sees. She calls "Dougie" down and he leaves, while Sonny Jim shouts out to his mom that he was going to stay with him. "Not tonight, he isn't," Janey-E states and Sonny Jim goes sadly back to bed.

Though he leaves, Coop/Dougie also leaves the chip and the bag on Sonny Jim's bed. We have here a potential illustration for the bad influence left with son.

With Sonny Jim having wanted his "father" to stay and not as happy at the thought of his mother going to come up, there is more of the feeling that this might be inverted, or the truth hidden behind an illusion, like Billy with the cowboy and his father. Billy probably detested his father/grandfather and had more complicated feelings for his mother, whom he forgave more because he loved her more.


- An enraged Janey-E pushes her "husband" into the chair saying he is in the doghouse and that he was supposed to call his debtors and pay them off. He didn't, instead they sent her this: photos of him and Jade. Coop/Dougie happily recognizes Jade, much to Janey-E's sadness. Jade gives two rides, he states, and Janey-E isn't impressed, asking if he knows her. She's obviously jealous. Suddenly, Coop/Dougie looks at the phone as it starts to ring. Janey-E says maybe it's Jade calling.

Another connection between Cooper and dogs to go with his interest in Dead Dog Farm and being called a chihuahua by Gordon. The grandson hopped around to the song, "Dead Dog Runs at Night," and the black dog that seemed to be trying to "guard" Laura's thoughts during MIKE/Phillip's heated words with her father and her.

Janey-E a mother being sent a letter implicating someone of a crime echoes how Betty might have contacted American Girl's mom about Billy's role in her daughter's death.

Janey-E's jealousy echoes Billy's mother's possessiveness of him, or what he views as her possessiveness. It can link to the confusion harboured over the Experiment Model that attacked Sam and Tracey and Billy's delusion over his victims still being indistinguishable from his mother. Seeing him, in the form of Sam, becoming intimate with another woman, Billy would believe his mother would become angry/murderous. Likewise, if that Experiment Model went on to possess Sarah, the same would be true again: knowing Coop was about to "save" Laura, and she would ultimately be possessed by BOB, the Experiment (Model) knew that this was basically her "son" running off with another woman, thwarting her plans to be with BOB again. Those aren't the only options for those moments but with Billy's mind twisted and doubled they are possibilities, and his seeing his mother as vengeful and jealous/possessive is a definite.

Why is Coop/Dougie so happy about Jade? Because he recognizes her? It seems more than that. Because she played mommy too?

- The call is from the people Dougie owes money. Janey-E handles it, establishing a meeting between them and her at the park at the corner of Guinevere and Merlin, near the mall. "What a mess you've made of our lives, Dougie," she tells her husband after the call has ended.

Janey-E tells the lenders that her husband didn't tell her anything, but that's a lie since, from the moment she first saw his winnings, she said they could pay them back now.

We already went into the King Arthur theme. Guinevere was Arthur's wife and Lancelot's lover and Merlin a Magician.

Billy believes that he equally made a mess of his mother and his life when she conceived him after being abused by their father.


- Janey-E knows she can't take her "husband" to see the Doctor now, since she has to meet the money lenders. She wonders what happened to Dougie's car and wallet, including his ID, and then orders Dale/Dougie to start the case files so he doesn't lose his job.

Dr. Ben will have to wait.

Dougie's "identity" being lost echoes what is happening with Cooper's. This is also pointing us directly to a piece of I.D. we did already see in the series: William "Billy" Hastings Driver's License. On Lucy Moran's notepad, we once read she had written she needed to find out Cooper's I.D.

Once again Janey-E, a substitute for Audrey is concerned with money, wishing her husband not to lose his job, even though they have a lot of money now stored away. We should mention now, Leo being brought up a few scenes ago, how, when he adorned the role of Shelly's child, she was playing mother to him mainly for the money she thought it would yield.


- Calming down, Janey-E announces she's going upstairs to say good night to Sonny Jim. "Tomorrow's a big day," she comments, Dale/Dougie repeating "big day" and she softens. Janey-E pats and kisses Coop/Dougie's head and then leaves him alone, as he is seen touching the 7 in the Lucky 7 logo on the case files.

Janey-E seems to regret her harsh treatment of "Dougie". This echoes how Billy's mom probably went up and down in her mood and treatment of him, as possibly captured in the alternating light and dark chevron pattern on the Red Room floor.

Janey-E kisses Dale/Dougie's head as we already discussed that Ben kissed Audrey's forehead and later Leland was shown kissing Laura's. We theorized that Ben and Audrey, the first we see this happening with, was where the incest truly was, but it was forced on Leland and Laura by Billy, whom did not want it to belong to his family. Now we have Janey-E, whom we see as being another representation of Audrey, kissing her husband's head and patting it like he was her child instead, which we believe he is. Cooper/Dougie, whom seemed despondent beforehand, honestly perks up at the sign of affection. No doubt, Billy remembers such loving instances from his abusive mother and longs for them in a tormented fashion. Coop/Dougie touching the 7, inside of a circle, on the logo of the company case files after the kiss strengthens our theory that it was inside of room #7, at Billy's family run motel, that his mother abused him, just as it will be room #7 Dale brings Diane to and makes love to her, most likely picturing that she is someone else, most likely his mother, Audrey, hence "My Prayer" playing, Audrey once having said a prayer to Dale and even having mentioned it to him.


- A shot of the Twin Peaks traffic lights at Sparkwood and 21.

Are the lights some kind of warning after Dale/Dougie/Billy has been reminded of his mother and touched the number that invokes the memory of his hidden intimacy with her? We theorized that Audrey is Ghostwood. We also theorized that her son Billy burned down the motel where they lived and it killed her: Spark Wood. 21 is a denomination of 7, which we just discussed being the room where the mother would take her son. 3 x 7 is 21. 3 is a recurring number in Twin Peaks.

Do the traffic lights here also now tell us that we should pay closer attention to the mother and son at the crosswalk later, a sign featuring traffic lights there? Come to think of it, aren't they playing a weird variation on Red Light Green Light?


- MIKE/Phillip is shown, feeling/wandering around the Red Room. Dale/Dougie, still sitting at the table turns and looks in the direction of the fireplace and sees MIKE/Phillip and the Red Room imposed over the room. "You have to wake up. Wake up. Don't Die," MIKE/Phillip urges. He repeats, "Don't Die," twice. The Red Room fades.

So MIKE/Phillip is trying to get Dale to wake up here, which we assume means to snap out of his daze. He's also saying for him not to die, which goes with Mr. C trying to have him killed, and the fact that either Dale or Mr. C has to die. But we also surmise this is Billy, the dreamer. Is his uncle telling him to wake up, or the uncle figure that lives in him? Is he in danger or dying? Or does this connect to how we believe that the hit and run boy really conveys how Billy killed the good part of himself. Perhaps MIKE, as uncle, is wishing that the good part of his nephew, as illustrated by Dale, had not died.


- Dale/Dougie turns to the case files now. The first is a burglary report. He sees a light on it and scribbles over where the light was. The next case file has a light appear 2 places, one being next to Anthony Sinclair's name. On a non waiver agreement, he draws a line and a ladder next to stairs, plus another mark near Sinclair's name. On the next file, a list of fatalities, he places a blot next to the detectives in charge names. He then draws a ladder and a stairway above it with a line going down to the blot.

The "cosmic flashlight" is trying to help Dale/Dougie cheat on his homework apparently. This is further developing the whole plot of Tony falsifying claim reports to make a profit and the eventual way this involves the Mitchums, Horne surrogates we believe. We further suspect this is subconsciously how Billy is trying to clear himself and his family from his having burned down the Dutchman's where they lived.

What's interesting is the ladders and stairs to us. We suspect that Billy used a ladder to get to American Girl's bedroom. And stairs seem to be connected to parents and their children.


- Albert drives at night. It's cold and raining. He speaks to Gordon, whom is obviously entertaining a woman and going to toast him for the work he is doing. Before entering Max Von's Bar, Albert curses Gene Kelly. Albert finds a white haired woman sitting and smoking at the bar. "Diane," he says. She turns around and says, "Hello Albert."

The choice of calling this the Max Von's Bar is great. It's another ode to Sunset Boulevard, Max Von Mayerling being Norma Desmond's devoted butler and her past first husband and director too. Max Von keeps Norma happily living in her own little dreamworld where she still believes she is relevant, wanted and desirable. He loves her that much, even if he is forced to watch her carry on with men like Joe Gillis. That's a clear parallel to how Charlie, whom resembles Max Von in certain ways, allows Audrey to carry on her affair with Billy. It also, more importantly, conveys how Billy, whom is also Charlie, has created this fantasy world in part because of his love and devotion to his dearly departed mother, making a world where everything revolves around her and she can be kept safe and virtually gaslighted so she doesn't know the truth about herself and what happened to her and what her son has become.

Diane being here is interesting within that context too. The character that Joe fell in love with behind Norma's back in "Sunset Boulevard" was a woman named Betty, the name of the character we argue Diane is really masking inside of Billy's dream. Interestingly, Betty in "Sunset Boulevard" was working with Joe on creating a script from one of his stories...a piece called "Dark Windows". Hmmm...we've been saying that Billy uses that method to get at his poor victims. But wait. It gets even more goosebump inducing. What was "Dark Windows" about? Well, if we take Betty's words for it, before she came along, it was all about "exploring the killer's sick mind." Yeah...that's pretty good to go with this theory. And then wait...as if that isn't enough, what does Betty want to change it into? A story of two school teachers whom essentially work together, albeit at different shifts. Now Billy and Betty both worked at a school, him as a principal and her as his secretary! Wow. Betty in SB also knows it's all mirrors in Hollywood, "Look at this street. All cardboard, all hollow, all phony. All done with mirrors," which isn't that separate from Billy's little make believe world too. Billy's Betty also found out the truth that Billy was essentially a mirror, leading to that moment in Part 18, when Linda, another of her representations (probably one mixed in more with his mom), tells Richard, another one of Billy's, that she no longer recognizes him (just like Audrey once said something like that to Charlie). Betty found out what and whom Billy truly was.

In Sunset Boulevard, "Dark Windows" being about the mind of a killer can also shed Part 18's ending in a different "light" when all the lights go out at the Palmers and the WINDOWS all turn DARK. Billy is a killer whom killed American Girl. He built Laura as a substitute, in part to help shield himself from that fact. Now, in the dream, we suspect he had also made her a killer too.


- At the mill, Richard Horne tests out Sparkle, as Red and his two guards look on. Richard enthusiastically likes it and Red condescendingly calls him small time and that he can pick the rest up at Mary Ann's. Richard asks how he knows the name and if he knows the area. Red quickly shoots out an arm and moves it around, asking if Richard has ever studied his arm. He then moves like a punch that doesn't reach Richard. Red now seems to return to the previous question, asking, what does he think, and saying he's been there a few weeks now. He talks about moving the Sparkle down from Canada. Suddenly Red starts stomping his foot to the floor, complaining of a liver problem. Richard indicates that the little town is a pushover and the law enforcement asleep at the wheel. Red makes another sharp movement with his hands, and smooths his hair back, asking if Richard has ever seen The King and I. "What?" Richard asks. Red says he said he liked it. "What do you think?" he then asks, further inquiring if Richard has this under control. Richard says yes and Red warns he better have. There's one problem, he doesn't know Richard yet. Red tells Richard that he will be watching him and calls him kid. Richard says not to call him kid. Red laughs. He then tells him to remember, calling him kid again, that he will saw his head open and eat his brains if he fucks him over. "You can count on that," he says making his fingers into guns as he points them at Richard Horne. Red gets out a coin and shows it to Richard. Red tosses the coin and watches Richard as the boy watches it flipping in the air. Suddenly it's in Richard's mouth and he spits it out, only for it to land from the air and back into Red's palm. Richard's hand is now empty. This is you, Red says about the tails side of the coin. He slaps it onto the back of his left hand and says, "This is me," showing the heads. "Heads, I win. Tails, you lose," he states.

Five and SPARKLErs was the first game Cooper was instructed to play at the Silver Mustang, and which he won at.

Richard seems surprised that Red knows Mary Ann's. We speculate that Mary Ann is really Miriam, and that she's getting extra income from the drug trade, which explains the tip she leaves and her familiarity with Richard Horne.

When Red asks Richard about his hand and then punches with the other, it conjures up the trick that magicians commonly employ of distraction. Richard is so focused on one hand, he forgets the other. Similarly, Red's other hand is clenched, as if palming something, another common magician process, and one we tied to the very name Palmer. In essence, Red is showing to Richard here, and the audience, how magic is essentially about misdirection, distraction and projection, basically how Billy performed his little lie of Twin Peaks on us.

Red now goes back to answering Richard's previous question about his knowing the area and it's like the bit with the hands never happened. Maybe it didn't. It might all be the sparkle and an illusion.

With Red stomping his foot, we have his right foot and his left arm having been drawn attention to, just like Jerry's right foot and MIKE's left arm, further connecting the characters. It was MIKE whom recited the poem about the Magician in the first place, now Red is wielding "magic" for Richard. Directly after, Red touching his head invokes memories of William Hastings too.

Still holding his head, like Hastings, Red asks Richard if he's seen the film "The King and I." In the 2nd Season, Leland Palmer sang "Getting to Know You," from that musical and we discussed how Twin Peaks was us getting to know Billy in fragments across the whole series. Red holding his head like William "Billy" Hastings, as he talks about it, is a good indication of whom we are getting to know. We also have the name of this character asking the question: Red. The Red Diamond City motel was where we believe Billy spent his tortuous childhood and we once saw the grandson, another magician and one whom we believe was Billy's childhood self, jumping around its parking lot. Then we have the question posed in Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass" of whom was the dreamer, Alice or the Red King. We believe it is the latter, Billy, when it comes to Twin Peaks.

Red says he will be watching Richard, but it's when the man calls him a kid that he becomes angry. This can easily be a pride thing, but it could also equally deal with how Billy felt helpless when he was a child and he doesn't appreciate being reminded of that. Ironically, Billy remains in that juvenile state, unable to grow into a mature, reasonable human because of past traumas and his inability to leave them behind. His using drugs can help indicate this as well, it being another form of escape and not growth/healing. Billy's uncle also probably made him feel very much like a child, linking this scene to the one previously seen between Steven and Mike Nelson.

Red's threat to saw his head open and eat Richard's brain if he goofs up directly invokes what happens to Sam and Tracey and William Hastings. Sam broke the rules by letting Tracey in and we believe that Hastings did the same with Betty when she discovered what he was.

Red pointing finger guns at Richard reminds us of him doing the same at Shelly. It's a threat here, so is that further indication that Red targeting Shelly is really just an illustration of Billy going after the mother of his first victim?

Red's trick with the coin is another illustration of how magic tricks rely on misdirection and illusion. Richard thinks the coin is in his mouth but it was always falling back into Red's hand. The truth that Billy's dream is all fake is basically being spelled out here in the very same way the Magician at Club Silencio spells it out to Betty and Rita. You can't trust what you see.

It seems that Richard is screwed any way for having gotten into business with Red. The truth is the same for Billy and his own darkness. When playing with fire, you always get burnt.



- Driving down the road in a truck, an upset Richard Horne gets angry over being called "kid" and slaps the wheel, repeating, "Come on."

Here we have more illustration of just how angry being called a kid makes Richard Horne. As stated before that can deal with Billy's anger and feeling of helplessness at his own childhood. We will soon see how Billy effectively murdered the goodness inside of himself, represented in the form of a child's death.


- At the New Fat Trout Trailer Park, Carl Rodd greets a man named Bill and prepares to enter his minibus. A man named Mickey rushes out, asking if he can join Carl, because he needs to pick up Linda's mail at a PO box. Carl says sure. They comment on the lovely morning as Bill drives them away from the trailer park. Mickey comments how Carl goes to town every morning around this time. Carl says it gets him out of the trailer park and he doesn't have much to do except wait for the hammer and nail hitting down. Mickey tells him he has a lot of tread left. Carl asks how Linda is and Mickey tells him she's doing better since a government agency finally got her a new electric wheelchair. Carl curses the war. Carl asks if the government is taking care of them and Mickey replies hardly. They both curse the government. Carl starts to smoke. He asks Mickey if he wants one, the other man says yes, but he quit. Carl admits he's been smoking every day for 75 years.

Ah...another Bill and this one a driver in conjunction with having just seen a Richard (driving too) and a Linda being mentioned, as per the Fireman's words in Part 1.

Carl referencing the hammer and nail coming down conjures Ben Horne's father, once again, having told Jack Wheeler, "If you're gonna bring a hammer, better bring nails." Interestingly, we see Carl as another form of Billy's uncle, Jerry, so that would have been a quote from his father too.

With Ben's dad invoked with the hammer and nails, the bicycle then is similarly invoked by the mention of tread.

Linda has a wheelchair. We've wondered previously if Billy's mom was in one. They are mentioned frequently and William Hayward's wife, Ben's old flame, was in one.


- At the Double R, a nursery teacher named Miriam jokes with Heidi, the waitress, how she goes into some place every morning and they have a cupcake with her name on it so she gets it. The Double R is the same with cherry pie. It's magic, she states. Today there were 2 cherry pies with her name. She asks for 2 coffees, one decaf and one regular, for her and one of the moms. She leaves a tip that Heidi remarks is too big and Shelly says they will treat her next time she's in.

From Red and his magic, to Miriam and hers. Now we meet another representation of Betty and note how she too is involved with a school, being a teacher. She also requests two coffees, one for herself and one for another person, just as Tracey, another substitute for Betty, brought two coffees to Sam. Only this time it is specifically referenced that the coffee is for a MOTHER, leading for a further strengthening to the belief that Betty was in contact/association with American Girl's mom, both of them threats to Billy, as the biblical verse Major Briggs read in the Missing Pieces implied. We have Miriam being introduced after a Linda being mentioned as well, which is proper since the Linda with Richard (a Richard recently shown as well) at the end of Part 18 is another form of Betty again, one entwined with Billy's mom. That Linda will write a letter and this Miriam will write one too, another connection. It is quite possible that Betty wrote her own, possibly to American Girl's mother about who killed her daughter.

It is outright pointed out to us that Miriam tipped them too big. First that's indication she's possibly making money in some dubious unknown way, most likely drugs, which Betty might also have been. Secondly the phrase "tipped off" can be used to indicate that someone has secretly warned or alerted someone about something. We just theorized that Betty possibly tipped off American Girl's mom about whom had really killed her daughter. That, like Miriam's tip here, cost her too much. We also have the added fact that we theorize that Shelly, this go around, partially represents American Girl's mom and that was whom Miriam just partially tipped. Miriam also referenced a bakery with that cupcake, which is where Shelly's daughter works, the daughter a substitute for Laura/American Girl here.


- Richard Horne is still driving and still very upset. He calls Red a name and uses the word "magic". He's still upset about being called a kid and speeds up in retaliation.

Magic as in Magician coming into play.


- Carl sits on a bench in the park, looking at the trees. He smiles as he spots a mother and son playing a game, the child running so far and then stopping as the mother catches up to him and hugs him before he runs off again.

The trees being shown directly prior to Carl seeing the mother and son goes with what we said for the original series, and FWWM, that people were being represented as trees, and to Billy specifically, his family were trees and the woods. Cooper compared trees to people while talking to Annie and her subsequent speech at the Miss Twin Peaks contest, which centered around Ghostwood (whom we believe to be Audrey Horne, Billy's mother) compared the land and those whom lived on it to a mother and their child. In Greek mythology, Adonis' (lover of Venus) mother also gave birth to him when she had been turned into a tree, to escape her father's wrath after she had lain with him and conceived her son.

The game the mother and son are playing is somewhat strange. The boy runs away from his mother, stops looks back and she runs and catches him, holding him in an embrace, only for the action to repeat. What is it? A mixture of Tag and Red Light Green Light? We already pondered if the shot of the traffic light at Sparkwood and 21, after Coop touched the 7 on the Lucky 7 Insurance logo, was pointing to this scene. And we theorized that Coop/Dougie touching that 7 was Billy longing for his mother. This game, leading up to the crosswalk, seems to honestly build upon that. And this "playing" could also show how Billy felt about his mother: that running away from her, then wanting her again, only for it to repeat, like a cycle, her moods changing always as his feelings for her did too. It was painful to Billy and yet here it is presented as an endearing and playful game, invoking the word that was already used in Part 3 when Coop/Dougie needed to change his $5 bill to play a game.

Carl, we theorize, is a version of Billy's uncle (Jerry), his role in FWWM having echoed that from his statement about Uncle's Day at a whorehouse and how he'd expressed how he just wanted to stay where he was after having traveled extensively, Jerry always traveling at Ben's behest. Carl watching the game now, and taking it as only fun, could help convey just how Jerry sees the event between his nephew and the boy's father from the wrong end of the binoculars in Part 16, something not seen correctly. There was something wrong in Billy's family and the uncle failed to see it or misunderstood it for something else.


- Still speeding, Richard doesn't like the stopped line of cars at the crosswalk coming up and switches lanes in rebellion.

Richard is still fuming about the kid line and acting out because of it, putting others at risk.


- At the crosswalk, the mother has caught up to her son and hugs him. The driver waiting, motions them to go, and the boy runs ahead, still playing the game. Richard Horne cries out, but it's too late, he hits the child leaving the mortified mother behind, holding her dying son as Carl hears and goes to see what happens, and passerbys stop in sadness, including the driver whom let the boy cross the street.

This is the crosswalk in FWWM where the logging truck stops to let the old man with the walker and the woman cross the street as MIKE/Phillip confronts BOB/Leland and Laura. It is also seen far before that, supposedly inexplicably one might say, in the episode directly after Leland's death, right before the scene where Cooper rejects Audrey Horne and puts the kibosh on what had been their simmering/forbidden relationship. We suspect the real forbidden aspect of their relationship wasn't that Cooper was an FBI man and Audrey was a high school girl. The REAL shocker was that Audrey was really Cooper's mother, Cooper being her son Billy all dressed up as her protector and idealized man. On this same street, Gersten Hayward also lives, whom is involved with the much younger Steven, whom we also suspect is really her own son. They are all Billy and his mother, just like the mother and son here are too, all representing a painful truth shown in fragments and different aspects.

The boy crosses the street but he isn't as careful as the addict mother's son. Instead, he is so reckless he seems to be still playing the game with his mother, stopping on the street. Richard Horne hits and kills him and thus an overlaying rule is displayed for Billy: if you are careful you live, if you aren't you are doomed. Once again this echoes Carrie's sentiment in Part 18, that in Odessa she had kept a clean house, everything organized, but back then (Twin Peaks?) she was too young to know any better. Billy knows if he wants to stay free, he has to be careful.

It is clearly an accident when Richard kills this boy. It was reckless but unintentional, as opposed to what he tries to do to Miriam and what Mr. C will set him up for later. And so, in this fashion, with what we will theorize this scene means, it can be surmised that Billy did not intentionally set out to become evil, that it was perhaps an accident which started when he tried to rid himself of the "kid" whom could be easily controlled and hurt. And in this sense, Mr. C's killing of him represents how the truly evil side of Billy then did discard of the earlier in between version that existed, which was cruel and selfish, like Richard, but not as truly horrific as the monster he became. Don't forget that Cooper/Mr. C will become Richard during Part 18, implying they are the same.

In this scene, in the death of this boy whom we never learn the name of, we witness how Billy killed the innocent child within himself in retaliation for feeling helpless and without power. The good was basically destroyed so that the other stage could exist and it is portrayed as a tragedy, his mother watching on and having had a hand in that tragedy herself, since we presume she helped teach her son the "game" which got him killed, one which echoes Billy's mother's dangerous game with him too.


- Richard continues driving without stopping, telling the child he told him to get out of the way, and notices that Miriam has spotted him, her standing there with her two coffees.

Billy blames others for what happened to him, just like his counterpart Richard.

Miriam witnesses Richard killing the boy. This directly mirrors Tracey also seeing something she shouldn't have with Sam, both women clearly connected through the two cups of coffee they are holding. These two women are representations of Betty, whom also discovered what Billy was and whom, in this way, saw something she wasn't meant to. Whereas Tracey's (the lover) witnessing of the Experiment Model illustrated how Betty had found out about Billy's previous first non-mother "lover", American Girl, Miriam (friend and cohort) sees Richard killing a child, showing how Betty discovered that the man she thought she knew wasn't real, his having killed his better self a long time ago. And just like Tracey and Sam, by the end of Miriam and Richard's story, both will be damaged, echoing Betty and Billy.


- As the mother still holds her dying son, Carl finally arrives to see something that is glowing and resembles fire coming out of the boy's body and going upwards. He walks towards her, the only one whom does in the crowd gathered to watch but not necessarily to offer consolation or help, and gives the woman his compassion and sympathy. She looks to him in sad appreciation. Oh no, is heard as there is a shot of the #6 utility pole which fades to darkness.

The light coming out of the boy obviously is supposed to show his soul going to Heaven. That Carl sees this further emphasises his role as MIKE/Billy's uncle whom saw the face of God and went through a spiritual redemption. However, we also have the peculiar fact that the soul clearly resembles fire, which was BOB...can this just as effectively portray how, when Billy killed this innocent part of himself, he set that fire free to play?

A crowd has gathered to watch, but keep their distance and don't interact with the mother at all. Potentially this can show how people might have been aware of something not quite right in Billy's family but they chose to keep their distance instead of helping or doing anything at all. That this is happening near Mo's Motors where Leland Palmer once desperately asked why nobody did anything to help Laura and him when MIKE/Phillip was yelling at them, further strengthens this, as well as the belief that it was a storyline still forced on that parent and child.

Carl, a representation of Billy's uncle, watching this happen from in front of Mo's Motor's adds a whole other layer to this. It was his family. This is his family, his neice, his nephew and he goes to them to offer his comfort to the mother (neice), the only one in the crowd to do so, because he understands her pain. But note how he didn't see the car hit the boy either, as opposed to later, when Jerry, Billy's uncle, ouright sees the hit and run boy's "murderer" being destroyed by the father, a man whom turns out to be the same murdered boy at the end of the series. So we have two "boys" deaths, both being connected. And to add to this too, we have that this boy dying here, in his mother's arms, is happening on the street where Gersten Hayward lives. The same building where we will see her standing with Steven on a staircase is on this street. We've theorized Steven is her son too, another form of Billy and his mom. And Steven will die also, this time the mother not present when it happens, having run off to the other side of the tree in fear and shame after being spotted with the younger man by Cyril Pons. Now what is interesting about Pons is that he is played by Mark Frost. Gersten's father, Will Hayward, is played by Frost's own father, Warren. That would make Cyril and Gersten siblings in some warped way, and Cyril Pons, Steven's uncle That makes 3 "boys" respective deaths, all witnessed/almost witnessed by respective uncles, all linked together in an episode entitled "Don't Die," a line taken from MIKE/Phillip to Dale Cooper. All four men, hit and run boy/Richard/Steven/Cooper are the same, and MIKE, whom is a representation of Billy's uncle, might as well be pleading with all of them not to die and for all of them to wake up because all of them are Billy. The question is, was Billy's life in danger at any time? From the fire that killed his mother? Or had he tried to kill himself, as we theorized through Annie Blackburne's attempted suicide?

Now we have the #6 utility pole, first and last seen in FWWM/The Missing Pieces, which was in Carl Rodd's trailer park and led to the trailer of the grandson and his grandmother. Now it's popping up in Twin Peaks, miles away from where it should be. This is the same area where BOB/Leland had a flashback of leaving the Red Diamond City Motel and the grandson emerging out if the bushes of the motel to jump around in his white frogmoth mask. This outright connects that boy to this poor dead child and all of the other men already mentioned too. A further connection between the grandson, whom we believe is the true childhood form of Billy, and the hit and run boy's death, as seen through this theory, is how in Lynch's "The Grandmother" a boy dressed similarly to the grandson in Twin Peak's seems to die after the death of his grandmother, only for something malignant to begin growing from him. That pretty well says in essence what we are saying about Billy having killed his more innocent self so something darker could grown in its place.

The utility pole is seen in this, Part 6, mirroring Teresa Banks motel room number too and will pop up again in Part 18, which is the answer to 3 x 6, the number of the beast.

The scene fades to darkness...the darkness of future past?


- In Las Vegas, Duncan Todd receives a red rectangle on his monitor. He nervously gets an envelope out of a cupboard and brings it to his desk, glancing at it nervously.

Does Todd have a glass horse on his desk? That reminds us of Emory Battis' unicorn. This being a scene depicting how Mr. C is wanting Todd to take care of "Dougie" and Lorraine, whom have failed him, showcases how, just like daddy Ben Horne, Mr. C (Billy) now has his own enablers/woodsmen.


- At Rancho Rosa, the cops investigate the crime scene of Dougie's exploded car. They find the license plate on the roof of the addict mother and her son's "house". The mother calls out 1-1-9 two times.

One piece of Dougie's missing ID that Janey-E is preoccupied with winds up on the addict mother and boy's "home" and a ladder is involved with it.

One of the names the cop uses to describe the license number is Lincoln, which is the face on the coin the New Mexico girl finds before her impregnation with the frogmoth in Part 8. We previously saw coins in connection with Richard and Red in this episode and will see another coin play a significant role in this episode too.

The addict mother is still calling for help in reverse, connecting her to the Lodge and Audrey, whose Dance is played in reverse during Part 16's credits, the same episode where Richard, whom just killed a boy in this episode, will meet his own demise.


- At a Las Vegas motel, Ike the Spike sits playing dice in front of a mirror. The envelope Mr. Todd had looked at is slid under his foot. It contains two photos: one of Lorraine and one of Dougie. Ike traces their faces with an ice pick then stabs each photo with it.

So we theorized that Richard killing the boy represents Billy killing his good/innocent self and now we have a smaller sized adult killer. We also theorized how Billy is stuck in some juvenile state, stunted from maturing. Um...We'd say that this brutal character now seems to embody that pretty well. His living out of a motel, while we theorize Billy grew up living in one, doesn't hurt either, as does the fact he's introduced to us sitting in front of a mirror, which we argue represents Billy.

Another interesting thing is how later the Arm will tell Dale/Dougie to twist Ike's hand off, which is of note since at the start of this episode, Dale/Dougie was hiding his own hand. It was the left, not right, but has to be mentioned since this coincided with Ike's first appearance.


- Back at the Lucky 7 building, Phil and Dale/Dougie ride the elevator again. This time Dale/Dougie stays in the elevator happily while Phil tries to get him to move forward. The doors keep opening and closing. Finally Phil motion's him and Dale/Dougie comes forward only for the doors to close on him. He moves forward, looks confused, then follows Phil.

Okay, so those doors...Last time, Coop/Dougie rode the elevator with his back to them and, this theory seeing Laura as the door to Twin Peaks, we thought that might be indicative of Billy trying to turn his back on Laura/Twin Peaks. Now the doors are opening and closing in front of him, which could indicate Billy having been indecisive of entering or not entering Twin Peaks. And then Dale gets outright stuck in them, just like at the Silver Mustang! Billy apparently gets stuck in his dream of Twin Peaks a lot. This whole door thing is also very interesting with what happens later in the episode.


- As Anthony Sinclair watches, Bushnell calls "Dougie" into his office and Phil leads him there. Bushnell goes over the case files in exasperation, asking how he's supposed to make sense of the childish scribbles. Dale/Dougie, whom has been enjoying his coffee, becomes transfixed by a boxing poster of Mullins on the wall. Suddenly, Bushnell seems to make sense of what "Dougie" scribbled. He thanks him and asks him to keep the disturbing information to himself because he'll handle it now, although he might need his help. When Mullins wants to shake his hand, Coop/Dougie simply imitates it and Mullins just laughs thinking he's an interesting fellow.

So if we saw the hit and run boy, a child, to represent Billy's innocence, it's very important for Bushnell to call Dale, whom also represents the good of Billy's, scribbles "childish".

Does Dale becoming fascinated with the younger poster of a boxer Bushnell help Bushnell understand the scribbles?

More illustration here of how, by Billy imitating others and letting them project what they want onto him, he was able to survive in the world despite being a monster whom locked away most of his own human emotions and understanding.


- At the playground, Janey-E gives the money lenders their $20000, plus 5k interest and a lecture about how poor her family is and how rotten they are. She then storms off. "Tough dame," the men concede.

Janey-E mentions game playing again. Children are emphasized in this scene with them playing nearby.

Before our parents divorced, our family wasn't exactly wealthy, but we weren't at all poor and we never had two automobiles! And if Dougie's car was so cheap why did the car thieves want it? Still more indication that Janey-E is focused on wealth and social standing, very much like Billy's mom.

The two lenders remark about Janey-E is very much like how Gene and his friend stated that Lorraine was a worrier.


- To go with that theme, we now are forced to endure a very violent scene of Ike killing Lorraine and then running after some poor witness only to kill her too and bend his ice pick, which he laments.

Ike killing the witness to the murder echoes Billy killing Betty (and American Girl's mom) because of what she (they) might have found out about him being a murderer too.

Ike's spike bending...Gordon Cole often went to Bend, Oregon and Dale Cooper might have lived in Bend Washington.


- Richard drives the truck to what looks like a field with other vehicles. Seeing the blood on the bumper, he becomes upset and washes it off.

This truck will supposedly turn out to belong to a farmer. Whom might be another Billy. Or might not. We'll get into that later.

What's really interesting is that on the back of the truck is a Knaack Construction Box. Construction boxes are meant to kept tools etc...in. We mentioned often before that Ben Horne's father once told Jack Wheeler, for some unknown reason, "If you're gonna bring a hammer, better bring nails," which the handsome young man used on Horne's granddaughter, Audrey, in a sexual manner. What was Ben's father using this particular saying on Jack Wheeler for? We also saw Gordon Cole reading a book called “How to Work with Tools and Wood” by Fred J. Gross, on the cover of which was a photograph of an older man helping a young boy to hammer some nails. Now, our theory speculates that Ben's father abused him, leading to Ben abusing Audrey and Audrey abusing her son too...what's the chance that Richard would have on him a large construction box for tools when he just enacted what we believe was how Billy essentially killed his good self? That seems too perfect for the theory to just be by accident. Also a band called The Knack did a song that featured the infamous (and gross) line: "I always get it up for the touch of the younger kind."

Why are power lines, those connected to a utility pole, seen reflected in the windshield of the truck Richard is driving as he parks the truck in a field without any? Is it tied to the #6 pole? More connection between the grandson and this grandson of Benjamin Horne?


- In the men's room at the Twin Peaks' Sheriff Station, Hawk drops a coin, which rolls into a stall, and he notices the Native American on the heads side. He then notices a Native American on the logo for the stall door. He grabs a step ladder and tries to pry the already somewhat opened door even more open, directing Chad to the ladies room when he wants to use it. Inside of the door, Hawk discovers the missing pages to Laura Palmer's diary.

2 Native Americans echoing the two Coopers, what the pages will help reveal.

We saw a coin previously when Red did the trick to teach Richard a lesson. We also saw one before Cooper gambled at the Silver Mustang.

Okay, so this was the other scene dealing with a door that we mentioned when Dale/Dougie was in the elevator. And we just love how things play out when watching the series with this theory, because, here we have been theorizing that Laura is the door to Twin Peaks, but not the dreamer themselves, and here we have 3 of her missing diary pages hidden away in...you got it, a DOOR! That's Laura Palmer's thoughts being inside of a door, making her a door. And not just any old door either...one in the MEN's washroom. So we theorize that she's essentially a creation by Billy, a man, to mask his first victim from him, and she was the door that led him to Twin Peaks. And her diary being hidden in a men's room door reflects that nicely. On the other spectrum, we had previously seen Cooper, the mask for Billy, using the woman's washroom, where we theorized it could illustrate how even with all of the female characters, it was a man hiding inside of them. And as if to help remind us of Dale/Dougie's use of the ladies room, Chad comes in now and that's where Hawk tells him to go. Remember also Carrie Page outright asking if Dale/Richard had located a man, not a woman, when they first met.

Hawk will assume that Leland placed the diary pages here but honestly that makes little to no sense. When and why? He'd have had them on him when they arrested him for Jacques' murder, days after Laura's death? And, after being arrested, he'd have been allowed to use the station's public washroom and not his cell's toilet? Doubtful. It really only makes sense that Billy, or rather Billy as Cooper, hid them there, especially when we consider a coin just led Hawk to the pages and Richard, another avatar for Billy, and whom Cooper will become, just had a scene featuring a coin. Plus we have the twin Native American images invoking the two Coopers and the scene of Dale/Dougie having used the ladies room at the Lucky 7. And on top of that even, in Episode 1 of the whole series, Dale Cooper went off to use this very bathroom, knowing where it was because he'd used it his first day there, or already knowing where it was, without needing to be told. There's more to link Dale with this then Leland.

Hawk needs a step ladder to get it and we saw a man using a ladder to get the ID from Dougie's car, another linking of Cooper to the diary pages here and the general theme of identity. Dougie's being a license plate dealt with cars, and the different Coops being vehicles for Billy to get around inside of his dream, which is also great when we remember we were specifically shown William "Billy" Hastings driver's license. And, as we said before, Laura was the door for Billy to enter Twin Peaks, so that is what her identity is connected to here, where another ladder is used. And earlier in the ep, we saw Coop/Dougie scribbling ladders and steps...hmm.

It was also Cooper whom read the torn diary found at Harold's, linking it to his possession too.

Examining the secret diary itself, remember it never made a whole lot of logical sense to begin with. In the first season, it wasn't mentioned and Hawk only found the towel. Then all of a sudden there were mysterious pages found with the towel mentioned in the second season opener. We theorized that it was planted within the dream directly at the same time as the supernatural elements were reemerging because Billy's mind was reeling after his mother was being propositioned by Ben, their father, at One-Eyed Jack's. The dream was meant to conceal/avert that aspect of his life not directly feature it! That was also the reason why Dale Cooper, his avatar, was shot, having failed in protecting their mother while they were both at Ben's (their father's) brothel and it sending ripples throughout the dream.


- In another part of the Sheriff Station, Doris Truman comes in irate and screaming at her husband that her father's car still isn't working. Chad comments he wouldn't let her treat him that way, in reference to Frank taking it calmly. Maggie tells him that Doris wasn't always that way and we learn that the Truman's son committed suicide because he was a soldier.

Just like the hit and run boy died and his mother grieved, now we have another mother grieving for a lost son too.

The son was a soldier, linking him to Linda, whom was implied to be one too. Carl exclaimed, "Fucking war." Wars don't just happen outside, though, they can happen inside too, like Billy/Dale's war with himself.

Doris screams at her husband not to blame her father. Audrey's father was to blame for having abused her.


- At the Roadhouse, Sharon Van Etten plays "Tarifa".

Surprisingly some lyrics are pertinent to this theory.

"Slow it was seven, I wish it was seven all night."

We theorize that Billy's mom molested him in room #7 at their family motel. Dale/Dougie, after receiving that maternal kiss from Janey-E, tenderly touched the number 7 in the Lucky 7 Insurance logo.

"Send in the owl."

We speculate the owls are the Hornes.

"Tell me I'm not a child."

Richard Horne disliked being a child. Billy killed his innocent childhood self but remains stuck in a juvenile state. Billy wishes he had not been a child when he was intimate with his mother, but might long to have been older, like Cooper, when he was with her.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 5 "Case Files"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- In Rancho Rosa, Gene talks to his boss, Lorraine, and informs her Dougie's car's still parked there and he must be inside. Lorraine is upset, wondering if he's trying to get her killed since the job was supposed to be done yesterday. After the call ends, the hitmen decide she's a worrier. Meanwhile, Lorraine contacts someone entitled ARGENT, which ends up looking like a black box in Buenos Aires.

The light seems focused on the family of father, mother and daughter on the Rancho Rosa billboard. Does this invoke the Palmers/American Girl's family? Perhaps helping to point out how the mother and son squatting in the empty house are very different from this model family?

Lorraine has every right to worry seeing as though her ineptitude will end up getting her killed. She's not alone though. Duncan Todd and Roger will be punished too.

The lights being on mentioned can foreshadow the lights going out at the very end of The Return.

So Lorraine contacts something in Buenos Aires which immediately brings Phillip Jeffries to mind. It's a black box in a gold bowl. Is it a singing bowl? The ringing sound in the Great Northern, which seems connected to MIKE/Phillip, also can sound like a singing bowl. Our question, as weird as it seems is...is this box a tulpa for Jeffries? Later on we'll see it turn to a gold bumpy rock that seems connected to the beads that create tulpas. Is it a tulpa for something not completely human? That would sound like Jeffries. In any case, Mr. C will also contact this same device. We should mention that it also seems to have a lit light bulb over it, tied to light and electricity.

- At the Buckhorn morgue, Constance gives Macklay and Harrison the lowdown on Major Briggs' corpse, wisecracking throughout. Cause of death was decapitation. He hadn't eaten food for days although she found something in his stomach: a wedding band. It is inscribed with the words: To Dougie, with love, Janey-E.

Did the Major abstain from eating when faced with the horrible hungers of the Lodge spirits?

Why does the Major have Dougie's wedding band in his stomach? Was an exchange made of sorts, which explains why Dougie was wearing the Owl Cave ring? Later it will be intimated that the wedding band in the Major's stomach was placed there to lead the FBI to Janey-E, Diane's supposed sister. There might be deeper symbolism to all of this, perhaps another connection to the Owl Cave ring meaning a marriage of sorts inside of Billy's dream. Outside of the dream, we still have the situation of the Major and Ruth being murdered and in the same bed together. Did this echo Billy's feelings of having been betrayed somehow? We previously discussed Major Briggs' disciplinarian attitude being similar to Billy's strict uncle. Ruth was also seen as a substitute for Betty, but one containing aspects he associated with his mother, her even having the same lamp Audrey does. Is there still something between the Owl Cave Ring, it belonging to MIKE/Phillip, the Lodge spirit representing Billy's uncle, and Audrey Horne? Did Billy's uncle offer his neice (Billy's mom) a ring and Billy viewed this as a betrayal? Was Betty unfaithful too?


- In his prison cell, on the other end of South Dakota, Mr. C lies calmly on his cot. He perfectly predicts that food is coming. He takes the food but then goes over to the sink to wash his hands. He looks into the mirror and remembers laughing with BOB in the Red Room and smashing his head on the mirror at the hotel. His reflection morphs into BOB's now and he states, "You're still with me. That's good."

Mr. C being aware that food is coming illustrates our previous suspicion that he was the one whom told Denise that Gordon was bringing Tammy to South Dakota. It goes along with Cooper's own previous "psychic" abilities, but betrays also that Billy is essentially writing this. Of course he'd know what was going to happen next!

The act of Mr. C going to wash his hands in the sink, in relation to food, directly calls to mind BOB/Leland harassing Laura to wash her own hands before supper. It goes along with the doppleganger having said he was going to brush his teeth...but that time he didn't, making a joke of squeezing the toothpaste out instead. This hygienic ritual he's keeping though...um...did Billy's dad press this idea into him, the very reason his image forced on Leland ordered Laura to do it too?

To go with Part 4's scene of Dale staring into the mirror, now we have Mr. C doing it. For the previous scene, we theorized that Billy himself is a mirror, reflecting what he thinks others want him to be, or what he wants someone to be, back at them. That brings a deeper meaning to the image of Josie staring into a mirror being the very first character introduction made in Twin Peaks. Catherine Martel basically summed up Josie as a mirror herself: "...she must have learned the lesson that she could survive by being what other people wanted to see, by showing them that." What we didn't realize was that the dreamer, Billy, was being introduced at the same moment, his appearing as the mirror Josie was staring into. Mr. C sees the reflection of BOB - the imago of Billy's father, for that is what he thinks his evil side is - now totally in tune with his evil father. We see several scenes of the simpatico relationship between BOB and Mr. C and Mr. C's pleasure that BOB is still with him.

Mr. C morphing into BOB is distinct from Leland, giving further implication that BOB and Mr. C's relationship is different. Of course, we suspect that is because BOB always belonged to Cooper/Billy and not Leland. Leland's "possession" was a case of his forcing what he wanted to see on someone else. Billy/Cooper is BOB.

The mirror theme connects Twin Peaks to another work: Lewis Carroll's "Through the Looking Glass." While everyone knows about Alice going through a mirror, and then discovering that she might have dreamt it all, a lesser aspect of it is Tweedledee and Tweedledum's questioning to Alice, when she finds the Red King sleeping, how she can be sure it isn't his dream and he's the one dreaming her? They confront her with the threat of his waking by saying, “You’d be nowhere. Why, you’re only a sort of thing in his dream!” and “If that there King was to wake, you’d go out — bang! — just like a candle!” which seems like the ending of Part 18, the lights blowing out and all. We theorize that Twin Peaks is the Red King's (Billy) dream and not Alice's (Laura). The looking glass, or mirror, is his mind, his being and to put it in line with Carroll's famous story, "Alice" climbed into it, not the other way around.

Thinking about Mr. C smashing his head in the OG finale, why did he do that exactly? A possibility just came to us, in light of The Return, maybe he wanted to be taken to the hospital. Maybe he wanted to get the Owl Cave ring back, or more possibly go and see Audrey. We had theorized that Dale's dismissal of Audrey was Billy's way of keeping her safe from the Windom threat. Maybe since it had been solved, and the decoy Annie was safely put out of the way and his more honest self unleashed, he was finally ready to take what he wanted.


- In Twin Peaks, Mike Nelson, apparently now in charge of a car lot, calls a young man into his office in order to criticize his resume and improperly filled form. He tells him he wanted to see him to tell him he'd never hire him, or recommend anyone hire him, after his lack of respect etc...He then calls the young man an asshole after he's stormed out.

The young man is the Steven that is married to Shelly and Bobby's daughter and whom everyone is supposed to like. His last name is interestingly Burnett and Mike obviously doesn't seem to like him, proving Renee wrong. He lectures Steven, but we're torn about how Lynch intended this scene, as opposed to understanding the Major Briggs and Bobby dynamic. On one hand, Steven is obviously irresponsible and dealing with drugs and various other issues, making Mike's lecture warranted. And yet, his words aren't buffered by the love and wisdom the Major conveyed, and Mike's office is also a mess! He's not exactly one to talk about form and respectability.

We can take a definite hint, according to this theory, that it does represent once again how Billy felt about his relationship with his strict uncle. He might have always felt lectured and criticized, nothing ever good enough, which might have been a valid critique from the uncle, aware of Billy's darkness as we are. The theory that Mike here reflects Billy's uncle is further strengthened by our belief that Steven is in effect Gersten Hayward's son. Mike dated Gersten's sister, Donna, and if they had married he would have been Gersten's brother-in-law, making him Steven's uncle by marriage. We also theorize that MIKE/Philip is a representation of Billy's uncle so this similarly named character slips into the role of uncle nicely.

Mike runs a car dealership. We have previously explored the relationship between BOB, Billy's father (Ben), and how his enablers etc... were connected to cars.

Steven comes in wearing a suit here and later will be seen wearing plaid, reminiscent of Dale Cooper's wardrobe switch in Season 2. Steven being a very strong and fairer representation of Billy, this connection becomes strengthened.


- Frank Truman sits in Hawks office, talking to Harry on the phone. Lucy tells him his wife Doris is here and Frank ends the call with his brother as his wife comes in. Doris unleashes her anger at her husband and a list of complaints that he calmly tries to deal with only for her to still wind up calling him impossible.

It's hard not seeing Harry. He's almost become the Diane this season. We previously speculated that Harry represented the father Billy wanted to have. Perhaps his being absent now reflects how that idealized/imaginary father was truly absent from Billy's life too.

Doris is meant to show how someone whom acts out is usually suffering inside, which is probably illustrating, not only the younger version of Billy, but his mother too.

Frank trying to help can also indicate how people, like Billy's uncle, did try to help but he was ultimately unreceptive, focused on his own pain instead of anybody else's.

The bit about Doris' father's car is odd when we just talked about Billy's dad's enablers being connected to cars. We've also wondered about Billy and his mom having been in a car crash, or his father having potentially been murdered by Billy's mom. Given what happens to Dougie's car later...well, this should also be noted.


- The Joneses leave their house, as Sonny Jim sits in the car, and by the door Janey-E fixes Dale/Dougie's tie and talks about the $425000 and how they can finally pay off his $50k debt. As Janey-E talks, Coop/Dougie stares at the sad face of Sonny Jim and becomes sad too. Janey-E notices this and tells him to stop acting weird. Realizing his car isn't there, she says she'll take him to work, although she wonders where his car is.

So...Janey-E lied? She ties ties well enough.

Janey-E's focus is still on the money and not necessarily her son, whom seems very sad as he sits in the backseat of her vehicle. More indication that Billy's mom was overly concerned with money than her own son's wellbeing.

Cooper/Dougie, on the other hand, seems genuinely moved by the boy's sorrow, showing empathy instead of mirroring. This is understandable, of course, both Sonny Jim and Cooper avatars for Billy inside of his dream. He understands his pain.


- Cue Rancho Rosa and how the hitmen drive by to see Dougie's car still parked and intact. They drive off and another car appears, also checking out the car, to steal. They drive off too.

Here's that car, a literal "death trap", we just mentioned while discussing the Trumans scene.

The car belonging to the thieves is black. That's appropriate is all we'll say.


- Outside of her husband's work place, Janey-E suspects "Dougie" is having one of his episodes. She urges him out of the car and off to work, driving away as Coop/Dougie walks aimlessly forward.

So people accepting Coop/Dougie's behavior is explained by his having episodes. That, in turn, is explained as being caused by a car accident he suffered, threading through that theme of car's being dangerous to one's general health. Hmmm...did Mr. C need to be driving when he was going to be returned to the Lodge because of this accident Dougie had? Was that how he was introduced into existence, so to mirror it, Mr. C had to go through the same thing? Was Billy in an accident with his family, ala Little Nicky, and it changed him too?

Since work is how Dougie makes their dough, we'll assume Janey-E's urge for him to go there continues her preoccupation with material comforts/status.


- Coop/Dougie becomes entranced by a statue of a cowboy. He follows the gun it's pointing into a building, which fortunately happens to be Dougie Jones' place of work.

And just as we had talked about Harry, and how he might represent the father Billy wished he had, now we see Dale/Dougie's attraction to a cowboy statue that was made to look like David Lynch's father. And we've got red balloons like childhood in the background. Now Dale/Dougie's surrogate daddy leads him where he needs to go.


- In the main lobby, Coop/Dougie stands looking around until one of Dougie's coworkers, Phil, comes along, his hands filled with coffee and tea. "Off in dreamland again, huh, Dougie?" he asks. He then tells him that a staff meeting starts in 3 minutes. Aware that the man has coffee, Coop/Dougie follows him into an elevator where they head to the 7th floor.

We love Phil. Possibly one half of our's favorite new character in The Return. He's helpful, kind and patient.

To go with Janey-E calling "Dougie" the dreamweaver last episode, now Phil says he's in dreamland again, as if it is a common occurrence. This lends strongly to the insinuation that Cooper masks our dreamer, not Laura.

3 minutes to go with the 3 days that both Dougie and Carrie Page were missing.

7th floor. Room #7 where Mr. C met with Chantal and where Dale will have sex with Diane before he changes into Richard. We wondered if it was in room #7 where Billy's mother first abused him.


- Dale/Dougie reaches for a coffee, but Phil apologizes he didn't get a coffee for him, unsure if he'd be there. He relents and gives him Frank's, whom never has his anyway, deciding to give him the extra green tea he bought instead. Phil watches in shock as his co-worker downs it but then happily says that it's, "Damn good." In the main lobby to Lucky 7 Insurance, Phil usher's Coop/Dougie forward before he steals the coffee of two people talking there.

Cooper still loves coffee. Until he becomes Richard in Part 18, that is. Cooper is also leading things to perfect outcomes in Vegas, as set up even here by stealing Frank's drink. Obviously Billy is painting it so that his good side can do no wrong wherever he goes and helps heal things...which actually all crumbles by The Return's end. Possibly this stems from how creating Dale helped Billy through his fears about being arrested for American Girl's death. It was a temporary fix however.

#7 referenced again. And the big reveal that Dougie is an insurance agent. That's a huge theme in this series, from the insurance on the mill and Catherine, to Sam Stanley acting like an insurance man tabulating everything, now we have Dale actually living out the life of one. We suspect this deals with Billy's trauma at having caused the fire at the Dutchman's which killed his mother and possibly his father/grandfather. Now he can symbolically clear that from being arson and help lift some of his guilt.

Franz Kafka was also an insurance man. He, of course, dealt in surreal topics such as an infamous transformation.

This place being called the Lucky 7 and our previous speculation about the possibility that it was in room #7 at the family motel where Billy's mom first abused him, leads, unfortunately, to a different possible connotation to the word "lucky".

The receptionist is a blonde.


- Several workers file into the meeting room. One, a man named Anthony Sinclair, tells Dougie he covered for him and he owes him. He comments on "Dougie's" weight loss.

Anthony Sinclair is obviously sleazy. The question is were he and Dougie friends? Most likely if he's covering for him. Was Dougie in on the fraud then? Does that explain how Dale is aware that Sinclair is lying?


- A man named Darren asks a brunette named Rhonda if she got his note. She says no and says for him to tell it to his wife.

This could be a fragment of the married Hastings' affair with his coworker Betty coming out.

Rhonda can't be turning Darren down due to morals, seeing as though she later makes a pass at what she takes to be the married Dougie Jones.

Miriam will send a letter to the Sheriff which gets intercepted. Linda writes Richard her own letter.


- Frank notices that Phil gave Dougie his coffee. Phil apologizes and offers him the tea. Frank, at first, refuses then accepts. He obviously enjoys it.

More illustration how Billy is really heaping up his wish fulfillment fantasy that he makes everything better for mostly everyone.

Frank looks like Jacques Renault.


- Bushnell Mullins, the bossman, finishes what he was doing off to the side and starts the meeting. He tells Coop/Dougie to sit and to cut the shit when he doesn't. Phil, being the genuine sweetie he is, helps Coop/Dougie sit. Tony starts off, listing the number of claims and which to pay off. He mentions a Littlefield and Bushnell states he thought that was arson. Anthony pushes that no it wasn't and they have to pay. Coop/Dougie sees a light flashing over Anthony's face and states, "He's lying," which causes Tony to bristle and confront him. Bushnell requests "Dougie" see him afterwards. Tony still claims Littlefield is legit.

Big theme here for the Vegas story: what is and isn't arson. As we said before, this likely revolves around Billy's guilt over having burned down the Red Diamond/Dutchman's.

Littlefield. Hmmm...Audrey is the Little Girl who Lived Down the Lane and her son would be the Little Boy. If Billy had burned down his parents motel and they cleared it away, it would leave a field, if it was the same place that is the Dutchman's. Is this a secret hint that Billy intentionally burned down the motel?

The light helps Dale/Dougie see the truth. Light offers illumination. The Palmers had an owl lamp. The incest belonged with the Great (Northern) HORNEd owls not them.


- In Mullins office, the boss asks Coop/Dougie where he got the stones to call his best Agent a liar? Coop/Dougie fixates on the word Agent. Mullins says it isn't a game, Dale/Dougie repeating the word game. Bushnell gives him case files to look over, calling it the homework game since he missed so much "school." Dougie's future at the company depends on how he handles it, the bossman warns.

After they bring Coop/Dougie in, Mullins assistant and Phil have trouble with the door and closing it. Not much, but we're theorizing Laura is the door to Twin Peaks so door incidents are noteworthy.

Cooper longs to be an agent again. Billy similarly enjoys pretending to be what is his opposite.

We previously commented that Billy's grandfather made his mother play games she didn't want to and she then made him play them too.


- In the hallway, Coop/Dougie is doing the pee pee dance again. Rhonda assumes the men's room is locked and hurries him away to the ladies room. She says she might let him kiss her now, but then seeing his need let's him in. She stands outside on guard as she hears him groaning in relief.

Behind Dale/Dougie the word "Fire" is seen.

The receptionist is now a brunette? This is the reversal of Cole's secretary being replaced by a blonde in FWWM. We suspect Billy replaces his brunette victims with blondes inside of his fantasy to avoid the truth. Now that his fantasy is threatened, the illusion might be slipping occassionally.

Coop/Dougie using the ladies room can be more indication that the ladies in his dream are still just Billy, a guy, underneath it all.

Rhonda liking "Dougie" now is more wish fulfillment by Billy. What a ladies man!


- At the Silver Mustang, Burns is punished by Rodney and Bradley Mitchum, the owners, whom suspect he was in leagues with the man whom won $425000. As three identically dressed blondes watch by the wall, Rodney beats poor Burns while Bradley orders him to leave town as he is being dragged away. They place Warrick in his job instead and instruct, if Cooper ever goes there again, to tell them.

The Mitchum Brothers, whom run the casino/motel The Silver Mustang, are obviously representations of Ben and Jerry, Billy's dad and uncle, whom ran the Great Northern and One-Eyed Jack's. Why bother making another two brothers? Ben bought Laura a horse too, so there is that obvious connection.

Now Billy, as Dale, can save them from the blame of the hotel/motel burning and help alleviate his own guilt in the process. Frankly, however, it's hard for us to like the Mitchums with how brutally they are portrayed here.

The blondes are Candie, Mandie and Sandie. Candie is the most prominent and was seen walking through a door, which deserves a mention to this theory, doors being integral. The women are personal assistants to the Mitchums, which connects them to Betty, Billy's assistant. The fact that they are separate women whom all dress and look smiliar emphasises how Billy sees women as the same and finds it difficult to distinguish them, especially those whom remind him of his mother. Their names all sounding similar can also suggest Billy was confusing the names Audrey and Judy.

3 girls, 3 Coopers, 3 days.


- At Rancho Rosa, the Addict's son forgoes his crackers and sneaks by her to go take a closer look at the item placed under Dougie's car. Looking both way's across the street, he examines it until the black car pulls up and scares him over to the side. He watches as they hotwire it, only for the car to explode. The surviving members of the gang drive off and the boy returns to the house across the street, where he watches in excitement from the window the fire and death across the street. Meanwhile, his mother wakes up.

The boy still eating crackers reminds us of Albert's comment about them when Mr. C's arrest report bore Hastings' info and his euphemisms for Hastings' weak sanity.

His mom still has the fallen red balloon by her. We also see a stairwell now which was often focused on in the Palmer house. We suspect American Girl's mom climbed those stairs and really found her daughter dead in her bedroom, not it just empty. There is also a stairway in the Convenience Store which helps lead to the Dutchman's. A stairway also played an important role to Lynch's short "The Grandmother" which obviously influenced Twin Peaks. We suspect that Billy's grandmother's had a stairway. Gersten and Steven, whom we argue are mother and son, are also seen standing on a staircase together.

This boy wears a large red 1.

He looks both ways before crossing the street. This is in stark contrast with the boy Richard kills, whom doesn't carefully cross the street, even though he has his mother with him. This boy doesn't have his mom present, but remains careful. He gets to live. Obviously, Billy associates being careful with being allowed to live and being careless resulting in destruction. This goes with Carrie Page's words in Part 18 again about keeping a clean house.

Question, does the boy know that the men might die by starting the car but stays quiet?

The car explodes, just like Betty's, completing the similarity between William giving her a ride home, as Jade similarly gave Dougie a ride too. Only Coop/Dougie avoids death.

Part of the wreck, the licences plate, ends up on the boy's "home".

The boy runs back and wakes his mom up. Does she have the Sparkle rash?

The boy is obviously attracted to the fire...just like Billy. Once again, this boy lives and the other boy, the one whom seemed innocent, dies. Ominous music accompanies this one's fascination. This boy, Billy, wants to play with BOB.

The fire is reflected over the boy in the window. Billy IS the fire.

The boy looking through the window harkens back to how we believe Billy entered American Girl's room through her window.


- At a carwash in Vegas, an attendant asks Jade if she has a John in Washington. He hands her the 315 Great Northern room key Dale dropped while she was giving him a ride. "Dougie," Jade remembers, flipping it over to see that she can drop it in the mailbox and it will be returned for free. She heads over to a nearby one and drops it in.

And right after we are reminded of Jade giving Coop/Dougie a ride, and how it resembled Hastings/Betty, down to an exploding car, we see Jade herself and the key Dale dropped.

A key holds the truth in "Mulholland Drive" and this one is no different.

The key inexplicably reads, "CLEAN PLACE REASONABLY PRICED" which are the exact words Dale used for both Diane and Harry when he was describing what he was looking for in a lodging. That heavily implies that this has to be a dream and his at that!

And we now have the key heading its way back to the Great Northern and Ben Horne. This is all significant because we believe that the Great Northern is, or masks, Dale/Billy's true home and Ben is really his father/grandfather. Beverly will get that key and the ringing noise that started up again after Dale left the Lodge will get louder. She will give it to Ben, whom will give it to Frank, after they discuss his grandson, Richard, and the boy he killed. Then Frank will give it to Dale, whom knows somehow he has it, and it will lead Dale to that basement closet in the furnace room. The secret weaved through this whole story is that Dale/Billy never left home and he can't escape the truth that haunts him and partially led to the monster he became: he is his grandfather's son.

The attendant wipes Jade's car off with both red and blue towels. This invokes both the lie and truth of the Great Northern. There was a hotel but it was truly a crummy motel, not a grand hotel. Interesting thing about the word motel: it comes from the combination of the words motorist and hotel. A motel was designed for travelers with automobiles. That adds a different layer to the car theme and how it pertains to Ben's enablers/woodsmen.

- At the Double R, Norma watches from a table, doing books, as Becky, Shelly's daughter comes in delivering bread and then hits up Shelly for money, claiming Steven's looking for work. Reluctant at first, Shelly caves in and gives her money. Watching her daughter through a window, Shelly is joined by Norma, whom says it's the third time in 2 weeks. She says to help Becky now since it will be harder later.

Shelly obviously is having a hard time helping her daughter. Bobby has the same problem. This echoes how American Girl's parents also failed her in certain ways, like, perhaps, not paying attention when they needed to. It will be harder to help Becky later for we theorize, no matter what Mark Frost thinks, that Steven actually killed her, just like Billy did with the American Girl.


- Steven asks how much money, finding out it's $72. He says he's good for paying it back and then drives away, noticing that they are being watched.

72 is another denomination of 3/6.

Norma and Shelly watch the couple through a window and Steven notices it, parking out of eyesight. There's a window again, just as we believe that Billy used to watch American Girl through. In this form of Steven, he doesn't like being watched in return, however. Shelly, now a representation of American Girl's mom, is the one now watching her daughter's killer through a window.


- Steven wants Becky to kiss him, which she does. He says he saved some drugs for her and she expresses dismay that he used so much. He said he needed it for his job interview. He lies and says he got great feedback. He sweet talks her and she takes the drugs. Driving away, the camera focuses on Becky looking up and getting high.

Steven is a glimpse at a certain aspect of Billy. He's a young man with troubles and we believe many of these might stem from his relationship with Gersten, whom we suspect will be his mother. Right now, though, we'll focus on his relationship with Becky. We have a feeling that this might be the relationship Billy imagines could have occurred between the American Girl and himself if she'd actually "loved the way that he loved her". The thing is though...we suspect that, just like with Steven and Becky, even if Billy had gotten his dream girl, it all would have fallen apart and he would have destroyed her just the same, but in another way. Billy lacked the self awareness to face himself and his problems and heal. He tried to escape in several different ways and punish others and make them feel his pain. He thought American Girl could save him but she couldn't. He needed to save himself. This is illustrated in how Cooper focuses on saving Laura, and taking her home, instead of trying to face his true self and acknowledge what/where his home truly was. Basically, like a child, Steven cannot take care of himself, but that is what he and Billy basically are, adults perpetually stuck in a childhood stage.


- At the end of work, Coop/Dougie rides down the elevator, not facing the doors. Phil helps him out of the way as people push past him. Dougie returns to the cowboy statue instead of going home.

Dale/Dougie not facing the elevator doors is interesting to this theory, which sees Laura as the door to Twin Peaks, and Billy trying to turn his back on it to imagine he had never killed American Girl and risked detection/punishment. Is that what he's illustrating now?

Coop/Dougie going to the statue of the cowboy, and not the Joneses home, reinforces the belief that this represented the father that Billy wished he had had, in the same way that later, as Cooper's time with the Jones family reaches its end, Sonny Jim will plead that HE is his father, not willing to accept the truth.

Is he looking at the statue's legs? This is probably not it, but maybe some part remembers how Billy was waiting for his fabled father to use those legs to come back and save him before he discovered his own sad truth: his father had always been there.


- At the Sheriff Station, Andy and Hawk are still going through Laura's case file. Andy asks if Hawk has found anything to do with Indians because he hasn't. No, Hawk answers.

Their still keeping at it. Does this scene following a cowboy particularly have to do with that? Johnny Horne, Ben's son and Audrey's brother, just like Billy, used to pretend to be an "Indian". Cowboys and Indians are closely associated.


- 7:00 and on White Tail Peak, Dr. Amp asks if we know where our freedom is. He broadcasts what we assume is his usual tirade against the vast global conspiracy, as Jerry Horne and Nadine Hurley watch. He says you can't see it without a cosmic flashlight and he has one. It's beam penetrates the rock and flips it over and exposes them wriggling and squirming and going back to the cover of darkness they crave. Dr. Amp threatens they are coming for them as Jerry smokes some pot. Dr. Amp goes on about the food and land being poisoned and causing many health and mental problems. Dr. Amp quotes "If I had hammer," and then shows he has one. He uses it to hit one of the gold shovels. "You must see, hear, understand and act," he states. He then plays an ad for the golden shovel too, urging the viewers to shovel themselves out of the s**t and into the truth and buy his golden shovel, two coats guaranteed. "Dig yourself out of the s**t $29.99!"

We've got another #7 being pointed out.

Dr. Amp starts this by asking if his viewers know where their freedom is. Okay, that's interesting. Because, on one hand, we see Amp's lectures, his cries to shovel themselves out of the s**t to be about how Billy should have dug himself out of his trauma, uncovered himself and been a much better person. On the other hand, we see the whole command to "Dig yourself out" to perfectly go along with the theory that, in The Return, Billy's close to being discovered as the killer he is and he must try to dig himself out of the mess so he doesn't wind up in prison or dead. Amp questioning where the listener's freedom is encapsulates Billy's concern over that very thing.

Apparently Amp believes a conspiracy is going on. There is actually. And a lot of it revolves around Billy, his tortured childhood, dangerous teenage years and outright evil adulthood, as well as the identity of his father.

So we have Jerry and Nadine listening. Through Nadine, Lynch outright depicts how listening to Amp has made her a better person, one willing to let Ed go if it makes him happy. Jerry, in a less blunt way, also shows us the same thing. He's cultivating drugs and lost in the woods, only to break free of them. Frankly, it looks just played for laughs, but it's actually extremely important to the underlying story and the secret at the heart of Twin Peaks: that it was really Audrey Horne (Billy's mom) whom was abused by her father, Ben (Billy's grandfather/father). Jerry's battle with his foot, his breaking free from the woods and his admitting responsibility after not seeing something properly regarding his nephew all portrays how Billy's uncle was able to break free from his brother's control and finally realize that something very wrong was/had happened inside of his family. We have to ask ourselves WHY Lynch knew it was important to have Jerry be one out of the many characters to receive enlightenment. Why? Because part of the whole series revolves around it. This spiritual journey, ending in his shedding of clothes, mimics the spirit MIKE, whom symbolically represents Jerry, Billy's uncle. The mention of needing the flashlight to see them to flip over the rock, can even remind us of the rock which Richard dies on and which his father sent him to be destroyed on, as Jerry watches from a distance.

We have to mention how we did get mixed up with Dr. Amp's cosmic flashlight. It's of a bird, but not distinctly of an owl. We got mixed up with something Amp is wearing, mistaking it for horns. A flashlight did play a part in Horne history however, a girl bearing the initials L.D. dancing with one in Ben and Jerry's first bedroom.

Amp referencing them going back to the cover of darkness they crave invokes both the "through the darkness of future past" as well as Cooper's dark FBI suit that Laura whispered to him. We suspect the dark suit was used to cover the evil that he was, an evil that was named Billy.

The light revealing truths goes with how Dale/Dougie sees light flashes, like the one on Tony, that help him. It also goes with our theory that that owl lamp in the Palmers bedroom was trying to indicate the truth that it was the Hornes where the incest happened.

Amp references cooking, and Jerry does the same, leading into Amp's rant about the food being poisoned and outright letting the viewer know, along with the various characters whom indulge in certain appetites, that fast/frozen/junk food is generally equated with evil in The Return. We have this blatantly displayed in the characters of Chad, Chantal and Hutch, and hinted at in Cooper and Carrie, the latter having both a dead man and frozen food trays all over the house where she's been laying low for 3 days. This also goes with Norma's later dialogue about the goodness of her products. Appetites and hungers always played a large role in Twin Peaks, though, through the Lodge spirits/Hornes and Coop. Coming up, Mr. C will take control over the monitoring system at Yankton and replace one monitor with a cooking show.

The other thing Mr. C shows on the monitor is what appears to be a cobbler/shoemakers workshop, which fits in with Dr. Amp bringing out a hammer now. What does he do with that hammer? He hits one of his golden shovels with it. We've previously pointed out that Jack Wheeler quoted Ben's father's quote about a hammer. And how that same father was seen passing on the shovel at the Great Northern's groundbreaking to his elder son Ben, which we saw as being symbolic of his passing on the cycle of abuse as well as equating that abuse with the corruption/breaking of nature. And previously we saw a flashlight, like the one a young woman danced with in the Horne brothers bedroom. Everything is secretly revealing to us that the Hornes are at the center of this "conspiracy" at the core of Twin Peaks.

Infact, Amp's words, "You must see, hear, understand and act," can be a cry for Jerry, Billy's uncle, to see what was going on between his brother and his neice and put a stop to it. Unfortunately, the message reached the uncle too late to do any good.

On the flipside, as we were saying earlier, the words can now go to Billy, whom can take them to mean he has to get himself out of the mess with Betty and American Girl's mom. This goes in nicely with Dr. Amp's commercial, which, while trying to imply Billy needed to have sorted out his troubles and save himself on his own, other than looking for outward "salvation", like from American Girl (what we were discussing earlier with Steven and Becky), actually appears to Billy more like motivation to try to solve the problem of being identified as a serial killer, a problem which likely revolves around silencing Betty and American Girl's mom.

The two coats seems to fit in to Audrey's search for Billy, both Charlie and her needing their coats when they looked for him. It could also go with Carrie Page grabbing hers before going to Twin Peaks. She had previously also asked Richard/Coop if he'd found a "him" which we suspect meant Billy. The going from 2 to 1 coats though...does that implicate that Billy had dug himself out and had no more need for the shovel and its coats once he reached Twin Peaks? Or maybe the one coat (Carrie) represented a substitution which wasn't as good as finding Billy (Audrey and Charlie).

Dr Amp confuses us, just like Mike. We know David said something positive about him speaking the truth, but he's commercializing and putting a $29.99 price tag on the truth and salvation! Plus the shovel isn't even gold, it's spray painted! That helps us fall back easily into this also dealing with Billy's not so noble purpose of digging himself out of trouble. Plus, if you invert the three 9s you get the number of the beast that Briggs was reading about killing two witnesses whom testified of it during a Missing Piece, plus the three sightings of the 6 utility pole, as well as 3 sixes being above the COOPER/COOPER/COOPER owl message that Briggs delivered to Dale.


- At the Pentagon, Arlington, Va, Lieutenant Cynthia Knox informs her superior, Colonel Davis that there has been another Database hit on Major Briggs prints, making it 16. Davis doubts that it's real, but orders her to go to Buckhorn, South Dakota to check it out. It won't be real, he states, but if it is they have to contact the FBI.

We've always been confused by the Briggs story. So do the 16 hits mean that multiple bodies were found or that this is the first legitimate one? We're going to have to pay closer attention to it this time around.

Meanwhile, another female officer of some kind being in charge once more emphasizes how women are threatening to bring Billy to justice and it permeates his dream.


- In Twin Peaks, the band Trouble plays at the Roadhouse. A young, defiant looking man sits smoking under the No Smoking sign. Hello Richard Horne, Ladies and Gentlemen! A Roadhouse employee comes and tells him to stop smoking. "Make me," Richard says. Chad comes along and says he can help. What he really does is ask for a cigarette and Richard gives him the full pack, complete with a bribe inside to leave him be.

Ah...Richard. He plays a pretty large part in The Return but what often goes unnoticed is how Cooper, his dad (we're not bothering to say it isn't, since we see the doppleganger as being Coop too) will wind up with his name at the end of things. We meet him alone and smoking, staring at the cigarette, and obviously not caring about following any rules. The women ahead of him are obviously aware of him too. He looks like Jerry a little and smokes like Audrey. There isn't much Cooper in him, but since we're theorizing he's the result of incest it makes sense he primarily screams HORNE.

The band Trouble playing during Richard's first scene, recalls how Audrey, at her father's brothel and having been propositioned by him there too, had this conversation with Dale, over the phone:
Cooper: Audrey, if you're in any kind of trouble...
Audrey: I am in trouble, but I'm gonna come home now.
Trouble was once a euphemism for being pregnant. The hidden truth is that Audrey WAS in trouble, by her father.

As Steven represented a somewhat less harsh depiction of Billy as a loser whom winds up falling into violence etc...Richard is a harsher depiction of Billy's dark side.

Having Richard smoke, links him to fire, like BOB. It also reminds us of how, in Ben's first scene, he was seen spitting into a fire, and in Audrey's second she was smoking at her locker, with a Smokey the bear ashtray warning of fires seen hidden inside of it.

This is one of the Roadhouse scenes that connects to the series in a larger more involved way, as opposed to some of the isolated and seemingly random encounters that sometimes end certain episodes. The Richard and Chad connection is established with the bribe. That will be elaborated on later.

The pack of cigarettes is Morley, a common Hollywood prop brand. Now, what's interesting about that is how the first known appearance of it occurred in a little film called "Psycho." It can be seen after Dr. Richman has spelled out Norman Bates psychosis and his troubled relationship with his mother. Now that's what we've been saying about Billy and his own mom, two other motel dwellers, and we even mentioned how the painting "Venus with a Mirror," seen when Dale went to rescue Audrey from One-Eyed Jack's, can be seen in "Psycho" also, as Norman explains to the woman he's attracted to the complicated relationship he has with his mom. In "Psycho" the painting is seen beneath a taxidermy of an owl. Now, Morley being used here might just be a coincidence, many films/shows using it after "Psycho" but added to it is something that can't be unintentional. The crest on Morley is usually of a lion and unicorn; this crest is of two lions, with a third, smaller one in the middle. That's the Dutch coat of arms. The DUTCHman's. Audrey had her COAT when she went to look for Billy at the Roadhouse. The ARM will ask Dale if it is the story of the Little Girl who Lived Down the Lane, which Audrey said was her story. Her son, little boy, is smoking (fire) a pack of that cigarettes at the Roadhouse, doing it when he isn't supposed to be. Richard is Billy, or rather Audrey's son, is the underlying secret.

Morley, like it's use in "Psycho," used to have a horse on the pack. That can fit with the general theme of horses in Twin Peaks.

Lynch having the Dutchman's evoked on Richard's pack of cigarettes, and shooting it with Chad's hands holding it aligns perfectly with his shot of Jade holding the Great Northern key. Both motel/hotels are the same.


- The lights start flashing. One of the girls in the booth before his, whom have been noticing Richard, asks if he has a light. He tells her to come here. She sits next to him and he grabs her forcefully, asking for her name. It's Charlotte. He asks if she wants to fuck him. Her friend tries to intervene. Little fucking smoking babies he calls them. It makes him laugh, he says, and he'll laugh while he fucks her.

Lights flashing were usually an indication of BOB. When Richard is about to harrass a girl sexually, the lights start flashing.

Funny, but it was the blonde whom seemed to be noticing Richard more than her brunette friend. But it's the brunette whom approaches him.

Her asking for a light instantly recalls the woodsmen asking, "Got a light?" while Richard asking what her name is does the same with the title to Part 18 "What is your name?" That title comes from Cooper/Richard asking what the name of the woman whom owns the Palmer house is, discovering it is Alice Tremond. Tremond is the name of the grandson. Richard Horne is the grandson of Ben Horne, whom we believe was also his father. The girl's name is Charlotte, which is actually the feminine equivalent of Audrey's husband's name, Charlie. It means free man.

Richard's derision and calling Charlotte and her friend "little f***ng babies," makes us remember how Jean Michel, the bartender, will get a phone call informing him a John found out two of the prostitutes sent to him were underage. Which reminds us of how Leland, in the Between Two Worlds interview, admitted to seeing girls younger than his daughte, yet still claimed his innocence about what they'd said he'd done. This scene, and the Jean Michel one, indicates that underage girls were being passed off as of-age sex workers, which could heavily suggest that Leland was innocent and unaware that the prostitutes he went to weren't of age.

In the background, we can see a woman whispering to another one, just like Laura whispered to Dale. Makes sense. Part of her whisper indicated he was Richard Horne.

Richard promises to laugh while he f***s Charlotte but we don't know if he does it. What we find interesting, while examining things through this theory, is how different Richard is from Dougie Jones. One was a tulpa of Mr. C, but, though he was immoral, he was nowhere close to what we see of Richard. Sure Richard is a doppleganger's son, but why, if Dougie, a copy, isn't that horrible, should Richard be? We think that the doppleganger bit is an excuse. He wasn't born evil but things happened that made him choose to be. The problem/blame is still his, but it's not as cut and dried as his father was evil so he inherited it. We suspect the seed lay with his relationship to his family, something Ben tries to hide from Truman when he comes to discuss Richard's latest crime, hoping that the lawman won't delve too deeply into shameful family tragedies and horrors.

In Part 18, Dale/Richard imitates some of Richard's postures here. He'll save a woman from being harrassed too, inverting his actions here.


- At her desk, Tammy stares at Coop and Mr. C's photos. She then compares the new prints on her computer with an older ones. Something surprises her.

Tammy seems enchanted by Dale and less so by Mr. C. More wish fulfillment by Billy? Hidden narcissism?

She's finding out his prints are reversed, as per the Lodge influence. We've theorized that stems from Billy's role as mirror.


- In Yankton, Mr. C is given a telephone to make his one "private" phone call. He thanks the Warden, whom then goes into another room to monitor it. Mr. C looks up towards the ceiling. In the monitor room, Warden asks if they're recording. Yes, recording everything, he is told.

Hmmm...we see the warden going up a flight of stairs. Since we discussed stairs and their connection to Billy, that's interesting.

We theorized, after thinking about the ring in FWWM, Laura was looking to her ceiling and the greater implication was she was asking who the dreamer really was. Now Mr. C is looking in the same direction, at Murphy and the other men watching him. Billy, too, is watching over everything.


- Addressing the ceiling, where the camera is, Mr. C states now that everyone is here, he will make his call. He makes a show of it, aware he is being watched. "Now who should I call? Should I call, Mr. Strawberry?" he asks. "What the hell," the warden says, obviously distressed. "No, I don't think I'll call Mr. Strawberry. I don't think he's making calls," Mr. C states as if looking directly at Murphy, whom rubs his mouth.

Mr. C once more seems omniscient. Is it his deeper oneship with Billy, the dreamer?

Who is Mr. Strawberry? He obviously scares Warden Murphy. We wondered previously in "Wounds and Scars" if there was any connection to Mr. Pinkle and how that name can be translated to mean penis, and how him forcing Richard Tremayne to kiss a weasel, a phallic animal, was suggestive. At the time we wondered if it had anything to do with this Mr. Strawberry and the secret Mr. C knows about him. We thought the warden might have been molesting his son, but have since wondered if it involves some other secret or his having murdered someone whom had hurt his son in a similar way. But the stairs have us looking again to see if Murphy might still be guilty. We're still not sure. More contemplation is needed.

Why does Warden Murphy rub his mouth when Mr. C says that Mr. Strawberry isn't taking calls? That Strawberry isn't might indicate he's dead, but Murphy wiping his mouth just as much might indicate his mouth would have been used to answer the call. It's also making us think of how Mr. C rubbed Jack the mechanic's mouth. We theorized Jack could be the name of the "daydream" Billy had of his dad, before he learned the truth. But we also theorized the truth behind that daydream, his real father, could have abused him with his mouth. Or the Warden might just be left with a bad taste of guilt in his mouth. Warden Murphy rubbing his mouth is filled with different possibilities.


- Mr. C then states he knows who to call and after quickly typing in many numbers the lights and the monitors go wonky inside of the prison. "What the hell," Murphy asks again. "The cow jumped over the moon," he says shortly after, and everything instantly returns to normal when he ends the call. The warden wonders what this guy just did. Mr. C continues to stare at the camera.

Light flashing is typical of BOB.

Mr. C being connected to Billy, the dreamer, and his own connection to the electricity behind dreams, can make him easily manipulate the electronics.

Interesting choice of two of the monitors showing a man working on making/fixing shoes in a workshop and a cooking show. Shoes have some deep meaning we haven't exactly pinpointed (Audrey's in the Pilot echoing the Red Room color scheme, MIKE/Phillip selling his circle brand shoes, Cooper losing his as he was sucked into the socket). Appetite/hunger is also a central theme.

Mr. C saying "the cow jumped over the moon," can tie to how the book Laura is seen carrying in FWWM has an illustration of this rhyme, minus that important cow (unless the pig looking thing is meant to be a cow), on the inside cover. It also links to the moon, although the symbol Mr. C is looking for is under the moon not over it. It can also link to Audrey's "The little girl who lived down the lane," too, which is also inspired by a child's nursery rhyme.

Mr. C staring at the camera reminds us also of Coop staring at one in FWWM.


- In Buenos Aires, Argentina, we see the black box device again, in its gold bowl. This time we see it's lying in a dirty, dark room with that single lightbulb. It blinks red twice and turns into a gold bumpy seed/rock.

Since the last scene reminded us of Dale staring at the security camera in FWWM, is this, plus the location, more indication that the box is connected to Phillip Jeffries.

It turns into a bumpy looking version of the gold seed. Is that what happens when you tulpa someone whom isn't exactly human anymore?


- Coop/Dougie is still at the cowboy statue lovingly caressing its shoes. A cop tells him there's no loitering and then walks away as Dale/Dougie continues to stare at the footwear.

There's those shoes again! As well as what we believe is Billy's old love and devotion for the imaginary father he invented. Are shoes looked at as more positively spiritual than cars?
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 4 "...Brings Back Some Memories"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- It's nighttime now in Vegas, and the staff of the Silver Mustang look on in horror as Dale/Dougie keeps shouting "Hello!" and winning jackpot after jackpot. The main man in charge, Burns, asks how many and the female staff member with the bucket answers 29 mega jackpots. "I'm dead," the man states.

Cooper is obviously very lucky, thanks to the Red Room influence. It's curious why, exactly, and how fire is involved with it. Why would the Lodge take such a keen interest in Dale Cooper making a fortune for Dougie Jones' family? Sure, they might be setting everything up like a row of dominoes but it's all very odd...too cheery for them. Or is this all more of Billy's secret wish fulfillment inside of his fantasy world?

It's certainly not Burns wish, since he knows this could end things for him. It does, and it also helps to introduce the Mitchum Brothers into the story whom turn so amusing and helpful we guiltily forget how horrifying they began.

Burns is an interesting name, especially in this casino/hotel and how we suspect that Billy burned down his family's motel.



- The slot addict lady goes up to Cooper/Dougie, calling him Mr. Jackpots and asking which one. He points one out, she goes and wins and then thanks him in joy as Dale/Dougie smiles at her in happiness.

We discussed earlier how the name Jack seems to hold special significance to Billy. We've theorized it was a name he associated with an idealized fantasy version of his father, before he discovered the horrifying truth that it was really his own grandfather. Inside of his dream, we suspect Billy adopted the role of that fantasy father figure, Jack Wheeler, to take his mother's virginity so it wouldn't have to be her own father, and yet Ben hearing the ringing sound at the Great Northern, as that event was all playing out, we suspect rang in the truth, that it was really him. We also have One-Eyed Jack's, Ben's brothel/casino where he once almost forced himself on Audrey, as simultaneously Cooper was shot in his room at the Great Northern, as if the event had psychically effected him. Then we have Bobby's land of make-believe with his own dad, a place he named Jack Rabbit's Palace. And we have the Jack Rabbit statue in Odessa, never shown, but importantly named Jack Ben Rabbit. Now we have the slot addict woman naming Cooper "Mr. Jackpot" as Dale helps her win money and she thanks him and Cooper looks at her with the love and affection a child would show to their mother. This is his mother, though, a fragment of her. We suspect it is an illustration of her greed again and how she might have used her son to ensure material comfort from their father. Audrey tying herself to a bank before the conception of her son, and her substitute, Teresa Banks, help reveal this. Of course, there were probably deeper motivations for his mother's dependence on their father, but Billy can't help see past the money aspect of that, something which emerges in various characters/relationships, like the Lady slot addict here and even Janey-E Jones later. Billy harbours deep resentment that his mother chose wealth over their emotional safety, possibly even resenting the fact that his name can be shortened to Bill, another association with money.

Burns grabs his neck, showing how he's afraid he's going to lose his neck over this debacle. It can tie to Naido/Betty motioning the cutting of her own neck and how that is equated with loss of life.


- A man named Bill Shaker, from Allied Chemicals, and his partner come over as Bill recognizes Cooper as Dougie. Bill seems to be the one who teaches Dale to identify as Dougie Jones now, as Dale/Dougie keeps repeating things. Bill is impressed with the way "Dougie" looks saying he looks like a million bucks. Coop/Dougie wants what Bill is eating. Bill won't share it, explaining he's hungry and hasn't eaten since breakfast at home. Coop/Dougie becomes transfixed on the word home. Bill doesn't get it but his partner believes Dale/Dougie wants to go home. She asks where his home is. "Where home?" Coop/Dougie asks, and Bill answers "Lancelot Court." It has a red door and is near Merlin's Market. The woman knows something must have happened. Bill says there are cabs outside and Coop/Dougie walks off. The woman wonders if he's okay and Bill hopes he's okay.

Another Bill. There are quite a few popping up in The Return despite the fact that Dr. William Hayward was our only major Bill in the original series. This Bill helps put Dale on track, giving him the information of his name and where he lives, which helps him get by. His girlfriend/wife on the other hand is more interested in Cooper's mental state, acting motherly and showing perhaps how women are more attuned to that, and how American Girl might have been the same, kind to Billy because she sensed something was wrong, but it helped lead to his interest in her in the wrong way.

Bill Shaker says that Coop/Dougie looks like a million bucks. He's being equated with money again. Bucks, we theorized often before, are HORNEd animals often associated with Billy, whom as Hastings lives in BUCKhorn. Both Bills and Bucks mean money.

Coop/Dougie wanting what Bill is eating isn't a good sign, since it looks like a hot dog or something and this series is obviously trying to tie in the less savory characters with a penchant for bad/fast/frozen food: Chad with his microwaveable dinners, Carrie Page with the same, Hutch and Chantal.

Cooper becomes transfixed on the word home. Home is such a very large theme in the Return and it began in FWWM and The Missing Pieces. We never supposedly see Cooper's home though. This episode will give an address for it, we think, but we've never actually been there. Most of the time we see him, he is at hotels/motels, the most significant of which is The Great Northern. We suspect that this is because it truly was his home, or rather he, as Billy, lived at the Red Diamond, or whatever truly the Dutchman's was. The original script to the original finale even had Dale flipping between being a boy and an adult and encountering his father running a seedy motel, which eventually led to the Great Northern. In the Missing Pieces, the Arm laughed at Dale's question of where he was and how he could leave, by telling him there was no place left to go but home. That was supposed to eventually be followed by the reveal of what happened after Mr. C hit his head in the mirror at the Great Northern. In some vague way, Mr. C seemed to understand the joke, stating that hitting his head and the mirror breaking struck him as funny. However, we argue he is the "Black Lodge" aspect of Billy and more aware of how home is a truly horrible place to be. Meanwhile, Cooper, as the "White Lodge" aspect, may idealize it to an unreal proportion, or be willing to forgive that horror and remember only the good things he longs for of it, especially now that he is reverted to a childlike/innocent state.

The woman, playing mother again, realizes he wants to go home and Cooper asks "Where home?" obviously because he can't remember in all senses of the word. He might long for it, and his mother, but he's forgotten what it was truly like, divided as he is. The fact that Dougie Jones, created from Mr. C, chose not to linger at home might also betray how he too was closer to the negative associations of the word.

Bill reveals that Dougie lives at Lancelot Court near Merlin's Market. We've got a general Arthurian theme now picking up where Glastonbury Grove left off. For this theory, we've forged a connection to Glastonbury Grove being symbolic of the conception/birthing area of a mother, now we have Dougie, a form of Cooper/Billy, residing in Lancelot Court. An interesting note we've made before, but Venus, the statue in the Red Room, has her own weird connection to Arthurian Legend. It actually crisscrosses with the original Sleeping Beauty legend which will be enacted by Audrey and Mr. C. In the story of Zellandine and Troylus, Venus infact is the one whom saves Zellandine when she is cursed to prick herself on a piece of flax and fall asleep. It is also Venus whom urges Troylus, the maiden's love, to have sex with her while she's still asleep. This causes Zellandine to become pregnant. She gives birth while asleep and her son awakens her by sucking out the flax from her finger when attempting to nurse. The name of the child was Benuic and he is a ancestor of the father of Sir Lancelot. So Venus isn't just connected to the myth of a woman whom lay with her father and gave birth to a son after turning into a tree, but the story of King Arthur and Lancelot too!

Since cabs are mentioned in this scene, we'll point out an interesting thing we learned yesterday. The scene where Audrey is introduced looks similar to the start scene in Hitchcock's Stranger's on a Train where Bruno is introduced stepping out of a cab in a pair of saddle shoes. The cab company there is called Diamond, which we can connect to Audrey, the Queen of Diamonds and wealth herself.


- The Silver Mustang staff members notice Coop/Dougie leaving. Warrick rushes and stops him from going, bringing him to Burns office, whom is obviously still worried about the repercussions of this man winning so big. Warrick sits him down, motioning that he's nuts. Burns brings out a huge bag and asks if he was going to leave without his winnings. Burns asks if they can do anything to help. Coop/Dougie says "Call for help," Burns asks who to call and Coop/Dougie repeats who, looking at a conglomerate of red dice on Burns desk. Burns asks if he'd like a room, companionship etc...and for him to think of them as his home away from home. "Home," Coop/Dougie repeats as he stares at the red dice. Burns asks where he lives and Coop/Dougie turns his focus back to the man saying Lancelot Court and cab ride, as per Bill's info. Burns says no cab rides and asks his name. Dale/Dougie points to himself and says "Dougie Jones". Burns orders a limo and Warrick calls it in for him. Burns pushes the bag at Mr. Jackpots. Coop/Dougie goes to take it but Burns stands and leans ominously forward, actions that Coop/Dougie mirrors. Burns asks him to promise to come and try his luck with them again soon, day or night. "Or night," Coop/Dougie repeats and then looks at the security camera on the ceiling. "That's right," Burns says, "We're watching you, Mr...Jones."

Burns is still holding onto his neck, afraid of losing it.

Howard Hughes is the photograph on the wall, which makes sense, giving his connection to Vegas. Kalfka being on Hastings and Cole's walls is more harder to explain. Unless there is a thread being made of Billy Hastings habit of transforming himself, like Gregor Samsa, but into FBI Agents like Cooper and not vermin. Interestingly, Kalfka was, himself, an insurance executive, as Dougie Jones is. We theorize that Billy transformed himself into what appeared to be an everyday average man to help conceal the fact that he was a murderer. This also adds another nice detail to Cole having a photograph of an explosion on one wall and Kalfka on the other: Billy equates his birth to something destructive and he sought to dream himself as something, someone, else to counter it, in this case FBI men. It also goes with Laura's whisper that she can see what's beneath that FBI suit.

Cooper is transfixed by a large conglomeration of red dice sitting on Burns' desk throughout the scene. Why? Red die feature on the cover to David Lynch's Crazy Clown Time. So does a blackened finger, but not the spiritual one, the middle finger instead. It also has something about a motel scribbled on the hand as well. The motel thing is interesting. We might be able to connect it to Teresa, whom lived and worked at the Red City Motel and was holding ice at some point = Red (d)Ice. It could also be Red Die, like 123 "as in Ready (red die) set go!" which also has to do with Teresa. That's interesting since we believe Teresa is a substitution/representation of Billy's mother and the Red Diamond/Dutchman's was his real home. With all of the discussion of home, that might be in Dale/Dougie/Billy's mind and so he centers on the red dice. Is home being separated from where he "lives" in this moment as Coop stops looking at the red rice he was hypnotized when he said "Home." He gives Lancelot Court as the name, repeating what a Bill told him.

Burns ominous warning that they are watching Coop/Dougie, along with some doubt cast on the name Jones, could be the truth intervening inside of Billy's dream, his possibly valid paranoia that the police are watching him and his realization that "Jones," a very commonplace name to give him the appearance of your commonplace man, is just an act/ruse.



- The limo driver takes Coop/Dougie to Lancelot Court, frustrated that his passenger only remembers the red door and not an address, because it's hard to see the color at night. Finally the driver sees it. He stops and helps Coop/Dougie, still clutching the bag with his earnings, out of the car. Coop/Dougie stands staring at the door and the driver waits with him. An owl flies by overhead. The driver comments how they spook him.

Now we're in Lancelot Court which can be connected to Glastonbury Grove. Red usually indicates a dream element we theorized, whereas the blue more indicated the truth. Dougie Jones and his family is a dream. The whole thing with the driver having trouble seeing the red door at night recalls, "Through the darkness of future past the Magician longs to see." Not saying the driver is the Magician but it illustrates how darkness is hard to see through. We theorize that the darkness which haunted the real Magician, Billy, was a spiritual/emotional state which he longed to navigate through. He turned to fire, destruction to help with that, which was a mistake.

Interestingly, the address to the Jones family abode is 25140, which numerology wise can come out as bead. That recalls the golden seed that Dougie came from.

At one point, when Coop/Dougie says "Red Door" the driver corrects him and says that they passed a black one. William Hastings' door was black.

When the driver stops in front of the house with the red door, we can see the house across the street's door is black, just as we pointed out Billy's is. This creates a nice mirroring, Billy having created a false image to trick the world and Dougie being made to trick the Black Lodge.

The limo is white in between the red and black doors, creating a red/white/black pattern, like the Red Room sometimes looks.

An owl appears importantly over Coop/Dougie and the house. This whole theory speculates that the owls were really the Hornes. This could intimate how this "home" will come to symbolize a dream for Billy, one where he can become the husband/child of a more idealized version of his mother.


- Suddenly Janey-E Jones appears in the doorway, saying her husband's name and asking, "Is that you?" The driver backs off to the side, sensing her anger. She storms out and slaps the man she believes to be her husband, asking where he's been. The driver explains that he was alone at the Silver Mustang and he was asked to bring him home. The driver then leaves, still sensing her ire. Janey-E reveals that Dougie was gone 3 days without a word. He missed work and his son Sonny Jim's birthday. She orders him to "Get inside" and then pushes him all the way in.

It's almost like the owl summoned Janey-E's appearance. That's just what we believe it did, because we see Janey-E as the perfected version of Audrey inside of Billy's mind. She's his mother and his wife, she always knows what to do, tries to take care of him and together they can live behind that red door in an imagined/idealized version of "home." We see Audrey Horne, Teresa Banks and Janey-E Jones as all being different representations of Billy's mom. They all have eleven letters to their names too, six letters to the first name, five to the last. And that could help explain Janey-E's rather peculiar first name: it needed to fit. It might also hold the missing "E" when BOB was apparently spelling his name out backwards under his victims' nails but he never reached R and the E was missing. Two interesting anagrams can also be formed if we fool around with the name Audrey Jones. We can get "Judys are one" or "Ones are Judy." That goes rather nicely with the idea that Bill is killing women he essentially views as the same individual.

Regardless of that, the casting of Naomi Watts as Janey-E couldn't be more perfect for this theory. Her previous most associated role with Lynch was her presence in Mullholland Drive...playing a role which was originally supposed to be Audrey Horne! Then that role was split into two characters whom were the same, a fantasy version and the reality, the fantasy called Betty and the reality named Diane. Here we have in another character the same name but the opposite. The reality is Betty while the fantasy is Diane.

Janey-E is another blonde substitute for a dark haired woman.

Dougie was missing 3 days, just like Carrie Page won't have been at Judy's for 3 days too. Is she carrying on the mantle of the symbolism for the "act" one puts on to detract detection?

We first hear of another (there are several) of the central other little boys that inhabit The Return: Sonny Jim. This is easily another representation of the young Billy and whom will also be able to live within a perfected dream of the family when Part 18 rolls around. Sonny can indicate this is Billy's aspect as a son. Sonny is often used by an older person to a younger, like a GRANDFATHER to a GRANDSON, which ominously hints at how that particular relationship plagues Billy.

- The house bearing all the signs still of Sonny Jim's birthday party, Janey-E pushes Dougie into a chair and demands to know where he's been etc...She angrily grabs the bag and is surprised by the money in it. She becomes angry that her husband might have gotten it at the Silver Mustang and if he hit the Jackpot. Dale/Dougie points to himself and says, "Mr. Jackpots." At the thought he won it now, though, Janey-E softens and says they could use it to pay "them" back. She calls it the most wonderful horrible day of her life, "Day of my life" Dale/Dougie repeats. Janey-E seems much more softer now, attentive to Dougie and saying she'll fix him a sandwich and get him a piece of Sonny Jim's birthday cake because they saved it. She says she's glad that he's home and kisses his forehead. "Home," Coop/Dougie repeats when he's alone.

Many balloons are all around, including red ones. We last saw a red balloon behind the addict mother. Red balloons will be in the background as Coop/Dougie becomes fascinated by the cowboy statue. Dr. Amp, during one of his tirades, mentions a red balloon. In the original series, a deflated/popped balloon was seen before the awakened Leo Johnson went after his wife Shelly. He was in a childlike state going after the woman whom had also played the role of his mother. Red balloons are then associated with childhood.

If we look at this scene, on one hand it's beautiful because Janey-E and the family can now pay off their debts. And yet it emphasizes how, inside of Billy's mind, he equates money/wealth/materialism/comfort with what a mother truly wants. All of Janey-E's righteous rage disappears at the sight of that money and she forgives the man she has every right to be angry with just because he brought home a bag of cash. She begins catering to him, but this man did miss Sonny Jim's birthday partly because he was frolicking with a hooker. He never even tried to beg MIKE/Phillip to let him out of the Lodge to see his family again. But Janey-E forgets about her son's emotional state, thinking of paying off debt etc... instead, as if that will make it okay for him. Billy very much associates this reasoning with his mother, whom chose to stay with their father for what he believes to be materialistic reasons. We can tie this equally as much to Audrey trying herself to a BANK before her conception of her son or her status as the Queen of Diamonds not Hearts. Likewise, Teresa Banks, her substitute, was solely interested in money and not in helping her friend, Laura, out.

Then we have too, Janey-E's declaration that this is the most wonderful...horrible day of her life. It's her son's BIRTHday, the evidence is all around her of that fact, but a bag full of money becomes the most wonderful day to her? That's sad...which can be betrayed in Coop/Dougie's repetition of "of my life" because that was how Billy felt too: that his mother loved the money more than him. He was both wonderful and horrible to her for she used him to get money from their father but the reason he existed was painful. Is this

Sonny Jim's birthday? If it is, Coop/Dougie getting out of the Lodge on the same day, gives another resonance to the fact and his words "of my life."

We went into it briefly in the original series and FWWM how we initially saw Ben kissing the top of Audrey's head before he stalled her relationship with Jack by sending her to Seattle on Horne family business. We then discussed how Leland kissing Laura's forehead, and being emotional and frazzled as he did it, might have further hinted that he was never the abuser but was forced to adopt the role that belonged to his boss Ben. Now we have a character we argue is a representation of Audrey, Billy's mother, kissing Coop/Dougie's (avatars for Billy himself) forehead as the man is reduced to a childlike state. The thread is obviously there for this theory. Coop/Dougie then repeats the words "home" in a way that stands out without really betraying much emotion. Home is a conflicted notion for William Billy Hastings, a place he can equally long for or dread in terror.


- Gordon talks to Bill Kennedy, Denise Bryson, now Chief of Staff's assistant. Cole asks how Martha is and if she ever fixed that thing with Paul. Bill says yes and that Paul is now in the North Pole. "Well there you go," Gordon says, slapping his shoulder. Bill tells him to take a seat.

Another Bill. This one played by Richard Chamberlain. Bill...Richard. His last name is supposedly Kennedy too. Twin Peaks began as a story of Marilyn Monroe and her involvement with the Kennedys. That was a topic even Dale Cooper expressed his curiosity about. Ben Horne even discussed the Kennedy brothers with Audrey.

Bill here keeps with the theme of secretaries, and the underlying current of Betty's importance to the story.

Audrey will reference a Paul to threaten Charlie with. It's not the same one likely, but since she's looking for Billy, the coincidence should be noted.

There are 3 Pauls we can think of in The Return, making his name almost as recurring as Bill or more accurately slightly behind the name Jack. Paul means small, and that is another word for little. The theme of Audrey being the little girl who lived down the lane is prominent to this theory as well as Billy being her son. That would make him the LITTLE boy who lived down the lane.

We honestly don't quite know what the deal is with Martha and Paul and the North Pole. Is Martha Bill's daughter, wife or love interest? Was Paul causing her trouble so his being sent to the North Pole meant he's been put on ice in one way or another?

Gordon Cole overuses the name Bill throughout their brief screentime together.



- Cole waits for a few seconds, noticing a bouquet of roses and lillies beside him on a chair.

Hmmm...so someone has sent Denise flowers, roses and lilies to be exact. We see Billy's mom being a rose to him. We also can link this to William Hayward, whom tried to make a red rose appear in the Missing Pieces and whom often had lilies in his house. That connects Denise to two Bills in a way, Kennedy and Hayward, which isn't a great sign to be honest and the next scene increases our concern.

Cole also looks oddly discomfited by the bouquet.


- Denise comes in and Cole informs her that they've got Cooper and he's in a federal prison in South Dakota and Denise grabs her chair for support, in supposed shock. Cole says they are going out to see him in the morning. Denise says she heard, to which Gordon shows obvious shock. She says Preston is going too and conveys dismay and suspicion over Gordon's actions. Cole reminds Denise of her confused and wild days and how he stood up for her when the other agents began to ridicule her, telling them to "Fix their hearts or die." Bryson expresses gratitude. Cole reinforces his belief in Preston. Bryson says she is speaking more as a woman than the Chief of Staff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Denise states how beautiful Tammy is and Cole says there is room for more than just one beautiful woman on the team. Denise is flattered and admits she can't usually speak like this, needing balls of steel, plus she has to deal with the hormones, which Cole doesn't want to hear about. Denise states that she trusts Gordon and knows he's on the trail of something big. She asks if Albert is coming and Cole confirms it. They say their goodbyes and Bill shows Cole out.

Now Denise gives an exaggerated reaction to hearing that Gordon's news has to do with Dale Cooper, like it's the first time she heard it. And yet she smugly reveals she knows Gordon is taking Tammy Preston with him. Ummm...so that act of being overwhelmed at the news about Cooper has got to be bull crap. But how did Denise know? She never answers. Here's a thought, what if Mr. C told her and the flowers are from him? Afterall, Mr. C seemed to know exactly what was going on when he was in prison and oftentimes out of it too. We previously saw a connection between Denise and the Billys, why not Mr. C too, whom will be seen with his info later in this same episode? It would make sense, Denis/Denise and Cooper having had a close friendship, and especially with other hints in this scene.

Denise casting aspirations on Cole's choice of bringing Tammy isn't exactly respectful nor do we believe it's for the reasons she claims. It's also hypocritical because she oggled Audrey Horne, getting all giddy/lascivious over the question about her age. Denise then also places emphasis on Tammy's looks. It's obvious this has nothing to do with the fact that she thinks Gordon will act irresponsibly and stems more from jealousy. But why? Unless she doesn't want Tammy around Mr. C. She secretly knows she can't trust him and would rather the beautiful FBI Agent not be there. We also have Billy's own troubled creation of Tammy Preston as motivation. Billy's a misogynist at heart and he was forced into creating a female FBI avatar in response to his being threatened by several women (Betty/American Girl/Her mom). Denise's feelings for Preston could be partially twisted by this also, accounting for the hostility towards a person she should empathize with.

Denise's gushing over the whole Federal Bureau of Investigation just feels...wrong. It seems more like someone pretending to be an agent would do then a person whom actually was one, no matter how much they loved their job This is probably still just Billy's little playacting of the FBI.

Denise knows that Cole is on the trail of something big. Have to still wonder if she has her own inside info from Mr. C himself.

Why did she know Tammy was coming but not Albert? Was her focus solely on Tammy or was Mr. C taunting her with the woman to breed pain and sorrow another reason for Denise's obsession?

Great blades of BOB! Why does Denise fan herself after Gordon leaves? Is she overheated because she was lying and in a tense situation? It certainly connects her to Mr. C/BOB even on a shallow level, but the other earlier questions didn't help either.


- At the Sheriff station, Lucy obsesses over the thermostat as she talks to Frank Truman on the phone. She thinks he's by a stream until he walks through the door, holding up his phone, and she turns to find him there. Screaming, Lucy falls over in the chair. Andy comes rushing out realizing that Frank was talking to her on the cell again. Frank explains he lost service in the parking lot and couldn't stay there all night. Lucy is confounded how it is possible.

Well that's obviously a fake photo of her, Andy and Wally on her desk. An inexplicably fake photo. That's probably hinting at the falseness of it all, Billy having not experienced a good relationship with his own parents.

Lucy's wearing her own necklace. Lucy is mother to a son, connecting her to Audrey.

This deals with the thermostat and temperature, reminding us of the earlier scene of Denise fanning herself, as if overheated. BOB caused things to become hot, his being fire. The ringing sound in The Great Northern is also emanating from a closet in the basement furnace room. Lucy references prisoners in this scene and their relation to the thermostat and temperature. Some interesting connections in relation to this theory.

Lucy's inability to reconcile with cell phones can betray how Billy once held a problem with modernization, having lived in a motel and then with his grandmother. We suspect that was why everything was old fashioned in the original Twin Peaks. Now, however, we see him having adapted, his exposure to the high school students at the school where he worked informing him and having experienced more on his own, apart from his family. Another instance is how an inexperienced teenaged Billy might have imagined his policemen not taking precautions, like wearing gloves at a crime scene, but here Macklay made it a point to show he was wearing his more than 20 years later. Or how unprofessional the Sheriff Station seemed but in the next scene we'll see how it's trying to be a lot more efficient.


- Frank walks in to a room at the station where several people, including 3 unfamiliar cops, are working and taking reports and monitoring. They tell him it's been quiet. Maggie goes on to give the terrible news that a boy named Dennis Craig OD'd at school and Andy took the case, speaking with the parents. "Little Denny Craig," Truman says. Maggie explains how, when the bell rang, he never got up from his desk. Frank asks where Hawk is and is told the conference room.

As we mentioned, after the last scene, this is almost hitting us over the head with how modern everything is now, the nice little Sheriff Station having a lot more officers with the regular equipment we didn't see before. It also implies that there is a heck of a lot more crime in Twin Peaks.

Andy taking the case of a teen whom died and then talking to the parents either shows how much of a good police officer he's become since he broke down over a naked girl being found wrapped in plastic on the beach or how desensitized he's become. Since he's allowed to enter the Fireman's, we'll go with the former.

Little Denny Craig. Well we got the word little in there again. We also have that this boy shared Dale Cooper's initials. So when the bell rang he never left his desk. That bell ringing, and the ring and constant phone calls (mostly involving Dale/Mr. C), and him never answering its call essentially resonate. The bell can mean either a change of class or hometime. So Denny Craig couldn't/wouldn't go home, a theme here with how Dale forces Laura to return home but never goes to his real home himself. The image of Denny Craig staying at his desk also contrasts nicely with Lynch's slow and lingering shot of Laura leaving hers and then it being empty. Interesting too how this boy gets a name but the boy Richard Horne kills is never given his own. We also have the fact that the drugs have infiltrated the Twin Peaks schools. Is this in any way linked to whatever illegal thing Betty was helping Hastings with before she found out about one that was even more disturbing?

This boy dying at school, and his connection to the emphasis placed on Laura at her own desk in school, might further illustrate how Billy murdered American Girl when they both attended school together. They both virtually were destroyed during their time at school but in different meanings.


- Frank meets with Bobby Briggs, now a Deputy, in the hall and tells him there's been another OD, little Denny Craig. He hasn't seen the autopsy but suspects its Chinese designer drugs. He asks Bobby if he saw anything on his camera, but Bobby just lists wildlife. He states if they were coming in from Canada he would have seen it, covering every trail. Known trail, Frank corrects. Then Bobby goes off to take a leak, arranging to meet in the conference room after.

Bobby apparently broke free from the Hornes at some point and became a man of the law instead. Was it after the death of his father? This can illustrate the alternate path Billy could have taken after his mother's death, if he chose to help others heal instead of spreading his own pain. It also hints at the general lawlessness of the Hornes.

The drugs being Chinese designer could link to Josie.

In Part 2, we theorized how Shelly, in The Return, can directly mirror Sarah/American Girl's mom and we also see in this episode direct correlations between Bobby and Leland/American Girl's Dad. For instance, Shelley, we theorized, was targeted and distracted by Red as an illustration on how Billy had/was planning to keep American Girl's mother from finding out his involvement in her daughter's death. Now Bobby, whom was supposed to be keeping an eye on the drug trafficking, seems oblivious to Red also. The guy is romancing his ex wife and getting drugs into town so Bobby's son-in-law can use them and give to Bobby and Shelly's daughter, but neither of Becky (Blue eyed and blonde like Laura)'s parents seem aware of the true danger their daughter is in or the threat of Red! Just as American Girl's parents were oblivious to the threat of Billy's interest in their daughter.

Bobby needing to go to the station's washroom is foreshadowing the diary pages being hidden there later. Hawk will later suspect that Leland placed them there, which makes no sense, but helps tie Bobby and Leland to the same area, just as we suspect they are the same essence in The Return. It's also foreshadowing Dale/Dougie needing to urinate coming up, something he did twice in the OG.


- Andy tries to explain cell phones to Lucy and expresses frustration how she's so good at her job but can't understand this one thing. He then goes off to join the meeting with Hawk.

We're working on Lucy's victory in Part 17, and more elaboration on how Billy fears a woman/mother might lead to his destruction.


- The obnoxious Deputy Chad Broxford joins Hawk and Truman in the conference room, as Hawk explains to Frank about Margaret's message about there being something missing and they'll find it involving something with his heritage. Andy enters too, followed by Lucy. Chad thought Margaret wasn't even allowed in the building, but Andy and Lucy are defensive and state it had to do with the gum she chewed. Andy says she gets messages from her log and Chad is rudely dismissive. Frank dismisses Chad.

Chad will turn out to be working with Richard Horne. Does he fear Margaret and her log knowing that? More hidden hints how Billy fears a woman knowing his guilt?

- Bobby comes into the room and, seeing Laura's prom photo standing amidst her case files and evidence, becomes overwhelmed and begins to cry. "Laura Palmer. Man...brings back some memories," he states then apologizes, finally asking what it's all about.

Two major things about this scene, besides the thin line it walks between parody and sincerity: Bobby obviously loved Laura, despite Cooper's words to him and, as we said earlier, Bobby is really echoing Leland here, whom similarly broke down into tears whenever Laura was shown/remembered. Bobby now is Leland/American Girl's dad, Billy still having difficulty separating individuals and, it being his dream, not really needing to; Bobby can become Leland if he darn well needs him to!


- Frank explains it has to do with a message Margaret had for Hawk about Cooper. Bobby reveals, to Hawk's shock, according to his mom, Cooper was the last person to see his father alive before he died. He'd visited the house to talk to Major Briggs then supposedly left town. Nobody saw Coop after that and the Major died in a fire at his station the next day. They question if Bobby knew what it was about but says he doesn't, only to get fixated on Laura's photo again.

This was clearly Mr. C. The intimation is that he killed the Major in a fire, just like BOB is and how Billy, we suspect, killed his parents. The real question is, though, were Mr. C and Briggs talking about Laura and that is why Bobby looks to her photo? Is Judy still the real name of American Girl? It looks very plausible that Mr. C and Dale Cooper might have had the same mission all along: to take care of "Judy" in each of their ways, but which equals the same thing. Or is it more indication that Cooper/Billy killed Laura? Does this meeting secretly have anything to do with Sarah/something contacting the Major on the OG finale? Was there something to the message he understood?


- Deputy Jesse Holcomb announces a Wally Brando is there and Andy and Lucy rush out to see their son. Frank tells Jesse who he is and Jesse's says Wally wants to pay his respect to him too. Less then thrilled, Frank leaves the conference room, passing Bobby whom is still emotional over Laura's photograph.

Ahh...Wally Brando. A perfect example of how someone can live out an act to escape facing their own identity or lack of one.

Bobby is still heartbroken/overwhelmed by the photo of Laura.


- Andy and Lucy are standing with their son Wally, by his motorcycle. He's obviously mimicking the man he has the name and birthday of. He heard Harry, his godfather, is sick and he wants to pay his respect and wish him a speedy recovery. He gives a speech and then gives his parents permission to do what they like with his old bedroom, it having been a grave concern to them. He gives another speech about where he's been and having made fond memories of his time in Twin Peaks, as a young boy. "My shadow is always with me," he says, giving all of the directions then, ahead, behind, left and right, except on cloudy days or at night. Frank tells him may the road rise up to meet his wheels, obviously in a hurry to leave. Wally tells him that his own dharma is the road and that his dharma is, stretching out his hands. Frank leaves Andy and Lucy and Wally, shaking his head on the way back to the station.

From poor little Denny Craig and Andy having to talk to their parents, we now meet his and Lucy's own son and while his parents love him it's obvious the poor kid probably heard once too often how he was born on Brando's birthday. He's imitating him. That's it. There can't be two Brandos but just as the Log Lady said sometimes we don't want to be ourselves and so we adopt alien behaviors to make it easier, that's what's happening here. What happened to Wally exactly, besides another identity being invoked to him often, we can't say. But it helps illustrate how Billy pushes his family's identities onto others and also how he has become other identities inside of his dreamworld to deal with his trauma. His own self image is poor or undeveloped.

Frank obviously is aware there is something wrong with the affectation of Wally and he's uncomfortable being around it. Having lost his own son, he might also be less joyful with the delusion.

Wally's discussion about his bedroom, and the use of the word "grave", might be indicating Laura/American Girl's bedroom, the same one we believe she was murdered in at the hands of Billy, not her father. Lynch will focus on the window of that bedroom in a later episode. Wally allowing his parents to change his might indicate American Girl's mom kept the room like her daughter (when she'd been alive) had left it, but by going back to it she might remember something about her daughter's murder, something that might implicate Billy...like something missing. Which actually might connect to Margaret's hint that something is missing.

Wally's talk about his shadow always being with him deals directly with how the same is true for Cooper. He is his shadow, as Andy himself will see in his vision at the Fireman's.


- In the daytime, in Las Vegas, an owl flies over the Jones' house.

Owls are night creatures, this is highly important. Obviously the owls and the Hornes are connected to the Joneses. As we stated earlier, we see Janey-E as a more idealized version of Audrey and Sonny Jim as just another Billy.

The shadow on the house shadows Wally's earlier talk of shadows.


- Coop/Dougie sits on the bed, looking like he has to pee, and staring at Dougie's green suit. MIKE/Phillip, in the Red Room, has his hand up as if he's feeling the air in the Red Room. Cooper suddenly turns to look at the side of the Jones' bedroom. Suddenly he sees MIKE/Phillip imposed over it. MIKE/Phillip knows Coop/Dougie can see him. "You were tricked," he informs. MIKE/Phillip then holds up the gold seed before saying that now one of them must die, meaning Cooper or Mr. C.

To go with Laura's whisper about Cooper's dark suit, a whisper which indicated that he used it to appear good when he wasn't, we also have Mr. C's edgy and dirty set of clothes and now Dougie's bright and somewhat tacky ensemble. These three suits tie in with the distinct characters of each men, One giving an air of righteousness, the other one of dangerous threat and the other perhaps trying to fit in or stand out. They each are composites of Billy's character or what he shows to different people and with Dougie he just wants them basically to think everything is okay and the worst of his sins is that he's a bad dresser.

It's clear that Cooper, whom was shown to treat his FBI suit lovingly in "Slaves and Masters" isn't too fussy on Dougie's fashion sense.

What is MIKE/Phillip trying to do exactly? Communicate most likely. Is he using his hand like an antenna of some sort, trying to catch a wave?

Coop/Dougie seeing the Red Room imposed on the Jones bedroom echoes two other instances of imposition. Sarah's face will be imposed over the Jumping Man and Phillip Jeffries will be imposed over the wall in Room #8 at the Dutchman's, as he talks to Mr. C. This lends an air of doubt. To impose something on something is essentially forced. We're supposed to take all this as real...but is it?

MIKE/Phillip seems to appear around the chair. Chairs play a noteworthy role in The Return. Andy and Lucy argue over which chair they should get supposedly for the study they are turning Wally's room into, while Major Briggs hid something important in his own chair. Here MIKE/Phillip discusses Dale being tricked. We earlier surmised Denise grabbing the chair after hearing about Cooper was an act, basically a trick. The gold seed MIKE/Phillip is holding is what is left of the tulpa, the trick he's referencing, and it was planted on the chair when Dougie returned to that form. The aforementioned scene between Lucy and Andy, with the chair, also involves Lucy tricking Andy by getting the chair he wants. Although he could have tricked her by using reverse psychology. Is there some hidden meaning/connection then between chairs and tricks?

There's a scarf or something slung over the chair similar to how one was placed over the Palmer chair when Maddy was killed. That was a trick, the dreamer framing his victim's father.

So the trick Mr. C performed was exchanging himself for Dougie so Dougie took his place in the Red Room and Cooper took Dougie's place in Vegas. Now either Dale or Mr. C must die. Why would one of them have to die? Or is it because they both are technically the same person, as opposed to a tulpa, and two of them running about in the same world is a bad thing? Is dying the only way to get them back to the Red Room and how does the Owl Cave Ring fit in with this?


- Janey-E walks in and the Red Room fades. She voices shock that Dougie isn't dressed. She notices him doing the pee pee dance and gets upset but leads him to the bathroom saying, "Listen, Mr. Dreamweaver, you go potty and then let's get you dressed fast." "You're worse than Sonny Jim," she then tells him. Coop/Dougie pees, the experience seeming new to him.

Just like Bobby, Dale has to pee, but that's nothing new for his character. Having to be led there like a child is, however, and Janey-E is once again playing mother to him, helping Billy live out a fantasy where he can be both husband and child to his mother. His wife comparing him to her son further collaborates this.

Mr. Dreamweaver? That seems pretty conclusive that this is Dale's, or whomever he truly is, dream. His coworker will also reference him being off in dreamland again in Part 5.

Dale/Dougie pees like he's horrified by it but relieved. He's very childlike harbouring back to what we theorized that, basically to be good again, Billy would need to revert back to a childlike state.


- Coming out of the stall, Coop/Dougie sees his reflection in the mirror and walks towards it, holding out his hand until it touches the glass and goes no further, yet with him still staring even afterward.

It's a eerie scene and we can remember the last scene of the OG finale was Mr. C looking in a bathroom mirror too and then smashing his/BOB's reflection. Coop/Dougie doesn't seem to recognize himself which fits nicely with this theory's claim that he's really Billy. When Billy Hastings was being questioned at the police station, he repeatedly looked at the 2 way police mirror, where he would have known he was being watched, but would have only seen himself in the mirror. Later in The Return, Mr. C will look at himself in a mirror and even later Audrey will be taken from the Roadhouse to a white space where she's looking frightened into a mirror too. Billy/Cooper is then linked to Audrey in this way. Of course we theorize that Charlie is another form of Billy, one whom mirrors his father in how he gaslights and keeps Audrey isolated, and in Part 16 we speculate that the mirror Audrey is really holding is Charlie/Billy himself. She went to the Roadhouse and she did infact find Billy, only he revealed himself to her as what he essentially was: a mirror. Actually, whatever she wanted him to be, that was Billy, and fragmented several times to be that purpose to the dream too, and that is why there are several Bills and versions of himself. Psychopaths use a term called mirroring to help them manipulate and get by and in the form of Dale/Dougie we see that illustrated often in The Return. It's a trick that even Audrey, his mother, used, as evidenced in how she got her father to give her a job in "The One-Armed Man" and it was explained very well by Catherine in "Variations on Relations," while talking about Josie Packard: "I think that early in her life, she must have learned the lesson that she could survive by being what other people wanted to see, by showing them that. And whatever was left of her private self, she may never have shown to anyone." While discussing the original series, we were led to the conclusion that Josie might have represented both Billy and his mother in some strange way. The mirrors now with the two Coopers and Audrey hint that possibility too. With this in mind we can return to the moment of Billy's interrogation in Buckhorn. He was aware that on the other side of that mirror he was being watched and judged, and so at one point he even turned and smiled, not paying attention to his image but rather the opinion of whomever was watching him at that moment. That was what Billy was, almost like that two way mirror. He offered those looking at it a view of themselves projected back, while on the dark side of it his true character stayed hidden.

Billy being a mirror also makes for an interesting possibility for Leland's having seen his reflection as being BOB, or rather reinforces our previous one: Billy projected this version of his own father on to this other father. In FWWM the scene of BOB/Leland drugging Sarah taking place in front of a mirror takes on that connotation too, the owl (Horne) lamp offering illumination beside it. BOB/Leland placing the mirror before Laura is the same: Billy being the mirror and purposely forcing the Palmers to reflect the things he wants them to, rather than a reality. This is opposed to Laura seeing her reflection in the Roadhouse doors, earlier, and suddenly seeming to remember who she is.

The belief that Billy mirrors back what others expect or want brings a wonderful possibility for the backward speech in the Red Room/Lodges. Those other than Billy himself (Cooper) struggle to speak normally for they are reflected in the mirror of Billy's mind and that would make their words reversed. Fighting to be understood, or to find their true selves, the words are reversed down forward, fighting against the mirror that longs to make everything backwards. That also helps explain why Cooper doesn't suffer that particular problem, being that mirror himself.

Another thing worth mentioning is that, when Dale rescued Audrey from her father's whorehouse, Titian's "Venus with a Mirror" was seen hanging on the wall. That echoes Audrey's last scene with Charlie and it should also be noted that in that artwork it is Cupid, Venus' son, whom holds the mirror for his mother to look into, just as it seems plausible Charlie turned into the mirror, and thus Billy inside of this portion of Billy's dream, to offer his mother a mirror to look into as well. We assumed that Audrey didn't find her Billy when she went to the Roadhouse, but she did, he just wasn't what she or us expected because he lacked a clear self image himself.

This scene of Dale/Dougie seeing his reflection, only to realize it's himself, could also wonderfully convey how, while Dale sees his doppleganger as separate, it is also just himself.


- Janey-E dresses Dale/Dougie in the bright suit and notices he lost weight. The black suit fit perfectly, she comments, and says she'll get it washed and maybe get him another one. She leaves him to do the tie, never any good at it herself. On the way to make breakfast, she calls for Sonny Jim.

Janey-E still playing mommy/wife. The suits, both Dougie's and Dale's, are being mentioned in comparison now too.

Can't remember anything super tie related in the series besides Ben Horne's interesting collection. If Janey-E represents the daughter he abused, she might be repelled at touching a tie or her ties to her father (family ties).


- Sonny Jim comes out and faces his "father". They stare at each other. Coop/Dougie touches his stomach with his right hand and Sonny Jim smiles. Coop/Dougie mirrors the smile, atrociously, and then the thumbs up gesture the boy gives too. He then turns around to mimick (monkey) even the direction. Janey-E calls Sonny Jim downstairs.

Why does Coop/Dougie touch his stomach when he sees Sonny Jim? Is this a link to appetite or nausea? We're arguing that Sonny Jim is another young representation of Billy. He could either be hungry for that younger self, or feel sick at remembering it. His hunger was also satisfied the night before with his son's birthday cake, in a dream which deals with the cycle of father's abusing their sons that would be a nauseating thought.

Coming after the scene in the bathroom with the mirror, this scene perfectly shows how Coop/Dougie mirrors people. This again is a metaphor for how Billy survived in society by mirroring the behavior of the normal people he saw.


- As Janey-E makes breakfast to David Brubeck's "Take 5," Coop/Dougie goes to the breakfast table, the tie over his head, and Sonny Jim watches his cluelessness in amusement. Meanwhile, Janey-E doesn't notice it at all. The boy helps his "father" sit and have his breakfast. Janey-E eventually gives her "husband" his coffee which Coop/Dougie greedily accepts but spits out, finally earning Janey-E's full attention. "Hi," he tells her.

Hmmm...with the inclusion of "Take 5" here, as Janey-E fixes breakfast for her husband and son, we are reexamining the number 5, especially after Part 3 and the emphasis on how Coop/Dougie needed to change a $5 bill and then used it first on a game called Five and Sparklers (Sparkle will be the name of the drug in Twin Peaks) and the fact that Dr. Amp was spraypainting 5 shovels gold, a shovel in an old family video representing how Ben's father passed on the cycle of abuse to him. Plus we have Richard Horne's big entrance in Part 5. We previously theorized that the Lois Duffy case, happening in 1975 was simultaneous with Billy's mom having abused him, which would have made Billy 2. But maybe the year isn't so important as the 5 in it. Maybe it was in room #7, when Billy was 5, that his mom first abused him, the reason why Cooper needs to check into room #7 when having sex with Diane in Part 18, evoking memories of his mother, to transform into Richard. The Take 5 playing here, Janey-E's back turned for a lot of the scene so she can't see her "sons"...maybe it's a disturbing hint that her inspiration, Billy's mom, took her son when he was 5, which goes along with Laura's statement in FWWM: "He's been having me since I was 12."

Janey-E is pretty oblivious in this scene to what's going on, she even brings two things to the table without noticing her "husband's" tie over his head. She also fails to notice what the father and son are doing, which could tie into how we suspect that Billy was also abused by his father/grandfather. Or maybe Billy's mom, as abused and tormented as she was too, turned a willing back to it. Maybe in her broken mind her own abuse of Billy was viewed as "comfort".

For Sonny Jim's sake here, though, Coop/Dougie isn't a threat and he finds him entertaining.

Two interesting design touches for this scene include the "I Love Mom" mug and the owl cookie jar. If this is Billy living inside of a Oedipus fantasy these two items are ideal. We've already seen Audrey as one of the owls, and how the Glastonbury Grove in Ghostwood was perhaps designed to resemble the birthing area of Billy's mom. Now we have that Coop/Dougie and Sonny Jim, avatars for Billy, can both have their hands in a cookie jar of an owl.

Janey-E grabs an apple. According to Mr. C's arrest report his employer lives at 1000 Appleton st. Does Mr. C see his mother as ultimately calling the shots?

While her place is set at the table, we never actually see Janey-E eat. Inside Billy's mind, the mother might feed her family but be feeding off of them in return.


- In Buckhorn, Constance shows the Chief and Macklay how she got a hit on the male body found in Ruth's bed's prints, but the Military has blocked it.

This is because of it being Major Briggs. We clearly saw the military's interference whenever Major Briggs was involved. Have to wonder if Bobby went the way of the police force and not the military because he saw them as not being as corrupted or he resented the military covering up anything about his dad. Billy probably resented not knowing the truth about his own father.


- In another area of South Dakota, Cole, Rosenfield and Preston arrive, being driven to the Federal Prison by other FBI agents. On the drive, Cole expresses disappointment about not being anywhere near Mount Rushmore. Albert brought a photo of it for him. Cole states, "There they are, Albert: faces of stone." Gordon notices that Tammy, in the front seat, doesn't seem well, Albert explains she gets carsick. Cole thinks he said Cossacks causing Albert to scream "CARSICK" and scare the driver. Tammy motions the driver on and Cole just assumes Albert is in a bad mood.

Okay, so if the photographs, not the items, were the clues that the congressman had left in his garden to find the real killer, in Gordon Cole's very first scene, we can perhaps take this photo of Mount Rushmore to be in the same vein. And if we do, honestly, we can connect it to one person: William Hastings. Mount Rushmore was pictured on his South Dakota Driver's licence, as it is on all licenses there, but not in the same spot. On Hastings' they appeared in such a way he almost became one of them. And, in just a little bit, we'll see the information listed on Hastings' licence appear on Mr. C's arrest report. If we tie that to the Kafka photograph being seen in Cole's office directly after the "congressman's dilemma" and how a photo of Kafka similarly appeared in Hastings' house, Cole's scenes have twice pointed us in the direction of William Billy Hastings. This is Lynch's way of trying to tell us Laura/American Girl's real killer, but in the same sly manner as the congressman, his dedication of never outright identifying the killer still in effect, although Leland Palmer was framed, just like the congressman was.

Tammy's carsickness might be linked to her invention dealing with Betty and whatever Billy did to her. In Part 1, it was stated he drove her home, when something was wrong with her car. Then a lump of flesh was found in the trunk of the car he took her home in. That could be the reason for Tammy Preston's car related nausea. We'll also find out that Tammy is wearing a wire, and we know that Mr. C had Jack wire Betty's car to explode.

The Return may not have answered everyone's questions, but it did help explain Albert's bad mood: dealing with Gordon Cole for so long. Of course, it could actually be the other way around and Lynch, as Gordon Cole is essentially punishing Albert Rosenfield for delivering that whole, "Maybe, that's all BOB is: the evil that men do," line which so many grasp on to, making them unwilling to look for alternate solutions to the question of who killed Laura Palmer.


- At Yankton Federal Prison, Warden Murphy and his associate explain how they found Mr. C after he drove his car off the road and had thrown up some kind of poison. It's being analyzed and has sent a highway patrolman to the hospital. Cole and Albert share a concerned/confused look at that.

That patrolman was just one of our many Bills. This, minus the name, is being mentioned before we see another one of the Bills, the most important one's, information mixed in with Dale's.

Does the info about the toxic barf indicate a Blue Rose case this early? Is that the reason for the look between Gordon and Albert?


- The FBI agents are shown what they found in Mr. C's trunk: cocaine, a machine gun, a dog's leg. Albert makes a joke about cheese and crackers and Gordon apologizes for him.

The items seem somewhat akin to the physical items found in connection to the congressman's case. Supposedly they found those in his car. Likewise the lump of flesh was located in Billy's trunk too.

Albert's joke about the cheese and crackers outright connects to the little boy seen eating crackers across from the building where Cooper materialized in Rancho Rosa. Crackers is a euphemism for crazy and Albert will eventually find euphemisms for William Hastings' mental state.


- They light up an image on a monitor showing Mr. C's mugshot and arrest information. "That's your man, right?" Inspector Randy Hollister asks. "Holy Jumpin George," Cole mutters. "Let's go talk to him," he adds and they leave as the scene ends off on Mr. C's mugshot.

This is possibly one of the most integral shots in all of Twin Peaks. Gordon Cole, played by one half of the series' founders, is even present for the special occasion. "That's your man, right?" Hollinger asks, and it is, well a part of Cooper being his doppleganger, but what's really strange is that another man's information is inexplicably mixed up with Mr. C/Dale Cooper's information. That person is William Hastings, a man imprisoned in another South Dakota prison. We have Hastings birthdate as well as his birthplace, Buckhorn South Dakota listed. His hair color might also appear. Now in South Dakota officers fill out the reports but get information from the arrested, so someone might argue that Mr. C was being cheeky and giving Hastings' info. But why they'd not see his hair color was black doesn't make any sense. Others have argued that it was just the prop department being lazy etc...but neither that, nor Mr. C intentionally giving Hastings' information, explains why Mr. C's height, in the mug shot, is 6"3, which is William Hastings' height! Infact, the written part lists 6", keeping more with Mr. C/Cooper's actual height. Why is the photograph telling us that Mr. C is Hastings height??? That means that the clues linking Hastings to Mr. C are a mixture of written AND visual. And that visual would have taken a bit more work than laziness would suggest. Then we have the fact that Mr. C is inexplicably naked in his mug shot. Even if he'd been to the hospital you'd think he'd be in a gown. Unless, this all goes back to what Laura whispered to him: "Don't assume (that) nobody can spot your dark suit off but me." All of the suits of the fragmented Dale are off, now he's exposed and leaking into William Hastings!

Cole using the word "Jumping" invokes both the grandson jumping around the Red Diamond motel parking lot and the Jumping Man. It also reminds us how the Jumping Man was flashed when Jeffries asked, "Who do you think that is there?" about Dale.

Mr. C and William Hastings' identities bleeding into each other also happens to take place in an episode where 2 other Bills appeared, and a Billy was referenced but not by name. That's four, or five if we count Billy, the dreamer, as someone separate, Hastings not being a wholly accurate depiction of the reality.


- In a room where they are separated from "Cooper" by a wall of glass and wire, Gordon questions Mr. C, Warden Murphy and Hollinger not in the room. Mr. C fakeily gives a thumbs up and Cole nods. Mr. C states, "It's yrev, very good to see you again, old friend." Cole repeats the sentiment. Mr. C remarks how he hasn't seen Gordon in a long time and his boss agrees. Mr. C states he's missed their times together and Cole agrees, asking where he's been. Mr. C answers that he's been working undercover with Phillip Jeffries, resulting in a visible reaction from Albert. Cole is surprised and Mr. C says he needs to be debriefed by him and to tell him the whole story, all of its twists and turns, which he was going to do when he was running late and "his car veered over across the road" and he had his accident. Cole explains that's how and why they found him. Mr. C then repeats the same thing almost verbatim but alters it when it comes to having veered over across the road, changing it to: "veered over off the road". "I've left messages," Mr. C states centering in on Albert. When Gordon asks what messages, Mr. C answers, while looking at Albert, "Messages so Phillip knows it's safe." Albert looks sad and guilty, something Cole instantly picks up on.

Mr. C being behind glass now echoes Hastings again, his having been watched at the Buckhorn police station during his interrogation. It fits in nicely with the glass box in NYC.

Mr. C giving the forced thumbs up also perfectly parallels what we previously saw played out with "Papa" Cooper/Dougie and his "progeny". Neither of them are good at perfectly mimicking normal actions at this time.

The first very in Mr. C's playacting of politeness is backwards, like the Lodge influence. We previously theorized that the backwards speech has to do with how Billy mirrors people and a mirror reverses things. It also links Mr. C to the Addict mom and her 1-1-9 shout and Audrey's Dance playing in reverse at the end of Part 16.

The doppleganger seems to be trying to imitate pleasantries.

It's a bit of a shock to hear that Mr. C has been working with Jeffries when Phillip seemed to hate him in FWWM. Albert's reaction is disturbing too, you just know he goofed up and Mr. C is trying to guilt trip him. What the heck went on with Phillip Jeffries and Mr. C exactly? We've never completely gotten hold of that one. We often wonder if Mr. C tulpad him like Diane and himself. That seemed to be his major go-to for difficult situations afterall.

We've seen this scene several times and just thought that Mr. C's repeating the lines about his accident was the normal doubling thing. This time we noticed his odd choice of first claiming his car "veered over across the road" and then later "veered over off the road." Did he repeat himself to change that one bit? Why? When we heard it, all we could think of, for some reason, was the little girl who lived down the lane. It also invokes the little boy whom is going across the road with his mother in Part 6. Did Mr. C's original wording bother him so much he repeated the whole sentence?

- Mr. C wants to know when they are getting him out of the prison. Cole counters that the authority have enough evidence to hold him, Mr. C states he will, of course be exonerated in courts of law. Cole tells him to rest assured that they are going to bring him back home for their talk. "I've never really left home, Gordon," Mr. C replies. Gordon says he'll see him soon and Mr. C gives another thumbs up. Cole returns it and they put the shield back down. The FBI agents share worried looks.

Mr. C knows he doesn't have to stay here, he planned it all out as we know from that dog leg. His impatience about getting out is an act...what doesn't seem like one is his declaration that he has never really left home. This out of the blue remark, the way he says it, and the reaction he had when he was threatened on returning to the Lodge showcase in a disarming way how horrible the notion of home is to this monster. Even though he trapped a part of himself there for 25 years, he felt like he never really left it. That is, not only because Dale Cooper is actually him, but also the fact that Billy Hastings has never really managed to escape his own home. Even though it was destroyed, its memory still haunts him, the abuse he suffered there, the loneliness, fear and hopelessness. That was where he died in a way, just like the boy crossing the street.

Gordon Cole looks affected by his words and his returning the thumbs up sign this time could be construed as an act of pity even, or encouragement, not just trying to appease a friend he no longer trusts.

When the shield falls again, we leave off with Mr. C frozen giving that false thumbs up symbol and its creepy as anything.


- Murphy says they can hold him for 2 more days before pressing charges. Cole suggests they give him his private phone call which he wants to hear about.

Mr. C has a complicated relationships with phones we should mention. His call with Phillip Jeffries whom wasn't Phillip Jeffries. His 1 allowed prison call. Then there's his phone call in room #8 at the Dutchman's. We can understand Cole's interest.


- Tammy, Albert and Gordon talk outside in the evening. Tammy knows Mr. C lied about heading to Philadelphia and states how people became sick after being in contact with him. She knows Albert is unwell too but he says he's okay. She asks about Phillip Jeffries and is given a very brief description. Gordon puts up his hearing aid and points out Tammy is wearing a wire. Annoyed, she reminds him he asked her to. Cole instructs her to wait in the restaurant until he and Albert are done. Watching her sashay over to the building makes Albert feel better.

Here's the reference of Tammy being wired, just like Betty's car and how she was carsick earlier, Betty possibly losing a chunk of flesh during her own ride with Billy. Interesting if Billy echoes several characteristics of the victims in the FBI agents he invents for himself. That could deal further with his inability to define himself. It also would be interesting since we believe he projects what he does know about himself, or doesn't want to face, on his victims. An exchange maybe?

Tammy's being sent to a restaurant to wait, could be a nod to the theme of hungers.

Albert seems more perverted here than Gordon. Denise should have given him the hard time instead.


- Cole mentions Albert's reaction to what "Cooper" said. An apologetic Albert explains how he authorized Jeffries to give Dale some information. Cole expresses shock about Coop and Jeffries involvement, the latter having been off the radar for years. Albert explains it was years ago and he thought Cooper was in trouble, Jeffries saying it was urgent. Albert didn't talk to Coop. The information was about a Columbia informant whom then turned up dead a week later. Cole seems disappointed. After a long pause, Gordon mentions he doesn't like what he saw of Cooper today. They both agree Something's wrong but it's not because of the accident.

This is still perplexing with the Cooper and Jeffries relationship. Cole introduced them in FWWM, so it has to be after Mr. C was let out to play. Albert supposedly not seeing the person he was talking to makes things further slippery. There's still a large chance Mr. C was operating with a Jeffries tulpa. But...why wouldn't Mr. C phone up Albert for the info himself? What was the deal with the dead informant? And, this happening in Columbia, is there any relation to Jack Wheeler's murdered partner in Brazil? Also, if Jeffries was tulpad how can we be sure which one Coop met in Part 17?

"Something wrong" is a common statement for Twin Peaks...likely because something is very wrong with Billy.


- Albert moves his shoes on the concrete and the result is Gordon hearing it so loudly it causes him pain.

Shoes are a common thread to Twin Peaks. Does this instance pertain to MIKE/Phillip whom sells shoes for a living and also commented that something was wrong in a previous episode? MIKE/Phillip brings Cooper to see Jeffries. Now we're wondering though...was it the right one?


- Cole says "Cooper" didn't greet him properly and Albert agrees. Though he hates to admit it, Cole concedes he doesn't understand the situation. Upon questioning, Albert understands the situation as a Blue Rose. "It doesn't get any bluer," Gordon Cole states.

The backwards very is being referenced, a sign of the Lodge and of great interest to the Blue Rose taskforce. Their realization/admission that this is a Blue Rose case goes perfectly with the blue tint to the whole scene.

- Cole states that before he does anything else they need one person to look at Cooper. He asks if Albert knows where she lives. "I know where she drinks," Albert replies.

Diane is being introduced subtly here, a substitute for Betty. Cole turning to her to check out "Cooper" for herself, probably to see if she could notice anything wrong about him they didn't, also should recall how Ray stated that Betty, being Hastings' secretary, would know what he did.


- Nice segway to the Roadhouse, where Au Revoir Simone perform "Lark".

Some interesting lyrics to this song and its relation to this theory too.

"So
So long
So long ago
There wasn't anyone out there I thought I needed to know
But no more
When I find the day leave my mind in the evening just as the day before..."

Before Billy met American Girl, he wasn't interested in people. With her his interest was sparked in the worst way.

"I saw the window was open
The cool air
I don't know what you saw there
Don't know what you saw in me
Sometimes I want to be enough for you
Don't ask
Know that it's understood
There's not enough of me..."

We theorize that Billy gained entrance to American Girl's bedroom through her window. He doesn't know what she saw there or in him, intimating the imago of the father which inhabits him and he sees as making him hurt women like his mother. This also deals still with Billy's lack of self image.

"I saw that something was broken
I've crossed the line
I'll point you to a better time
A safer place to be
Sometimes I want to be enough for you
Don't ask
Know that it's done no good..."

Billy broke American Girl essentially. He crossed the line into wilful murder. Some part wishes he wouldn't have and had kept her safe, represented by Cooper's efforts to save Laura. But nothing he has ever done has ever done any good.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 3 "Call for Help"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- We pick up on Cooper right where we left him: falling through space.

We touched on this previously. Dale Cooper is in infact living what Donna questioned Laura about in FWWM: "Do you think that if you were falling in space, that you would slow down after a while or go faster and faster?" And he is suffering what Laura answered, "Faster and faster." We might not see him burst into flames but we think it will be inferred by what Dale will soon discover/see.

Billy obviously lived what he projected onto Laura. Her words were how he felt about his own abuse by his mother and potentially grandfather/father. It makes logical sense that we now see his avatar suffering it, revealing how that situation belonged to him and not Laura.


- Suddenly see see what looks like a purple water with something bubbling up in it. Cooper falls through it, only to land on a concrete like structure which appears to be on another purple sea. Cooper goes up to the tall wall like edge and looks at the sea which surrounds him.

So this place is covered by this purple water all throughout then, because as he's breaking through the atmosphere, or whatever, it looks like Dale's going through water, only to end up dry again and in air before he hits the concrete building, with its solitary opening.

Can't help but think of the start of Mr. Bean everytime Dale falls/lands.

The structure looks similar to the skyscraper in NYC that Dale just visited. We can see a parallel being formed then. We're about to theorize that this structure hides the images of Billy's true victims and not the substitutions, like Laura, he created for them inside of his dream world. We previously theorized that the NYC building houses the glass box, which represented Billy's psyche. Thinking of the box now, it seemed empty, just like Billy's soul. What one would see when looking at the box is a reflection of themselves, very much like the two sided mirror in the police station where Billy was questioned. That reflected quality will be discussed deeper later on, how it helped Billy, whom was empty, not willing to face his past and self inside, and aided his survival without detection for so long. Now we're interested in how the Arm's doppleganger, after his revelation that the Red Room and everything was non-exist-ent, has seemed to send Dale first to the glass box and now here to the mansion room. Was it making a point by trying to show Cooper things inside of the dream which are closer to reality? Hastings psyche and now where he's hidden away the memory of his victims?

This will be the same area/land where the Fireman lives, as we will see in Part 8. We've theorized that the Fireman's is a version of the Palmers' place, or rather Billy's first victim's house. It makes sense he would then keep his victims close to the area and yet separate, all of his murders done to partly relive that first one and yet not wanting the family to know the truth about their daughter.

The purple sea is possibly related to the idea of the mauve zone, a subject which interested Mark Frost. This allows us to broach a very interesting concept within this theory and the idea that Billy is our dreamer, whom masks himself as Cooper inside of the dream. Coop is often linked to David Lynch. In The Return, we see some definite links between William Hastings, with his love of alternate realities/aliens/sci-fi with Mark Frost. Together, we believe, they create the true answer to the question "Who Killed Laura Palmer?" and that works on a meta level just as well, Lynch and Frost having killed Laura in the first place by creating her together to solely be a murdered girl.


- The only way in to the building is a large window which acts as a door. Cooper enters through the window and then closes it behind him.

Through a window was how BOB would visit Laura. She said that to Harold even in FWWM, "He comes in through my window at night." Now Cooper is seen entering through one. We have a clear connection then to BOB and Coop, without the doppleganger even. We theorize that this was how Billy got in to American Girl's bedroom and possibly his other victims as well. That is why Billy now creates a place where he stores the memories of those victims and they can only be gotten to through a window.

Inside of the room, the sound that sounded from Hastings' head, as he stroked it in the cell can be heard, once again indicating that all of this is happening inside of there.


- Cooper finds a dark haired woman, dressed in red, and staring in the direction of a fire burning inside of a fireplace, as she sits on a large couch before it. Her eyes are sewn shut. She tries to communicate with Dale but her words aren't anything we can understand and the screen keeps glitching and jutting as Cooper and she try to communicate. Dale wants to know where they are. When she feels Cooper's face it gets less glitchy but then it returns to it. A banging happens and the woman, Naido, motions Dale to be quiet.

So first off we are going to mention that fire because this is the bursting into fire part of Laura's speech and how it relates to having seen Coop falling faster and faster through space. It isn't a literal sort of bursting into fire, as we'll see Mr. C do, but it effectively shows one always burning inside of Billy's thoughts and how he condemns his victims to stay there staring at it, almost their only source of entertainment.

The room itself will be seen later, with Phillip Jeffries inside of room #8 at the Dutchman's. That raises an interesting possibility that, while Billy keeps the memory of his victims here, the Dutchman's is used to trap the FBI Agents whom were different avatars for himself too. The Dutchman's is close/identical to Billy's old home, while the victims are trapped in something like his first one's home.

And now we finally meet Betty. Only here she is presented to us as Naido, whose name is almost an anagram for Diane, if you were to spell it backwards, subtract the e and place an o at the start again. But we're believing that Betty is whom this character really is, Billy having harmed her and her being relegated to the mansion room because of it. Naido's actress, Nae Yuuki previously acted with Laura Dern, Diane's actress, in Lynch's own Inland Empire. That keeps with how we believe that Lynch was adamant that Pamela Gidley, a former costar of Sherilyn Fenn's, was to play Teresa Banks, whom we suspect is Audrey's substitute. Phoebe Augustine and Sheryl Lee were also both up to play Laura and we believe that Laura substituted American Girl.

Naido/Betty's eyes are supposedly sewn shut. This could definitely deal with her not knowing what Billy truly was and how he wishes she had never found out. She doesn't know who Dale is here, relying on her hands in a way which will be conjured later when Diane, her dreamworld substitute, feels Cooper's face as they have sex. Here, it is indicated that Naido may not recognize Dale as the dreamer/Billy because of her blindness.

Cooper asks where they are but not who Naido is. Does he know her? Or is this another indication that his thoughts are preoccupied on himself and getting "out."

The glitching links to several other cases of glitching in the series. Does that indicate time loops or the dream factor or something else entirely?

The banging sound at the door will be revealed to be American Girl's mother. We suspect that it indicates how she will soon go after Billy for the murder of her daughter and how the threat looms heavily inside of Billy's mind. Since two of Betty's avatars wrote letters, it is possible Betty even wrote American Girl's mother a letter about her daughter's death and Billy's responsibility. But why then is Naido, whom we argue is really Betty, protecting the man we believe hurt her? Well, we've just speculated that Betty might not know this is Billy's avatar she is with. We've also previously speculated that she might have partially helped her boss in some of his less than legal actions. She might still be performing that action here. Since this is all being filtered through Billy's mind, it's also important to realize that even his victims are warped by how Billy sees them, illustrated by how we theorize Laura went from sacred to profane, a source of light to dark, inside of his mind. Billy might perceive all of his victims as "loving" him, just as he might imagine they enjoy being kept prisoners inside of the mansion room, the complete opposite of the truth. Only if they retain their autonomy, as Laura did by not following the instruction to not take the ring, can they rebel against him.


- Dale gets distracted by an electrical socket box, bearing the number 15, that is emanating an electrical noise. He walks towards it, feeling disoriented, but Naido stops him, placing herself between Cooper and the socket. She makes a motion, slicing her neck and then pulls him away, although he still seems hypnotized by the socket. Naido takes him to a ladder and they climb up and out of the room through a hatch door.

The electrical noise that emerges sounds like the Arm's and Waiter's whooping sound.

The plug box has the number 15 on it. We theorize that Betty is Billy's 15th kill or attempted one. Further theorizing leads us to believe that, if Cooper had gone through this plug, he might have somehow wound up in the part of Billy's dream that dealt with his relationship to Betty's dreamworld substitute, Ruth...whom lost her head. That explains the motion that Betty gives of the head being cut off/death. At the same time, Hastings will soon lose part of his own head, the top of it, so it could also align with that.

Naido/Betty leads Cooper to a ladder, taking him away from the 15 socket he's still attracted to and the still present pounding on the door. She takes him up a ladder. Dougie/Cooper will scribble ladders on the insurance homework he's left in charge of. Billy likely used a ladder to gain entrance to his victims' rooms through the windows.


- The hatch leads to the top of what looks like an opaque (steel?) box floating in space. There is a dome shaped item on top of it and Naido tries to communicate with Cooper again, whom fails to understand. She pulls a lever on the dome and appears to be electrocuted, falling from off the box and into space. Cooper watches, alone, until the giant head of Major Briggs goes floating by, saying "Blue rose." Cooper then climbs back down the ladder into the mansion room.

This box is as closed off and impenetrable as the box in NYC is transparent and empty, maybe indicating that Billy has protected his relationship to his victims very well.

When Naido seemingly gets electrocuted, the glitches stop and the coloring/lighting appears more normal than before and less purple. The glitches also stop. Was Naido or the machine responsible for them?

Her electrocution can imitate and compliment Richard Horne's own electrocution in Part 16, watched over by Mr. C, quite nicely which only makes sense in a complicated manner: Betty is Naido whom will become Diane whom will become Linda, whom is just still Betty. Meanwhile, Dale here, whom also watches her electrocution, will become a Richard whom receives that farewell letter from Linda. Dale is Richard whom is still just Richard Horne, whom is really just Billy. Both Billy and Betty were represented in the doomed Sam and Tracey, whom both had their heads brutally mutilated by the Experiment Model. Richard and Betty then also suffer similar electrocutions. While it is often argued that Richard doesn't survive, there's a small chance he was sent somewhere else, ala Phillip Jeffries. Maybe he was waiting in Odessa for Dale Cooper to finally become him, another purpose of those tricky coordinates. Betty/Naido meanwhile falls off here and ends up in Twin Peaks, to the other coordinates.

Major Briggs just happening to float by is another thread/reminder of the headless Ruth Davenport and William Hastings storyline. His saying Blue Rose indicates his involvement in the cases, and Project Blue Book, but also seems pertinent given the fact that we believe this giant black box houses Hastings' memories of his victims, whom are blue roses to him, what he believes to be unnatural replicas of his mother, the original (red) rose. The last thing that Hastings remembers Major Briggs saying, before he lost his head, was Cooper's name. This moment now connects to that one.


- Back in the mansion room, Dale discovers that the socket now has a 3 on it. A blue rose sits on a table as another woman wearing red sits and stairs at the fire in the fireplace. She turns around and we see she looks exactly like Ronette Pulaski. She looks at her watch and the 3 socket starts making that electrical sound like the Arm. Cooper becomes transfixed by the socket.

The plug now bearing a 3, we speculate indicates we are now in the presence of William "Billy" Hastings' third victim. #1 and #2 we suspect were his father/grandfather and mother, when he burned the motel down. Although there is the possibility his mother killed their father and the other number here belongs to Billy's grandmother or someone else he might have unintentionally killed. American Girl was his first intentional murder, however.

The blue rose present indicates that this is a murder Billy committed in some way honoring his mother. Naido/Betty might not have been deemed worthy of one because her death was viewed as an unwanted necessity when she threatened him. David Lynch referred to Audrey Horne as the "flower of Twin Peaks."

Lynch seems to be directing this moment as a big reveal. Infact, it would even seem probable we were led to think this might be Audrey Horne sitting here, wearing red and having short dark hair. Cooper seems to sense it is important that this is Ronette he has found.

The character is credited as American Girl, not Ronette Pulaski, though, and that is odd because she is a woman and not a girl. However, Billy murdered her when she was a girl, perpetually placing her in that stage inside of his mind, even if he ages them within it. Which leads to the possibility that Billy misguidedly believes he is protecting/saving his victims and allows them the chance to age within his mind. Richard/Dale will likewise call the middle aged Carrie Page/Laura a girl. Audrey referred to herself as a girl in her own story, even though she too was no longer a teenager.

So we have American Girl in one room and we theorize that Betty/Naido, the American Woman, was kept in the other.

Very large possibility that American Girl is Judy. We've argued that is Audrey's real name but perhaps Billy's first victim shared his mother's name or the names sharing several letters confused him: aUDreY jUDY. It seems evident that, inside of his dream, Billy masked his first victim behind "Laura" which was strongly informed by the old movie of the same name. But her true name very well might have been Judy, and why it haunts the narrative. Judy was also the name of Lynch's girlfriend during the Kennedy assassination and Twin Peaks began as an exploration of Marilyn Monroe and her involvement with the Kennedy brothers. If Lynch saw Cooper as similar to himself, and Billy is really Cooper, Lynch might have cleverly given the name for Billy's first "girlfriend" as that of his own in relation to the Kennedys: Judy. Her name now being lost illustrates how serial killers fail to see their victims as real people, often forgetting their names. Laura Palmer said in her Between 2 Worlds interview she met many people with no names. If Billy killed as many as 9 people in between 3 - 15 that would account for the nameless people she encounters.

Now might be a good time to mention Cooper's name is inspired by infamous hijacker and ransomer D.B. Cooper, which in itself was an alias. The perfect inspiration for the dreamer to hide himself behind: we aren't meant to discover his true identity.

American Girl is aware of the importance of 2:53.

Cooper is still drawn to the plug and how it will take him away from the room. Electricity accompanies it. Dale Cooper described dreams basically in electrical terms to Harry and Lucy.


- Mr. C drives down the South Dakota highway in the scene Dale previously saw through the Red Room curtains. His clock reads 2:53 and he is visibly not feeling well. His cigarette lighter etc...is giving off the electrical sound.

The prospect of returning to the Lodge apparently physically makes Mr. C sick, something Dale, whom never discusses his home, does not experience. We theorize once again that the dopplegangers are infact more honest in a way. Mr. C is aware of the negative feelings his "home" invokes and it sickens and frightens him.

The lighter giving off the electricity connects to BOB being synonymous with fire as well as the woodsmen asking "Got a light?"


- Back in the Mansion Room, American Girl rises to her feet almost weakly. Dale is still focused on the socket, which attempts to suck him in. "When you get there, you will already be there," American Girl informs. The socket still wants to zap Dale in. Mr. C is speeding down the highway still suffering.

American Girl's words indicate that he will already be there when he exchanges places with his doppleganger, or Mr. C's tulpa in this case. However, on another level, it implies that the other Coops are still just Cooper.


- Back in the mansion room, the pounding back on the door, American Girl warns, "You'd better hurry, my mother is coming." As she watches, Dale is pulled in through the socket, his body giving off smoke. His shoes drop off.

The knocking sound demanding entrance is revealed to be American Girl's mother. This clearly involves Billy aware he is about to be hounded by his first intentional victim's mother, when she begins to suspect him in some way relating to Betty. With Sarah's bloodthirsty/odd behavior, mothers come to adorn a sinister air in The Return, revealing how the dreamer harbours a fear of them.

American Girl warning Dale of her mother, frankly sounds like a teenage girl telling her secret lover to beat it if he had sneaked into her bedroom. That's what we theorize Billy did, but it wasn't something the real American Girl probably encouraged or wanted. But, then again, this is Billy's fantasy so everything is corrupted by his delusional thinking, except for the instances of truth that always try to intercede...like the mother banging on the door.

Smoke is linked to fire and Dale is giving off smoke now.

Dale's shoes falling off are significant since Audrey's shoes were focused on when we first met her. MIKE/Phillip also makes a living selling shoes, circle brand to be exact. Why does Dale lose his shoes? Because of the rubber that doesn't carry electricity? Because he's going in sole-less? To help invoke Audrey? So MIKE/Phillip can try to sell him a new pair?


- A very ill Mr. C speeds down the road until he turns the car over, coming finally to a stop. Close to vomiting, Mr. C holds a hand over his mouth, looking at the time and the lighter in fear. He looks through the windshield and sees the red curtains of the Red Room.

The fear and horror, the pure physical revulsion that Mr. C feels over the prospect of going home is clearly conveyed. Home is not a pleasant place to him, and his being closer to the true character of Billy, and with what we've already discussed about Billy's home life, we can understand why.


- At Rancho Rosa, in a deserted house for sale, the tulpa Dougie Jones, just finished up with his rented lover Jade. Dougie's left arm is going numb and he's wearing the Owl Cave ring. Jade goes off to wash up.

And now we have a home that belongs to no one but where Dougie has escaped his own homelife to carry on a paid for affair...only he's soon going to be pulled back to his real home too and be just as sick of it as Mr.C, even if he's blocked what home exactly is from his mind.

Jade is a shade of green, like the ring.

Dougie's arm going numb with the Owl Cave Ring still links it to MIKE/Phillp whom has no left arm.

Important to note about Dougie, he's a bad husband and obviously indulges in several vices...and yet he doesn't seem all that horrible, not on the level of Mr. C. His sins are more like what's presented with the addict mother squatting in the house across the street. But Dougie doesn't seem like a rapist or a killer...and yet he came from Mr. C, not supposedly Cooper. But...if he isn't a complete monster, then why would Richard Horne be? Sure the doppleganger was his father, but if Dougie can be a copy of Mr. C and not wholly unholy...shouldn't we examine Richard a little more closely and wonder if something else is responsible for his horrible behavior and that maybe Billy has shielded that from himself once again inside of his dream? We never see Richard interact with either his grandfather or mother afterall.


- Dougie starts becoming sick, just as Mr. C is. He crawls to the bathroom but finding the door locked returns to the other room. The sockets make an electrical noise. The Red curtains of the Red Room appear and Dougie brings up on the carpet, a mixture of blood, corn and black oil. A zap and he's gone startling Jade.

The light on the floor look like prison bars. The Red Room can become a prison. Hastings is currently inside of a prison and we argue, as the dreamer, this whole Return to Twin Peaks revolves around the threat of his real identity going there.

Going home, without even realizing what is happening, causes the tulpa to become so sick he vomits up garmonbozia (pain and sorrow) plus the oil that symbolizes the Lodge and BOB, as well as blood.


- Mr. C sees the curtains and Dougie sitting in the Red Room chair behind them. He looks at the watch in his Lincoln. Suddenly he begins to violently vomit up creamed corn, black oil and blood. Afterwards he passes out.

Once again, this is how horrible and painful going "home" is to Mr. C. It actually makes him become so sick he vomits up a substance so foul it can make others whom smell it sick too. Billy's trauma becomes evident, inside of his dream, by having the worst of himself shown to be vulnerable by the threat/memory of home. This makes perfect logical sense when we realize what home is to Billy. First off, he is his mother's pain and sorrow incarnate, the proof and reminder of her constant abuse by her father. He became the embodiment of the torment of the person he loved most in the world, as well as his own grandfather's son. Then, on top of that, he was most likely abused by that mother too. She carried on the cycle with him, creating a torturous conflict created inside of him between love and fear/hate. Billy might have also been abused by his own father/grandfather as well and had to live with the realization that his mother chose their material comfort over their emotional wellbeing.


- Inside of the Red Room, Dougie, in the chair, finds MIKE/Phillip stating at him. "I feel funny," he tells him, then asks what's happening. "Someone manufactured you...for a purpose but I thinks that's been fulfilled," MIKE/Phillip answers. Dougie's left hand begins to shrink and the ring falls off. Then his head disappears and we see black smoke. A little golden ball comes out of the smoke and his clothes collapse. A thing like a rock/egg is seen with black smoke. It turns into something alive and barfing and MIKE/Phillip shields his eyes. Suddenly the black thing shrinks and is seen with the gold ball. Zap, smoke and all that remains is a tiny gold ball/bead/seed on the chair. Mike picks up the ring and the bead and places the ring back on the gold/black pedestal.

Dougie was infact manufactured for a purpose: to save Mr. C from having to go back to the Lodge. Similarly, Billy manufacturered his own "tulpa" false image, to keep himself out of his own prison and from similarly facing his past. If others believed that the respectable William Hastings was just your average sort of man, battling the commonplace vices, they need never suspect he was actually committing the worst sins imaginable.

Dougie contains both good (gold) and bad (black), complimenting the pools outside of the White and Black Lodges. It also echoes the pedestal where the ring sits. This is probably the essence of things: that each soul contains the chance for great good or horrible evil and we must find balance and acceptance of the fact. It also goes along with how we believe Billy once saw Laura as good but then transformed her into something evil.

MIKE/Phillip shields himself from seeing Dougie's darkness, that seems to be barfing. We view MIKE/Phillip as a representation of Billy's uncle/Jerry. Does this mean that the uncle had forsaken evil when he was redeemed or does it betray how he wasn't willing/able to see the sickness inside of his own family? The sick girl that is being taken to see her uncle is also vomiting, as did the Experiment when it birthed BOB.

Does MIKE/Phillip pick up the dark stone/thing when he picks up the ring or did it disappear?



- Back at the Rancho Rosa, Cooper is expelled from the socket in black smoke. He lies on his back by Dougie's barf. Jade walks in shocked, thinking he's Dougie. She asks where he got the haircut and suit. She then smells the barf and asks if he's sick, saying they need to get out of the house. Outside she becomes impatient with Coop/Dougie when he's unresponsive and without his shoes. She goes back inside to get them and even has to put them on for him. Asking if he has his keys, she finds the key to Dale's room at the Great Northern inside of his pocket instead. She expresses displeasure that she needs to give him 2 rides.

Once again, the light shining on the socket and ground looks like prison bars, linking this to William Hastings and the theme of imprisonment.

Cooper has a hole in his sock, which betrays that the perfect Cooper isn't so perfect afterall.

The barf makes her disgusted, but it doesn't have the same effect on Jade that Mr. C's does on the State Trooper. Of course, his name is Billy so...

This house doesn't belong to Dougie. That's interesting to note in a series that becomes preoccupied with the notion of home. Dougie just got sent home while at a place which wasn't his home at all.

Jade becomes like Dougie's mother, and Dougie becomes very much like a child, when she is forced to dress him. This whole version of Dougie, Billy's idealized self (Dale Cooper), going to this state could be implying that Billy is so far gone 25 years after American Girl's murder, he'd have to revert to a child-at-the-learning-stage to change who he is.

And back to the subject of homes, we find that Dale Cooper carried his key to his room at the Great Northern with him all of those years inside of the Red Room. It was presumably even inside of his pocket during FWWM and when the Arm told him there was nowhere left to go but home. The Great Northern IS in fact his home. Just as he exists as the idealized version of Billy, it existed as the idealized version of the motel where he lived with his father/grandfather and mother. Inside of his dream, and masked efficiently, Billy had reimagined his childhood living situation.

Lynch shows that Cooper stayed inside room 315, which we can now easily tie to the 3 and 15 we saw on the sockets in the mansion room, incase it was forgotten .

Jade mentioning two rides points out the sexual euphemism. That can easily connect to Billy Hastings saying he gave Betty a ride home.

- Pulling out, they pass one of the hitmen hired to kill Cooper. He contacts his accomplice, a few roads away and states how, seeing Dougie's car, their target may or may not be with Jade, whom just left.

We assume these are the precautions Mr. C took for when Coop left the Lodge, unless Phillip Jeffries is responsible for a few of them, seeing as though he wanted Ray to kill Mr. C. Mr. C probably would kill Dale himself, but he knows that would kill himself, just as Lois Duffy killing Lois Duffy eventually led to her own downfall. Some other less personal assasination needs to take place.


- Jade explains to Coop/Dougie how he should contact AAA. Coop/Dougie meanwhile stays more focused on the road sign which says Sycamore. He repeats Jade's statement about giving two rides.

Sycamores encircle the gateway at Glastonbury Grove. Hastings and Ruth similarly encountered Major Briggs at 2240 Sycamore.

Back to the Jade giving Dougie two rides bit. We theorized the entrance at Glastonbury Grove resembled the anatomy of a woman giving birth, which all started with a "ride". Did the sycamore make Dale's mind realize a sexual connection to the place? His words will also help remind us of Hastings and Betty and allow us to form another connection between them and Dale with what happens in the next sequence.


- Coop/Dougie reaches into his pocket and gets the Great Northern key only to drop it at a speed bump. This causes the 2nd hitman to think Jade is driving alone and Dougie is still inside of the house. Gene, the other hitman, states he will load up the car. See you at Mikey's the 2nd hitman says.

Coop/Dougie now is getting out the key but drops it. This serves as a fortunate event since it prevents his death.

Was he getting out the keys to the Great Northern in part because of the sycamore/Glastonbury connection and the previously discussed sexual connection? Does he recall his mother initiating him into that world?

Have to wonder if he consciously dropped the keys or not, he gives up on retrieving them pretty fast. However, without them he'll spend the next episode sadly repeating home.

So Dougie's car is about to be wired with a bomb as Jade, his mercenary mistress, gives him a ride somewhere. That flat out parallels Billy giving Betty a ride, because there was a problem with her car, and then her car being wired to explode several days later.

In the Return, it appears that you can trace everything to Betty in the same fashion you can tie most of the series events to the Hornes. They are the keys not dissimilar to the one that Coop/Dougie dropped.


- Across the street from Jade and Dougie's love nest, a little boy watches as Gene goes to wire the bomb to Dougie's car. The boy's mother shouts 1-1-9 repeatedly. She then takes some prescription medicine with some bourbon as her son eats some crackers on the couch. The mother then sits and smokes.

We see the neglected boy through the blinds; it gives the effect of bars again. He's interested in what Gene is doing, but his addict mother is more concerned. She's calling out the emergency number but in reverse, just as the Lodge spirits are apt to and as Audrey's Dance will play in reverse in Part 16. The mother is surrounded by different vices, none of which are illegal. Of interest is the Pavillion playing cards we discussed earlier, a Toys R Us brand, this kind the red counterpart of Mr. C's. She also has a diaper/safety pin open which might have been used to create the scratches on Mr. C's own card. She has a bottle of Evan WILLIAMS bourbon she pours and then seems to intentionally place it so we can see the brand. This is once again pushing the name William in our faces. A red balloon lies on the floor behind her. There will be red balloons at Sonny Jim's Birthday party as well as red balloons as Coop/Dougie looks at a cowboy statue. A red deflated/burst balloon was seen at the Johnson family household in the OG series, when Leo had turned into Shelly's husband/son. Perhaps that last one is closest to what we see here, the balloon not up as in the other examples.

Is the mother calling for help for Dougie's car, Cooper being in danger or Mr. C, whom help will soon arrive for? Or is it all 3? We can easily see this as an abstraction for Billy's mom, a single mother with problems herself. To go with our previous discussion about Dougie's vices, the addict mother apparently shares the fact that they are harmful but not as destructive as Mr. C's sins.

And here we have her son, whom seems as neglected as the boy Richard hits and kills seems adored. The boy has a red 1 on his shirt that stands out. This seems to be suggesting, despite Margaret's words being construed that Laura is the One (as in the most central), that this boy somehow is instead. And yet, we've theorized that red can mean deception inside of Twin Peaks (when it isn't trying to remind us of Audrey Horne, associated with the color). But there is a greater clue to be had with that red #1. It isn't the last time we'll see it. In Part 9, Chantal will be seen wearing the First Marine Division, an insignia given to the Marines of WWII and which is a blue diamond, with white stars in it and a red number 1 at the center, just like the addict mother's son. She wears this patch on her left arm, the side we saw as possibly being connected to the truth, and which connects to MIKE/Phillip. The Red Diamond was where Teresa Banks, Audrey's substitute worked and lived, but it was called the Blue Diamond in the script. Either Lynch had a problem with the Almond company, or, associating blue more with the truth, he knew Teresa's motel would need to be associated with Red. But in Part 9 we will see a red 1, like this boy is wearing, inside of a blue diamond, diamonds associated with Audrey Horne. Chantal was in room #7 at the Buckhorn motel, that number matching the one where Dale has sex with Diane, most probably seeing her as his mother. So in this admittedly complicated way, we can link this boy to Chantal, another mother figure for Billy. The boy here, a representation of Billy once again, was inside of the blue diamond, just like Billy was inside of his mother. Stars are occassionally mentioned in Twin Peaks too. "No Stars", a song linking a lover and dream to stars and then the desolation of them being gone - no stars - springs to mind. The song is often taken to mean Laura and Cooper, since it follows Margaret's talk about Laura being the one, and yet the song itself could easily go for Billy and his mother.

The lamp, an item which offers illumination, is missing the top half of its head. That can be linked to the corpses of Sam and Tracey we'll see in this episode and it can strongly be linked to William Hastings, whom dies similarly.

The boy eats crackers. Right before we see Mr. C's arrest report with Hastings info mixed in, Albert makes a crack about "Cooper" not having cheese and CRACKERS with him when he was arrested. It is Albert also whom will enjoy making euphemisms about Hastings lack of sanity. Crackers is slang for an insane individual.


- Highway Patrol Officers find Mr. C's crashed car. One of them, named Billy, becomes sick when he gets too close to Mr. C. The other officer helps him draw back and calls for assistance.

A BILLY approaches the passed out Mr. C, makes contact with him, smells the vomit and then similarly becomes sick. The other patrolman doesn't and neither did Jade. This Billy was also driving the car, just like Billy drove Betty home.


- At the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station Hawk becomes exasperated as Andy and Lucy try to figure out what is missing about the Laura Palmer case and Lucy eventually becomes convinced it's the chocolate bunny she ate because she had gas.

This is primarily played for laughs but there are interesting things to be gleaned from it. Hawk denying and then wondering if it is about the bunny echoes Bobby shouting at Laura that the man he killed in FWWM wasn't Mike, only to ask if it was Mike.

Despite Hawk's belief and Lucy's relief it isn't about the bunnies, they do play a curious role in Twin Peaks, at least in regards to this theory.

Cooper saw a rabbit when he first came to Twin Peaks, telling Harry about it and labeling it a cottontail. He was mistaken and Harry told him it was a snowshoe.

A few episodes later, on Ben Horne's desk, we saw a photograph of Laura and Audrey dressed as the proverbial snow bunnies, with Audrey even making bunny ears behind Laura's head. Only it was Audrey herself whom was dressed in the colors of the Red Room. She was the real bunny in question.

In FWWM, Will Hayward had a statue of a rabbit by his fireplace. BOB and abuse were synonymous with fire and we are theorizing that Billy, any Billy, was synonymous with the dreamer Billy Hastings.

In The Return, the Twin Peaks sheriff crew will find Naido/Betty at a place Major Briggs leads them too, his son, Bobby, saying,“I know exactly where Jack Rabbit’s Palace is. My dad, when I was a little kid, he took me to this place, near where his station used to be. It was our make-believe world, you know, where we made up stories. I was the one who named it ‘Jack Rabbit’s Palace.’"

And, at the end of The Return, Dale will find himself in Odessa, which just happens to be, although it's never mentioned, the home of the largest Jack Rabbit statue called Jack BEN Rabbit, after it's founder John BEN Shepherd.

So you can say...it might have been about the bunnies afterall.

Should note too that Lucy was pregnant with her son when she had gas and ate the bunny, another thread of mothers and sons.

- Out in the woods, Dr. Amp/Jacoby spray paints shovels gold with the help of a self constructed device.

This is just another wonderful moment for this theory. Here we have Amp/Jacoby involved in making shovels all nice and shiny and he's rigged a contraption made out of what appears to be bicycle tires to do it. In "Masked Ball" we saw Ben's father passing a super shiny shovel on to him during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Great Northern. And in Part 12 he reminisces about the second hand cycle his father gave to him too. Now, in this scene, we have Amp incorporating both objects which we believe the passing/giving of represented the father passing the cycle of abuse on to his son. Later on, Amp will also have a flashlight, shaped like a Great Horned Owl. Not only do we believe that the owls are the Hornes, Ben and Jerry once happily recalled their first bedroom where a girl named Louise Dombrowski (same initials as Lois Duffy) danced for them with a flashlight. Amp will also go on about a hammer and Jack Wheeler once remarked, while wearing the Red Room color scheme, how Audrey's grandfather once told him, "If you're gonna bring a hammer, you better bring nails." He was referencing it in a way that dealt with sex, making us wonder what grandpa Horne's relationship with the young Wheeler was. Later on in this episode, it's stated that a congressman planted clues in his garden to implicate the guilty. Frankly it's looking like Amp, who lives in the woods, is laying his own clues to show where the true cycle of abuse lay, and it wasn't the Palmers. Honestly, his having been both Johnny and Ben's therapist, this makes perfect sense.


- Jade drives Coop/Dougie to the Silver Mustang Casino. She gives him some money to call for help and tells him to go out now, which reminds Dale of Laura/Carrie's same words. He goes out and Jade drives off. Coop/Dougie gets trapped momentarily in the casino doors.

Ah...the Silver Mustang Casino. There's that horse theme again. We've gone through before how we suspect that Billy stole something of American Girl's after he killed her and it might have had something to do with a horse, the reason Lynch had Laura inexplicably state she used to love horses in her interview. This casino fits in perfectly with that idea...for if Billy took a trophy it was essentially a gamble. He was risking someone realizing it was gone and then finding it on him and connecting him to her murder...like American Girl's mother. Or Betty. So now we have a casino named after a horse, reminding Billy of the gamble he made and which is now troubling him.

The building (really the Commerce Casino) looks horseshoe shaped and has a horseshoe logo. Carrie Page wears a horseshoe necklace but it is inverted from the Silver Mustang logo. An upward pointing horseshoe symbolizes the collection of good luck. A downward pointing one shows the bestowing of it.

We have that this is a casino and a hotel. The only casino we knew in the original Twin Peaks was One-Eyed Jack's, owned by Ben Horne and frequented by both him and his brother, Jerry. We also have the fact that they also ran a hotel. The owners of the Silver Mustang are the Mitchum Brothers whom echo Ben and Jerry (Billy's father and uncle). Later on this whole scenario leads to Coop/Dougie clearing the Mitchums of arson which we suspect really is just Billy's way of clearing himself of having set his father's motel on fire and killing the man and his own mother too.

Cooper going out and immediately getting trapped in the doors is comedic but can connect to him remembering Laura/Carrie having told him to go out and how Laura is the door to Twin Peaks Billy has virtually become stuck in.


- Cooper shows a guard his $5 and says "Call for help" to which the guard replies, "In the back, Jack." He also points him to where he can change the bill. The money changer gives Coop/Dougie a cup of change for his $5 bill.

We got the name Jack occurring again. We theorized that Billy, who Cooper truly is, created John "Jack" Justice Wheeler after Dale became too "good" to even flirt with his attraction to Audrey Horne. In the guise of Jack, a name Billy had imagined perhaps for the father he imagined, Billy romanced his mother, Audrey, until the threat of Windom Earle had passed. Now Cooper's being called Jack, even if in passing, is important.

The concept of Cooper being made to change a bill is interesting since we theorize he's Bill-y, whom has changed himself into others, particularly Cooper, inside of his dreamworld.

The bars on the money changing place look like a prison again. Cooper looks like he's behind bars as he stands in the casino. The threat of going to prison haunts Billy in The Return, one of its main hidden motivators. A stolen horse trophy might land him there. Likewise, Billy associates his mother having cared more about the material comforts their father's motel offered, so she chose it over freedom, making it feel like a prison to him.

The fact that it is emphasized that a bill is being changed to play a game fits in nicely with this theory. Twin Peaks is a game for Billy, one created to deal with how he escaped being identified at American Girl's murderer. Inside of his game he changed into Cooper. Likewise, Billy changed himself, his public behavior, in order to not be discovered. Another interesting aspect is how at One-Eyed Jack's, Ben Horne, after unsuccessfully propositioning his daughter, states, "Next time, we will play a different game. I'll make the rules. You'll like it. Fun game. Everybody wins." Most abusers trick their child victims into believing it's only a game they are playing and this is how the abuse starts. In Part 6, we'll see a little boy playing a game with his mother that proves to be dangerous when the boy stops in the road and is hit and killed by Richard Horne. This we suspect is simply analogous to how Billy views his dark side killing what remained of his innocence. We believe that Billy's mother played "games" with him too, leading to the darkness inside of him, one Billy fostered to grow. This further deepens how Coop/Dougie answers that the game necessary for the change of bill is "Call for help." Billy was calling for help but nobody heard or listened. The game the young boy playing then, which leads to his spiritual death, can be considered a call for help. As evidenced by Annie Blackburn, another fragment of Billy, we are made aware that he was, at some point, highly suicidal. Infact, Laura Palmer's death wish was most likely Billy's own, just another aspect he projected on to her. Laura becomes a version of his victim created by Billy and so hopelessly as much a portrait in ways of Billy himself.

When Coop/Dougie leaves, the woman whom changed the bill for him looks concerned, holding her hand over her heart, as Laura did at the end of FWWM, even if it is the right one not left.


- Coop/Dougie stumbles into the casino slot machine area and watches a man win and shout "Hello". He sees an image of the Red Room with what appears to be fire above a slot machine and goes to it. "Hello," Coop/Dougie cries and he wins the jackpot. When a man says he broke it, Coop/Dougie moves on to the next machine he sees with the fiery Red Room above it.

This is how Coop/Dougie survives in this state of confusion/powerlessness: by noting then imitating the behavior of those he sees around him. It is essentially how Billy survived too, enabling him to continue his killings and avoid detection. If he acted like normal people, or repeated what they did, they would assume he was like them, even projecting themselves on to him at times, letting him get by.

That fire with the Red Room inside of it creates a nice image: The Red Room represents in part Billy's home and we believe he set fire to it, intentionally or not. Now he's seeing it at the Mitchums, whom are accused of setting fire to their own hotel, and whom we compared to Billy's father and uncle.

The first machine Billy plays has a diamond on it. Audrey was the Queen of Diamonds, her substitute Teresa worked at the Red Diamond motel and Ben was once compared to ice by his daughter, ice is slang for diamonds. Audrey and Teresa were seen holding ice.

Besides the ice, it also has the word bill all over it, just like Billy Hastings. We can see how Billy associates the dream of wealth and comfort at a cost, just as his mother was willing to pay/risk: their sanity for their material welfare. It also asks the question, if this machine accepts bills, why did Coop/Dougie then need to get his own bill changed? Possibly for the illustration/clue provided of a bill being changed?

The game is called Five & Sparklers. Sparkle is the name of the drug running rampant in Twin Peaks.



- At another machine, a frazzled old woman notices Dale/Dougie in annoyance. He caresses the coin and puts it in and wins again. A staff member comes up to him and says he's won 2 mega jackpots for a total of 24800. She goes to get him a bigger cup. Coop/Dougie points to a machine beside the old woman and she gets angry at him. He then walks away. The old woman gives a finger to the security camera. The woman returns with a bucket and the old woman tells her that the nutcake left and the staff member rushes off to find him.

The old woman, we'll much later learn, is a mother whom is able to get her life on track and reunite with her son, thanks to "Mr. Jackpots" as she calls him. Here we find her as being as neglectful and selfish as the addict mother we saw earlier. A theme of mothers and their children, particularly mothers/sons is woven throughout The Return. In some cases the mother placing her interest in self/materialism is clearly emphasized. Obviously, Billy associates this with his own mother and so it recurs. In this case, with this woman, his avatar is able to save/redeem this wayward mother just as he tried to redeem his father, in the guise of Jack Wheeler helping Ben Horne.

Jackpot is used in connection to Coop/Dougie, the name Jack specifically referenced within it. We discussed earlier Jack Wheeler's role in the original series and Billy's dream. We also have talked about how the name Jack seems to be associated in Billy's mind with some idealized idea of his daddy which masked the truth: Jack Wheeler whom slept with Audrey and was a candidate for being the father of her son before we found out the truth, Jack Rabbit's Palace being where Bobby played make-believe with his own father, One-Eyed Jack's being the place where Ben tried to sleep with Audrey.

Interestingly the term jackpot "was originally used in a form of poker, where the pool or pot accumulated until a player could open the bidding with two jacks or better." Two Jacks. Twin Jacks.


- Coop/Dougie sees several more fiery Red Rooms and wins again, causing the old woman to play the one he pointed out to her. She wins and is ecstatically thankful.

The game the old woman plays and wins is called American Slots. More ties to American Woman, this one offering the possibility that it references Billy's mother whom was the American WOMAN just as his high school interest was the American GIRL.


- In Philadelphia, at FBI headquarters, Albert Rosenfield explains to Gordon Cole a case where a congressman accused of murdering his wife claims he is innocent but can't reveal the real killer because it would breach National security. He's placed several items in his garden to help lead them to the killer. "The congressman's dilemma" Cole remarks.

This could very well apply to the dilemma David Lynch worked himself into when developing Twin Peaks. He wanted it to be about Who Killed Laura Palmer. It wasn't just a question. The show was about her actual killer. However, to reveal who that was, Dale Cooper/Billy Hastings, would destroy the series itself because it would solve the mystery and end Coop/Billy's story! The fanbase would also probably be unwilling to accept it. So Lynch found a way to secretly reveal the killer and the different reasons for it without outright revealing it. For example, in Dr Amp's scenes, you can find items hinting at Ben Horne's childhood and relationship with his father, hinting at the fact that he was abused by his dad. Or, in a scene, soon coming up, you can find a throwback to Billy Hastings that coincides/leads to his connection with Cooper.

The items left in the garden include a blonde lying breasts down among jewels as she wear little more than heels, a pair of pliers, a photo of a redhead and blonde in bikinis, a weird photo of a boy in a sailor uniform, a machine gun and beans. The photos don't have evidence tags. The evidence tags, meanwhile, states that the items, at least the pliers, were found in a car...is it the pictures then that were in the garden? The photo of the boy looks unreal/altered, just like the Brennan family photo at Lucy's workstation. Are the beans Great Northern?


- Cole instructs a young female agent, named Tammy Preston, to stay and show what she found in New York. It's the building with Sam and Tracey. She shows photos of it and the mutilated corpses of the lovers. NYPD doesn't have a clue what went on here nor do they know the owner of the building. There were 24/7 guards which they can no longer find, only Sam Colby and Tracey Barberato's bodies. 100s of digital files recording the glass box were confiscated but only a few blurred images moving were found until a shot of the Experiment Model, on the night they were killed. It disappeared as soon as it moved. No DNA etc... was found on the bodies, they were clean.

A fact of great significance here. We theorize that Billy creates a Blue Rose FBI Agent to accompany the deaths he had a hand in or otherwise played some traumatic role in his formation as a monster. Phillip Jeffries deals with how his childhood/innocent self died at the hands of his mother when she began abusing him. Albert Rosenfield involved the death of his father/grandfather, but since Billy didn't care about that particular loss, Albert was the only Blue Rose Agent not to disappear until Tammy's introduction. Chet dealt with the death of Billy's mother, camouflaged as Teresa Banks, while Dale Cooper was involved in how Billy processed American Girl's death. It led to his evolution into a serial killer, where he no longer was traumatized/affected by death and so the good Dale was locked away and the bad one set free. Now, when Betty has been potentially and messily killed, taking the form of Ruth, Billy is concerned with his freedom again. The good Dale is set free and Tammy Preston invented. But notice how Tammy is the first female agent to be inducted into the Blue Rose task force. That is because this death directly involves Billy's possible downfall at the hands of three women: Betty, Anerican Girl's mom and the "ghost" of American Girl herself. The created FBI reflects this fact, needing to be a woman to counter/reflect/deal with it.

The building in NYC seems to have more windows, though still darkened, near ground level.

Sam and Tracey are bloody (digital) messes that are missing the tops of their heads. This will link to William Hastings' own supposed death and the lamp which appeared by the addict mother's son. It also easily recalls what Red will warn Richard in Part 6, after he's questioned if Richard had dealing drugs for him under control: "Just remember this, kid...I will saw your head open and eat your brains if you f*ck me over." Billy obviously was not in control of his own situation with Betty, we reckon, when she found out about Billy's real work which began with American Girl. This also perfectly unites Billy/Betty, Sam/Tracey and Richard and Miriam. During Red's conversation with Richard he mentions to Richard Horne that he can pick up the rest of the sparkle (drugs) at someone called Mary Ann's, to which Richard seems shocked that Red knows that name and the area. Mary Ann is awful close to Miriam and that would help explain how Miriam Flynn is making extra money. Her witnessing the death of the little boy because of Richard sours their relationship, however, which could have led to Red sawing off their heads and eating both of their brains. Only Miriam gets beaten close to death by Richard first and Richard dies/disappears at the manipulation of his father. But this links Miriam/Richard to Tracey/Sam, both couples involved with having seen something they shouldn't have and being destroyed because of it, just as we speculate happened with Betty/Billy.

Tammy describes, "The bodies were violently mutilated, but no prints, no DNA, no fibers. Completely clean. Nothing." This goes along with our theory that Billy usually was very methodical in his "work". However, when Billy killed American Girl it was sloppy because it was his first intentional kill and he's aware that could lead to trouble if someone looks closer. The word clean and the whole situation can be summed up in Carrie Page's words in Part 18. "Odessa. I tried to keep a clean house...keep everything organized. It's a long way. In those days...I was too young
to know any better." Leo Johnson also had an obsession with cleaness, like in FWWM when he is showing Shelly how to keep a clean house.


- Cole's assistant notifies him that Cooper's on the phone. Gordon and Albert are shocked. They and Tammy rush into Cole's office to pick up the call. Cole asks if whomever he is speaking to is sure it's Cooper and then hears that he's in trouble. He informs them they're heading out there immediately to question Cooper at 9. Cole announces they are all heading to the Black Hills of South Dakota. The absurd mystery of the strange forces of existence. Albert says to Tammy, adding how about a truckload of valium.

The camera stays on the door as Cole, Albert and Preston enter.

There is a photograph of an atomic blast on Cole's office wall. In Cole's Portland, Oregon office he had a contrastingly peaceful photo of a lake in the woods. Now, with the increasingly dark and disturbing theme of The Return, we have a photo of destruction. A bomb is also euphemism for a devastating truth, which may be fuelling this whole tale: Billy finding out that he is his own grandfather's son, the incestuous abuse in his family, Betty discovering who/what Billy really was. American Girl's mother finding out who really killed her daughter. Abuse is also repeatedly linked to the destruction of nature: Ben's groundbreaking of the Great Northern symbolic for the abuse he suffered by his father, Ghostwood representative of his abuse of Audrey.

And here is one of the hidden clues we were discussing earlier that it is up to us to discover. As Gordon learns that Cooper is being held in a prison in South Dakota, Tammy listens with a photograph of Franz Kafka seen behind her. That should immediately remind us of Billy Hastings, also in a prison in South Dakota. And this thread will directly be followed up when the three FBI agents go see "Coop" in his South Dakota prison and Hastings info is seen in the arrest report, although nobody comments on it.

"The absurd mystery of the strange forces of existence." Well, Albert, the sad fact is that your creator is an insane, psychotic man named Billy and you are all his form of escape and entertainment. You might really need that valium.


- At the Roadhouse, the Cactus Blossoms perform "Mississippi".

Now this is a confusing but amusing song to end off on. A song called Mississippi would seem to have little bearing on the series...except for this theory where we already discussed something which could prove relevant. In the OG episode "Slaves and Masters" we were outright confused why Windom Earle was sending Caroline's wedding items to circle the state of Arkansas. That was until we discovered that the state had a few interesting things, like a Gum Woods, Caroline, Pulaski and Williams townships. It also has Little Rock. The state below it is also Louisiana, where Phillip Jeffries supposedly came from. And another state beside it just happens to be Mississippi. Infact, there is a Mississippi County in Arkansas...and there is also an unincorporated community in Mississippi called Pulaski. An unincorporated community is one which has not been recognized. Um..we saw the woman we recognized as Ronette Pulaski here listed as American Girl...and we're theorizing she's failing to be recognized as the true "Laura Palmer". We've theorized she might be Judy. Pulaski is a Polish name and there was a famous Judith of Poland, whose grandmother was also a Judith.

Some of the lyrics to Mississippi also seem relevant to the plot:

"My angel sings down to me, She's somewhere on the shore waiting for me
With her wet hair and sandy gown"

Laura's corpse on the beach springs to mind, and the angels in FWWM. Interestingly, it was Pheobe Augustine whom had Lynch introduce the angels into the plot. The angels were hers.

"You look different from way down here
Like a circus mirror I see flashes, of you on the surface."

If Billy reimagined his first victim into Laura she sure would look different. Laura referenced the circus in her Between 2 Worlds interview: "Many things happened. Many things all at once, like a circus with dark creatures at night with flickering lights..."

Another relevant Mississippi fact: a famous wrestler born there, at a height of 8 feet 2 inches and whom went by the name Paul Bunyan, was a man named Max PALMER. We've already seen Leland as both Giant and Woodsman in this theory. Paul Bunyan was the name of a famous giant woodsman.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 2 "The Stars Turn and a Time Presents Itself"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- William Hastings sits in his cell as Macklay brings Phyllis in to see him. Bill confesses to his wife that he wasn't in Ruth's apartment but he dreamed that he was. Phyllis counters that he was in the apartment because his prints were there, Bill states again that it was a dream. Phyllis says she's known of the affair all the time. Bill counters he knows about her affair with George and maybe someone else. Phyllis taunts him with the prospect he'll get life imprisonment and then leaves, telling him goodbye. A horrified Hastings goes back to holding his head.

The sound emanating from Hastings head seems to be the same as what accompanied the "sounds" on the Fireman's gramophone during the last episode. It will also sound when Cooper enters the mansion room. It's an electrical hum. We believe this is another indication that this is all playing out inside of Billy Hastings' mind.

This can also be gleaned perhaps from his claim that he dreamt he was inside of Ruth's apartment. We previously said that we believe we're really supposed to be paying attention to Betty, who is real, and not Ruth, whom is false. Betty and Ruth seem to have conflicting stories happening with Billy, and one is false, while the other is true. Betty is the truth. Hastings conviction that his being inside of Ruth's apartment was only a dream can help strengthen this. He knows she wasn't real, so it had to be a dream. Billy, now inside of his dream, originally knows that the Ruth narrative is false.

The someone else Phyllis might have been sleeping with is Mr. C. An interesting way to view this, however, is that he's still just Billy. Billy living a double life, perhaps he is accusing Phyllis of being with both sides of himself.

Phyllis taunts him with life in prison, which is Billy's fear now both inside and outside of his fantasy. He resumes holding his noggin because, once again, Twin Peaks, Buckhorn etc...is all inside of there.


- Outside of the cell room, Phyllis encounters George. She tells him Bill knows about them and she'll see him later at her place. After she's left, George talks to Macklay about both Hastings and Phyllis.

We guess that dinner with the Morgans really has been cancelled now.


- Back to holding his head, Hastings sits in his cell, as two cells away one of the woodsman sits. Suddenly his body vanishes, his head floating upward.

Billy's head still looks to be causing him distress, while the woodsman seems to foreshadow both Bill's later comment about Major Briggs' head floating off and his death at the hands of the woodsman. But did Billy really die or did he just want out of his own dream and faked his own death? The woodsmen serve BOB, it seems, and since we're arguing Billy is BOB...well...maybe they just served him too.


- Back at the Hastings' home on Elm street, Phyllis arrives to find Mr. C waiting there in the shadows. She asks him happily what he's doing there and he says she follows human nature perfectly. He then shows her George's gun and shoots her with it when she tries to run away.

So Phyllis is having an affair with Mr.C it seems...whom will have her husband's info mixed up with his on the arrest report, as they are both stuck in South Dakota prisons, intimating they are both the same person. If this also indicates that Phyllis was two timing her husband with himself, well her shock at seeing him back home after she left him in prison would be understandable.

Mr. C says she follows human behavior perfectly. This could be her husband's thoughts as well, if she stayed with him while suspecting he was a serial killer. He was banking on her preferring her material comforts. This could also be the opinion he had of his mother, whom we have theorized he viewed as staying with her father/abuser for the material comforts he provided too. Afterall, Audrey was the Queen of Diamonds and Teresa Banks would rather blackmail a John than help her friend out. Billy, whom was possibly also abused by the father/grandfather, could blame her for putting him in that horrible situation also.

Phyllis being aware of her husband's evil acts, and yet staying with him, possibly even allowing/aiding it, could very well be why Lynch told Cornelia Guest and Matt Lillard they were both playing, "bad, bad people."

Mr. C shoots her with her lover's gun and thus gets revenge for her husband...which is really weird when you stop and think about it...unless he is partly her husband too. He's also framing another lawyer, just as we believe he framed Leland for Laura's death. Billy obviously really hates lawyers. Did they potentially keep his father out of jail?

There's an odd glitch when Mr. C shoots Phyllis. It also looks like he shot her between or in an eye.

- In Las Vegas, Nevada, a businessman named Mr. Todd hands money to his assistant Roger, telling him to inform some woman that she has the job. Roger then asks Mr. Todd why he let's a "he" make him do certain things, we assume are bad. Mr. Todd tells Roger to not get involved with someone like him, and to not have someone like that in his life.

This will be about the different hits Mr. C has placed on Dougie/Coop, we think. On a deeper level, though, we suspect that this, in a way, mirrors the Billy(Boss)/Betty(assistant) dynamic and is Betty asking the Billy she loved, and might have managed to reach, why he did the things he did. Todd/Billy can only warn her not to become involved with him, but, of course, it's too late. After Roger's gone, Todd rubs his fingers between his eyes, reminiscent of Hastings' head holding and where Mr. C just shot Phyllis.


- We have a long shot of a train rolling by.

Echoes of the abandoned train car where Laura was murdered?


- At a restaurant Ray, Darya, Mr. C and a man named Jack sit, the latter eating as if he is famished. Ray makes a sarcastic joke about it, which doesn't seem to amuse Mr. C. Ray states that Darya told him Mr. C was nervous about tomorrow or the day after. Mr C says he's not nervous but will need to be on his own. Ray says he'll follow up with his contact and get the information that Mr. C needs. Mr. C corrects Ray saying, if there's something he should know about him, it's that he doesn't need anything, he wants, and he wants that information. He also finds it funny that "she" will only give the information to Ray. Ray says the information must be important to him. Mr. C also says he'd better be able to trust the information. Ray finally reveals they are talking about Betty, saying, "She's Hastings' secretary. She knows what he knows."

Jack is not a new name in the Twin Peaks landscape. We've already linked it to an idea that Billy might have possibly entertained about his father, before he found out the truth. There is, of course, Jack Wheeler, Audrey's lover, and Jack Rabbit's Palace, where Bobby played pretend with his own father. And then there is the darker truth of One-Eyed Jack's, the brothel Ben Horne owned, and where he once propositioned his daughter, Audrey. We believe, in reality, Billy's father Ben just didn't proposition Audrey but abused her on such a regular basis she conceived him. The Return will also take us to Odessa which happens to have the largest Jack Rabbit statue called, Jack BEN Rabbit.

Jack's appetite here reflects Ben Horne's own monstrous appetite. Mr. C looks almost protective of Jack when Ray is teasing him.

Mr. C is nervous because he's scheduled to return to the Lodge but doesn't want to go. Technically, he's a runaway, something Audrey Horne was stated to be on occassion. This goes with Billy's fear of his own home.

Mr. C makes it a point to lecture Ray on the difference of need and want when it comes to him, just as in "Realization Time", Cooper told Audrey “What I want and what I need are two different things," when she asked if he wanted her to go. Mr. C puts his wants first. What's startling about this, however, is how one of the very first wants that Mr. C satisfied was Audrey herself. That has to be acknowledged and cannot be forgotten. And what is also revealing about his visit to Audrey Horne was that she was in a coma when he did it, significant to how Twin Peaks is teased to be just a dream. BOB could not have fed on her fear either for the act and neither could have Mr. C. Infact, there might be the possibility that during the act they managed to safely place Audrey inside of her own dreamworld, one where she is somewhat protected and was linked to their other self, Billy, the dreamer himself.

Mr. C expresses confusion over why Ray's informant will only give the information to him, questioning its authenticity. And that's a good question we should ask ourselves too? Why wouldn't Mr. C even pay this person a visit? At this point, their sex isn't revealed but Mr. C and BOB wouldn't mind torturing a man for information, and if it is a woman, like it will turn out to be, BOB would have even more fun. It was even revealed that Mr. C had become involved with Phyllis for whatever purpose that served But Mr. C is being purposely kept away physically from this particular individual.

And then we find out why. It's Betty. Hastings secretary. And if we're looking at things through this theory, and paying attention, it suddenly makes a little more sense. Billy's dream avatars are intentionally being kept away from Betty because she is the true catalyst for this return to Twin Peaks, one he cannot face. When Cooper encounters her as Naido at the Sheriff Station, we see his reaction out front: he looks visibly distressed and then his face is suddenly imposed over everything, watching the events and ultimately declaring "We live inside of a dream." Betty, a source of his trouble, is an unwanted intrusion inside of his dream, where he seeks to escape her. So much so infact the good Dale quickly changes her into the dreamworld Diane so her presence is tolerable. But that is the real reason behind why we don't actually flat out meet Betty and why Mr. C can't either. In a strange way, he will actually spend the series looking for her, via those coordinates, and will ultimately be led to her but it's unclear if he ever realizes it's Betty he's looking for, or if, just like always, Billy has hidden her behind Judy/his mother.

In a way, that's why it's important that someone connected to Leland Palmer, a man sharing the actor's name, is only allowed to communicate with her. He too was a victim of Billy's manipulations and Betty discovered that her boss had infact framed this innocent man for the crime he himself had committed.

Which brings us to what Ray says about her, and the boss/employee dynamic they shared: She knows what he knows. That was what put Betty's life in danger, when she found out what Billy had done. We also saw this illustrated in the previous scene between Mr. Todd and Roger. The secretary expressed grief/revulsion over what their boss had done, yet blaming it on something else, just as Billy probably blames his actions on the father that haunts him. Betty wanted to know why Billy let the ghost of his past control him and make him do such horrible things. Billy, in turn could only suggest it had been better she had not become involved with him at all.

This scenario raises an interesting thought. Mr. C, as mentioned previously, is oddly unemotional. Does Billy see himself as being similarly unburdened with emotions? Does he see these more exemplified by BOB, the personification of the father he associates with lust and hungers, and Dale Cooper, the almost childlike self that died inside of him and which he connected with goodness? Is all that is left a man that simply goes through the actions, even though he wants and not needs? It also raises the question of why Coop's doppleganger, in the original finale, actually did seem to possess emotions inside of the Red Room. Was that more a clear representation of Billy? Or was his sole delight in tormenting himself, reminding the man what he truly was and defeating him? Nothing else brings him so much joy.

Mr. C seems to be aware of the glances Ray and Darya give one another. He also eats creamed corn, which, to the Lodge forces, represents pain and sorrow. We've already theorized that Billy sees himself made of the substance, having been created by his mother's rape by her own father. Feeling that pain and sorrow himself, Billy inflicts it on others so he doesn't have to face it.


- At night, Hawk walks through Ghostwood, on his way to Glastonbury Grove. Margaret phones him and they are both aware that something is happening there that night. She tells him to drop by for pie and coffee later and he says it will have to be after. When he arrives at the sycamores, he sees flashes of the red curtains.

This is obviously the Saturn and Jupiter conjunction which opens the door to the Red Room and which prominently motivated the plot during the original series' last episodes. Margaret saying "The stars turn...and the time presents itself," goes with that. Okay, so this is still connected to the idea of doors, Cooper having referenced a door in association with it when he was trying to explain it all to Harry. Margaret is still linked to pointing out doors, like when she tells Hawk to watch carefully here, and when she brought the oil, which was an opening to a gateway, the night Dale entered the Lodge. We still believe when Margaret says Laura is the one, she is pointing her out to be the door to Twin Peaks.

Hawk soon sees the pool of oil and the curtains flashing, signaling that the door is open. We still contend that Glastonbury Grove is representative of the doorway that brought Billy into the world.

When Hawk visited Margaret after this, was it then she told him about the one under the moon on Blue Pine Mountain?

-A shot of curtains, then the Venus de' Medici is shown, then the empty chairs of the Red Room waiting room and finally Cooper sitting in his chair as MIKE/Phillip, in the chair where the Arm usually sits, asking him if it is future or past. He further tells Dale that "Someone is here" before disappearing.

That Venus that frequents the Red Room, we've discussed previously, specifically linking it to Audrey. In the script, Audrey Horne was described as a Botticelli-like beauty, Botticelli having painted the famous Venus on the half shell. Titian's "Venus with a Mirror" was seen in the hallways of One-Eyed Jack's as Cooper went to rescue her. Titian supposedly received inspiration from the Venus de Medici seen here. Audrey will be seen looking in a mirror in her final scene. "Venus with a Mirror" can be seen hanging in the Bates motel under the taxidermy of an owl. That movie famously depicts a man, raised in a motel, whom had conflicting feelings for his mother. Venus is also linked to the tale of Adonis, whom was conceived after a daughter lay with her own father, as per Venus' curse. The love of Venus' life was Adonis, the very man she helped conceive. Adonis' mother gave birth to him when she had been turned into a tree.

The Venuses seen in the Red Room either have arms or don't. We speculate this also helps to convey Billy's tormented feelings for his mother: he sees her as having arms to help shield herself from her father's advances. She also has none, displaying her vulnerability. Likewise, she either has hands to hurt her son with or has had that power taken from her.

MIKE/Phillip asking the question of future or past falls into direct connection to the Arm asking the same question, which also links to the Magician/Fire poem that haunts the series. This also brings forth the reminder that time within the Red Room isn't to be taken as wholly linear.

When MIKE/Phillip refers to someone being there does that mean Laura/Carrie soon coming, or is it someone else? If the Red Room is Billy's mental state, dream central, it might also indicate Betty's presence in having discovered Billy's tenuous hold on reality.


-Laura/Carrie walks across the chevron floor. She tells Coop hello and that he can go out now. "Do you recognize me?" she asks. He asks "Are you Laura Palmer?" "I feel like I know her but sometimes my arms bend back," she replies. Dale flat out asks who she is. She states she's Laura Palmer. Dale counters that Laura is dead. Laura/Carrie says that she is dead, yet she lives. She then takes off her face to reveal a crackling white electricity behind it. "When can I go?" Dale asks.

With MIKE/Phillip's earlier question, we're wondering if that was some sort of indication we're doing some time slipping and this is both Laura and Carrie, as in at a later stage, the future.

Laura/Carrie no longer winks at Dale or touches her nose or anything like that. Generally she has the air of being displeased/angry with him.

Laura/Carrie telling Dale he can go out now makes us still wonder if the finger flicking she did was giving him the command that he should sit and stay. Also, this could further indicate it is the future, since, in a little bit, the Arm will tell Dale he can only leave when his Doppleganger comes in.

She asks Dale if he recognizes her. Hmmm...this can still hearken forward in narrative thinking. It kind of goes along with the moment Richard/Coop sees Carrie Page and recognizes her as Laura. However, we kind of believe that Dale's actions outright led to Laura becoming Carrie. This either occurred because Laura's identity outright changed if she didn't die, because she was only created to be dead, or because the dream shifted in Billy's mind and a living Laura inevitably meant a BOB possessed Laura. Both cases could help further explain Laura's animosity and less friendly attitude towards Cooper. She resents her identity changing and would also loathe being forced to become BOB.

When Cooper asks if she's Laura Palmer, Laura states, as she previously did, that she feels like she knows her but sometimes her arms bend back. Now that statement was a reference, supposedly, to when she was tied up by BOB. We saw this when BOB was planning to become her, and it painfully illustrated how Laura's control had been stolen from her. We argue that when Dale "saves" her in Part 17, he similarly stole her control, leading to something negative for Laura inside of his dream, most likely that she was possessed, after everything, by BOB.

Dale states that Laura is dead, obviously having not prevented her death yet. Laura/Carrie says that she's dead and yet she lives. We suspect she flat out lifts her face and shows the crackling white electricity because she is hinting that she is his (Billy's) dream and he outright changed what happened and her identity. That same white electricity will be seen when Audrey is taken away from the Roadhouse in Part 16. It surrounds Audrey and yet she remains separate from it. Laura/Carrie's action will also be echoed in the scene where her mother removes her own face, only it's a darkness that is shown. We're still going on the belief that Billy, his idea of Laura corrupted into a vengeful spirit when Betty discovered he had killed American Girl, as well as by what she whispered to Dale, went on to "possess" her mother, Sarah, in the most vengeance seeking manner imaginable. The light Laura (dream) and the dark (nightmare) then both appear to Billy, representations of his idea of his victim as something that could/would not hurt him and then something that definitely could.

Cooper asks when he can go, his mind apparently more on himself than the riddle of Laura being alive and dead, and betraying Billy's self interest.


- Laura/Carrie stands and walk towards Dale. She leans down and kisses him. A woman barely audibly says "whisper" and Laura whispers into Dale's ear. He goes from looking happy to upset, Laura stands up straight again. She looks at him then turns. Looking at the ceiling, she screams and seems yanked out of the Red Room as Cooper looks on in distress.

Is what Laura/Carrie does in response to Coop's question of when he can go? She began the sequence telling him he could go now. Or is that the whole joke that the Arm was getting at in the Missing Pieces: that for Cooper to truly leave the Red Room, he'd need for Billy to stop his dreaming and wake up.

Laura/Carrie cups her left ear/sweeps the hair away from it as she walks towards Coop. Any meaning behind this? It's her left ear and so it's the same ear she's about to whisper into on Dale.

Who is saying "whisper"? It's a woman and it isn't Lodgespeak, so that makes it feel more real in this dreamscape, similar to how Cooper never speaks in the distorted voice of the people he meets in the Red Room. With the multitude of real women we believe haunt Billy from outside of the dream we have several candidates. It could be American Girl whom he killed. It might be Betty. Or it could be American Girl's mother. These last two would seem very likely, given what Laura/Carrie whispered "Don't assume (that) nobody can spot your dark suit off but me." One of the other people she is referencing has instructed her from outside of Billy's dream to relay this message.

Coop, whom previously looked happy, now seems directly disturbed by her words. He isn't too happy. Probably because he understands it's a veiled threat. The question is...is this what Laura was always whispering to Cooper? Afterall, this is in Lodgespeak and not in normal speak, as Cooper "remembered" Laura supposedly whispering that her father had killed her. We believe she never had whispered that at all and it was all Billy's manufacturing as the dreamer.

Laura turning and looking to the ceiling is interesting since we already wondered in FWWM and the Missing Pieces if it was indicating that the dreamer was looking down on the events. This could likely mean, after having accused his main avatar, Laura is facing the dreamer himself, just as she did in FWWM when she addressed the ceiling in her bedroom asking, "Who are you? Who are you really?" If this is true, and Billy is the dreamer, it is likely that he is the one whom plucked Laura from the Red Room in retaliation. We believe that is just what he did. Laura's whisper had disturbed him, his being what lay beneath Dale Cooper's dark suit, as physically seen in Cooper/Mr. C's arrest report where Mr. C's mugshot is naked and throughout the report Billy Hastings information is bleeding in. Billy's opinion of his creation Laura/Carrie now tarnished, he exiled her, twisting her into something darker which inhabited her mother, now another threat to him.


- The Red Room curtains start blowing, then lift to reveal darkness and a white horse standing on darkness on the chevron floor. We start zooming over the floor, past the horse, and into the darkness.

Sarah was mostly associated with the white horse. It was also often associated with death. We theorize that Sarah now, or we should say her counterpart American Girl's mother, is now threatening to completely "kill" Billy's dreamworld, as well as maybe Billy himself if he receives the death sentence.

This also goes with part of what the woodsman broadcasts in Part 8: "The horse is the white of the eyes and dark within." We can also still link that to Sarah/American Girl's mom and how maybe she saw something about Billy, that might have led to her suspecting he killed her daughter but she forgot it/failed to see it. We reason that the woodsmen represent enablers that helped Billy's father (Ben) get away with his crimes. This would work for Billy also, his imagining these Lodge spirits having protected him too. If the mother begins to suspect him, he is in real danger.

There is still the chance that Billy took something horse related from American Girl when he killed her as a trophy. Is that the point made of having Laura state she loved horses in her Between Two Worlds interview and the horse stuff around Carrie Page?


- There's a shot of a trembling/shaking chevron floor and then we see MIKE/Phillip back and sitting in the chair, asking Dale if it is future or past again. Suddenly he's standing at the far end of the room again, by the curtains, motioning for him to follow, which Cooper does.

Okay, so apparently we've gone from the future, when the dream was in danger, back to the earlier time of MIKE/Phillip asking him if it was future or past. Now Cooper can take the proper steps to leave the Red Room.


- MIKE/Phillip leads Dale to a room with a tree with a fleshy lump as a head. He introduces it as the Evolution of the Arm and it introduces itself as the Arm and then makes the same whopping sound it made in FWWM. It asks Dale if he remembers his doppleganger. We then see a Flashback of Coop's doppleganger laughing with BOB from the OG finale and the dopple chasing after Coop. The Arm tells Dale that the dopple must come back before he goes out.

Trees play a huge motif in Twin Peaks and we suspect they often represent people. We think Audrey, herself, was Ghostwood forest. Trees are also representative of family ie. family tree. We theorize this all has to do with the Hornes, the most prominent and powerful family in Twin Peaks.

The Arms head looks very similar to the lump of flesh in Billy Hastings' trunk. A trunk is the basis of a tree. The head also resembles what is seen replacing Naido's head before she turns into Diane.

The sound of electricity accompanies the Arm.

Is Dale remembering his dopple laughing with BOB? He wasn't present for that though. Does it suggest they are the same? It also displays, once again, how humorless Dale's dopple has become since we first met him.

So, if the Arm is clearly stating that Coop can only leave when his dopple comes back in, why did Laura/Carrie tell him he could go? Is that still indication that her scene was from another time?


- Jack and Mr. C are at a storage unit, putting Mr. C's car safely away. Mr. C requests two sets of keys and then calls Jack over before he goes into his new car. Mr. C mushes/massages the mouth/jaw of Jack.

The two keys Mr. C requests are presumably for the unit with his old car, the Mercedes Benz he was seen driving in Part 1, and the keys to his new one, which will be the same model Richard/Coop drives in Part 18, further hinting that, if Laura never died, Billy's dream self becomes a version balanced more evenly between Dale and Mr. C, Billy having probably successfully acknowledged more of his fears/desires instead of hiding from them.

The mouth/jaw rub is presumably how Mr. C kills Jack. We've theorized before that Jack is used as a cover word for the version of his father Billy imagined before he discovered the truth: Jack Wheeler being the name of the man Audrey lost her virginity to, One-Eyed Jack's being her father's brothel, Jack Rabbit's Palace being where Bobby played pretend with his own father and a statue of a giant Jack Rabbit in Odessa called Jack Ben Rabbit. Billy probably heard stories about his father, all made up, about how he left before his birth or how he pictured him as a cowboy. He heard about this father, he never heard from this father, giving a meaning to Jack never really speaking or having a voice. This could all be why Mr. C plays with Jack's mouth, mouths being used to tell stories. There is also still the disturbing prospect that Billy was abused by his father/grandfather with the mouth and so this is how Billy has Mr. C kill him in his dream.


- It looks like a storm as Mr. C goes back to the motel room he's been sharing with Darya. The room is #6 and has a red door.

Room #6 was the number of Teresa Banks room. The door is red like the door to the Jones family's house in Las Vegas. This was supposedly shot where Lenny Kravitz's video for "American Woman" was shot, a video starring Heather Graham, whom played Annie.


- Darya's talking to someone on the phone but hangs up after hearing Mr. C returning. When Mr. C asks whom she was talking to she says Jack, claiming it was to make sure he got the job done on the secretary's car.

Darya's obviously lying about talking to Jack. Not about him wiring the car though, because Mr. C will soon confirm this. This is Betty, once again, whom is never actually referenced by name here and might never actually be referenced by name again. After Hastings uses the name, it simply goes out of existence. That calls to mind another aspect of Laura's interview in Between Two Worlds: She specifically states she meets many people with no names. It is highly probable that, like most serial killers, Billy eventually forgets his victims' names or they simply do not matter to him. That is why American Girl has no name. We still suspect that, within this theory, it might have been Judy and that that might have also been Billy's mother's name, or, given the similarity to the name Audrey (two syllables and several shared letters) he confused them.

There is something else about Betty and Jack's job on her car, but we'll get into that later.


- Mr. C says Ray never showed and asks Darya where her 45 is. She says beside the bed. Mr. C claims he might need it for a job and then climbs into bed with Darya.

Mr. C is looking around the room and we notice that the curtains look blue. Red door leading in: blue curtains looking out from the inside. We previously speculated red indicated an illusion or something more related to the dreamworld, while the blue was more Billy's reality. Interesting then how the lead in to the room is red but when you glimpse outside of it from within it's blue.


- There's a bit of silence before Mr. C reveals Jack's dead and he killed him after the mechanic had wired the car.

Hmmm...this is very interesting in one specific way. The last we saw of Jack, he was hiding Mr. C's Mercedes, not wiring any car. This then leads to a seemingly strange possibility: is the Mercedes actually Betty's car? It sounds crazy but...We don't think we ever see it again and if inside of Billy's dream, it exploded with Betty supposedly in it, that would help explain that. It would also give an eerie bit of connection to the song "American Woman" playing when Mr. C was first seen driving in that same Mercedes, the song almost driving him. We'll later see Diane's tulpa, whom we perceive to be Billy's mask/substitute for Betty going off to try to kill Gordon to the same tune. This would give further credence to the possibility that Betty is our American Woman.

Linda's car is presumably gone from the Pearblossom after Linda's walked out on a love affair we assume is illicit, what with their needing a hotel room, ala Ben and Catherine, to have their rendezvous. What if it was the Benz? What if Betty drives a Benz and we are correct in the assumption that Linda is just really Betty, just another mask for her?

Another interesting fact is that Audrey was first seen in conjunction with her family's Mercedes limo taking her to school. As we've theorized, everything links back to Billy's mom and he finds it incredibly difficult to separate the women he is attracted to from his mother.


- Darya panics, but Mr. C holds her in place, showing her a recording he made of the phone call she just had. Turns out it was with Ray, whom got caught carrying weapons over the stateline and is now is Federal prison. Ray tells Darya that, according to Jeffries wishes, they'll have to kill Cooper if he's still around tomorrow night. Since he's in prison, Darya must do it. The call then ends because Darya hears Mr. C coming.

The whole story with Ray in prison seems false, it's a question though how much Darya is aware of it or not.

We have our first indication that Phillip Jeffries wants Mr. C dead. Although, seeing his reaction to Cooper in FWWM, maybe this is the second indication.


- Darya struggles and Mr. C violently restrains her. She asks if he's going to kill her and he says yes, making her struggle again. He hits her. He asks who hired her and Ray to kill him. She replies she doesn't know. She claims Ray did but he never told her. Mr. C expresses doubt that Ray is really in prison for the stated reason. He remarks it's interesting and "the game begins".

This scene is very violent and distressing. Mr. C is brutal with this young woman, whom is obviously terrified. At the same time, Mr. C is almost motherly with her, as strange as that sounds. He strokes her face and pushes the hair back out of it. This is room #6 in a motel, just like Teresa's, and we can easily see the contrast in Mr. C's behavior being Billy mimicking his mother's own behavior to him, horrifying one moment, tender the next.

Mr. C flat out telling Darya that he is going to kill her, after she's asked if he is going to, conjures memories of Laura asking BOB/Leland the same thing. Only this heightens the awareness that BOB never wanted to kill Laura. He wanted to possess her. That was why he never answered her question.

Why doesn't Mr. C know Phillip Jeffries hired Ray and Darya to kill him? She just said Jeffries! Does he not believe it? Or does he want to see if she knows Jeffries on a deeper level? Ray knows him, however, but seeing as though Ray will be revealed to be an informant that makes sense.

Mr. C isn't buying that Ray is really in prison for the reasons stated, but thinks it's interesting and part of a game. He's eerily similar to Windom Earle here. We might also be able to link the game aspect to the mother and child playing their own game before Richard kills the boy, unintentionally.


- Did they really say they want him dead, Mr. C asks, and Darya replies no, and she doesn't know why. Mr. C is curious how much they were paying for his death and Darya answers they'd split half a million but she wasn't going to do it. Mr. C tells her to shut up.

Mr. C seems proud and interested how much his life is worth. Of course, this is Billy's own narcissism being revealed.

Apparently, Jeffries was concerned that the doppleganger wouldn't be sent back when he was supposed to be and wanted some other precaution taken, just like Mr. C wanting "Dougie" to be taken out if he was around after tomorrow too.


- Darya asks about his supposedly going away tomorrow and Mr. C explains how he was supposed to be pulled back into the Black Lodge, but he isn't going back there and has a plan for that one. Mr. C then expresses dismay over the whole prison thing with Ray though. He asks if Ray got the info he wanted from Hastings' secretary and if he ever mentioned coordinates. Darya says she doesn't know what those are and Mr. C explains they are geographical, numbers and letters. They could save her life he says. She answers she told him something but she doesn't know what.

And here we have the fact that Mr. C has created his own little decoy to go into the Lodge for him, just as Jeffries, whom worked the Duffy case likely suspected. This has made Mr. C less concerned about tomorrow, however the issue with Ray in prison still bugs him. Why? Because it still falls back to the Ray and Betty storyline that secretly preoccupies Mr. C's screentime.

He asks Darya if Ray got the coordinates from Hastings' secretary (still not using her name). We suspect this is so very important inside of the dreamworld because they lead to Betty herself within it and how she is threatening to send Hastings to his own prison, easily paralleling how Mr. C doesn't want to return to his own: the Black Lodge. This is another reason why both men's information was mixed in Mr. C/Cooper's arrest report: Mr. C is Billy.

What did Betty tell Ray? He has the coordinates but he also seems aware of who Mr. C is now, and how unreal the Dutchman's is too. Could Betty have partially given away what she discovered about her boss and does Ray understand completely, once he wears the ring, who Mr. C is really: William Hastings.

Honestly, if you begin looking at this whole thing as being about Billy and Betty, and begin to see how Mr. C's storyline revolves around the supposedly unseen Betty, things begin to become a lot clearer. It's just the whole Magician thing, dazzling with flashier storylines and misdirecting attention so William Hastings supposedly unimportant little secretary gets lost amidst the shuffle. Speaking of which...


- Mr. C pulls out a card and shows it to Darya, asking if someone ever showed her something like it before. It's an Ace of Spades card, scratched at top and bottom, with what looks like a large black blob with horns on its large black head. She motions she's never seen it before, but turns away in disgust as Mr. C explains that is what he wants. Mr. C seems pleased with Darya's reaction. She asks if he is going to kill her. When he says yes, she struggles again. Mr. C climbs on top of her, holds a pillow over her head and shoots her. He lifts the pillow, sees she's dead and then puts it back on her head.

The playing card is a blue Pavillion. Pavillion is a Toys R Us card...Mr. C is carrying with him a child's playing card. What's more, the addict mother, whom will be squatting with her son in the house across from where Dougie is replaced with Dale, has the deck's red counterpart, as well as a diaper pin that could have been used to create those scratches. A theme of mothers and sons is constant. That addict mother will also cry 119, in the same way that Audrey's Dance is reversed during Part 16's end credits. Her son will make it successfully across the street, while the previously mentioned boy, playing games with his more attentive mother, will get hit and die. This card is the Ace of Spades, the most powerful card in the deck. The symbol on it looks like a black hole with horns sticking out from it. That is pretty self explanatory to this theory: horns = Hornes. We've discussed the HORNEd animals in Twin Peaks quite a few times. The symbol could also look like the owl cave ring one, blotted out, or the Twin Peaks with a large void at it's core.

The card then we can easily link to either Billy's mother or the destruction of Twin Peaks, when either they arrest Billy for the murders he committed or when Dale "saves" Laura Palmer. The card then could equally be either Betty or Sarah or American Girl. That continues the general confusion over the Judys and how Billy associates the women whom attract or threaten him to her.

This directly correlates to Darya's reaction to the card here. She says she hasn't seen it but looks repulsed, as if she knows what it is on some level. We already pointed out how her name contained several letters in common with Audrey. It can also mean wealth, a word associated with the Hornes. In her introductory scene, Darya was wearing a similar color scheme to Audrey's own during her first scene.

Mr. C seems to recognize and enjoy Darya's reaction to the card. Possibly, this is his believing himself to be proven right that she did know the card and he is justified in killing her, because the conversation goes directly back to that subject. This represents how Billy convinced himself that the women he murders are equally guilty and mere abstractions of his mother.

Note how in this room, #6, Mr. C assumes the dominant sexual position to murder Darya, as opposed to the submissive pose we see Cooper take in room #7 at the motel where Diane and he have sex. He was also in the submissive position while having sex with Janey-E, his wife/mother figure. Obviously Billy has two differing sides in his feelings for his mother, the one whom longs for control and harbored feelings of hatred, fear and resentment for her, resulting in his being violent and dominant, and the one whom loved her, being less in control and willing to let her dominate him.

Holding a pillow over Darya when he kills her feels significant when we know this is all a dream. It can remind us of Mr. C taking advantage of Audrey as she was in a coma. It can also tie to Darya being closer to the Betty storyline, which reveals this to be nothing but a dream.

Have to comment, Darya acted like a child throughout the threat to her life, which was incredibly hard to watch. We suspect this reversion to childhood was once again like Billy's mother, a trait we saw several times in Audrey Horne, whom bounced from worldliness and innocence in a heartbeat.

Another thing worthy of being distinguished with the brutality of this scene, and what many viewers don't want to face is that this is still Dale Cooper. It can be argued it is his doppleganger, but the dopplegangers were only represented as the hidden selves/shadow selves of their counterparts so it is inarguable that some part of Dale Cooper secretly WANTS - the key word for Mr. C - to behave like this. Part of him harbours this misogyny. This is further illustrated in Andy's future visit with the Fireman, and how he literally sees Cooper as BOTH the good Dale and Mr. C and then them splitting. That actually begs the question of when did Dale split. Was it before he'd even come to Twin Peaks?

The reluctance to see Cooper as being capable of this horror helps to illustrate as well how incredibly knowing David Lynch was about human nature in general. The audience is quick to jump on Leland as being entirely culpable for what happened to Laura, disbelieving in the otherworldly BOB, and yet they will cling to the notion that Mr. C and Dale are two separate entities, and that the Doppleganger is solely to blame. We still argue that Leland was innocent of the horrors committed against his daughter and that it was Cooper/Billy whom framed him and partially committed them. People argue that Leland Palmer shows how a bad man can get by in society by acting good and by people blindly accepting the facade without looking closer. And yet we believe that it is through the character of Dale Cooper which this theme is perfectly explored, the audience loving him so much they will blindly condemn Leland and yet be reluctant to question what Dale Cooper might secretly be hiding.


- Mr. C washes his hands in the bathroom, grabs a black case and then sets up a device, talking to a Phillip on it. "Phillip" says that he's late and Mr. C states it couldn't be helped. "Phillip" claims to have missed him in NY but sees he's still in Buckhorn. Mr. C counters that "Phillip" is still nowhere. "Phillip" states that Mr. C met with Garland Briggs and Mr. C wants to know how he knew that. "Phillip" claims he just called to say Goodbye. Mr. C wants clarification that he's talking to Phillip Jeffries. "You're going back in tomorrow and I will be with BOB again," the voice states. Mr. C wants to know who it is. The call ends without Mr. C receiving an answer.

Lots of speculation about who is talking to Mr. C here.

Some argue it's whatever is possessing Sarah Palmer. If it's the Experiment, that could go along with the idea of mothers and sons. If BOB is the Experiment's son that could create an incestuous leaning where she longs to be with her son. That would also bring a different context to why Sarah is stabbing the photograph of Laura Palmer. If she's possessed by the Experiment, she is BOB's mom and she could be jealous of Laura, knowing that, since Dale saved her, BOB will finally get to possess her, choosing Laura over his mother.

That would work great for the part of this theory that believes that Billy and his mother had a tormented, unnatural relationship.

But never have we believed that Sarah was possessed by the Experiment, unless Billy's messed up mind is confusing/merging things, like always. We've always believed that Sarah was possessed by the Experiment Model, which is really a warped and twisted Laura. Could that work with this being Sarah/Experiment Model on the phone? Well, maybe it could if some dark part of Laura wanted to be with BOB. It would also make nice symmetry with a possible answer to whom was talking through Sarah in the original finale. The person had told Briggs they were with Cooper in the Lodge. We know Laura had been with him in it. Now, if we have the darker version of Laura possessing her mom and talking through her again, it makes for a nice carry through and contrast. It would also make sense because we know that the Experiment Model had been in NYC and had missed Mr. C.

Either of these go with the theory and it could be an amalgamation.

It could also be the other Phillip: MIKE/Phillip, and that is why the person on the other end doesn't correct Mr. C when he says Phillip. MIKE could wish to be with BOB.

Maybe it's Ben Horne, him having wanted a skyscraper of his own, and being the inspiration for BOB himself inside of Billy's mind.

Or maybe it's just Billy, dreamer that he is. Billy was there with Major Briggs and the woodsmen and possibly Mr. C afterall. He'd be aware of that and all of this.

It's interesting, though, how Mr. C mentions Jeffries being nowhere, linking to his being at the Dutchman's, a place Ray will say isn't real. It seems likely Mr. C stuck him there, similar to what happened when Diane receives her tulpa. Does Jeffries have a tulpa? Maybe that mysterious black box in South America?


- Mr. C signs into the FBI website and locates Yankton prison, where Ray is. He downloads files, blueprints etc...from it.

So Mr. C did his research and willingly wanted to be caught if it meant seeing Ray again and getting Betty's coordinates. See how important and how much of a driving force Betty secretly is?


- Mr. C goes next door to room #7 and finds Chantal, whom is grateful Darya is dead since she was getting jealous. Mr. C wants Chantal and her husband's help in a few days. He calls her over, to where he's sitting on the bed, and he feels her between the legs, finding her "nice and wet".

This is room #7, just like the #7 room where Diane and Dale will have sex. To go with our previous talk about position, Mr. C willingly takes the less dominant role now of sitting down as he initiates sex with Chantal, purposely feeling her down south. This area is the same one we've been comparing Glastonbury Grove to and the possibility it reflects the birthing passageway of Billy's mother.

Chantal is holding a soft drink, we think, and junk food lies all around. We've discussed how, in The Return, David seems to equate bad, lazy people with fast/frozen/junk food. Chantal's room also mirrors Carrie Page's house being littered with frozen dinners and how that didn't seem to harbor good news about Page's personality. We still take that to mean that Carrie was the Laura possessed by BOB.

As Chantal holds up the soft drink can, her other hand holds up a thumb and two fingers = 3. We've discussed denominations of 3 and 6 reoccur through Billy's dream. The next scene offers up another.


- Back to Cooper in the Red Room, listening to the Arm, whom says, "253 time and time again. Bob. Bob. Bob. Go now." He repeats the instruction and MIKE/Phillip and Coop leave the room, Cooper finding himself alone in the hall.

2:53 is the time Cooper is supposed to leave the Red Room and Mr. C get pulled back in. It's also the time that the clock is shown to be wonky at the Sheriff Station, in Part 17, when Cooper and Diane look at it, and when the Giant imposed head of Cooper - that had disappeared during their kiss - returns. The Arm seems to be inferring that this time keeps happening, which goes with the implication that Dale might be in a loop. We guess, one of the questions might be how often does Billy regret having killed American Girl and how often does he dream about changing it?

The giant looming head of Dale seems aware that everything is a dream. That comes into play after he's specifically seen Naido, whom we argue is Betty, at the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station.

The repetition of the name BOB, in three, could indicate that, no matter how hard he tries to shake it up in this iteration, BOB will always be him. It could also align with the three Coopers seen in the Return: Dale, Dougie and Mr. C. Each of them is connected to BOB.

When Cooper has "saved" Laura, this scene between Coop and the Arm replays but with a change to it. The Arm will instead inquire, "Is it the story of the little girl who lived down the lane. Is it?" We believe that is a direct reference, not to Laura, but to Audrey whom specifically called her own story that. This change would accompany our belief that, if Billy had not killed American Girl, he would have become a more balanced individual, one more willing to acknowledge the things the Billy whom resorted to murder to escape/hide did not. Hence why this dream version shares the same name as Audrey Horne's son.

Where did Bob, Bob, Bob go though?

Simple. He was shucked off on Laura. If Billy never murdered American Girl his perception of Laura, whom was created to solely bedead, changes too. Now she is forced to carry the imago of his father he invented similarly inside of his dream.

Listening to the Bob Bob Bob part, Dale looks sad. It looks similar to the scene where he enters a room and finds nothing.

Cooper leaves but apparently can't take MIKE/Phillip along with him.



- Cooper tries to exit through a curtain but can't.

Either this is the curtain reserved for his exit into Glastonbury Grove in an altered timeline in Part 18, of he simply can't leave unless Mr. C has returned to the Red Room.


- Entering another room, Cooper stops and stares at nothing before heading on. Through another corridor, on to another room, he finds a sad Leland Palmer sitting by himself. "Find Laura," Leland says and then looks sadly to the floor. Cooper walks off determined. He walks through a concealed spot in the curtains where electricity is seen.

Cooper giving pause to look at nothing makes us wonder if something was infact there. We wonder, afterall, if he can't see the angel at the end of FWWM and he also seemed oblivious, after his cup split in the OG finale and the Arm turned to look at someone shortly after referencing BOB, that BOB might have been present.

Is this the same Leland Coop encounters in Part 18? We're not sure. At the end of that encounter, he looked at Dale somewhat crankily as he left, instead of at the floor. This one would similarly say "Find Laura" if Billy just vanquished her, not liking her whisper. This is the first time we've met Leland and not his dopple inside of the Red Room, however. Apparently he is in contact with Laura inside of it to know she is now absent.

Electricity always makes us think of Cooper having compared dreams to electricity, so we wonder if this is indication of the shifts in Billy's dream. That could indicate that the Leland he met was from the "saved" Laura timeline, as was the curtain Coop couldn't enter through before. Which means that the Leland we see inside of the Red Room might hint that BOB killed him to enter Laura when Dale tried to save her from death, but only left her vulnerable to possession. The only other time we see Leland separate from the "Find Laura" moments in The Return is when, BOB possessing him, he is shown watching Laura ride off with James in Part 17. The inclusion of that scene reminds the viewer of how BOB/Leland was following Laura that night, hoping to become her.


- Coop sees the Red Room distorted, one imposed and moving on the other. MIKE/Phillip is back with the Arm and looking worried. It cuts to a shot of the Venus in the hallway, then back to them. "Something's wrong," MIKE/Phillip says and the Arm says it's his doppleganger. Through another empty room, Dale walks until he enters a hallway. It seems a little glitchy. He opens the curtains and sees a road with his Doppleganger driving down it. Mr. C looks at his watch. Suddenly the Venus turns into the Arm's doppleganger which screams and generally seems angry and confrontational. The floor starts to move and the pattern separate. "non-exist-ent" the Arm's dopple shouts. The screen darkens and Cooper falls through the floor, into black water/oil and then shortly falls through space too.

Is the two imposed Red Rooms hinting at the two separate versions of events? Laura dead and Laura alive? Or is it just saying the Red Room is in danger?

MIKE/Phillip and the Arm are aware that something is wrong and the Arm attributes it to his dopple. Why though?

As Coop enters the hallway, sees the Venus and peers down on Mr. C driving, a sound like the fan can be heard. That same fan accompanied the image of BOB/Leland watching Laura and James, so it seems suggestive that this sequence of events might, in fact, be driving home the thread of BOB wanting to be Laura, and if she lived that was inevitable.

Mr. C looks at his watch to see if it's 2:53, we guess.

The Venus statue turning into the Arm's doppleganger, and its angry state, explains partly why its other self knew that the "wrong" in the Red Room had to do with it. The floor of the hallway beginning to separate and become unsteady also betrays that it is the Arm's doppleganger's doing. Why? Well, we've got two options here, and both rely on the insinuation that, inside of the Red Room, the dopplegangers reveal truths. If they are hidden selves, that only stands to reason since more often than not a truth someone doesn't want others to know about is kept hidden safely behind the curtains, just like the truth behind the Wizard of Oz.

First, we can take that the Arm's dopple knows that Dale will "save" Laura and that this will destroy the Red Room. He's screaming "non-exist-ent!" because that is what it will be.

Or it's trying to reveal an even deeper truth to Cooper.

That none of this exists anyway!

We suspect, on some level, the doppleganger of the arm is just weary of all of this nonsense, with Cooper and the Red Room and the dream and all of Billy's lies and illusions and he just wants him to wake the heck up! This is a version of his uncle, we suspect, whom was a disciplinarian in the vein of Major Briggs.

The Arm has been Cooper's somewhat guide to the Red Room. We also speculated that he was really also offering the ring to Billy and not just Laura in FWWM, the angle looking down as the Arm looked up. The ring would have helped Billy to accept the truth he was hiding from. However, in the Arm's doppleganger we find none of the patience or illusion of even that ring. He just outright says the truth that the other spirits hide from: this, they, everything is all nonexistent! Even the way he says it "non-exist-ent!" You can read that as non-exist-ENTertainment if you wanted. And we've guessed before that that is also what Twin Peaks really is: the tv program Billy has playing inside of his mind.

The Arm's dopple has had enough of it and just wants it to be over with, angry at the individual whom hides the dreamer of it all.

Cooper quickly falls through space, as Donna and Laura mused about.


- He hits a glass box. It's the one in the skyscraper in New York. Cooper falls through the glass and then enters the box/room where Sam has been hired to watch it. The room is empty and we soon see the scene of Sam checking to see where the guard went and Tracey asking if she can come in now. Cooper floats in the box as it sounds like it's having structural damage. Suddenly the box is a box within a box jutting back and forward, then suddenly forward again until all the way back and Cooper leaves it, suddenly falling in space.

Okay, so the Arm of the doppleganger has led to Cooper winding up inside of the box we see as being William "Billy" Hastings psyche. It's another indication that the dopple Arm is trying to make Dale confront what this all is. We see, though, that this happened when Sam had left the room to find Tracey and learn the guard was gone. So we have both Dale Cooper and the Experiment Model now linked to this moment and the box. For some reason, Billy must have felt it necessary to free Dale Cooper, or bring him to mind, when Tracey was about to be let in and the guard was missing. Once again, did Betty remind him of American Girl?

We also have that Cooper is here and disappears before the Experiment Model's arrival...so was that her on the phone, talking to Mr. C, and she had technically missed him here in NYC because, in truth, Mr. C and Cooper are just the same character? Could this Experiment Model be the Laura that we reason Billy just banished from the Red Room? We suspect, afterall, that she tarnished herself inside of his mind with her whisper that insinuated there was something wrong with Cooper, his main avatar.

The glass box doubling and tripling etc... shows how Billy is used to creating dreams within dreams inside of his mind. He's also good at jumping back and forth in time inside of his fantasy, bringing forth the constant question, "Is it future or is it past?"

Cooper falling through space at a breakneck speed echoes Laura's words in FWWM on the subject: "Faster and faster." It also helps us to realize that this is more his fear/feeling/dream/fate than hers.


- We suddenly see the Palmer house. Sarah sits in the living room, drinking a Bloody Mary as she watches a nature program of a pack of lions taking down a water buffalo.

So this is where we think the Experiment Model ended up, after she showed up in NYC, following Dale and killing Sam and Tracey: She went on to possess her mother. Now Sarah is suddenly depicted as being bloodthirsty, right down to drinking Bloody Marys and watching carnage on TV. But this is all through the eyes of Billy, a man whom is unreliable and whom pictures himself as the hero and others as the villains. We can't trust it and we reason that it simply indicates that Sarah, the mother of Billy's first intentional victim, is out for justice/revenge. Afterall, look at the video she is watching...they are female animals going after a horned beast. We speculate that The Return features several WOMEN (American Girl, her mother, Betty) threatening Billy, a HORNE. Everything is about perspective and how you look at it.


- At the Roadhouse, the Chromatics perform "Shadow" as Shelly Johnson drinks with her friends.

Interesting lyrics to Shadow, ones that fits the whole series:

"Shadow, take me down
Shadow, take me down with you

For the last time
For the last time
For the last time
For the last time

You're in the water
I'm standing on the shore
Still thinking that I hear your voice

Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?
Can you hear me?

For the last time
For the last time
For the last time
For the last time

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

For the last time
For the last time
For the last time
For the last time"

This might be the last time Billy dreams of Twin Peaks and Laura. Cooper and his shadow play their game of power, and yet they make a whole being. Richard/Dale will drive Carrie/Laura "home". Billy, a stranger to Cooper is dreaming this all, Laura is his dream. Laura's photo played a large role and she will become someone different after Sarah is seen destroying it in its frame. If Laura becomes BOB by the series ending, and her shadow self partly wanted this, as theorized before, the song could take on a deeper meaning where, at the end of Twin Peaks we are left with both Cooper and Laura being partially integrated with their shadows.

The lyrics could equally go for Diane/Betty, Cooper having driven her too and then her identity questioned.

None of Shelly's friends are people we know.


-James comes in with Freddy and they get drinks.

Freddy's obviously never been here before. James is introducing him to it.


- Shelly is telling her friends how her daughter is with the wrong guy. Renee balks, saying that "Everyone loves Steven." Shelly's still insistent something is wrong, she can see it on Becky's face. Another friend tells her it's her daughter's life.

This goes with what we were discussing earlier, how someone can seem fine and people like them, but they harbour a dark truth other's don't wish to accept. Steven will definitely have his issues when we see him and his relationship with Becky is troubled and unhealthy. The claim that everyone loves him is taking things a bit far though. But maybe, Steven being another representation of him, this is still wishful/grandiose thinking inside of Billy's mind. Hastings' has slipped by detection by presenting himself as a good guy afterall, and it is the cover he depends on, he doesn't want to admit that not everyone buys in to it.

We suspect Shelly's suspicion here is actually a reflection of Sarah/American Girl's mother. She knows something isn't right with her daughter and yet has trouble focusing on it. Infact, the dynamic between Shelly with Bobby and Becky in the Return can directly resemble the truth of what happened with Sarah and Leland and Laura, especially when we view Red's presence as a stand-in for Billy. Red distracts Shelly from staying focused on her estranged lover and child and this seems to eventually lead to Becky's death. Similarly, we believe that Billy managed to trick American Girl's mother so she didn't stay focused on her daughter and husband and so she couldn't successfully bring to justice the real killer of her daughter or clear her husband's name. If we look at even the names here we can find a parallel: Sarah, Leland and Laura. Shelly, Bobby and Becky. The mother's names start with an S and the father and daughters share the same first letter.


- The same friend, Hannah, points out that James is staring at Renee. Shelly asks if James has a thing for her. The other friend acts like there's something wrong with James. Shelly states no, that James was in a motorcycle accident and he's just quiet now, but he is and has always been cool.

Now we have the shoes on the other feet, with Hannah saying there's something wrong with James and Shelly being the one to say, no, he is cool.

People will similarly let Dougie's odd behavior slip because he was in an accident. Accidents are common occurrences in Twin Peaks. Dougie also is taken to be a nice guy people love because he mimics their behavior.

James was Laura's boyfriend. Steven is Becky's husband. A direct parallel.


- Red, drug dealer and Magician, gets a beer from Jean Michel Renault. Shelly and he notice each other. Red makes a shooting motion in her direction.

Jean Michel looks exactly like Jacques Renault. Twins?

Red is a drug dealer whom performs a magic trick for his employee, Richard Horne. The trick itself betrays itself as an illusion. The Red Diamond City Motel was the motel where Teresa Banks worked. Another magician, the grandson, haunted its parking lot and a trailer on its ground. We argue that the grandson is Billy...so in Red we have another incarnation of Billy...one whom is interested in Shelly.

But we just theorized she's connected to Sarah/American Girl's mom and so this whole "romance" suddenly carries the disturbing hint that Red's interest in Shelly really just conveys Billy's own interest in the mother of his first victim and how it deals with the death of her daughter. Red is providing the drugs Steven and Becky are addicted to. That gun signal becomes doubly concerning now since we speculate that Billy is planning to harm the mother of American Girl so she cannot hurt him first.


- James stares longingly at Renee.

We've discussed previously James' own mother issues and his tendency to choose women whom reflect these issues, often unavailable to him in some way. Renee is married. There is a chance that James' interest in Renee helps to show Billy's own attraction to his victims, Renee's coloring being more similar to them than the blonde/red heads he substitutes them with.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Part 1 "My Log Has a Message for You"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- Part 1 begins with a swirling shot of the Red Room's chevron floor and then a focus on its red curtains.

The peaks of the floor pattern seem to be emphasized with all the swirling, dizzy motion. For the second season finale, we discussed how the red curtains could represent the female anatomy of a woman giving birth.


- We go to the scene during the original finale of Laura flicking/snapping her fingers at Dale Cooper and then telling him that she will see him again in 25 years. She then makes the symbol with her hands after telling him "Meanwhile".

The Laura's flicking/snapping fingers is something we've never found an interpretation that completely satisfies us. We've thought it's connected to the snapping of fingers that the grandson did and his intimation that sometimes things could happen "just like this". We thought that might have to do with how BOB can quickly go in and out of controlling his host. Laura does it in a different manner, however, which we believed might have indicated that she'd escaped BOB's control and retained her autonomy.

However, for this theory, and according to PopApostle, the snapping of fingers can be associated with the sign language for dog. We looked into that a little and discovered something relevant. We've, previously, connected Billy/Cooper/grandson with dogs. Cooper wanted to buy "Dead Dog Farm" and once reminded Gordon of a small Mexican chihuahua. The grandson was accompanied by the song "Black Dog Runs at Night". And Billy, whom we believe to be behind both of those characters, is in this way linked to dogs, as well. He'll also be shown with his own unique link to a dog: a wolf door knocker. So Billy is linked to dogs. Billy is also linked to bucks, as illustrated during our past analysis of the series. In FWWM, Laura clicked/snapped her fingers to order BUCK under the table. Here now she is also flicking/snapping at Dale for some reason. That's another thing: dog obedience trainers will often make some sound of their fingers to help train dogs. Is this motion actually Laura establishing her control/power over Cooper/Billy? Could she be motioning Dale to sit and stay? Is it hinting that Billy's victim actually possesses control over him, as opposed to how he killed her to exert his own control over her? We will theorize that The Return is actually about William "Billy" Hastings downfall and how his dreamworld is effected by it, causing him to scramble to "fix" things. This starting scene then can very well be hinting that Billy's victim knows she can lead to his destruction and that, no matter what her killer thinks, she still possesses the power to destroy him, even though she is dead.

We believe that Laura gives the sign of a tree, so greatly connected to the sycamores at Glastonbury Grove, where Cooper entered the Red Room, and we'll also find one at the portal to the Fireman's Home, which we'll find out in Part 8 is Laura's home too. Laura can either be signaling that the good Dale will be stuck in the Red Room for 25 years or that she will be hanging out with her "father" over at his place. Maybe it's both.

Have to also point out that we also connected trees to people in the land of Twin Peaks, especially Ghostwood (where Glastonbury Grove is) with Audrey, Billy's mom.

We'll also point out that dogs are very fond of trees. Sorry. But it's true.


- The series' segway to the credits begins with a shot of fog/mist over trees, what appears to be the mill and then finally, Twin Peaks High School.

That montage featuring the high school is a VERY important addition to this theory. We have a shot of its empty hallway, the girl, whom found out of Laura's murder, running and then Laura's photo in the trophy case. Now we argue, that Billy first met American Girl when they both went to the same high school together and that he killed her during that time too. For the return to Twin Peaks to center on the school seems incredibly significant. We also stated that we saw the introduction of Chet (an earlier FBI avatar for Billy) occurring with a group of traumatized grade school children, representing how Chet and Teresa (a substitution for Billy's mom) signified how Billy associated that stage in his life, and his mother's physical death, with his childhood self. Meanwhile, Cooper's involvement with Laura's death involved teens because Billy was a teenager when he killed American Girl. Lynch is giving a nod to this fact in the credits, before he acknowledges that this is mostly a tale focusing on adults, Billy now an adult himself. However, he is still an adult very much haunted by a childhood self he can't escape, as this series will very well display, and one stuck in his teenage years too, having become a high school principal.


- We focus on Laura Palmer's photo in the trophy case until the title card appears over her image and the famous theme starts playing.

Another wonderful aspect when viewed through this theory. We believe that Billy killed American Girl and that he might have taken a trophy after doing so. We think her mother (Sarah in the dream) might hold some knowledge about that but overlooked it. American Girl was also, herself, a trophy to Billy.

We've also reasoned that Laura was the doorway to Twin Peaks for Billy, and that this is truly what Margaret meant when she said Laura was the One: she was the door that led to Twin Peaks. Without Billy's creation of Laura, brought about by his first act of wilful murder, there would be no Twin Peaks. Having her image be what accompanies that title card appearing, for the first time in so many years, hammers this home.

- The scene shifts to what will serve as the primary motif for the credits in all other episodes: a shot that pans over the bluff of White Tail Falls and has an ariel view of it which leads to the violently blowing curtains and the swirling chevron floor.

That shot of the bluff is outright connected to the Great Northern Hotel, home of the Hornes and Cooper's too during his stay in Twin Peaks. This theory revolves around the belief that the Hornes are infact Billy's family, and that Cooper is his main avatar inside his dreamworld. White Tail Falls was also the center of the original series start credits, however, this time, we seem to be swiftly pulled down them, taken by the current, as opposed to the more peaceful credits we previously knew. That's perfect for The Return however. This is a series, afterall, about Billy's potential downfall. Why not echo that with a display of that "fall"? One we end off with the Red Room seemingly in disarray, this too intimating that Billy has lost control.


- Our first scene is in black and white, where we find the man we know as the Giant, soon to be called the Fireman, sitting and talking with Cooper, whom is sitting in another chair across from him. He tells Cooper to listen to the sounds on an old grammaphone; they sound like a weird clicking/scratchy sound. "It is in our house now," the Fireman states. "It is," Coop either asks or replies. "It all cannot be said aloud now," the Fireman says before adding, "Remember 430, Richard and, Linda, Two birds with one stone." "I understand," says Dale. "You are far away," the Fireman counters and then Cooper flickers out.

Okay, so it is very important for this scene to remember how we see the Giant/Fireman as Leland, Senorita Dido as Sarah and the Laura orb as, no surprise here, Laura. We also see them all as Billy's avatars/substitutions/representations of American Girl's family. They are all one and the same, just on different levels of "reality" to Billy. We can even outright discern, by the end of The Return, how they are in fact the same. For, in Part 17, Cooper tries to get Laura "home" by taking her to the Fireman's. Then, in Part 18, he tries to take Laura home by dragging her to the Palmer house. Why? Because it really makes no difference when they are in fact the same place, only one is more fantasy based and the other more based in reality. The reason for that is in itself simple: when Billy killed American Girl, he created a dreamworld more influenced by the fantastic to help escape that fact, and so Laura could be conceived as some otherworldly entity and he could take her to her otherworldly home. However, if Billy hadn't killed American Girl, his own fantasy world might have been less tinged with the fantastical elements, maybe having come to terms with the harsh realities of his own life instead of needing to force them on others. So we must understand that the Palmer house and the Fireman's are the same place, just viewed through different perspectives. This can also be hinted at when Mr. C entered the Fireman's and saw an image projected of the Palmer place there.

So seeing the house as the same place provides interesting clarity for the Fireman's words here. First, though, we have to tie it in to him telling Coop to listen to the sounds, since both are related. Whatever is heard on that gramophone, we reason, is the same thing that the Fireman is revealing has entered his house. What are the sounds? We are going to theorize that they are the sounds of an insect. Actually, we're going to theorize it is the sound of the frogmoth, whom we also believe symbolizes Billy. Afterall, the grandson wears a mask of it, and we have outright stated before we believe that the New Mexico girl's impregnation by the frogmoth directly is meant to be connected to Audrey Horne's conception of her son. So, the sound indicates Billy/grandson and the Fireman is telling Dale that it is in "our" house now, as in the Palmers. This receives further evidence when Richard/Cooper and Carrie/Laura go to what should be the Palmer house and find that a Tremond is currently living there, having bought it from a Chalfont; both names Cooper should recognize as belonging to the grandson he had heard about but never met face to face.

The next bit of vague information equally relates to this theory that Billy himself has infiltrated the Palmer/Fireman's home. Why? Well, the Fireman says, "it all cannot be said aloud now." What is he exactly referring to? Well, first off, if we study it, we note he uses the word "aloud" which means "with the speaking voice in a way that can be clearly heard." That is the opposite of a whisper. So, we can hazard a pretty reasonable guess that this might be directly related to whatever Laura/Carrie is whispering to Cooper in the Red Room. We wholeheartedly believe she is saying, "Don't assume (that) nobody can spot your dark suit off but me," insinuating that she knows who/what Dale really is and someone else does too. We're trying this all to the Palmers now...so we're almost positive that this falls in to our belief that Sarah, Billy's victim's mother, knew something that could incriminate him. This whole sequence will directly fit into Part 17/18. We're going to go off on what Major Briggs' Bible Reading in a missing piece led us to believe: that Billy would kill/try to kill the two women he believed had found out he was a murderer and whom were going to blow the whistle on him. Those two women, we reckoned, were his assistant Betty and his first victim's mother. Okay, so this scene is a bit of spolierage, telling us the ending in effect: that Billy, just like he did when he killed American Girl, managed to gain entry into the his victim's house for a second time and killed her mother too. Pretty grim stuff. It might also be too unsettling for Billy, whom accidentally having caused his own mother's death, might not want to acknowledge he took the life of another mother too...but it sets up perfectly the ending of The Return and that horrible scream from Laura/Carrie. Afterall, we reason that inside of his fantasy, Billy had Cooper "save" her only for her to become BOB (really just Billy haunted/possessed by the image of his father) and go "home" to kill her mother. Her equally being Billy now, seeing as though she is BOB, brings whole different layers to her traumatized scream. Laura remembers killing her mother, but on a deeper level, Billy remembers killing his mother too. In any case, "it cannot be said aloud now" is the truth about Dale Cooper himself or rather that William "Billy" Hastings is a serial killer whom started by killing "Laura".

The Fireman tells Cooper to remember three things that come into play in Part 18: 430/the distance to travel, Richard and Linda/whom he and Diane will become and two birds with one stone/how by taking Laura home he somehow thought he'd defeat Judy. The question is, though, is he telling Dale to remember these occurrences when he encounters them/to fulfill them or is he asking if he remembers having done them all before? We have to be honest, we think there is something more to 430 then we can say. Maybe we'll figure out what that is or how Coop knows it when we finally reach it in Part 18. Richard and Linda is a bit more clear cut: Cooper becomes Richard and Diane becomes Linda. That one's a little more obvious for our theory: Cooper is brought to a stage closer to Billy's truth, that he is Audrey's son, and Diane holds a clue that she is Billy's secretary. What's the clue? It's in the name itself. You see, Linda means pretty in spanish. Superfluously, Ray calls Hastings "unseen" secretary attractive; to be more precise, he uses one word to describe her: pretty. As for this "two birds with one stone" line, we guess, we can now say that Billy killed two women from the same family, and he also killed American Girl and Betty too. What the stone is we might have to contemplate.

The Fireman's response that Cooper is far away, despite his claim that he understands, could be that the Fireman is aware he is not close to understanding things at all.


- In the woods, a truck pulls up, delivering a shipment to Doctor Jacoby, whom now appears to live off the beaten path. When the driver, Joe, asks if Amp/Jacoby needs his help, the Doc tells him that he prefers to work alone.

We've got the woods. Is this Ghostwood or somewhere else?

What Amp is receiving is a order of shovels he will paint gold and then sell under the suggestion the purchaser dig themselves out. We specifically saw Ben Horne's father pass on a super shiny shovel to his son, during the Great Northern groundbreaking ceremony. We speculate that this was symbolising that Ben had been abused by his father, whom passed the role of abuser on to him when he abused his own daughter, Audrey. Each act of abuse was equated with a similar abuse of nature: the building of the Great Northern with the senior Horne abusing Ben and the Ghostwood Development project equated to Ben's abuse of Audrey.

Interesting how the Doc says he wants to work alone, after receiving his box. It can indicate the belief that only a person has the power to dig their self out of their own problems, advice Billy should follow. This statement also goes into the next scene where Sam is shown watching over the glass box, a task he is similarly instructed to do alone.

Hmmm...Dig yourself out will become Dr. Amp's catchphrase while pedaling his (fake) golden shovels. And we're about to examine The Return as falling exactly into that motto. For if we believe that the original series was all about Who Killed Laura Palmer, not a question mind you but it actually having all been about who killed Laura Palmer, then this is all about that same person still fighting being identified for that crime, as well as several others, 25 years later. For we reckon, Billy goofed up now and needs to...ahem...DIG HIMSELF OUT! It's framed as a positive slogan, but the connotations are actually disturbing. Just as Mr. C and Dale are presented as one being evil and the other one being good and yet, we'll examine how their goal ended up being the same: to silence those whom could harm them Naido|Betty/Sarah. And while we've broached the subject of Cooper being fragmented, we should also mention how The Return is meant to be one long whole, but is divided into parts...very much like Cooper/Billy is in the series itself.

Interesting to note, Amp/Jacoby has an old TV set on his property. A nod to how Billy used to watch TV all the time and how this is all a TV show inside of his mind?


- The narrative now goes to New York City where, amongst the different skyscrapers, we see one that stands out surrounded by them for its darkness, it containing very few windows, and those it does have, being closed/sealed off.

We just saw Amp/Jacoby with his shovels, which invoked the memory of Ben and his father with their own shovel. Now this sequence calls to mind something else to do with Ben. After Laura's murder was supposedly solved, and Ben lost almost everything, he started to try to "dig himself" out, as it were, even involving Jacoby eventually. We theorized this was Billy's way of trying to redeem his father/grandfather inside of his dream. In "The Black Widow," in an attempt to create resonance and clarity, Ben constructed a tower in his office, describing it as such: "You're standing in front of a mammoth skyscraper. A leviathan that rips a hole in the clouds. Now, what's the first question that comes to your mind? The first question that you ask yourself is, 'What's on the top floor?' 'Who's up there in the penthouse,
and why?' Now, that's who I am. Yeah, of course I am."

Now we have a different skyscraper, more modest in scale, and a long way off from Twin Peaks. However, we see this as being directly related to Ben's...it's his son's,! And it is now Billy, or rather a version of his psyche, that dwells in the penthouse there. If viewed this way, it suddenly also makes sense why this structure has no windows: seeing as though Billy gains access to his victims through their windows, he similarly protects himself by not allowing them. It also prevents people from seeing in to his mind.

- There appears to be one window/opening in the building afterall. It's in a glass box and a young man sits on a couch constantly watching over it, until he needs to change the memory card in one of the many cameras filming it. He catalogs the card and then resumes watching it.

The window is reminiscent of the gramophone's hole in it's own way. This might draw a connection between the gramophone's sound and this box, which we believe represents Billy's psyche. Both are holes and Lynch pointed out that what was important about the Trinity testing was how it left a hole.

Sam's watch on the box can mainly be described as robotic and routine. We believe this represents how Billy's own careful watch of his behavior is methodical, an act of self preservation so he can continue to indulge his hobby of killing innocents while being undetected. It also links to Carrie/Laura's words in Part 18, how she tried to run a clean house in Odessa, but in Twin Peaks(?) she was too young to know any better. Twin Peaks detailed in secret how Billy had killed American Girl and gotten away with it, even though he had done it sloppily. We are now a long way away from Twin Peaks however, and Billy has learned how to survive by being very strict in his behavior/ritual.

Cameras are aimed at the box. Later we will see a camera aimed at William Hastings as he sits behind a wall of glass.

Sam grabs a ladder to change the card, conjuring to mind the different ladders/steps in the series. Dougie/Coop will draw ladders on his insurance homework.


- A delivery is made to the building, a young woman named Tracey, whom has brought Sam two coffees, hoping to join him. She can't, however, a guard watching over them as surely as Sam kept watch over the box. When Sam catches Tracey trying to look as he enters the numbers to return to the room, he labels her a bad girl, to which she replies, "Try me." Sam goes back into the room where he drinks his coffee and resumes his watch of the box.

The set up is almost like a prison. A guard is there watching over Sam inside of his own box. Obviously, Billy is well guarded.

The relationship between Sam and Tracey is clearly flirtatious and we can draw this as a direct reflection of Billy's relationship with his assistant Betty. Tracey is curious and wants entrance to Sam/the room. Betty likely grew curious about her boss/lover also.

Tracey bringing the two coffees, and seeing something she shouldn't and paying for it, will be echoed in Miriam, holding her own two cups of coffee and witnessing Richard's hit and run of the small boy.

Sam's words, "Bad girl, Tracey," show Billy's own opinion/disappointment of Betty and women.

We had something to mention about the Zs and periods on the coffee but it took us so long to get here, it's gone now. Maybe we'll remember when the coffee company shows up later. It might just be, though, that Betty brought about Billy's potential ending.


- Back in Twin Peaks, Ben and his own assistant, Beverly, discuss a prominent guest whom was displeased because there was supposedly a skunk near her room. Jerry interrupts the discussion and when Beverly leaves, asks Ben if he's sleeping with her yet. Ben acts outraged and defensive. They discuss Jerry's foray into selling marijuana and how it's increased their revenue. The scene ends with Ben asking if Jerry is wearing their mother's hat.

The guest in question is a Mrs. Houseman from New York. The last scene took place in New York. We also have the fact that the word HOUSE is found in the guest's name and the question of "home" has played a strong role since our discussion of the Missing Pieces. We argued that the Great Northern, or the Red Diamond/Dutchman's which it masked, was Cooper/Billy's real home.

Besides from Dr Amp, whose own scene involved a tool we know is associated with Benjamin Horne, the first main character in Twin Peaks we see after all of these years is Ben Horne and the first place is the Great Northern. That underlines how important the Hornes, and this place, are to this story and hints how the secret truth is that they were the dreamer's family and this was his home, both gussied up in his fantasy.

Ben's Bankers lamp is clearly visible on his desk; during FWWM we pointed out the strangeness that it's lookalike was in the Palmer dining room. And now why on earth, when it's a nice sunny day outside, is every lamp in Ben Horne's office on? That's a waste of electricity and harmful to the environment. Ben's also back to smoking cigars, showing his whole "redemption" act was always built on a weak foundation or was even forced upon him.

He's apparently trying to stay away from the married and vulnerable Beverly but Jerry knows his brother better than that and that it's only a matter of time before he falls, which he will when he asks her out after a taxing call from Sylvia. Jerry, Billy's uncle and the closer truth behind MIKE, would have similarly known what his brother was doing to Audrey, Jerry's niece, if he had been allowed to stay around long enough without Ben's sending him away. It's also possible the truth was so horrifying he never contemplated his own brother capable of doing something like it.

There is a reference to Beverly being the "new girl" recalling how Ben and Jerry would try out the new girls at One-Eyed Jack's. Only Jerry now corrects himself and calls Beverly a woman. Interesting to note the parallels between Billy finding a new assistant for his father/grandfather within his dream and how that echoes his relationship with his own, Betty. Both women's names begin with BE and end in a Y.

Ben recognizes that Jerry is wearing their mother's hat. By the end of the series, Jerry will not be wearing his mother's hat. He won't be wearing anything at all after he blindly seems to accept responsibility for his nephew's destruction at the hand of the father (Mr. C)! A big theme in FWWM was wearing clothing and picking up traits of the owner. Does Jerry wearing the mother's cap and then discarding it similarly symbolize how his and Ben's mother might have suspected her husband was abusing Ben, but did nothing, or perhaps was wholly blind to it? Jerry breaks free from that when he accepts culpability for not seeing things properly, however, hence the bad binoculars.


- At the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station, Lucy talks with an Insurance agent whom wishes to speak to a Sheriff Truman, but both are confused since there are 2 Sheriff Trumans now and the agent never says which he wishes to see, the sick one or the fishing one.

Obvious confusion of identity on display as well as doubling. We also have insurance being threaded in to the narrative again. We previously argued that insurance continually appears because Billy burned down his father/grandfather's motel, killing Ben and Audrey, and the question of if it was intentional (arson) or unintentional (an accident) haunts him.

There is a very fakey photo of Andy, Lucy and Wally behind Lucy, showing, nevertheless, that Lucy is a mother. Lucy is also wearing an owl necklace and playing cards at her desk. Owls are associated with the Hornes and Audrey Horne was Billy's mom. Audrey was also seen wearing a playing card. Both of these link mother Lucy to mother Audrey.


- A long scene depicts Mr. C driving at night to Buella's as a slowed remix of the song American Woman by Muddy Magnolias plays.

Hmmm...that song. It's basically a feminstic anthem and will reoccur when Diane's tulpa has been instructed, by Mr. C, to go kill Gordon. Now, Jerry previously pointed out that you don't call a woman like Beverly a girl, you call her a woman and now we have the song American Woman playing, which to a killer like Billy is probably misogynistic fuel. We used to think that the song tied in to Audrey, and that could still be possible. However, now we have two other compelling options within the framework of this theory and the belief that The Return is about Billy's perspective downfall and discovery.

The first is that Betty/Naido is the "American Woman". We see Billy having hidden her beneath the facade of Ruth/Diane, just as he hid American Girl beneath "Laura" all of those years ago. This is plausible when we believe that American Girl sits in a room with the number 3 and that Naido/Betty sits in a room (possibly the same room at a different time and place) with a number 15. American Girl to American Woman.

Or, the second, American Woman could be American Girl's mother. She's an equal threat to Billy and also linked to American Girl.

Both make sense since both threaten Billy's freedom and we believe that this whole series is about silencing those threats and the possibility that this is the end of both Billy and his fantasies.


- Mr. C arrives at a run down shack. As he approaches it he is confronted by a guard he easily takes out.

Have to tie this guard to the one seen in the NYC penthouse with Sam, the one which will soon be missing.


- Mr. C enters the shack and sits across from a man named Otis. The guard takes a second crack at Mr. C but he knocks him out. Mr. C asks a woman named Buella for two people called Ray and Darya. He also warns her to put someone better on her door. Mr. C, Ray and Darya leave.

Mr. C sitting across from Otis could echo Cooper sitting across from the Fireman.

There are red playing cards on the table next to Mr. C.

Darya's color scheme, pink and black, mirrors Audrey's when we first met her in the Pilot. Her name also shares a few of the same letter, along with Ray's.

Ray Wise is the name of the actor who played Leland and we suspect that Ray Monroe is in fact a nod to Wise, whom doesn't appear much in The Return at all.

Mr. C's warning to Buella about the guard may directly tie to what we are about to see happening in NYC with that glass box.

Mr. C seems strangely humorless considering he was so seriously amused by the whole "How's Annie?" question. Does it reveal how much he secretly hated her/himself, since we argued she was just another aspect of Billy.


- Another night of Sam watching the glass box, only when Tracey comes this night, the guard is mysteriously gone. Sam checks the washroom for him, but it's empty. Tracey persuades Sam to let her finally into the room and he agrees, while voicing how he's not sure how she'll get out if the guard comes back.

So the guard is now absent. This easily reflects that Billy had let his guard down when it came to Betty. Does this have anything to do with Mr. C similarly taking out the guard at Buella's? Or was that instead a commentary on how Billy had let his guard down in regards to Betty, as illustrated in the NYC events?

Sam checking out the washroom recalls how the last time we saw Mr. C he was in the Great Northern's washroom.

Tracey gains access to the room with the glass box, showing how Billy's perfect little routine and watch over himself was compromised.


- Tracey sees the glass box and asks about it. Sam's not sure what it is and only accepted the job to help with school. The place belongs to a mysterious billionaire and he's supposed to watch the box incase anything appears inside of it. The guy before him saw something, but wouldn't or couldn't say what, since they aren't supposed to talk about it. Tracey asks if it's a science experiment and Sam concedes he guesses she could say that.

Right off the bat, Sam's presence there connects to school (college), linking this to Hastings and Betty, whom worked at a school (high school). We previously connected Tracey to Miriam Flynn, who herself was a nursery school teacher.

Hastings enacting this watch probably helps him survive his own role at school, where he continually might see women he is attracted to.

Is a billionaire mentioned connected to the very rich Ben? He's most probably not the billionaire but we can make a connection.

Have to wonder what was seen in the box before. It didn't kill the guy. If sex conjures the thing, was he masturbating? The guy not being able to tell Sam what it was strikes up memories of Chet not telling another Sam what the blue rose meant. Do box watchers equate in any way to FBI Blue Rose agents?

Does Tracey calling it an "Experiment" instigate where it derives its name from?


- Sam and Tracey sit down facing the glass box. Sam asks Tracey if she wants to make out. She does and the two begin to have sex. Something, credited as the Experiment Model, suddenly appears in the box and Sam and Tracey realize it is there. The Experiment Model crashes through the glass box and kills Sam and Tracey.

Whatever is happening seems connected to sex. It also will equally prove to be connected to Dale Cooper and his release from the Red Room, as we'll see later on in Part 2. This whole thing might as well also parallel Cooper and Diane's Pearblossom sex in Part 18, which holds its own magical powers .

We reason that sex inside of Billy's mind is hopelessly entwined with his mother, whom forced his initiation into that particular realm. Billy's relationship with Betty, being sexual as revealed through Sam and Tracey's attraction, probably conjured memories/fear of his mother within him.

A deeper look into Billy's relationship with Betty can actually be fully formed, however, by looking at several different dynamics all at once: Sam/Tracey, Richard/Miriam and Dale(Richard)/Diane(Linda).

Sam and Tracey display a physical attraction which leads to an intimacy between Billy and his assistant. This intimacy in return leads to Tracey, whom wasn't supposed to be there but brought coffee as a pretense to get into the room, seeing something she shouldn't and dying because of it. How does this "something" relate to Betty with Billy in this instance? We believe she discovered that Billy had killed American Girl.

Richard and Miriam hint at something conspiratory happening between Billy and Betty that wasn't entirely on the up and up. Afterall, Miriam has an overabundance of funds that her salary can't explain and she seems to be a little too familiar with the low life Richard Horne. Miriam, holding two cups of coffee, sees Richard hit and kill a small boy. He then tries to kill her to silence her, but not before she wrote a letter to the police. In this scenario, we suspect that Miriam discovered that Billy was not whom he pretended to be but had in fact killed that innocent aspect of himself when he was only a child, another aspect of Billy Betty discovered.

Now the relationship between Dale and Diane helps showcase the professional aspect between Betty and Billy. Afterall, when we knew Diane she was only ever Coop's secretary. A romantic relationship between them both only appears now, after Billy's own involvement with his own secretary we speculate. Okay, so Diane saw something wrong with Coop after he had kissed her, a smile intimated was BOB. He then raped her and brought her to a gas station, which obviously seems to be the Convenience Store. Diane isn't necessarily killed, but turned into a tulpa while her "true" self is supposedly hidden in Naido, which we contest and believe to be the opposite actually. But...anyway...We've already explained how we see tulpas as more representing Billy's feelings over individuals he saw as dishonest or two faced, those hiding something. If Betty was involved in illegal activity with Billy this could easily explain why some form of Betty was shown to have a tulpa. Betty betraying Billy and learning his secret about American Girl could also involve him seeing her as worthy of possessing a tulpa. So technically, this ultimately involves the working relationship between Billy and Betty. Diane being taken to the Convenience Store where BOB and MIKE lived while they were killing together, symbolizes how poor Betty discovered her boss' true work: being a serial killer.

However, Dale and Diane don't just stay these identities. After the bit of sex, which mirrors Sam and Tracey, in a world where Laura Palmer doesn't die, they become two different people: Richard and Linda. Now Linda writes Richard her own goodbye letter stating essentially how she is leaving him because she no longer recognizes him.

This pretty well follows the Billy/Betty story that is integral to the plot and yet sucessfully hidden behind Billy/Ruth, once again to help shield Billy from truths he'd rather not think about: Betty found out that the man she was involved with wasn't the person she thought he was and it got her written out of the story in one way or another. We can also thread the women together in a vague way: Tracey brought two coffees, Miriam bought two coffees and then wrote a letter, Diane/Linda wrote a letter too.

Okay, but now, with Sam and Tracey, what's also up with them seeing the Experiment Model? Well we drew a connection between the monster and Billy's mother. We also believe that this indicates that Billy somehow slipped up and made Betty aware that he had once killed American Girl. Maybe Betty reminded him of her. We argue that all of his victims remind him of his mother (Audrey) and yet there was probably something very special about American Girl to him, something he genuinely held real feelings for, or the shadow of them. Perhaps, Betty stirred those same feelings/remembrances inside of him, confusing him...so the memory of American Girl, shown as the Experiment Model (a smaller scaled mirror of his mother: the Experiment) appears and Billy made Betty aware of her with some slip up. Notice how Sam points out something happening in the box to Tracey. The Experiment Model appearing however ends up destroying both Sam and Tracey, in the same way to how Billy Hastings will also be killed. This basically shows how, by Billy letting his guard down and letting someone in, he winded up getting them both destroyed.


- We now go to Buckhorn, South Dakota.

We've mentioned several times how Billy Hastings lives in Buckhorn. We've theorized Billy is truly a HORNE and how he is often represented by HORNED animals, like Bucks: BUCK-HORNE.


- Down a long apartment hallway, a woman walks her chihuahua. Suddenly the dog, Armstrong, goes towards one of the doors and the woman notices a bad smell. She starts knocking frantically on the door and calling for someone named Ruth.

The fire hose and extinguisher are clearly marked, making us aware of fire, a common theme in the series linked to abuse/BOB.

The dog is a chihuahua, a dog Cole once infamously compared Dale Cooper to. Now it is the dog alerting its owner to the putrid smell in Ruth's apartment. We see Ruth as a substitution for a murdered/wounded Betty inside of Billy's dream, one still mixed in with his beloved/feared mother, and so a chihuahua (Cooper) pointing her out is marvelous.

There is a red EXIT sign and that, plus the hallway, reminds us of Dale standing in the FBI headquarters hall in FWWM, only with a green EXIT sign that time.

The dog being called Armstrong...is that any connection to the ARM?


- The woman, Marjorie Green, rushes to her own apartment and calls the police, informing them that her neighbor Ruth hasn't been seen for 3 days and how her dog alerted her that her apartment is smelling. She can't remember the address.

This is all rather comedic and Marjorie is a blast. Any symbolism to her name being Green? Probably, but not sure what.

- As she waits for the police to arrive, Lynch centers on the hallway and Ruth's door.

That stands only to reason: If Laura was the door that opened us to Twin Peaks, we think this might be hinting that Ruth is the door for our journey returning to it. But, just as Laura was really American Girl mixed with characteristics of Billy's mom, we suspect that Ruth is just Betty tainted with the same issues.


- The police arrive and Marjorie greets them, still forgetting what the addresses are. When they get to Ruth's door it is locked. Marjorie tells them Barney has the key, but he's in the hospital, and not the regular kind. The police report they need a locksmith for 1349 Arrowhead where they have a possible 10-54. Marjorie informs them that a Ruth Davenport lives in the apartment and she remembered that Barney's brother might have the key, she doesn't know him, but Hank, the maintenance guy does. She doesn't know where Hank is but she saw him out back a little while ago.

The stairs Marjorie goes down to greet the police are reddish. The gate is green. The exit door in the building is green, the sign is red...is this trying to tell us something?

We're not only focusing on doors but keys now too. It is pointed out that the man who has the keys here is possibly unwell mentally. Later on we focus on Cooper's key and the Great Northern. We suspect him, masking Billy, is also mentally unwell.

Ruth lives at 1349 Arrowhead. In pythagorean numerology that would be pretty close to "Judy" actually only the 9 would need to be a 7. But...ummm...that would make "Audr" which is darn close to starting to spell out Audrey. Marjorie even repeats the number when she gets confused. The two missing letters would be EY. Ruth, herself, is missing an EY(e).

Arrowhead...well Ghostwood had great importance to the indigenous people in the area, and Owl Cave had several maps potentially drawn by early tribes living there. We suspect the Hornes are the owls...

The cops call in a 10-54 which is a possible dead body. Funny thing is, it can also mean a hit and run, which is what Richard Horne will do with the boy playing with his mother. We argue that the boy playing dangerously in the street with his mom represents Billy with his own mom again. And since we also believe that Ruth is just Billy mashing up Betty with his mom this is significant.

Ruth's apartment is 216.


- The cops find Hank, whom seems nervous that they want him for some crime involving a Harvey. They say they just want the key from Barney's brother, whom turns out to be called Chip. Marjorie comes out revealing she has a key by asking if Ruth is out of town she's supposed to water her plants.

More comedy. Come to think of it, Barney and Chip are brothers, which might reflect Ben and Jerry. And Barney has the key for Ruth's apartment, which we just theorized Billy is confusing Ruth with his mom.


- The cops enter Ruth's apartment and find her dead and missing an eye in her bed, the covers pulled up to her neck.

Very important: Lamps offer illumination and Ruth has the same lamp that Audrey will have in the house where she lives with Charlie.

Ruth is missing her right eye. We've delved into how missing eyes might reflect how it would be better to lose an eye than to stumble and how Billy wishes his mother would have gouged out her own eye before looking at him sexually. This might also deal with Betty having seen something she hadn't. Not so coincidentally, Miriam's own right eye is bruised or missing after Richard's attack. Naido (Betty's true face) will also have her eyes shut. There is a definite theme of women whom saw something they shouldn't and the repercussions.

And, as mentioned before, the letters missing from 1349, which would help it spell Audrey, are EY(e).

Ruth's hair is red. Darya's hair is red. Sarah's hair is red. One of the models watching Audrey walk down the catwalk in practice for the Great Northern fashion show was a red head. Once again, Billy seems to be hiding his victims beneath substitutes that possess a lighter shade of hair than the dark haired beautifies he fancies. In this case, we believe Betty is hidden behind a Red Head, Ruth, and a white head, Diane, who eventually is revealed to also be a red head. Go figure.


- Hank contacts Harvey upset and still believing he sent the cops his way. He has something he seemingly got off the property, but claims it is only his and Chip's since Harvey opted out.

Not sure this has anything to do with anything, but the cops will call Ben on behest of Jerry in Part 16.


- Detective Dave Macklay comes to Ruth's apartment where coroner, Constance Talbot, is working. They roll back the bedsheet to discover that the body beneath the covers isn't Ruth's but a naked man's.

Dave shows he is wearing gloves, as opposed to the police handling the discovery of Laura's body. Apparently, Billy learned how real policemen work in the interim period.

That body belongs to Major Briggs, the same guy whom was reading the biblical passage about the Beast and how he'd kill the two people testifying against him. That would indicate that Billy killed Betty to silence her, which might reflect on Ruth's murder here too.

We've previously drawn a possible connection from Major Briggs to Billy's uncle and wondered if some relationship between Billy's mother and uncle made him upset/jealous. If Ruth is partly Audrey, and now Briggs/the Uncle is hiding under her covers, that might similarly indicate something like that.

Ruth, a woman's, head being perched on a male body which was hidden, illustrates how this is all a male dreamer, whom can hide himself beneath the female characters inside of his dream.


- A sick and dying Margaret calls Hawk and gives him a message from the Log that something is missing regarding Cooper and Hawk will find it regarding something to do with his heritage.

It's nice to see that Margaret and the log are still together. She's talking about the diary pages but...with how odd those pages are to this narrative, we're not sure how good or bad the Log's message is this time.


- Back in Buckhorn, at the local police Department, Constance checks out the prints she found at Ruth's apartment only to discover they belong to her kid's high school principal: William Hastings.

We've been talking about him for so long, now we finally receive our introductory introduction to the man himself...Billy. The dreamer. And if there's any doubt about that, look at the information on his driver's license and where he just happens to live: Elm street. Ummm...that's pretty interesting. The number also numerology wise can equal DCI...that might be Dale Cooper I. Or maybe not. Either way, if you're looking at that license, pay attention, you'll see some of Hastings info again on Mr. C/Cooper's arrest report!


- Macklay goes to the Hastings' house and arrests William Hastings, whom tells his wife Phyllis that he didn't do anything wrong and instructs her to call his lawyer, George, while she frets over them having been going to have company over for supper.

The knocker to Billy Hastings' place is of a wolf to go with the whole dog motif and to help indicate this guy is your typical wolf in sheep's clothing. It's also on his DOOR. Hastings seems like a nice guy, with a nice wife, but it's all about to fall apart and he's all a little too put on to seem exactly genuine anyway.

His wife looks kind of like Laura, her coloring identical...but we'll find out that William doesn't love her. This all goes along with what we've said: Billy doesn't like them lighter colored! It's dark beauties, like his mother, that he is attracted to, the reason Lois Duffy, the first blue rose, translates to "beautiful/superior dark one".

Since we mentioned Audrey at the fashion show, we might as well point out that one of the models she was instructing was played by a model/beauty contestant and Phyllis' actress was a celebrity debutante.

Phyllis' obsession over supper with the Morgans reminds us of Mr. C's texts about conversation around the table being lively.

As Billy Hastings is being taken away, a picture of Franz Kafka is seen on the wall of his house. Kafka, of course, wrote Metamorphosis, the story about one man's transformation into an insect. Billy transformed himself into Cooper within his dream.


- Hawk has brought some boxes to the sheriff station conference room. He requests that Andy and Lucy bring out the other files of the Laura Palmer case as they search for what's missing about Cooper. Andy and Lucy meanwhile obsess over Cooper having gone missing and his lack of contact with them following their son, Wally's, birth.

Lucy and Andy's son, one in a vast number of sons and boys seen in The Return, has issues similar to Billy's we believe...as in he pretends to be something he isn't.


- Hastings sits alone inside of the Buckhorn interrogation room. A glass of water sits beside him. Mackay, a police chief and another detective watch Hastings through the glass window. The detective, Harrison, believes that Macklay should question him because they are fishing buddies and he's known him since high school.

Billy sits holding his head. That's something he does a lot...but seeing as though this, all of the series, is happening inside of there, it must feel pretty heavy and crowded. As Lynch said about the character called Billy, the one whom frequented his art, he has "mental problems" and "a lot of different friends within him."

Billy holding his head is similar to how another William, Doc Hayward, held his own head after he thought he'd killed Ben. Ben will also hold his head after his phone call with Sylvia.

The glass of water by his side conjures thoughts of Audrey asking for a glass of water while she was at the bank, before the explosion that eventually led to her pregnancy, and before that even her hearing the guard declare, "It's a boy." We believe this is Audrey's boy, the Billy she spends much of her screentime looking for: her own son as well as her lover.

We don't see it, per se, but there would be a mirror in with Hastings, calling to mind how Cooper's doppleganger was seen at the end of the original series and Missing Pieces having smashed a mirror at the Great Northern. Mr. C will also look into a mirror, in The Return, as will Dale and Audrey.

As the police watch Hastings, on the other side of that mirror, Billy is seen behind the glass, a camera aimed at him, similar to the way the cameras were aimed at the glass box in NYC.

Macklay and Billy are fishing partners. The original series began with Pete going off to fish, when he saw Laura's body. In this series, Pete will actually get to fish. Macklay and Bill also went to high school together. This fact is made a point of. This resonates with how we believe that the original series took place during Billy's high school years, when he knew and killed American Girl. It's important to have Bill questioned by someone he went to high school with, although the actors actually have an age gap.


- Macklay enters and questions Hastings, who wants to know what's going on. Macklay asks if Bill knew Ruth Davenport and Hastings knows she's the librarian but says he didn't really know her. He also denies being at her apartment.

Macklay makes it a point to ask Billy if he got coffee, but he replies he's fine with the water, thus drawing attention to the water close to him and the connection we found to Audrey, the last time we saw her. It also links to the whole water quote recited by the woodsman in Part 8.

We learn that Ruth was a librarian. Audrey, whom will share Ruth's lamp, met Windom Earle in the library. The photo of Teresa Banks with the ring was taken by Lynch outside of a library. What more perfect mistress for Billy to concoct for himself than a librarian? Afterall, he is the maker of stories inside of his head, why shouldn't his lover, and another mixed up idea of his mother, be a librarian, those whom care for books and their stories? It's perfect! Remember too how in FWWM two stories by Williams were seen with Laura or how, the year FWWM was released, David Lynch did an artwork entitled, "Billy finds a book".

Billy is very nervous and seems to be lying throughout the discussion but note how he never asks for his lawyer while discussing Ruth. He's nervous but not wholly guilty, if that makes any sense.


- The police chief returns saying to Harrison that they almost have the warrant, but the Judge is up the mountain. As they watch Hastings say he's been mostly at school for the last 3-4 days, the Chief states that he's their high school principal, to which they both look like this is all a shocking disappointment.

Can't emphasize enough Billy Hastings' link to high school, which we previously stated Twin Peaks and Laura's case revolved around because that was when/where Billy knew the real Laura, American Girl. It's very possible, he is so in love with that time and crime that he longed to stay there to relive it, choosing to become a high school principal.

- Hastings tries to account for Thursday and Friday, claiming there was a meeting on Thursday and he had supper with Phylis on Friday. When asked about the meeting, Bill claims it was about curriculum and staff evaluation. He looks upset by what Macklay might be writing. When Macklay notices a long lapse in the time it took for Hastings to leave the meeting and get home, he inquires about it. We see what he's been jotting down now, and it's Hastings' priors etc...Bill now remembers, looking distraught, that he gave his assistant Betty a ride home, something wrong with her car. He looks disturbed at the mirror. Now Hastings asks if he could speak with his lawyer, George. When Macklay asks if there's anything else Hastings would like to tell him before the lawyer gets involved, Bill stays silent. Instead he asks what's going on. Macklay finally tells him Ruth was murdered and his prints were found all over her apartment.

The focus now is not on Ruth. That much is clear and so very important. Instead we delve into Billy's work environment...which inevitably involves Betty. Betty is finally about to be brought into things and that is when Billy Hastings begins to really fall apart.

Before Betty is mentioned, Lynch gets a clear shot of what Macklay has been scribbling down, what made Hastings curious/nervous. It's basically what Hastings has been answering but also includes Hastings' priors, which only include the misdemeanors of jaywalking and speeding. That's the thing though...when someone is linked to a crime, or a suspicious event, it causes people to look into their past to see what else they can dig up. If Billy had hurt Betty, and his relation to her was mentioned, it would cause the authorities to look into his past. Worse, to Billy, it might make American Girl's mom remember him and anything she might have forgotten about in connection to her own daughter's murder. That will be a constant concern for the dreamer throughout The Return and one of his driving forces.

Here's where things get really interesting...Billy suddenly remembers what he was doing during the time lapse. "Yeah...Yeah, now I remember. I gave...my assistant, Betty, a ride home. Something wrong with her...car, something wrong..." He's obviously distressed now more than he was before, but the conversation isn't about Ruth it's about Betty. And if there was something wrong with Betty's car on Thursday night, well, there's going to be something really wrong with it when it blows up in a few days, what with her supposedly inside of it. But that's inside of Billy's dream workings. We suspect what's really freaking the guy out so badly now is that in reality he killed, or tried to kill, Betty on Thursday night, not Ruth. It is now, afterall, that Bill asks to speak to his lawyer and seems like he finally thinks he might be in trouble about something...

Now comes the guilt. And it doesn't concern Ruth, whom we've seen having been decapitated, but Betty whom we supposedly will never see at all. Only we believe that we do. We believe if you follow that clues, you can identify her as Naido, but, just like a good magic trick, you have to keep your eyes focused on her not where you're attention is being misdirected to. See, there are two narratives at work Ruth and Betty. The dreamer wants us to becomes so fixated on the flashier Ruth Davenport tale, with its multiplied majors, alternate dimensions and floating heads that we forget Billy's words and reaction here. But if we're keeping our own head, we're supposed to stay focused on Betty's more mundane tale that seemed to involve a staff meeting and a broken car.

Something being wrong with Betty's car adds another interesting level to things. For the Twin Peaks that came before The Return, we explored how vehicles were connected to BOB's hosts, and how the woodsmen, enablers to BOB/Ben were also associated with cars. Now we have Betty's car not working right and we've already wondered if she too was a conspirator or enabler to Billy. The car not working could indicate she was turning on him and refusing to help him any longer, just like Miriam with Richard. This could also be tied to the faculty evaluation of the meeting.

Billy refuses to speak anymore until his lawyer is involved, only pleading to be told what's going on, and this refusal to answer questions once again centers on what he knows about Betty, not what he was saying about Ruth.

Ruth being a mashup in Billy's mind between Betty and his mom also makes an interesting image of his fingerprints being inside of her apartment as Billy being within her womb.


- Suddenly Macklay is instructed to show Hastings to his new room, where he can talk to his lawyer. The new room turns out to be a prison cell. Bill asks to speak to Phyllis and Macklay says he'll see what he can do.

Billy's new room is a cell. The last time we saw Dale's doppleganger he was in his own room at the Great Northern, and Dale still has the key to that room. Dale was inside of his own cell/room when he was stuck inside of the Red Room for over 20 years. The question of home will reoccur in the series often.


- Macklay and Harrison get the warrant and go to Hastings house to search it. Phyllis voices displeasure over the inconvenience, still concerned with the thwarted dinner. They ask her for the keys to Hastings car, a Volvo. She gives them to the cops. Macklay's broken flashlight turns on and off as they search the trunk of the car. When they lift the fishing cooler out, they find a lump of flesh, to which Macklay says, "Woof."

We still see that picture of Kafka on the Hastings' wall.

A question of Hastings' keys occurs and Cooper's own key to his room at the Great Northern will play a strong role throughout this season.

Macklay's flashlight is blinking, just like the overhead light did as Dale was similarly looking for evidence about Laura's murder, creating another parallel between the Ruth and Laura cases, and Dale and Hastings. Only, notice how they find the lump of flesh in the trunk of Hastings' car, the same one he drove Betty home in. Ruth was either killed at 2240 Sycamore or at her apartment, Betty was the one in Bill's car. And yet that connection will be looked over in favor of Ruth...Something is wrong here.

The lump being found under Hastings' fishing equipment both links to Macklay being his fishing buddy as well as Pete fishing when he discovered Laura's corpse.

We end the scene on a woof, keeping with the whole dog thing.


- The Fireman sits listening to his gramophone, which elicits the "sounds" plus a deep electrical hum as the credits roll.

The sound is the frogmoth we are presuming. The grandson wears a mask of the frogmoth. Bill has a photograph of the man whom once wrote a story of a man turning into an insect on his wall. The gramophone makes the noise here, as well, that seems to emanate from Hastings' head at the start of the next episode. That same deep electrical hum will also greet Cooper when he enters, through the window, the mansion room with Naido...whom we still say is just really Betty!

This is all directly tied to William "Billy" Hastings. We have the gramophone, with its hole, like the Trinity test created, as well as the ones dug by Ben and his father. Billy is both men's grandson. The hole is emitting sounds that can be linked to the grandson/Billy. He is our dreamer and all of the clues are there, but the audience finds it hard to dig deeper than the narrative he is weaving. That's just what he wants though; a magician depends on the audience accepting what they see instead of trying to find the trick. Or maybe, in this case, they simply believe that the trick was that there was never a BOB but it was always Leland abusing Laura the whole time, just another trick that the Magician longed to pull off and did. For the original Twin Peaks was about Billy having committed a murder and his desire to escape it...and this is it all happening again, as the Giant might say. In the Return, he's just committed another impulsive kill and he is scrambling to try to avoid detection/punishment, only this time, he's allowed us to see his true identity: William "Billy" Hastings. Now he'll have to "free" Dale Cooper from his own prison, as he scrambles to dig himself out, hoping to accomplish what he did that first time for a second. And there we have another essense of the name Twin Peaks.

Now it is up to us viewers to dig deep, past the crust to the mantle to find the truth to the secret at the core of Twin Peaks.

Now...Let's Rock!
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me "The Missing Pieces"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.

INTRO

Right off the bat, these Missing Pieces can directly pertain to this theory because we center on Laura's photograph in the High School trophy case, not the one at the Palmer house. We've been theorizing that Billy met American Girl, his true victim and template for Laura, at school. We also theorize that he took a trophy, a piece of jewelry or something horse related from her home when he took her life.


DESMOND'S MO

The first missing piece depicts Sam and Chet outside of the police shed following their examination of Teresa. The most interesting bit of dialogue is Sam stating, "I didn't realize so many hours had passed. Did you, Agent Desmond?" which goes hand in hand with our speculation that Billy formed all of this backstory while his avatar, Cooper, was trapped in the Lodge, a place where you can't exactly feel time passing in the normal way.


SAY HELLO JACK

At Hap's, Chet and Sam question a man named Jack, about Teresa Banks.

The conversation mostly revolves around if Teresa had any friends, which Jack says she didn't, but they should ask Irene. What's more interesting to this theory is how an electrician is working on a light during the whole scene, creating a flashing effect like BOB. That that accompanies a man named Jack being questioned is significant. We've theorized that the name Jack is somewhat of a code/association with Billy, partly for how the truth of his father was hidden from him. Audrey slept with a Jack before she conceived Richard, Jack is the name of the mechanic that Mr. C plays with the mouth of before he kills in The Return, Bobby and his own father used to create stories and play make believe at a place called Jack Rabbit's Palace in Ghostwood (a wood we take as being symbolic for Audrey) and in Odessa, though we never see it, they have the largest Jack Rabbit Statue, called Jack BEN Rabbit. And this theory can never forget how Ben Horne owned a brothel named One-Eyed Jack's and once propositioned his daughter in the little flower room. The light flashing, associated with BOB, is now being connected with a man named Jack, linking Billy's idea of his father to the concept of BOB.


GOOD MORNING IRENE


The scene starts with the power lines and the half moon in a morning sky. Chet says they should see the sunrise at the Fat Trout Trailer Park; Sam wonders if he's talking in code. Chet says, no, he's speaking plainly. They prepare to head there as Irene comes out. They bid her good morning and drive off.

That starting shot is interesting. The #6 utility pole plays a recurring role and so does the moon. The latter is often linked to Judy, Billy's mother, we suspect and the utility pole to young boys, Billy, we presume.

Chet might not be talking in code, but we can see why Sam would think he was: the sun is already up.

Something to mention here, what with Jack in the previous piece and Irene in this one, when the woodsman is giving his broadcast, having interrupted My Prayer, besides the New Mexico Girl, we see a waitress in a Diner and a mechanic, both of whom become comatose. The diner, Pop's, is reminiscent of Hap's and we already mentioned how Jack, of Haps, is somewhat similar to the mechanic that Mr. C does that strange thing to the mouth of. What does that mean exactly? Not sure. It is just something that hit us now. Maybe these are more parent representations/substitutes for Billy's mom's parents? In any case, BOB used hosts as vehicles to serve his hunger.


THIS ONE'S COMING FROM J EDGAR

In order for Teresa's body to be released into Sam's custody, Chet fights Sheriff Cable...and beats him.

This pretty well falls in to our belief that Chet represents, for the dreamer, an earlier "draft" of his dream self, but one whom is more properly balanced, Billy not having descended into having committed a full out intentional murder at this stage. Compare Chet here to Richard/Coop in Part 18 and they seem fairly similar and consistent with this belief. Chet is willing to pummel Cable to get Teresa's body; Rich/Coop is willing to beat up the good old boys for harassing the waitress at Judy's. This goes to reason: if Billy had not killed American Girl, he wouldn't have become the too pure Dale to help hide from himself and what he had done .


COOPER AND DIANE

Cooper lingers in the FBI office door as he tries to figure out what Diane has changed in the room. Turns out she moved the clock 12 inches to the left.

That this was to be Cooper's introduction in the film, and he's standing in another doorway, adds to our belief that Cooper masks Billy, the dreamer, and that Laura Palmer is basically a door herself, one that leads to the dream of Twin Peaks. Cooper spending a long time in a doorway, buying time there as it is, feels significant.

We don't see Diane here, nor hear her, and that goes along with our guessing that, being just a teenager, Billy really had no one he cared to base Diane on at this stage. She worked out fine just being the tape recorder his dream self carried around. Diane probably only received her face when Billy grew up and had his own assistant, Betty, at the high school where he was principal.

This scene also deals with time, a huge concept starting from FWWM and leading into its prevalence in The Return. That Cooper's buying his time in a doorway, Laura being that door, could very well illustrate how Billy is wasting his own time there instead of going back to the other side of that door, which is his reality. The clock moved left might indicate going back in time, as the film does, as also, if the hands on it were turned left, it would involve time being moved back.


STANLEY'S APARTMENT

Cooper visits Sam Stanley, at his apartment, and they discuss Chet's disappearance. Sam also shows Dale the T left under Teresa's nail.

What's interesting here, but never said is how Sam's apartment is filled with vintage adding machines. This ties in with his seemingly being able to calculate what the worth of the places in Deer Meadow were...but he's an FBI man and this is more like he's an insurance agent, which we're saying he really is! Billy is incorporating the insurance agents, whom handled the policy on the burnt Dutchman's and his mother and possibly father/grandfather's death, into his dream. Sam is especially relevant to this time because Teresa is a substitute for Billy's mother and her death is meant to mask what really happened from his dream existence.

Sam is actually a little like Baxter from "The Apartment" whom also knew numerical facts and figures and worked at an insurance company with his own adding machine. "The Apartment" just happens to be one of Lynch's favorite films.

Like his scene with Diane, Cooper is acting a little off, a little less ideal, which almost aligns him with Chet's own faults. We can theorize this is because, before he murdered American Girl, Billy had the chance to be better, he hadn't separated the destructive parts of his personality from the constructive ones, creating a monster in the process and ultimately leading to his own downfall.


BUENOS AIRES

In the lobby of a Buenos Aires hotel, called the Palm Deluxe, Phillip Jeffries receives a room key. Jeffries inquires if they have a Miss Judy staying there. The checkin guy hands Jeffries a note, saying the young lady left it for him. A bellhop then tries to show him to his room.

This is an interesting segment...when it is meant to happen? Not sure. In another of his missing pieces, Jeffries will make it seem like whatever time it may be in Cole's office, it sure isn't his. But, beyond that enigma, we actually have him outright asking about the elusive Judy! Why, he even gets himself a little note left to him from her, although what it says...don't know and never do find out.

Okay, but who is Judy? We're theorizing that she's Audrey (Billy's mom) and any of Billy's victims whom reminded him of her. So while Audrey would supposedly be in Twin Peaks, as Jeffries is checking in, let's look for any connections that might still help insinuate Audrey and Judy are one and the same.

First, there is a strong possibility, given Jeffries confusion about what day/year it is, that this happened after the 2nd season finale. Afterall, he also seems familiar with the split Dale and that happened AFTER Coop entered the Lodge in March 26th 1989. So...well, we have the possibility that Audrey was in a coma at this point, a coma we're never confirmed she left. We're not even sure, with what we see of her in Twin Peaks, if all we saw isn't just a dream wrapped inside of Billy's dream. What are we getting at with this...well, if you're dreaming, you can dream yourself anywhere, right? And Audrey may have reason to dream that she's in a hotel in Buenos Aires because her lover, Jack, had just left Twin Peaks for Brazil, which is nearby.

Other things...okay, well the Palm Deluxe is a hotel, Audrey was a hotel girl herself. She even asked Dale if his palms ever itched while sitting inside the Great Northern, and we suspected this was a nod to the Palmers, whom were being made to PALM the Hornes real tragedy, particularly the fact that it was Audrey and not Laura whom was abused by her father. Now this is the PALM Deluxe, where a Judy is staying. We also have "the young lady" leaving Jeffries a note, just like Audrey left her own Special Agent twice. We've previously stated that we believe Billy has dreamt an FBI man for every life altering death/murder he had a hand in. We argued that Jeffries was the first and his creation coincided with "Lois Duffy's" death at the hand of Lois Duffy. This we theorized was really Billy's death or how he viewed his mother having died, the first time she abused him, tulpas generally dealing with someone Billy believed had created a false image of themselves. So Audrey, as Judy, contacting this first agent, whom is partly just Billy/Cooper himself, seems plausible as well, given her obsession with both men. Maybe Billy perceives his mother as being obsessed with him as he was with her (shades of Norman Bates) and so he can imagine her being equally as interested in Phillip Jeffries as she was in Cooper, Jack and Billy. Maybe this even explains why Jeffries is locked away at the Dutchman's. If Billy locks his Judys away in the mansion room, maybe he believes his mother has those whom represent him also locked away at the Dutchman's. Maybe Chet Desmond is in another room we never see. Bosomy woman might reflect this too. Maybe "she's" another Judy, as in the idea Billy has of his mother playing captor to him, which is more his idea of her, hence why the character is portrayed by a male actor, than perhaps a reality: in essence, Billy traps himself forever back in his childhood home. But this explanation gives further meaning to Mr. C's claim to Gordon that he never really left home. That Jeffries, despite his brief visit to the FBI Headquarters, is only really seen at hotels/motels also strengthens the power behind the interpretation and lends another powerful layer to the last two missing pieces and The Return, as a whole.


ABOVE THE CONVENIENCE STORE

We see more of the meeting above the Convenience Store with the Lodge spirits.

We have a shot of that #6 utility pole again, more hinting about Billy's presence, we believe.

We also seem to be centering on mouths, with both the Arm's and the Jumping Man's shown. Is Billy equating them with portals into their bodies? Does he associate them with his trauma?

The Electrician says "Animal life" giving the indication that the spirits may view human life as animalistic. This could give further indication that the monkey was, infact Leland, and the Hornes are owls (horned predators) , as well as Billy being a buck (another horned animal).

BOB seems particularly angry as he states, "I have the fury of my own momentum," as the Arm raises his right hand in response. Raising of the right hand, can sometimes represent an oath or vow to truth/integrity. The grandson then points a finger at BOB and states "Fell a victim". We're guessing that this means that BOB either killed someone or got a new host, equally viewed as a victim. This could be either Annie or Cooper. The Arm now states, "With this ring, I thee wed," and descends into laughter, BOB joins him. That we take to be the Arm laughing over how BOB was forced to kill Laura because she'd "married" herself to MIKE instead with wearing the ring. We question still if that betrays any bad feelings Billy holds towards jewelry, his uncle giving his mother a ring perhaps? American Girl getting a piece of jewelry from her real boyfriend ala the divided heart pendant? Suddenly, the Arm looks more serious and says, "Fire walk with me, turning away from Bob. Fire walk with me, we believe, means BOB's possession of his host. BOB claps his hands and fire, unseen, starts to flash, which seems to shock/distress the Arm. That fire flashing is very similar to the fire unseen, yet casting its flashing light, after the grandson snapped his fingers in Laura's dream and took her to the Red Room. BOB and the Arm enter the Lodge through the curtain space we'll see Dale exit through later. The ring is shown lying on the gold and black pedestal. We then kind of go backwards through the area in the curtain which BOB and the Arm went through, as Laura's face is seen from the newly missing piece here where she lets the feeling of BOB come over her, his light flashing about her. Okay, so we theorize that this is when BOB revealed his plan to steal the corn, by revealing how he would use Cooper to tell Laura, in the past, not to take the Owl Cave ring, leading to what he hoped would be her possession. That is why we go backwards through that spot in the curtain, as we see her being overcome by BOB essentially. The shot of the Red Room will almost be the same, later, in the missing piece, when the Arm tells Dale there's nowhere left for him to go but home, and Cooper looks upset. Only there, the camera moves forward. We theorize that that is because time is moving forward again, not into the past.

Now, we flip back to the Convenience Store, with the Arm and BOB not there, but the Lodge spirits seemingly frozen in time, except for the grandson, whom kicks his left foot and snaps his right fingers and the Jumping Man whom is moving around. This probably indicates that the grandson and the Jumping Man, both being closely related to the dreamer and Dale Cooper, can each still break free of the frozen time to move. We end off on a shot of the woods/trees.


PHILLIP JEFFERIES

There is an extended scene of Phillip Jeffries when he comes to the Philadelphia FBI Headquarters and we see that, afterwards, he was sent back, presumably by BOB, to Buenos Aires shortly after Jeffries found out what date it really was.

This basically plays as us seeing what Jeffries relays to Cole and Albert during his visit. He pays very little, if any attention to Dale, following the questioning of Cooper's identity, nor does Dale try to interact with him either.

Okay, so we should mention something we realized about Jeffries' reference about Judy. It always seemed directed at Cooper and it's incredibly telling when we actually look at what Jeffries is saying:

"Well now, I'm not gonna talk about Judy. In fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it."

For this theory we have been speculating that David Lynch always believed that the Hornes and Dale Cooper were at the true heart of Twin Peaks' real mystery, a fact he shielded with all of his heart and might. However, when he wanted to do FWWM, we also believe that he faced a singular problem: he wanted the whole thing to secretly revolve around Billy's feelings for his mother, Audrey Horne...but...Sherilyn Fenn made it clear she didn't want to be in the film! So how could he still make it all secretly about Audrey and NOT have Audrey in the movie at all? That's a problem. We speculate, however, that there was where the mysterious Judy came into play and Jeffries mysterious introduction to a mysterious character we've never heard about before, and won't actually hear about again until the end of the film. Jeffries here is flat out giving a declaration to the dreamer himself, Cooper, and us, the audience, that Audrey is going to be kept out of this, intentionally. That is why Audrey doesn't cross Laura's path at all, despite them both being in the same class. She's the only major character, besides Catherine, whom isn't in the film or a missing piece. Infact, in the script, she's only mentioned twice at Johnny's birthday party which she also isn't present for, but it is never explained why. And, as we already mentioned, we believe that Jeffries comes from a time after the bomb at the bank...following that incident, even in The Return, Audrey isn't really talked about at all, only mainly by Will Hayward (a namesake of Billy's) whom mentions Cooper (Mr. C) paying her a visit at the hospital, to which Frank Truman suddenly abruptly changes the conversation. Neither Ben nor Sylvia will mention her either, Ben strangely leaving her out of things even while talking about Richard's upbringing and troubles. Richard is the only other character, in the main Twin Peaks world, that mentions his mother, and since he's her son, and therefore Billy, that seems logical. Other than those two occurrences, though, they don't talk about Audrey. In fact, they don't talk about Judy at all, they keep her out of it.

Audrey, too, apparently kept locked away in her own little dreamworld, seems to connect to the various Roadhouse patrons, whom also don't particularly interact with the main residents we see and know. That leads to some speculation that she might also be whom they are discussing, at times, but with other names to add to hers besides just Audrey and Judy. Tina seems like a possible other name for her...Angela seems possible too.

So after giving his warning to Coop that they're leaving Judy out of this, and after questioning Dale's identity, to Coop's distress, Jeffries tells Cole he wants to tell him everything but there isn't much to go on. He has one thing to say, however: "Judy is positive about this." So obviously Judy knows something but what that is is never revealed...nor do we know which Judy Jeffries is talking about. Afterall, we surmised that all of Billy's victims are a Judy to him, just like the Experiment and Experiment Model. Is this Judy, infact, not the same Judy he mentioned earlier?

Something else interesting about this line is how Judy is referenced as being POSITIVE here, whereas in The Return she will be labeled as a "NEGATIVE" force.

Jeffries explains that he's been to one of "their" meetings, presumably the Lodge spirits and the one shown here above the Convenience Store.

When questioned about where he has been, Jeffries states, "It was a dream. We live inside a dream." For the last sentence, he touches Albert's heart. Though Dale isn't included in the conversation, he will echo Phillip's words in Part 17. This give more clarification that this is ALL happening in a dream, not just the Lodge meeting. When Albert balks at the suggestion, Jeffries becomes upset, saying he found something in Seattle at Judy's and then their "they" were.

Some interesting possibilities to note about a Judy's in Seattle. If Jeffries was able to travel from Buenos Aires to Philadelphia there's little disbelief in how Judy can be in Seattle and then Buenos Aires, or vice versa. Audrey visited Seattle, on account of her father's business orders, which momentarily stalled her relationship with Jack Wheeler. Laura Palmer's seen diary entry, in this very film, also references her being in Seattle. But we also have the fact that Phillip Jeffries was at the start of the Blue Rose cases and investigating the murder of one Lois Duffy by another Lois Duffy in a motel room in Olympus, Washinton, not that far from Seattle. So, it would be fairly easy to see Jeffries as disappearing with Lois' case, as we saw Chet just do while investigating Teresa's. The ring might have even came into play with his disappearance just like it supposedly did with Desmond's. Then again, too, Josie Packard often took trips to Seattle, and it was said that Judy was supposed to be her sister. But, given how we speculated already that Betty, Billy Hastings' secretary in The Return, might turn out to be Josie, or whomever she truly was to Hastings', sister, we have yet another candidate for this Judy.

Hmmm...we can draw parallels between Audrey, Betty and Lois in the previously pointed out point that Audrey is left out of The Return in many instances and Betty is too, in many ways. So is Lois in this film, just like Audrey. Afterall, Lois Duffy is the catalyst for the Blue Rose but it won't be explained until The Return, Chet and Cooper unwilling to talk about it.

The one thing we know about Judy, whichever, whenever Jeffries is talking about her, it's someone whom Billy associates with his mother.

Jeffries then states that "they sat quietly for hours" and then he followed. After this Jeffries becomes very disheartened and starts to mumble the word "ring".

We speculate that Jeffries followed BOB and MIKE into the Red Room and discovered something about the ring, possibly Laura being told not to take it with Cooper's future intervention. This would be devastating to Laura, but it would also be devastating to every single character inside of the dream, Laura having been the door they were created on the other side of. Having possibly taken the ring himself and learned the truth that they lived inside a dream, Jeffries might associate the ring with truths you don't want to know. The question, of course, later, would be why does Jeffries have a sudden about face and help Dale save Laura if he knew a living Laura wasn't any good for the dreamworld? Well, we've always wondered about that too. But one truth could be, like Margaret, Jeffries is aware that, in The Return, the dream is already dying (Billy soon to be arrested) and it makes little difference by then, the birth of a different dream perhaps being the only route left for anyone.

The lights start malfunctioning in the office, somewhat like BOB's presence, and Cole can't get his telecom to function. He starts saying "Mayday" and that triggers Jeffries to look at the calendar and realize, in surprise, that it is February 1989, placing this back at the place where Lynch intended for it to be: at Laura's introduction in the film and a week before her death.

We believe that when Jeffries looked at the calendar he found out that it was weeks before his own timeline and this also helped his sudden disappearance from Cole's office. We also argue that this is in effect what happened when Cooper went back into 1989, in Part 17, to rescue Laura: something sent him back to the future, when he came from. This further led to Richard/Dale's questioning what year it was in Part 18: he was finally realizing that he was no longer in 1989.

It looks frankly like BOB is vomiting out Jeffries with a big old laugh, as Jeffries reappears on the stairway in the Palm deluxe, screaming.

Stairs, with a red curtain off to the side... both are often included/focused on visually in Twin Peaks. The wall behind Jeffries looks charred, as if burned, this with the image of BOB's mouth give the indication that he is partly responsible for Jeffries leaving and gloating over it too. He probably didn't want Jeffries interference. Does this also imply that BOB might have helped Cooper return back to his own time in Part 17?

A maid is horrified and crawling on the floor as the bellhop lost control of his bowels, which is putting it more delicately than he does. "Are you the man?" he begins to scream at Jeffries.

That question kind of leads into the next scene actually where it implies MIKE is truly the man, which could mean either "boss/authority figure" or "really cool person". MIKE's host is a Phillip which could be adding to the confusion here, or provide another hint about the real man in charge. MIKE/Phillip will also bring Coop to see Phillip Jeffries in Part 17, where another bit of time travel is implicated, also involving the ring, or, at least, the symbol on it.

It's integral to note how we end off seeing Jeffries, just as we first saw him, inside of a hotel. The next time we see him, in The Return, he will be locked away in a motel. All of this seems hinting at some underlying truth behind hotels/motels throughout the story, one we can once again link to the Red Room/Black Lodge and how the spirits are quite possibly stand-ins for the Hornes and their acquaintances, that family being the one majorily associated with such "lodgings".

MIKE IS THE MAN

Bobby and Mike, loiter around in a car, as they discuss getting Leo his money back. They soon see Laura and Donna and flirt with the girls, leading to the repeated claims that Mike is the man.

As we said, this falls into place with the last missing piece, where a bellhop asked Phillip Jeffries if he was the man. This seems to imply that, no, MIKE is the man, fitting in alongside Donna's question of if Mike could ever write a poem and Laura's later words to Bobby that he killed Mike: MIKE wrote the fire poem that frequents the series and BOB might infact kill MIKE, or one of his potential hosts, when he kills Laura wearing his ring. MIKE essentially is the man, be it the guy in charge or one overall badass individual.


SHARING A CIGARETTE

Laura runs out of the house after finding the defiled diary. She bumps into her mother and asks for the car, nearly stealing her cigarette on the way.

An emphasis that Laura forgot to grab the car keys here. Later on Sarah Palmer, or whatever is inside of her, will urge/chastise her as she fumbles getting out her car keys. This could indicate, as we suspect, that Sarah is truly "possessed" by the spirit of her dead daughter...which actually makes a nice illustration here since Laura is about to drive Sarah's car.


SCHOOL BOOKS

Laura returns from Harold's to find her mother knows she lied about forgetting her schoolbooks. Laura feeds her another lie, this one about seeing Bobby. Sarah says she never has to lie to her before letting her go and telling her dinner is almost ready and her father is starving.

The banker's lamp, so similar to Ben's, appears in this scene and is on. Lights offer illumination. Is it being on indicate that this is closer to reality? We have the scene revolving around Laura's schoolbooks, which we explored in our rewatch of FWWM sometimes involve a William (Billy). Sarah here seems genuinely upset at the thought that Laura would lie to her, which doesn't necessarily make the portrait of Sarah denying to herself what her husband was doing fit easily on her.

Another point of interest is how Leland is definitely NOT waiting for Laura here. He's hungry but not waiting at the dinner table, creating a definite difference from the scene at the dinner table the next evening and further leading us to believe that Leland and BOB are two very separate beings and that this whole narrative is being forced on a family that never experienced it.


THE PALMERS

The ceiling lights shake as Leland stomps into the dining room, pretending he's a giant. Sarah and Laura look embarrassed and less than impressed by his antics. He flips over a board to reveal an axe and then starts talking Norwegian. Laura and Sarah basically groan and Leland explains he wants them both to be able to introduce themselves to the delegation of Norwegians that Ben Horne is having in next week. He talks them through saying their names and then they all hold hands, repeating the introductions over and over again and then bursting into joyful laughter.

Very important missing piece to this theory in so many different ways. First we have Ben Horne's influence throughout. That's a banker's lamp like his own, lighting things up, and Leland's behavior/antics are all influenced by his role as Ben's virtual servant/puppet. Which leads to Leland invoking two of the Lodge spirits here in one scene: the Giant and the woodsmen (look at that axe!). We believe, afterall, that Billy fits Leland/American Girl's dad in those two categories, as servant to Billy's father and yet as the bestower of Laura/American Girl to him. Another delicious aspect here is how the subject of names and introductions are being broached. This scene has the Palmers all saying their names, as they introduce themselves, and yet we believe the name Palmer is partly given to them by the dreamer. A Palmer is slang for someone whom hides something like a card or coin in their palm during a magic trick so the audience doesn't see the lie. Billy is the dreamer/magician, hiding his family's tragedy inside of the Palmers. So them all breaking out in laughter becomes deep with double meaning: on a secret level they understand that those are NOT their real names. The laughter here is similar to Laura's laughter at the end of FWWM actually, and we theorized she's laughing and happy there because the angel showed her that her father really wasn't BOB and had never hurt her in the way she was led to believe inside of the dream. We can link the laughter her father caused here then to the laughter she basks in at the end of the film. This is the first scene we actually witness between Leland and Laura.

Another possibility, while discussing names, Judy could still be Laura/the American Girl's real name too, another aspect which she might have shared with Billy's mother and what drew Billy to her also.

And speaking of Billy's mom (Audrey inside of this dream) it's especially revealing how they never mention Ghostwood by name during this scene, although that is precisely what Leland is talking about with the Norwegians coming. We've theorized that Ghostwood is Audrey and the Ghostwood Development Plan is allegorical for her abuse at the hands of her father, Ben Horne. Just like Judy, Ghostwood is being kept out of it.


LAURA'S PARTY

Laura meets up with one of Leo's trucker friends and exchanges sex for drugs.

Now this is one of those things where Laura has far too much on her schedule for any of this to be remotely believable. She looks like she's out in the middle of the woods at night! She had to borrow her mom's car earlier...another time she has James take her...how did she manage this? How can she juggle all of this stuff. And if she wants to use sex for money/drugs why wouldn't she just run away completely? Possibly even with one of these men. She's already acting reckless, suicidal and self destructive, what's stopping her from just up and leaving, even in the most unwisest way? Instead it was Audrey whom was flat out stated to have run away in canon.


2x4

Dell, from the bank, and Pete and Josie have a pretty funny discussion/argument over how the wood Dell ordered is not 2x4.

Can't get too much out of this without going overly ridiculous but 2x4 is 8, and Part 8 is when we see the Experiment barfing down BOB and the eggs including the frogmoth. We also have Pete saying that things have changed and a 2x4 of the past isn't what it used to be, equating it to a dollar at the bank, which Dell understands. Maybe we could get the Experiment Models (Billy's victims) never living up to be the Experiment (Billy's mom) inside of his mind. Getting the Bank involved with this, and having Laura get and wear Teresa's ring, maybe we could further glean how it's still what we suspected and Laura (American Girl) was still killed because she reminded Billy of his mother Teresa (Audrey/Judy) and not the other way around, as depicted in FWWM. Motel Room #8 is also the room where Mr. C talks with Jeffries about Judy. The 2x4 is a piece of wood and we've theorized that Ghostwood is Audrey.


KIND OF QUIET

Heidi has a nosebleed, Norma urges Shelly to help Laura with the Meals on Wheels. Nadine and Ed enter the Double R but Nadine runs out when she sees Norma there. Shelly tells Norma that Laura ran off. Big Ed comes back to apologize to Norma, whom has gone to a booth to cry. Then he runs off and leaves her, and Norma still cries.

Not much here for the theory. But where did Nadine think Norma would be? It's her diner, of course, she's going to be there!


BEST FRIENDS

More of the scene where Laura goes to the Hayward house and cries to Donna, asking if she is her friend. Donna confesses that she's afraid that Laura thinks she's too uptight and that she might sleep with Mike.

Not much theory wise here, although Laura confesses that whenever she thinks of Donna's face she gets happier; Billy with American Girl might have felt the same. Donna actually looks more like the dark type that we speculate Billy really likes.


I'M THE MUFFIN

Doc William Hayward enters the living room and tries to do a magic trick, but is missing the rose. He says it's at the corner of Sparkwood and 21. He catches Laura smoking, expresses disapproval, but acknowledges he lets her away with it because he loves her. Eileen comes out with the promised huckleberry muffins and Laura takes one still depressed over suspecting Leland. Donna gets her father to give Laura a message: "The angels will return, and when you see the one that's meant to help you, you will weep with joy." Laura looks happier until the phone rings and it's Leland asking her to come home. As Donna escorts Laura out, Will and Eileen share uncomfortable looks that suggest they know something isn't right. At the door, Donna and Laura say goodbye and argue over who is the muffin. When the door is shut, Laura cries that she is the muffin.

Huge scene for the theory. We have a WILL performing a MAGIC trick which is supposed to involve a RED ROSE. Afterall, we theorize that BILLY Hastings is the dreamer, also known as the MAGICIAN, and that he murders women whom remind him unnaturally of his mother, making them blue roses, because he saw his dead mother as the original RED ROSE. That red rose, he claims is at the corner of SparkWOOD and 21. We've suggested Audrey is Ghostwood and seen a connection between the grandson (another magician and Billy) and numbers that are connected to 3. Will also starts the act by saying "Ipsos facto" which roughly translates to "by that very fact" and wasn't commonly used for magic.

Why does ole DOC Will let Laura smoke at his house anyway? If he loved her, he'd tell her to quit, his being a supposed doctor and all. Major Briggs won't let Bobby smoke. We suspect it's because Will partly masks Billy, whom also adopts a false air of respectability, but is deeply corrupted inside.

The message about the angels returning is directly connected to the end, where Laura's does return. We still speculate it helps her by showing her that Leland didn't hurt her, the main source of her sadness and despondency during this scene.

Not sure if this means anything, but the phone rings directly after Will kissed her left hand. When Laura gets home, BOB/Leland will intimidate her by suggesting that hand, and its spiritual finger, is dirty. It's also the same hand she holds to her heart at the end.

The fact that "Leland" is calling the Haywards to rush Laura home is, once again, proof of the vast difference between Leland and BOB. In the previous missing piece, Leland was starved but wasn't waiting at the dinner table, nor phoning up Laura's haunts to try to rush her home and spend as much time with her as he could. He seemed like he didn't really care, but was even off in the house doing something else when Laura returned from Harold's. It honestly doesn't seem like the same person who's harbouring these dark and horrible lusts/cravings. We mean, an addict is just always an addict, they can't separate that, nor can they usually suppress it when they are around their addiction, Laura gives proof of that throughout this film, with her constant dependency on drugs. Leland does not seem addicted to Laura, BOB seems addicted to Laura.

An upset Laura goes home and it's obvious that Will and Eileen know something is up but aren't doing anything. This again feels very off about Will Hayward, whom has sworn to help others, giving the impression that he can't be trusted and that Major Briggs is a far more reliable individual, even if he comes off as strict.

Laura's cry that she is the muffin is truly heartbreaking, making her joy at the end even more beautiful. Remember her severe sadness here is due to her suspicion over Leland. It makes sense then that her sheer relief would also revolve around her feelings/opinion towards/of him.


THE RING

This is an extended bit from Laura's dream of the ring. The Arm, looking upwards, stands in the room by the pedestal with the ring on top of it. Cooper walks in. The Arm goes to the ring and circles it with his hand. We hear the sound of the ringing and the whooping noise. The Arm announces, "This is the ring." He then asks Dale, "Is it future or is it past?" before declaring, "I am the Arm and I sound like this," following it up with the whooping cry. The Arm goes to the table and holds the ring up, as both he and Dale look upward. The Arm and Dale share this kind of look of defiance and understanding and then Cooper, like before, urges Laura not to take the ring.

What struck us about seeing this scene, after watching FWWM with this theory, is how the Arm is looking upwards, and then, later, when he's holding up the ring, Cooper joins him. We previously wondered, when Laura was thinking about the ring and the flashing light/lightning started, and she addressed the ceiling in the room with the question "Who are you? Who are you really?", if she was really talking to the dreamer in fact. Now Laura is dreaming, and the Arm and Coop are similarly looking up. When the Arm offers the ring he holds it upwards and his gaze goes there. And yet Cooper, when he addresses Laura, looks ground level.

Hmmm...When Laura sees Dale in Part 17 she tells him, "I've seen you in a dream. In a dream." The repetition makes it seem like she saw him in a dream IN A dream. She saw him in her dream in BILLY's dream, we reckon. So now it is implied that Laura is in the same place, watching over them in her own dream. The Arm offers the ring to her...and yet Cooper is looking down as he addresses her. Cooper never is backwards in the Lodge, not his speech not the sound of his footfalls. Does this indicate that he is aware, on some level, that Laura is not the ultimate dreamer, so he doesn't look upwards?

Or can we make another bold assumption and suspect that maybe the Arm isn't just offering the ring to Laura...maybe he's also offering it to Billy the dreamer.

Beforehand, when the Arm circled the ring with his right hand, it made a sound, one similar to the ringing that emanates from the Great Northern in "The Path to the Black Lodge" and carries through to The Return, a sound we've come to associate with Billy's creation and Cooper being called there and eventually finding MIKE waiting for him in the basement closet in the furnace room, ready to recite the famous magician/fire poem to him. That sound also was heard in conjunction with MIKE in the European ending to the Pilot, when BOB heard it and suddenly addressed MIKE in the hospital boiler room. And then we have the whooping sound with it too. So this could likely indicate MIKE joined with the Arm, the reason why both sounds are now joined. This could further indicate that the ring marries the wearer to MIKE and also symbolizes a wholeness in some way, which might further suggest an openness to the truth, acceptance and acknowledgement for the right wearer, like Laura and Ray.

So, from this, can we pull back the curtain, so to speak, and harbor the notion that the Arm is equally offering that truth/wholeness to Billy, whom endlessly tries to escape/hide from the truth. That Billy envisions the Arm/MIKE offering it to him, suggests that it is somebody whom experienced a spiritual enlightenment and this equates to his uncle perhaps trying to potentially lead him to the truth. We see this in a more direct fashion in The Return when the evolution of the Arm's doppleganger screams outright at Dale Cooper "Non-Existent!", his secret self foregoing the dream formalities to outright angrily tell him that everything he's dreamt up to hide from the truth doesn't exist.

BOB SPEAKS THROUGH LAURA/BLUE SWEATER

Going up the stairs, and under the ceiling fan, Laura hears BOB, whom excites over what they can do together, and says he wants to taste through her mouth, despite her protests. Suddenly, the lights flash, and Laura begins to smile unnervingly, mouth open, teeth clenched. Sarah interrupts, looking for her blue sweater and then has a freak out when Laura points out that she's already wearing it, leaving Laura to try to calm her down.

The fan is associated with BOB to Laura. And it's already discussed plenty by others how BOB/Leland turned it on before abusing Laura. We went in to that from our own point of view, how it might have helped lessen the burnt oil smell of BOB forcing his host to do something he didn't want. But, more importantly, we also went in to how it has different connotations outside of "Leland" in The Return. In Part 12, for instance, Lynch gets shots of the Palmer house from the view of someone looking up from the sidewalk to Laura's bedroom, and you can see the fan through Laura's open bedroom door. We suggested that Billy, obsessed with American Girl and thus her FAN, would walk by her house often and similarly look at her room. He would be able to discern if it would be more private to "visit" her if he couldn't see the fan. Likewise, in Part 17, when Jeffries is taking Cooper to the past, Dale shuts his eyes *ahem like he's falling asleep and dreaming* and there is the distinctive sound of the fan, as it goes to a shot of it in the Palmers. So DALE COOPER is outright linked to the fan in a way not discussed enough. We still suspect that Billy tried to control American Girl in the same way he saw his father/grandfather "possess" his mother, but she fought against it and died because of it.

BOB's claim that he wants to taste through Laura's mouth can potentially be linked to Carrie/Laura's obsession with food in Part 18. We suspect, in this part of Billy's dream, he's envisioning a Laura possessed by BOB and this links back to this missing piece, hinting that BOB is infact Laura now. Carrie Page's house being littered by frozen dinner trays is also a bad sign considering how Lynch made clear associations with villains and junk food.

Laura's smile is frightening. BOB seems to be taking her over again. Does her closed teeth mean she's refusing him entrance?

Sarah wearing the sweater leads to her exclaiming that "It's happening again," hinting at a mental break of some sort which happened in the past. She also clearly has a bad memory. We can imply here that this is because A.) Billy is forcing her to wear this whole fabrication. The sweater is blue here, and we've suggested that color and a link to the truth inside of his dream. B.) That it's once again echoing the fact that Sarah, or rather American Girl's mother, forgot an integral piece of information about the day she found her daughter's body. Afterall, we believe that the murder actually happened in American Girl's bedroom. Now her substitute is going up the stairs to her own bedroom, hearing the voice of her killer, and Sarah, the mother, interrupts it all, at the end of the stairway. We're still left with our own feeling like American Girl's mom has forgotten something that might implicate Billy, possibly still a stolen item, just as Sarah is accusing Laura here of taking something that belongs to her.

Further, though it might sound odd, Laura helping her mother through her panic and haze here could figure in to how whatever possesses Sarah (we suspect it's her dead daughter) in The Return is similarly trying to help her remember what she has forgotten and go after her real killer...only, through the eyes of that same killer, it is portrayed as a horrifying/destructive event, one mired with his own troubled emotions for his own mom.


SUNDAY AT THE JOHNSON'S

Sunday at the Johnson's finds Leo instructing Shelly how to clean the kitchen floor. Basically an extended version of what's seen in the film.

After our seemingly ridiculous theorizing about what Sarah's sweater and breakdown can mean, we then have this missing piece to follow it up and it seems to amazingly strengthen it. Afterall, we just theorized that Sarah/American Girl's mom had forgotten/not realized, that her daughter's killer had taken something that belonged to her. Now we have Leo's long piece of dialogue about just that: "Someone who knows how to clean knows where the object was before she started cleaning, and then that object goes back to the same exact spot. Shelly, I know where everything in this house is. Sometimes on the road, I mentally go through this whole house and picture where every item is." That seems almost written for what we had been saying.

Leo also comments, "Anybody can clean the surface of an object, but dirt can find its way anywhere. To really clean, you have to scrub below the surface. Where the dirt is, Shelly!" This can go along with two aspects of the theory. First, in FWWM, we already drew a parallel between Leo's words and Carrie Page's in Part 18: "Odessa. I tried to keep a clean house...keep everything organized. It's a long way. In those days...I was too young
to know any better." Her words, we believe, reflect Billy's own feelings about how his first murder (American Girl) was messy but he learned afterwards to be more "clean". They can also betray, however, how someone like William "Billy" Hastings can appear fine on the surface but the corruption lies hidden underneath the surface.


SMASH UP

In the woods, Norma and Ed sit in a truck, musing over their relationship.

Most interesting here is how Norma asks Ed if they are lucky or a terrible accident. Ed replies lucky, while Norma believes them to be a smash-up. Cars and car accidents form a pretty strong theme throughout the series. Did a car accident play any role in Billy's childhood? Could that explain the smell of scorched engine oil when BOB is upset or doing something upsetting to his host? Could that also be a reason why his mother, we suspect, might have, at some later point in his life, been in a wheelchair? Of course, the constant shots of stairs seen throughout the series also might have led to it. But, given Nicky Needleman and Dougie Jones' involvement with crashes, and the fact that Sherilyn Fenn infamously played a car crash victim in Wild at Heart, the edge is on the vehicular accident. Did Billy maybe purposely cause his mother to crash their car?


THE POWER AND THE GLORY

Buck, Laura, Tommy and Donna take a trip to Canada and the little den of sin up there.

Not much shown here other than a sign for Cooper tires seen in the background and Laura's obvious resentment that Donna will not do drugs, she's obviously seeing someone acting more responsibly than her and getting defensive over it, as opposed to her seeing Donna and then running to her rescue. The presence of Cooper Tire's is interesting when placed in line with our previous discussion over if Billy and his mother were in a car accident. The highway shots here invoke Lost Highway. There's a buck head beside the door to the club, we've theorized endlessly that bucks and other HORNEd animals represent Billy.


FIRE WALK WITH ME

In a cheap motel, MIKE/Phillip sits on the floor in front of a circle of candles. As he puts them out, he repeats in Lodgespeak "Fire walk with me."

There is a circle of candles, just like BOB had in the boiler room in the Pilot's European ending. There are 12 candles like the circle of 12 sycamores outside of the gate to the Black Lodge at Glastonbury Grove. MIKE/Phillip extinguishes them in a strange pattern: if it were a clock before him, he would be going from half past the hour, back to fifteen, stopping and going from half past the hour and then to 45 minutes past it, only to go to 15 past the hour and heading back to the start of the hour. Does this indicate the shifts in time, going back to forward to back to forward?

We speculate this is MIKE/Phillip discovering that BOB has essentially stolen the creamed corn from Laura's death by having the future Dale, the one stuck in the Lodge, tell Laura not to take the ring. We theorize he realizes Laura did not have the painting on her wall for the previous night and so she has not received the ring yet.

PARTY GIRL

We see BOB/Leland phoning Teresa to arrange their first meeting, Teresa informing Ronette and Teresa that their John split after BOB/Leland saw Laura, Teresa calling Jacques to fish for information on her friends' fathers and then phoning up Mr. Palmer.

The Dutchman's is called by its name here, "The Red Diamond City Motel". We already went previously into how, in the script, it was called The Blue Diamond. Teresa obviously seems to be living in the room where she answers the call, "Room 123", but which, in truth, is #6....just like the utility pole connected to the grandson and Richard hitting and killing the boy and Carrie whom asked "Did you find him?" BOB/Leland centers on the "Ready Set Go!" of the number. Could that in some way indicate that this room marks the beginning of Billy's tale? Was this his mother's room, or rather the one where his father/grandfather abused her? Was Billy conceived in this room or was that still #8, the room where we suspect he was abused, to link with the birth of BOB being shown in Part 8?

6 is also the hotel room where Mr. C kills Darya in The Return.

We went into this during FWWM, but why is Teresa seemingly living at the Red Diamond City Motel, in Red Diamond City, but she has a trailer at the Fat Trout Trailer Park in Deer Meadow? You can reason she moved, since she'd only been at the Deer Meadow places for a month before her death, but there's another little wrinkle complicating things. According to shooting information, Teresa was to be killed inside of her room at the Red Diamond, while wearing her waitress uniform. And to complicate this further, Lynch changed the murder site suddenly to the Tremonds trailer...only not the one at Fat Trout either, the one off to the side at the Red Diamond's parking lot when the grandson is seen jumping around. Frankly, the bit about the Fat Trout smells like a fish story imposed over things, further meant to keep the truth from the dreamer: that his mother died at the Red Diamond and it was all his fault.

For the scene where Teresa tells Ronette and Laura that the guy split, it's great for this theory to note how Teresa lies between both women, essentially becoming a bridge between them. Ronette will walk over a bridge and "introduce" Dale Cooper to the Laura Palmer case, which interested him due to the link between it and the Teresa Banks case. We also theorize that Teresa is a substitute for Billy's mom (Audrey) and she links all of Billy's victims inside of his mind, his attraction to them based mostly on his complicated feelings for his mom. We also theorize that Billy masks his victims under a false guise of "lightness" to help shield him from the truth inside of his dream: he likes them dark. Like Ronette, whom is behind Teresa's back but she bridges her to Laura. We've speculated how we believe that Laura is the mask for American Girl, whom really was Ronette.

The girls are reflected in a TV set seen in the room, the same one that will end up smashed in the Tremond trailer. Once again, this could help illustrate how Billy was influenced by too much TV/film and he has incorporated the women/victims into the "program" playing inside his mind.

There are images of two peacocks on Teresa's wall. The pedestal where the ring lies, resembles a peacock tail/clamshell. This is more inkling of Teresa's importance.

When Laura sees the ring here, that ringing sound we talked about earlier during The Ring scene occurs. What is that, the sound of an owl over it too? A light is imposed over Laura's face as it starts to move strangely too. Can the light in any way be connected to what we just theorized that Billy lightens his victims inside of his dream? Or is it more to do with fire or electricity?

As Teresa phones Jacques, to question him about Ronette and Laura's dads, you can see the large red diamond for the Red Diamond City Motel in the background. Audrey is the Queen of Diamonds, the very card she was wearing when she discovered her father owned One-Eyed Jack's, just like Teresa is discovering here the identity of her John. It's occurring in a phone booth outside of it, whereas, when Leland contacted her, she took the call in her room. Why do we mention this? Well, because when Mr. C is questioning Jeffries about Judy, in room #8 of the Dutchman's (the ghost of the Red Diamond) he receives a phone call from the phone in the room, but when answering it, it propels him to a payphone outside of the Convenience Store. For this theory we note similarities like that, and things usually get tied back to the Hornes, or the substitutes for them, or the Great Northern. We say substitutes, but we really mean reality when we talk about the Red Diamond City Motel.

Throughout the scene, Teresa is fiddling with the ring. We've theorized a connection between the ring and its wearers discovering different "truths".

Teresa asking about both Ronette and Laura's fathers provides a certain ironic touch to this. She clearly discounts Ronette's dad, because he is described as being short, heavy and balding, but knows it's Laura's father when Jacques describes him as handsome and like a movie star. We actually believe that the real "Leland" was Ronette's father, however, just like the real Laura was Ronette, and that him being turned into a "movie star" is just another bit of substitution inside Billy's dream, aided by his reliance on old films/tv to escape his reality.

Trying to cover her tracks, Teresa says "Well, I got J.B.'d by this guy up your way, and I had a thought about it." J.B.'d means that she was found out to be jailbait, as in underage. Okay, so in the Between Two Worlds interview Leland admits to having had affairs with girls, some of them even younger than his daughter, and yet he is insistent that he is still not guilty of what they said he did. Here's the interesting thing, Teresa is referencing a false J.B. incident, where she was found out to be underage, to Jacques, as he bartends at the Roadhouse...well, in Part 7, of The Return, Jacques' lookalike brother Jean-Michel, as he bartends at the Roadhouse, receives a call from one of his pimps/go-betweens describing how one of the Johns is upset because he found out, supposedly after the fact, that the "two blondes" sent to him were 15 year olds. That would be younger than Laura at the time of her death. We surmise that this seemingly irrelevant scene in The Return actually directly relates to Leland's interview, where he stated he'd had meetings with girls younger than his daughter. Only it is helping to insinuate that, while Leland went to prostitutes, he was unaware of their real ages until it was too late. We suspect, in reality, these encounters were used against American Girl's father, after her death, when Billy helped frame him for his daughter's death. This bit of knowledge leaks in to The Return, which is basically Billy's dream revolving around his soon to be capture/discovery of American Girl's murder.


DON'T FORGET/LAURA'S SECRET STASH

Leland reminds Laura and Sarah, as they sit at the dining room table, that it's Johnny Horne's birthday. This is followed by an extended shot of Laura getting the key out to her not-secret diary so she can sniff the cocaine out of the pouch with the key to her safety deposit key.

The banker's lamp that resembles Ben's is still on the table/desk behind Laura. It's off during this scene. Neither Sarah or Laura look all that enthusiastic or impressed with Leland, which is kind of sad since this really does seem like Leland here and not BOB.

We've got Johnny mentioned now, but we're still not talking about Audrey, we're leaving her out of it.

Laura gets her diary key from underneath her green lamp, thereby linking keys and lamps/lights to truths.

There is a schoolbook for phys-ed teachers to help teach disabled students. Does Laura have this book to help Johnny, why she might have it out now on his birthday? On top of the textbook is a vintage postcard of a little girl on a moon. We associate Judy, and the symbol Mr. C is after, with the moon. This only shown on Laura's desk on the day of Johnny's birthday, plus it being on a book about teaching those with special needs, might be another hint that the little girl/Judy is related to the Hornes and Audrey, whom titled her own story, "The Little Girl who Lived Down the Lane".


BERNIE THE MULE

Harry, Andy and Hawk discuss Bernie Renault entering Twin Peaks.

Just a scene intended to be funny, we suppose, but so strangely directed, we have to wonder if it connects to Jerry and his own foot, seen in The Return, somehow.


I KILLED SOMEONE/BABY LAXATIVE

Bobby gives Laura the money to put in her safety deposit box and he becomes angry when she jokes about the man they killed. Afterwards, Bobby goes in to the woods and discovers that the bag of cocaine they got from the dead man was really baby laxative.

Bobby's regret over taking a life is sharply contrasted with how Laura thinks it is funny, betraying how she is falling into BOB's way of thinking. Bobby's horror over what he has done finally succeeds in showing her a proverbial mirror over her own calloused reaction to it, obviously leaving her frightened. Bobby finds out that he killed a man for something that wasn't the real deal...just like Billy kills women he merely sees as his mother but can never live up to her inside of his mind.


SEND ME KISS

Dr. Jacoby phones Laura, pestering her for tapes and a kiss.

This is presented as a far cry from how Laura sounded on the tapes in the series. She's obviously fed up with Jacoby, whom while presenting himself as trying to help her deal with her problems, is more just wanting to use her as mostly everyone is presented as doing in the film.

Laura says she's dealing with her issues, which obviously connects to her soon after this call centering on finding out who BOB is, and eventually seeing Leland. This flat out says that this is her trying to deal with her abuse, and leads to her apparently discounting BOB altogether until the train car sequence, which dissuades us from believing in the theory that this was all Laura's dream and she was supposed to come to the realization that it was only Leland, so she would wake up from it: she had already tried that here! That, we suspect, led to the angel in the painting disappearing because it wasn't the right answer either. BOB was not her father. He was/is someone else: Billy/Cooper.

As the call ends, Lynch focuses on the PALM (PALMER) TREE behind Jacoby. Trees play a strong role within the mythology of Twin Peaks, and can be linked to people. Palm, as we mentioned earlier, can be used for something that hides something, magicians often "palming" items of significance. These palm trees are from Jacoby's precious Hawaii, we suspect, a far cry from Twin Peaks and Ghostwood, which we believe symbolizes Audrey Horne's abuse by Ben and the conception of the dreamer, Billy.


ASPARAGUS

Laura eats her last meal, as written about in her last not-secret diary entry.

The banker's lamp, similar to Ben's, is on here, which makes it not being on during the scene where BOB/Leland threatened Laura at the table all the more strange. Why was it not on during that one scene? Or was that a subtle clue that what we saw there was actually not real? It's hard to explain, but was that a hint that the whole Leland abused Laura, whether under BOB's control or not, wasn't true? The other instances during supper, at this time of the evening, it was on...just not that time. Can we glean something from that fact?

It is mentioned here that Ben requested Leland work late for the Norwegians coming. Once again, it is never listed as the Ghostwood project.

Sarah seems very cold with Laura after she's left the table. It's most likely getting at her suspecting the cause for Laura being upset, something she is ignoring here, but it creates an ominous feeling with the role of a mother and Judy, as well as The Return, all the same. We still believe that Billy holds disturbing/conflicting feelings for mothers in general.


BOBBY AND LAURA IN THE BASEMENT

As Major Briggs reads from Revelation, and his wife Betty listens, Laura comes to their house to see Bobby, who's in the basement, leading to an extended version of the scene in the film. Bobby breaks the news to her that it was baby laxative and not cocaine. Bobby also wants to have sex but Laura doesn't. He guesses she doesn't love him and yet shows her compassion by still giving her the drugs. He then shows her out, walking past his parents still reading from the Bible.

Interesting choices for Garland to be reading from the book of Revelation:

"And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of Earth. any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth--"

We've only a little while ago theorized that lights and lamps helped reveal truths and now candlesticks are being equated as such, which are also referred to as olive (peace) trees, our having also previously seen trees as symbolic of people throughout the series. This seems to be about two witnesses...let's see what else Garland reads:

"And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them."

So we have witnesses and testimonies mentioned in a Biblical book dealing with the future. That's an odd sort of coincidence, because we've also theorized that The Return, set years after the original series, is about Billy Hastings capture and how 2 women in particular lead to his downfall: Betty (Naido) and American Girl's mother (Sarah).

The beast in the biblical parts Briggs is referencing is associated with the number triple 6. Believe it or not, we've seen that number a few times in Twin Peaks, but usually hidden. In the second episode of the second season, when Garland, himself, delivers the intended message to Dale, above the words COOPER/COOPER/COOPER are M666. In season two episode five, on the pad with Lucy's doodles, one which involves finding out Cooper's ID and another with his name underlined like in a game of Hangman, Lucy had a number written: 206-555-1666. And if we put the places where we saw the #6 at, the Fat Trout Park near the grandson's trailer in Deer Meadow, the intersection in Twin Peaks, where Richard hit and killed the young boy, and outside of Carrie Page's place, when she asks Richard/Coop if he found some boy/man, you get 3 sixes too. We argue that Billy is infact the beast, or evil person, this is all trying to identify. A bottomless pit can also describe the concept of falling through space, which we saw Dale doing in The Return. There is a possibility, within this theory, that Billy, like the beast with the two witnesses in Revelation, does kill Betty and American Girl's mother before they can testify against him. Garland plays a pivotal role in The Return, one connecting Billy Hastings to Dale Cooper...that he's reading passages that can also describe events from how this theory views The Return is great.

Betty is also doing needlework during this which can recall the other problem child of Twin Peaks and avatar for Billy: Nicky Needleman.

The way that Bobby is moving his fingers on his left hand is reminiscent to how Cooper is moving his left hand's fingers during his troubled sleep before MIKE calls him in the European Pilot ending.

Laura asking, "What is the world coming to when you kill a guy for baby laxative?" is similar to her father asking, "A man comes out of the blue like that, what's the world coming too?" It also goes back to what we previously mentioned about Bobby killing someone over mistaking something for something else, just like Billy kills women he confuses for his mother.

When Bobby shows jealousy and suspicion over where Laura is going she replies, "I'm going home, Bobby. To my bed. To my nice warm bed," obviously still in torment over believing Leland was BOB all along and he hurts her in that same bed. We've discussed previously, however, how, while Coop seems obsessed with taking Laura home, we never see his home...or, at least, we aren't led to believe we do. We suspect it was really the Great Northern, the key he had on him throughout his 25 years in the Red Room, bringing deeper meaning to Mr. C's claim, "I never really left home, Gordon." We suspect that this all really underlines the fact that Billy is dreaming himself as Cooper, and all of his varied/split selves, and that he is the one always trapped back in his childhood home, still being abused and frightened there. Even though it burned down, it remains a ghost (the Dutchman's) which haunts him and he tries to force Laura to go home instead, projecting his (and his mother's) traumas on to her, so they won't need to carry them.

Bobby does seem very sweet and loving of Laura here.

Garland's still reading when Laura and Bobby go upstairs. "--Even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, and seven angels--" Hmmm...horses and their equipment (did Billy still steal something horse related?) and angels.

"And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and them that had gotten the victory over the beast and over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God."

Glass is mentioned, another reoccurring motif. The beast is mentioned too and his number to fit in with our previous talk. Does this indicate the victory that will be had over Billy in The Return?

Garland tells "Robert" to put out his cigarette, proving his strength and moral character in trying to protect his son in contrast to William Hayward's leniency with Laura, despite his claim to love her.


GOODNIGHT LUCY

Lucy tells Harry, as he sits in the interrogation room with Andy, that Mrs. Packard called and thinks there is a prowler at her place.

Generally just a comical scene with Lucy. It echoes her confusion over the cell phones in The Return.


WAITING FOR JAMES

An extended sequence where Laura climbs out from her house and waits for James, while hiding from Leland, whom has just come home.

Very scary sequence...too scary in a way. It feels more like an amped up fairy-tale, once again leading us to believe that this is more a melodramatic imposition on the Palmers than the actual truth. BOB/Leland obviously is aware Laura is there the whole time and is just toying with her.

DISTANT SCREAMS

The Log Lady sits holding her log and rocking as screams are heard.

Margaret is rocking in distress before the screams even start. Does this further add to the insinuation that she seemed to know Laura had to die during their encounter outside of the Roadhouse? Why does she turn to the moon, it seems, and we hear, we think, Sarah's distorted cry for Laura from the next day? The moon we reckon is related to Judy...Margaret also referenced to beware the one under the moon on Blue Pine Mountain. Does it have anything to do with Cooper leading Laura to the Fireman's place, since Jeffries supposedly brought Dale to Judy, in Part 17, which only led him to Laura? Is Sarah calling for Laura foreshadowing Laura will die or the end of Part 18 with all of this in mind?


LONESOME FOGHORN BLOWS

A shot of Laura, wrapped in plastic and on the water, near a large rock.

We'd be amiss if we didn't mention the theme of rocks here and how Richard Horne was electrocuted on one.


EPILOGUE

So these are a sequence of scenes which firmly set this film in the sequel territory and help aide in our belief that this is really Billy "creating" Twin Peaks' past from his seat in the present/future.

ANNIE BLACKBURN

Some months later, Annie is rushed into Calhoun Memorial Hospital. Once admitted, in a comatose state, Annie repeats the message she gave Laura to her nurse, before becoming catatonic again. The nurse than steals the Owl Cave ring, now on Annie's finger.

This begins with a shot of the sycamores at Glastonbury Grove. What is really, and we mean REALLY odd and telling about Annie entering the hospital is that she is wearing Caroline's dress. Since that was a confusion in Cooper's mind in the finale we see that as a massive clue that this is all still HIS dream of events, including everything we saw of Laura and her family/the past. He's really Billy and that dress, another indication of Billy confusing his victims with his mom, betrays that this is really his dream, influenced by his specific problems and trials. Laura escaped his control/illusion when she wore the ring, but the fantasy remains for Coop/Billy.

Annie is in a comatose state, or rather, we see her as wearing the ring and now revealing her own truth to us: she represents the shell that Billy likes to hide his real victims inside within his dream: fair haired women. This helps protect him, something Annie equally exists for as proven by the very thing she now exists for: to repeat words meant to help Cooper, Billy's avatar.

Does Annie talking to both Laura and the nurse answer the question of why she refers to Laura, to Laura, in the third person, but why she also references the diary? She's sees both the nurse and Laura at once?

The nurse, another blonde, steals the ring and looks at herself in the mirror with it. She's most likely an indication of Billy's new life as a serial killer, her possibly being next. He doesn't need a ring to kill anyone, but it is symbolic, at least, in this moment.


COOPER IN THE BLACK LODGE

Inside of the Red Room the Arm is waiting by the pedestal again as Cooper walks in. The Arm asks him again if it is future or if it is past and then asks if he knows him, restating he's the arm and sounds like the whooping sound. Dale asks where the ring is now and the Arm replies that someone else has it now. Cooper deduces Annie and then wants to know where he is and how he can leave. The Arm states, "You are here. Now there is no place to go...BUT HOME!" The arm starts to laugh maniacally and then begins to dance as Cooper seems affected on some level unknown, eventually looking somewhat sick and sad, as ominous music plays and his face is imposed with a shot of the camera zipping across the Red Room floor to the place in the curtain he just entered through.

This is a scene directly related to the one where Coop told Laura not to take the ring, but after she has defied his advice. That it still appears to be shot from an angle of someone looking down, could further help with the belief that it is still Billy whom is the ultimate dreamer, even when Laura has "awakened".

The Arm seems to outright laugh at his own words, like they are a joke, and that he enjoys Cooper's suffering in relation to them. This can nicely fit alongside the image of MIKE and the Arm also relishing how they bettered BOB at the end of FWWM, and, once again, ties Dale to BOB, just as the two characters both wanting Laura not to take the ring aligned them together also.

What is the joke though?

Well, according to this theory, it's that the only place for Dale to really go would be home: as in outside of the dream. See, it doesn't matter if he's stuck in the Red Room, or outside of it, as long as it's Billy's dream, it's essentially the same place. If he wanted to leave it, truly leave it, he'd have to wake up. It's like Carrie Page told him when looking for Laura: he has the wrong house.

The alternate thing, though, is that even here, inside of Billy's dream, he is still home. He can't escape it and it hides behind every lie he dreams up. He can't truly forget or escape what happened to him and the clues are bleeding throughout his fantasy.

This can partly explain the strange expressions that cross Cooper's face, as if he understands something and yet doesn't and how he looks sick and disheartened as the camera pans to the entry place in the curtains.

We can compare the panning shot, actually, to the one, only going in reverse, of the missing piece after BOB and the Arm entered the Red Room, during the extended Convenience Store meeting. And just like that scene, including Laura's face, this one includes Dale's. It was a question of whom would ultimately be possessed: if Laura, in the past, didn't take the ring, Cooper would have avoided his doppleganger exiting the Lodge with BOB. But, now that Laura still took the ring, his dopple will still be possessed...just as we see in the final missing piece.

Perhaps, sadly enough, it represented one last chance for Billy to shift fantasies and not become what he did. However, still lying to himself, he was unable to successfully do it.


BAD COOPER

We now go immediately to where we left off in the OG series. Will Hayward and Harry hear the glass breaking, as Coop's dopple in the Great Northern bathroom. Mr. C goes from still laughing over "How's Annie" to lying on the floor, when he hears them coming. When Harry and Will enter, he claims to have slipped and hit his head on the mirror. "The glass broke when my head struck it. It struck me as funny, Harry," he explains. "Do you understand me? It struck me as funny."

Mr. C, the bad Cooper, is now obviously still free and able to wreck havoc. He's also right back at the Great Northern, which we speculate represents, not only Dale "home" in Twin Peaks, but a fictionalized version of his real home too: the Red Diamond City Motel/the Dutchman's. Why does the glass breaking as his head strikes it as funny to Mr. C?

Well, it could "reflect" on how there was a question in FWWM of whether Laura or Dale's dopple would become BOB's host following Leland. In the film, BOB/Leland placed the mirror in front of Laura to show the possibility he would soon become her. In the original series, it ended with Mr. C's reflection being that of BOB. Now, the Great Northern mirror in Dale's room remains broken...which not only reflects how Mr. C remains the new host for BOB in the dream, but how Billy/Cooper's consciousness is becoming even more splintered.

However, on a deeper level, we suspect it really revolves around Cooper's question of where he is and how he can leave, while the Arm just laughed and told him there was no other place to go but home.

Does Mr. C realize this is home on some level? Is it hinting at that he/Billy broke the mirror so he wouldn't need to see his real image properly, it now being BOB, but more than that...that it was an image shattered, fragmented, unwhole? Was it perhaps important to Billy that Laura carry his own personal tragedy too - becoming BOB - and not just his mother's, so than he could escape this "home" that he's just returned to.

Not unlike Jeffries having gone from the Palm Deluxe to the FBI Headquarters and then back to the Palm Deluxe, all as BOB laughed and he screamed in horror.

Motels/hotels are so reoccurring a theme to our story that it cannot be a coincidence. And now we're back in one, at the end of the missing pieces, right after the Arm's revelation told as if it were some kind of a monstrous joke of some sort. But even the Red Room, where the good Dale is set to be trapped for decades, isn't too far off from this place, Mike's description for the Great Northern fitting it too:

"A large house made of wood. Surrounded by trees. The house is filled with many rooms, each alike. But occupied by different souls. Night after night."

Lodgings is a term even used when describing staying at a motel/hotel.

And for all those years, unable to leave the Red Room/Lodge, Dale Cooper carried his key to the room we see now at this ending in a long string of various endings. In The Return, it will take him back to the hotel that houses this room, but it will lead him instead to the furnace basement closet instead, and from there to the Convenience Store and then to the Dutchman's, which we truly suspect is really the truth behind Ben Horne's majestic hotel.

Cooper cannot escape these places. Billy can't either, but seeing as though they are the same person that only makes sense.

It also further adds to Mr. C's own claim that he never really left home.

It's interesting to note here how, other than his laughter about asking about Annie's well being, Mr. C is pretty monotone and humorless. He doesn't seem to take delight in things, not like he appeared to inside of the Lodge when he chased after the good Cooper. Does the bad Cooper hate himself so much that that is the only source of true delight he gains by hurting himself...and does that further back-up our having seen Annie as just an extension of the Good Dale himself? Whatever is going on inside of the doppleganger's head, still wounded, he states that he hasn't brushed his teeth yet, a mockery still of the Good Dale's behavior and perhaps a reminder of Leo's words that, though you can clean the surface, dirt can still get deep within. This is, afterall, what likely happened to William "Billy" Hastings...

A man we are getting ready to meet by name and by face for the very first time in The Return.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Part Three "Pink Room to Red"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- At the Johnson household, Leo is teaching Shelly how to clean the tiles, imploring her "This is where we live, Shelly."

Kind of reminds us how in Part 18, Carrie/Laura says, "Odessa. I tried to keep a clean house...keep everything organized. It's a long way. In those days...I was too young
to know any better." That, we speculate, is really Billy's own concerns/thoughts about his current life and first crime: after killing American Girl, which was sloppily done, he taught himself how to be more careful. Is Leo's obsession with cleaning his house somehow related?


- Bobby phones, looking for drugs from Leo. He says he's looking for Santa Claus. When Leo shuts him down, Bobby says, "Leo Johnson, are you telling me there's no Santa Claus?" The character of John "Jack" Justice Wheeler was also compared to Santa Claus and we theorized that it was also because he similarly was just fantasy. So, yes, Bobby, we're telling you there is no Santa Claus.


- Bobby turns to Jacques whom sets him up with a friend "at the sound of sawing wood".

There is the theme of wood and tools again.


- Donna comes to the Palmer house and finds Laura ready to go out, without her. Sarah and Leland are off dancing. Laura ditches Donna to go to the Roadhouse.


- Walking towards the Roadhouse, a mostly white, but partly black dog runs by.

Gotta keep with the dog references. It might not mean anything, but then again....


- The Log Lady stops Laura right before the doors of the Roadhouse. She places a hand to her forehead and says "When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first, and the wind rises, and then all goodness is in jeopardy." She takes Laura's right hand (does she have her touch the log?) and Laura stares at it then holds it to her heart.

Margaret's obviously talking about the BOB influence in Laura. She's intimating that it's hard to put out and seems to be indicating that it might be best for Laura to accept death rather than become BOB's host and lose all of her innocence.

Now, this could very well pertain to different things. It could be the threat of evil that had been growing in Billy and his having projected that on to Laura. It could also be any belief that Billy might hold towards his mother and how he projects it on to his victims. He wishes she could have "saved" herself from becoming like her father, before she hurt him in the same way. Projecting his mother on to his victims, he could thus see his act of killing them as "saving" them from becoming the negative "Judy" whom hurt him so badly. Many killers are under the delusion that they are saving their victims when they kill them. Billy might believe the same thing and this is why Laura's murder becomes reimagined as something good and heroic inside of his dream.

It's interesting that this is her right hand that Margaret held, the same one Leland held. Is this connected to that hand shaking in fear during the OG series and the Return, and how BOB seemed connected to it somehow? Laura also holds it to her heart, just as she did when Leland held it.


- Laura sees her reflection in the Roadhouse door and seems startled, as if seeing herself and remembering who she is. She now seems to lose the attitude she was giving Donna, returning to a vulnerable state.

Reflection plays a key role in the series and BOB's presence. Laura most likely is coming back to her senses and realizing she is still herself. That this happens in a door reflection, further strengthens the belief that Laura is truly the door herself. Can't remember if we mentioned this before, but in the second last episode for the OG series, Dale said, "Now, an object, such as a door, normally exists at a point
in time and space." In Part 10, Margaret specifically says to Hawk "Watch and listen to the dream of time and space," which directly echoes Dale's words from over two decades before. She ends the conversation by telling Hawk, "Laura is the one. You know the one." Once again, we believe she was trying to state how Laura was their DOOR to this particular dream: their world. Margaret was also tasked, in the original finale, with bringing the oil considered a gateway to the sheriff station. She seems connected to identifying doors. This makes Margaret having just spoken to Laura, and Laura seeing herself reflected in the door, even more imbued with meaning.


- As Laura enters the Roadhouse, Julee Cruise sings "Questions in a World of Blue." She moves to a table, where she sits alone and begins to cry. Eventually she notices that Donna has followed her and that Jacques wants to send two Johns her way, which she agrees to.

Funny thing about the song "Questions in a World of Blue,"...it almost sounds, lyrically, like the flip side to the song "My Prayer" which precedes the New Mexico girl's impregnation by the frog moth and accompanies Diane and Dale's motel room sex at the Pearblossom...both of which we think involve Audrey Horne in one way or another.

"My Prayer" afterall states, "My prayer is a rapture in blue." But while that song is hopeful, the lover present, "Questions in a World of Blue" seems to involve the lover's absense, or when the prayer has gone unanswered.

So...is Laura's grief her own still or a manifestation of Billy's? For it can be strongly inferred that Laura is crying over being abused...and yet the song playing is about lost love. Those two things would not apply to Laura, but Billy, we theorize, was in love with his abuser, the same person he accidentally killed, leaving him alone in a world of blue.


- Laura seems more confrontational with the two men whom come over, not exactly in the mood for them, until Donna comes over and she becomes more willing, in an attempt to scare her off. She kisses one of the men and learns his name is Buck, while Donna kisses the other one, whose name is Tommy.

We've been saying all along that Billy is often represented by a Buck...


- The four head up to Canada and a bar called the Power and the Glory, where they go to a place known as the Pink Room. Jacques is there and Donna becomes drugged.

There's a cowboy motif to the adult club. We already theorized that Billy wanted to picture his father, before he knew the horrible truth, to be some kind of cowboy: Harry S Truman, Jack Wheeler, the statue Dougie stares at. Is there any connection to this clearly sexualized sin den and that notion? Any hint of the corruption lying at the truth? Which, by the way, we won't be getting too much into analyzing the escapades during this scene, only those things of importance.


- After some general debauchery, Ronette comes walking towards Laura and they talk about the last time they saw each other and what else they did together. They talk about Teresa. Donna, meanwhile, picks up the piece of clothing Laura discarded. Jacques joins Laura and Ronette and they discuss Teresa's death, how she was going to get rich, blackmailing some guy. Jacques mentions she phoned asking about their father, which obviously troubles Laura. Talk is made about Laura and Ronette going to Jacques' cabin soon. Sitting at a table, Laura motions Buck down and he orally pleases both her and Ronette, under the table, until Ronette spots Donna being groped by Tommy and points it out to Laura. Laura rushes to rescue her drugged friend.

A bit to discuss here. The light that appears before Ronette's appearance stands out. It's electrical and tinted blue, as opposed to the red lights all around. We suspect this means, once again, that Ronette is the reality here. She was Billy's American Girl and true victim. The blueish tint to the light, connects to the blue of the tv static that appears and seems to imply the dreamer (Billy's) presence. Does the color blue reveal a truth then? Is this also what the blue dye put in Ronette's IV meant? She was the true Laura. Think of Mulholland Drive where Betty and Rita appear to both be fragments of Diane's consciousness, and when they finally open the blue box, Betty (the shell) holding it and Rita (the soul) the one with the key, they become whole.

That an emphasis is placed on what Laura and Ronette did "together" also seems to secretly indicate they are the same persom.

Donna wearing Laura's clothes and getting with Tommy also deals with what we've been discussing throughout about Billy forcing characters to adorn the roles that belong to others inside of his dream. Donna did this in the 2nd season opener.

Lynch has the music obscure the voices, as Jacques relates to her and Ronette about Teresa's interest in their dads, shortly before her death and while she had planned on blackmailing someone. This makes it close to Laura discovering the "truth" but also aids in her not wanting to hear it. We believe that it's the same with Laura/Carrie's whisper to Dale inside of the Red Room. It comes out veiled, a hint about him not being as good as his suit would suggest, and how others will spot that too; he might not understand it completely, but he still senses it isn't good. And so, it not being something he wants to accept, he is the real reason that she is exiled from the Red Room.

Laura and Ronette now escape into sex with Buck, whom goes under the table to please both women. Billy is connected to male HORNEd animals, and it can't be a coincidence that this BUCK is pleasing the two women we secretly believe are really the same person. That he's doing it with his mouth could indicate Billy being the storyteller, (re)creating both women in his dream. Mr. C fools around with the mouth of a mechanic called Jack, and we suspect this might similarly indicate how Billy was often told stories about his father "Jack" before he found out who that really was.

Laura sees Donna acting like her and doesn't want that. She rushes to rescue her, and this generally goes with the theme of people acting/becoming other people inside of Billy's mind. It also shows that, unlike Billy, Laura truly does not wish for others to hurt like she does, nor does she want to project herself on to them either.


- The next morning, at the Haywards, the girls sit on the couch. Donna has vague memories of the night before and how Laura was angry at her for wearing something of hers and Laura angrily states she doesn't want her wearing her stuff. She melts, however, when Donna says she loves her. Laura says she loves Donna too, but she doesn't want her to be like her.

More elaboration on what we just discussed, the strong theme of others being forced to "wear" something that isn't theirs within Billy's fantasy and how Laura does not want that, making her diametrically different than him.


- Donna asks why she does it and Leland walks in having a flashback of Ronette and Laura in a motel room. He interrupts the girls and takes Laura away to meet Sarah, who is waiting for breakfast.

This is obviously implying that Laura acts the way she does because of the abuse she's suffered. But we still believe that the underlying theme is that this really didn't belong to Laura but to Billy's mother instead: just like Donna was wearing Laura's clothing, Laura is now being forced to wear Billy's mom's trauma. The family name itself gives this aspect of them away: the Palmers. A Palmer is old slang for someone whom hid a card, coin etc...inside of their palm during something like a card game or magic trick.


- Leland and Laura drive to have breakfast with Sarah when suddenly MIKE/Phillip appears, driving behind them, the whooping cry that the Arm gave sounding out. Leland/BOB looks behind him as if he hears it too. MIKE/Phillip begins to weave in and out.

Interesting how MIKE first appears going under a railroad bridge, just like the one that Ronette crossed over, helping to lead to Cooper's involvement in the case. Is this another subtle reference that this is really about Ronette/American Girl?

The bridge has the numbers 12 6 on it. 6 is the number on the utility pole and seems connected to the grandson and the boy hit and killed by Richard Horne. 12 is 6 doubled. When the "Tremonds" saw Laura outside the railway crossing sign there was another sign that said 30. There's a line of numbers all relating to 3 to the grandson.

MIKE/Phillip's driving skills resemble BOB/Leland's own during his "Drive with a Dead Girl."


- Suddenly, as they near an intersection, Laura notices a distinct smell and asks if something is burning.

BOB is apparently reacting to MIKE's presence as surely as his host Leland responds to his forcing him to do things he doesn't want, the smell of scorched engine oil present.


- Behind a logging truck, BOB/Leland and MIKE/Phillip get stopped, as an old man with a walker and a woman cross ahead of them. Mike/Phillip or BOB/Leland honks the horn furiously. Suddenly MIKE/Phillip peels off to the side, going ahead. Passing the two people crossing the street, the old man stumbles, and MIKE/Phillip turns so he is facing the Palmers convertible.

Okay...so A LOT to unpack here, in regard to this theory. You see, this isn't the last time we'll see this particular intersection. It's the same one where Richard Horne will hit and kill the small boy, the one whom is playing with his mother...which we believe merely represents how an older Billy killed all the good within himself when he turned into a serial killer. What's interesting too, is the man and woman now crossing it here...what is their relationship to each other? Honestly, we couldn't find out. But if they turned out to be father and daughter that would be amazing! Because then we would have the father/daughter leading to the mother/son on the same street, which would capture what we're saying that Ben abused Audrey and then Audrey abused her son Billy in return. That this would all be happening as MIKE/Phillip pursues, and somebody honks a horn(e), just like the honking lady with the niece she was trying to get to see the uncle in Part 11 did, during another stopped line of traffic, would be further mindblowing! Because we previously likened Carl to Jerry, the uncle, and he's present when the boy dies at this same intersection in Part 6.

And all this as a logging truck is shown, the trees cut and lying on its back. Did they happen to come from Ghostwood, which we said the destruction of which was symbolic for Ben's abuse of Audrey?

This also happens to be where Gersten Hayward's apartment is, and we heavily believe that Gersten and Steven's whole relationship seems to be an incestuous one between mother and son, which accurately helps portray Billy's own troubled relationship and feelings for his mother. Gersten lives in room 208...we previously theorized that room #8 at the Dutchman's was where Billy's mother first abused him.

And, to top it all off, there's an inexplicable shot of this same intersection in season two's "Dispute Between Two Brothers" right before Cooper gives Audrey the kiss off, and seems to try to supress his wanting her.


- Laura now exclaims that something is burning, as Leland looks upset, his foot going on and off the pedal, as he states, that it's the engine.

BOB uses his host basically like a car. What he is doing to Leland is wearing out the engine, as the host tries to fight but has no control over the "driver".


- MIKE/Phillip now starts to shout at BOB/Leland, whom looks at him angrily, "You stole the corn, I had it canned, over the store."

Many see this as having to do with Teresa. You know, maybe it does, in the way that Billy doesn't want to face his pain and sorrow over his mother's death, so he constantly tries to find, and then contradictoryly destroy her, in other women. But we're going to suggest it actually has to do with Laura's death in particular here. She was offered the ring two nights ago, but took the painting off her wall. The next night she slept at Donna's. By now, MIKE has realized Laura is no longer receptive to taking the ring...all thanks to Cooper's influence and presence in the dream, something new to the past. In this way, the pain and sorrow created by Laura's death, something believed to be canned and permanent, was stolen.


- BOB/Leland starts honking the horn(e) now, still a possibility that it was MIKE/Phillip before though.


- MIKE/Phillip turns his attention to Laura now, whom notices how her "father" seems to hate this supposed stranger, and he says, "Miss the look on her face when it was opened, there was a stillness," *A black dog is shown barking* Laura looks distracted, "like the formica table top."

This is more indication that MIKE/Phillip is referring to Laura's corpse/corn than Teresa. When Will Hayward "opened" the plastic there was a look of stillness/peace on Laura's face. Stillness is not a word we associate with the expression on Teresa's face.

That dog popping up has always confused us. Now, however, under the view of this theory, we can connect it to Billy and how this represents a warning of threat, which MIKE now presents. He is trying to undo his actions of preventing Laura from taking the ring.


- MIKE/Phillip turns his attention back to BOB/Leland, saying, "The thread will be torn Mr. Palmer," another shot of the black dog barking* as BOB/Leland looks upset, screaming for the logging truck to move. "The thread will be torn," MIKE/Phillip continues.

This could refer to the story thread of BOB possessing father and moving on to the daughter. Or it might refer to the cord that BOB said he would pull to force Leland into remembering all he did while possessing him.

The dog still represents Billy's perception of a threat to where he intends his dream to veer off to.


- More horn honking and Laura looks like she has a headache. "It's him! It's your father," MIKE/Phillip screams, while showing the Owl Cave ring on his pinky to her. BOB/Leland shouts over the words, Laura screams to "Stop it." The logging truck moves ahead, MIKE/Phillip drives off and BOB/Leland pulls into the nearest parking lot, which is Mo's Motor.

Pretty clear cut. MIKE/Phillip is trying to show Laura who BOB is hiding in, possibly forcing BOB's hand in killing her. Maybe she would have realized this if she had the ring by now. BOB doesn't want her to realize this because she hasn't let him in yet. Laura doesn't want to hear it, just like Dale is equally unreceptive to her whisper in The Return.

Interesting side theory here about MIKE's motivations in all this. Maybe it betrays how Billy always thought his uncle thought he was bad, just as Ben Horne similarly describes Richard. The uncle was secretly hoping that Billy would live up to his poor expectations of him.


- As soon as Leland pulls into Mo's Motor, a mechanic warns, "Mister, mister, don't do that to your engine. You ought to take it easy, mister. You're going to burn your engine out."

Obviously allegorical to how BOB is wearing out his host, by forcing him to do things he doesn't want to, and creating holes in his consciousness. The large TREAT HIM RIGHT sign can further imply this, BOB equally abusing his host as much as his victims, which harkens back to the Log Lady's words "pain for the victim, pain for the inflicter of pain".


- Leland starts imploring to the mechanics, "Why doesn't somebody do something about this? A man comes out of the blue like that, starts screaming at you like a crazy person and harassing my daughter." He then turns to Laura asking if she's all right. Frightened, she asks if he is, and he turns to face the wheel, obviously far from it.

Leland's words are obviously how his subconscious self is feeling. Nobody is helping his daughter when BOB, another man from out of the blue (Billy), controls him to harm her.


- We now go to one of these moments when BOB took control of Leland. Having found Teresa's photo in Fleshworld, he went to her because, as he said, "Teresa Banks. You look just like my Laura."

Often this is perceived as proof that Leland was attracted to Laura, BOB/Leland's involvement with the prostitute taken solely as Leland's doing. We believe that Leland did go to prostitutes, his involvement with Ben Horne would make this more than likely, as well as his strained relationship with Sarah. However we still contend that the interest in Teresa was still BOB and BOB's alone. While around Teresa, Leland is still more acting like the BOB controlled version. Plus, people forget that BOB fed on fear and PLEASURES. David Lynch was in the room when this dialogue from MIKE occurred. So deriving pleasure from any possible source would fit in with BOB's appetite and he would be drawn to those whom looked like Laura, seeing how obsessed with her he was.

And here is the other thing...if BOB/Leland's dalliance with Teresa is used for proof of Leland's deviant interest in Laura, why then is Ben's interest in Laura, a girl very much like his own daughter, not met with the same speculation? To be honest, Teresa Banks looks far more like Sherilyn Fenn than Sheryl Lee, the features more old Hollywood and almost cat like. Lynch was also insistent that Pamela Gidley, a long time friend and past costar of Fenn's, play Teresa, accommodating her juggling this role with another although it added to the budget. We suspect it was because he saw Teresa as being the substitute Billy would create for his mother, just as American Girl's was Laura. Both Sheryl Lee and Pheobe Augustine were up for the role of Laura. Similarly, we believe the past co-stars of Nae Yuuki and Laura Dern were playing Betty and her substitution.

We speculate that this all still masks how Ben was abusing Audrey, Billy simply transplanting it onto another family, and just as Windom Earle inverted the owl cave symbol to reveal the map, we'll find the true meaning behind Teresa and Laura's connection to their murderer if we do the same: Teresa wasn't murdered due in part to her resemblance to Laura...Laura was killed due to her resemblance to Teresa! Or rather, American Girl was killed because of her resemblance to Billy's mom.


- At the Red Diamond City Motel, BOB/Leland has sex with Teresa, with BOB/Leland making arrangements to meet up with Teresa's friends.

Hmm...there's that diamond again, most commonly associated with the Queen of Diamonds herself: Audrey Horne. Interesting difference from script to screen was how the motel name was changed from Blue Diamond to Red. Once again, it is possible that Red is symbolic for something inside of the dream, while Blue is symbolic for something that leads out of it. Lynch might have changed the name for this very reason.

- Suddenly BOB/Leland places a hand over Teresa's eyes. "What are you doing?" she asks. "Who am I?" he counters. "I don't know," Teresa answers. "That's right," BOB/Leland replies, pleased, until he hears Laura saying "Dad," and turns his head as if hearing her, in the past from the future.

A few things to discuss with this. Most fans argue that Leland was in control of the abuse because, in the train car, he will say, "Your diary...I always thought you knew it was me." This kind of contradicts that, though. Obviously, some prostitute from another city would be unfamiliar with him. So it must be related to BOB somehow...but if this was just Leland, why would he be happy pretending Teresa is Laura and gloating how she doesn't know it's him abusing her, if he always thought Laura knew it was him? Which also negates them having worked on the creation of BOB in some joint effort. So it would make more sense if BOB was real, and this is him gloating that Laura can tell who he is but Teresa can't...only...that doesn't make sense either since in the train car, BOB similarly states he never knew Laura knew it was him, as the diary showed, so that's why he wants her.

Umm...so what exactly is going on here?

We suspect that actually it still doesn't have anything to do with Laura or Leland. Not really. It has more to do with Billy and his mother.

This scene actually directly ties in to Dale and Diane having sex at the Pearblossom. For it is while Diane is on top of him, that she also starts feeling his face, trying to cover it, to hide his eyes. And it is in this scene that we believe Dale/Billy is picturing/remembering/reliving his abuse by his mother, when she would cover his face so HE would not see her as she hurt him. A similar scene plays out in The Grandmother, wherein the mother begins to molest her son, but covers her own face, while doing so. That scene with Dale and Diane occurs in a cheap motel, like the Red Diamond, with Dale on the bottom. It will also be in a cheap motel where Mr. C, kills Darya, after showing her the symbol on the Ace of Spades card...he will murder her in the dominant position, on top, just like BOB/Leland is seen in this scene with Teresa. And so, we argue, no matter how crazy it might sound, that this actually has to do more with Billy and his mother...his living out some fantasy with his mother, in the guise of BOB, where he forces her to be the one on the bottom not knowing whom he is...similar in a way to how Audrey is left confused and in the dark about Billy/Richard/Dale/Charlie in The Return.

That Leland turns his head automatically, as he hears Laura, further hints that this is still all unfolding after the OG series ending, Billy creating it inside of his head. That explains how the past can so easily intrude into the future here, because, while it might be nonlinear in the dream, its creation within Billy's mind is linear.


- Leland comes out of a blank expression to Laura's frantic state. She wants to know who that was, he looked familiar and she's confused if she had met him.

Did Laura in some way recognize him as the Arm?

Leland says she hadn't meet him and then asks if she's met him, which is somewhat comical and hopeful, because he seems aware then that he doesn't know whom Laura has met and it might help explain the mess if she did.

Laura says she hasn't met him and Leland just wants to go meet Sarah. Laura persuades him to stay, however, and he does, seemingly overwhelmed and frightened himself. "I mean, a man comes out of the blue like that," he states again. "What's the world coming to?"

Once again, that's his life, basically: BOB (Billy) coming out of the blue and having him do things he didn't want to and couldn't remember.


- We cut to another instance of when BOB took control of him, going to the Red Diamond to meet up with Teresa and her girlfriends.

This illustrates again how BOB feeds on pleasure, not interested even in just Teresa, one girl, but needing more, three.


- However, BOB/Leland sees Ronette and Laura in the room and freaks out.

Lynch cuts to a shot of Leland parked at Mo's Motor, looking as if he's starting to remember this incident, which BOB obviously hid from his consciousness.


- BOB/Leland backs into Teresa, whom is holding an ice tray.

Audrey was seen holding a ice bucket full of ice in her father's brothel in "Coma". Teresa uses the Red Diamond like a brothel, and we wonder if her father runs it.


- Leland pulls her over to the side and hands her money, claiming he chickened out. Then he walks away.

Interesting how a bicycle is seen in the area BOB/Leland takes Teresa to...it recalls the speech Ben Horne gave about the second hand cycle his father gave him. This isn't green, but Teresa's ring is.

The money passing hands also goes with what we said about Billy negatively associating his mother with money. We theorize that Ben gave Audrey material comforts to allow him to keep abusing her. Ben's father giving him the bike might have been in the same vein.


- Teresa watches BOB/Leland walking away as she walks towards the room with Ronette and Laura, her wheels obviously turning.

Interesting how both BOB/Leland and Teresa are shown looking back over their shoulders.


- BOB/Leland keeps walking away (although he came from the other direction) and suddenly the grandson emerges in the hedges, close to another door of the motel. He begins to hop around in a circle. BOB/Leland looks back again and shows no interest/attention in the boy, as he leaves entirely. The boy continues to jump for a few seconds until he fades away.

So the grandson, whom we argue is Billy, is still wearing the mask he seemed to put on during the meeting. He's also jumping now, like a rabbit or a frog, conjuring up the frogmoth. He's in close proximity to Teresa, and that trailer off to the side will also have something peculiar about it. Meanwhile the Red Diamond looks over everything, still conjuring thoughts of Audrey, the Queen of Diamonds, ever since she wore that card as her father propositioned her, and she discovered he was the owner of One-Eyed Jack's...kind of like how BOB/Leland just saw Laura in the prostitute room, and Teresa suspects her John is a friend's father. And Audrey wore a white mask of a cat, so her own father wouldn't realize it was her...and now the grandson wears his white mask and hops around, as the song "Black DOG Runs at Night" plays...and this all is happening at a motel, where Teresa seems to live, just like the Great Northern Hotel is home to the Hornes.

And these flashbacks are all shown as BOB/Leland sits near the intersection where Richard Horne will hit and kill the small boy, whom had been playing with his mother...and the #6 utility pole will appear during that scene, just as it led Chet to the grandson's trailer at the park where Teresa lived. And Laura and Leland end up seeming inconsequential to it all, merely masking something that seems more easily connected to the Horne family.


- Once again, it seems as if the flashbacks are intersecting with the present scenes. For as the boy fades from the past, BOB seems to take over Leland in the present, making him forget what he seemed on the edge of remembering. The change is obvious, and as if to emphasize it, BOB/Leland touches his neck, as if he's just adorned his own mask or piece of clothing, the wearing a face element coming into effect again.


- Laura asks if he's okay, and seems to notice the change too. She's unnerved and then confrontational, asking her "father" if he came home during the day last week. BOB/Leland replies no and then shouts and swears for the mechanics, whom were no longer paying the father and daughter any attention, to leave them alone.

This can't be the same person we saw previously. Leland was begging for the help of the men in protecting his daughter and answering what had just happened. This guy is now demanding for the mechanics ignore what's going on. That's too abrupt and too big a change, with nothing happening on the outside, only in memories and thoughts. A man just came out of the blue again to harass Leland's daughter


- Laura confronts him, and he finally "remembers" he was there to get something for a headache. He questions where she was, and she diplomatically replies down the street. They pull out then to meet Sarah.

Still a huge difference in the way Wise acts Leland from BOB possessing Leland. This one's all smooth, underlying threat.


- Laura sits in her bedroom remembering the different times she saw the ring: MIKE, the Arm and Teresa. For the last two, it looks like it is, at some point, directly over the right eye. This, by the way, is the eye that Jacoby wears the red lens of his glasses over. Does the ring help the wearer to see the truth (blue) better.


- Laura realizes it's the same ring and the flashing light of BOB begins, as if to dissuade her thoughts. Laura demands, "Who are you? Who are you really?"

The light, this time, seems to come from the ceiling of her bedroom, an almost godlike view and Lynch avoids actually having BOB speak...so is this BOB...or could we go out on a limb, since this involves the ring and possibly seeing what truly lies behind the dream, and surmise that Laura is actually talking to Billy...the dreamer? For that's who is even behind BOB/Leland. Is Laura smarter than suspected because she, a creation of the dreamer, is seeing her creator himself?


- Cut to BOB/Leland pacing the Palmer living room. He is remembering Teresa's death.

Now this is the ONLY time that a fire is seen hosted at the Palmers...that is extremely odd if BOB was really living there...and this fire only appears as he is remembering murdering Teresa. Remember we speculate that Billy actually killed his mother in a fire and Teresa, a substitute for him mom, helps in allowing him to deny this. We can then possibly link this fire and Teresa, and the fires seen for Audrey, Sylvia, American Girl and Naido/Betty.


- We revisit the TV shown at the beginning, the blue static, a whooping sound heard, then bounce back to BOB/Leland stopping his pacing as it fully goes to the Flashback of Teresa's murder.


- We see the TV set again and hear the whooping noise, seeing it suddenly stopped as BOB/Leland smashes the set.

The electricity represents the underlying thread that this is a dream, Billy's dream, partially influenced by his addiction to entertainment. Yet, here, within the dream, it is being linked to the whooping sound, that accompanied MIKE, the Arm and also the waiter/Giant from the OG series. We theorize that the curious woman whom was at Teresa's trailer was trying to transport through the electricity of the TV set, as Phillip Jeffries did to enter the FBI Headquarters, to save Teresa but was prevented when the TV was smashed. It would explain the damage she had incurred. It would also translate, outside of the dream, to Margaret's role in trying to help Laura and the woman in the car's attempt to get the sick niece to her uncle. This really just indicates that someone, whom all three women represent, tried to help Billy's mother and yet similarly failed. Perhaps her failure ended the real dream of a better life, Billy held.


- Teresa is seen tied and in her waitress uniform inside of a trailer we never saw.

That explains the missing TV set at Teresa's trailer in the Fat Trout.

- BOB/Leland violently strikes her with the pipe, killing her.

Okay. A lot of things that are important here. Teresa has been tied. She's in another trailer...this is the trailer of the grandmother and grandson. That is why Chet was led there...only according to shooting information it wasn't the trailer at the Fat Trout trailer Park where the murder scene was filmed...it seems more likely it was in that trailer we saw as the grandson hopped around at the Red Diamond motel. Other information shows that Teresa was supposed to be killed in her room at the Red Diamond motel before Lynch decided to move it to the Tremond's trailer...and wherever it was, the Red Diamond or Fat Trout, it is listed as being the Tremonds trailer.

So that makes it seem likely they were the ones whom tied her up...which also seems likely then that they were the "THEY" in the "They had me kill that girl Teresa," Leland was referencing as he was dying. Which seems to indicate that he was telling the truth and FWWM wasn't intended by Lynch to discredit Leland Palmer but to confirm what he said. It also seems to suggest she wasn't just murdered because she was blackmailing him. Afterall, the Tremonds help in Laura's death for whatever motivation they have. But what is exactly going on? Why does there seem to be two events going on at once? One where Teresa was staying at the Red Diamond and murdered there and the other where it was at the Fat Trout where she was staying? What if Billy is further distancing Teresa's death from his mother's and he "reimagines" it occurring nowhere near the Red Diamond/Dutchman's but at a trailer park instead...and this was the reason for the two light switches seen beside the curious woman whom visited Teresa's trailer at the Fat Trout?


- The next day, Laura gets out her not secret diary and snorts some coke from her safety deposit key.

This was supposed to happen on Johnny Horne's birthday, which was also to include the only mention of Audrey (We're not gonna talk about Judy, we're going to leave her out of it) and appearance of the Hornes until Richard Beymer didn't want to do it. But we'll focus on the fact now that this is Laura with a key to the bank, when Thomas Eckhardt's key to the bank helped lead to Audrey becoming pregnant with her son. We think Johnny, whom is Audrey's brother, stuck in a childhood state, might be another representation of Billy, whom was also his mother's brother.


- Laura walks through the school, where she approaches Bobby for more drugs. He gives her some to help tide her over, but says they will make a big score that night.

Nothing much to point out here but the fact that Laura is carrying a copy of William Saroyan's "The Human Comedy." That's another example of another book that seems unlikely for a 1980s teenager to read in high school, but another story written by a "Billy" to go along with "The Rose and the Ring". This one is about a 14 year old boy growing up during WWII, hardly connected to a 17 year old girl. We suspect, however, Billy first saw American Girl at school, when he was 14...and both stories written by Williams, Laura has in direct relation to school. In 1992, the same year that FWWM was released, David Lynch released a piece of art entitled, "Billy finds a book." Several times, Lynch featured this Billy in his art. We believe this Billy finding his book was another piece in the Twin Peaks puzzle. Twin Peaks might have been the book he found.


- Bobby and Laura get high as they wait for Jacques' connection, who turns out to be Deputy Cliff from Deer Meadow. When Cliff draws a gun, however, Bobby shoots him. A distraught, yet still high, Bobby first tries to bury Cliff then gets out of there with the laughing and very high Laura in tow.

Here's another instance when the JL scribed diary gets contradicted. Bobby's murder of Cliff is nowhere near her account of Bobby killing a guy.

The odd thing about this scene is Laura's insistence, out of nowhere, that Bobby shot and killed Mike. Why did she confuse Cliff and Mike? And why does Bobby even begin to think it is Mike? More misplaced identities? Foreshadowing that when Laura wears the Owl Cave ring she will pledge herself to MIKE and so BOB killing her is partly him killing MIKE? What does it mean?


- James comes to the Palmer house and speaks to Laura while on his motorcycle in front of it. He can tell that she's back on drugs, while Laura seems nervous, BOB/Leland appearing and watching from the front doorstep.

Okay, so this is the thing...why, if BOB/Leland is this possessive and watching over Laura and her interactions, WHY was she allowed to partake in so many social activities to begin with, ones that didn't involve him or her staying close to home? Meals on Wheels, tutoring Johnny Horne, tutoring Josie Packard...the whole town knew and loved Laura but that makes no sense with what we see here or how abusers usually operate. They isolate their victims and keep them close to home...just like Audrey Horne was kept sheltered at the Great Northern. SHE was the one with no boyfriends we knew of, and Ben seemed threatening towards any men that were interested in her. Why, we saw Laura freely able to walk to school with Donna, but Audrey was chauffeured their in her father's limo. The abuse narrative fits the Hornes, on the Palmers it still feels out of place.


- Laura snorts more cocaine as BOB/Leland brings Sarah drugged milk, which she hesitates in finishing until he urges her to. BOB/Leland then goes and turns on the ceiling fan, as Laura looks like she knows what's coming.

Sarah definitely suspects something but takes the drugged milk.

The ceiling fan...what does it exactly mean? Well, here it could help clear some of the smell of scorched engine oil. The Return will offer a different option, however, since, from the ground, looking up into Laura's bedroom, one can see the fan when her door is open. Billy being her "fan" might have waited to crawl into her bedroom when he couldn't see the fan.

We could say that fans sound like wings, but owls fly silently.


- Sarah sees the white horse in her bedroom then becomes unconscious.

The horse usually foretells death, Sarah seeing it before Maddie's death. We theorize that Dale seeing it in a vision in the Red Room foretells the death of Billy's dream of Twin Peaks, perhaps of Billy too. This most likely links to Laura's death, since we also hear Sarah calling for Laura. But there are some other strange occurrences with horses, Laura's words that she used to love them in the Palmer family interview, the one outside of Judy's, or Carrie Page's statue of one, or her horseshoe necklace. There still may be the option that Billy took a trophy of a horse from American Girl, and that ties in to Sarah constantly seeing both a horse, BOB in Laura's bedroom and the necklace being stolen.

Another thing that stood out in this sequence was how bright that owl lamp is. Owls, we reckon, stand for the Hornes, and it's what this theory takes its name from. Lights offer illumination. The Palmers dining room has a lamp similar to Ben's banker's lamp. But getting back to that owl lamp...in The Return, Dr Amp has a flashlight he calls a cosmic one, and which he says this about: "We're sinking down deep in the mud, and the f***s are at it again! The same, vast, global corporate conspiracy! Different day. You can't see it without a cosmic flashlight. Guess what? I got one. Oh, yeah. And its beam, it penetrates the igneous rock of ignorance." Guess what that flashlight is shaped like? An owl. And Amp also sells a golden shovel...we saw Ben and his father groundbreaking the Great Northern with their own super shiny shovel. So the truth, Dr. Amp suggests, seems linked to items we believe deal with the Hornes. Even the rock mentioned, can coincide with Richard Horne meeting his demise on a giant rock, he ignorantly followed his father's advice and went up on.


- Laura waits in bed, the lightning/electricity of BOB starts, Laura gets hot and bothered, BOB crawls in through the window and begins to have sex with her. Laura asks him who he is throughout it, until she finally sees Leland and screams in horror.

We have the light flashing and BOB entering through the window, both things we saw actually connected to Coop. When Leland went to identify Laura's body, the light wasn't flickering. When Cooper examined her, it was. That bit about the light not flickering when Leland identified his daughter's body is odd when comparing it to this scene where Laura is trying to identify who BOB is and it's Leland...more indication this is happening AFTER Billy framed American Girl's dad for her murder? Cooper will also be seen entering the mansion room through its window.

How much of this is consensual or not is actually up for debate. Laura does seem genuinely drawn to it...which could be how Billy felt with his mother. She only becomes outright horrified when she sees it's her father, something Billy similarly faces over his feelings for his mother, not willing to acknowledge them. If Laura was falling for BOB, though, that goes out the window he crawled in through when she sees Leland.

The question of who is BOB once again seems directly related to Mr. C's question of who is Judy.


- The Palmers have breakfast the next morning and Laura seems traumatized, while Leland seems concerned for her but oblivious to the previous night's events. We kind of think if he was aware of it, he'd be more worried/defensive. When Laura flees to her bedroom, Leland follows, urging Sarah to stay at the table where she smokes. In Laura's bedroom, Leland asks her if anything is wrong and she just gets her books for school, before telling him to stay away from her. Leland looks confused by this until she's gone and BOB takes over him, looking upset and like he knows he has to act fast.

Once again, if Leland remembered BOB possessing him, we find it hard to believe he'd be so bold or stupid to walk into the same room his daughter screamed into his face after seeing him.

Laura also doesn't seem to particularly believe in BOB anymore, she just thinks it's Leland.


- While sadly walking to school, Laura looks to the overhead wires, and flashes of the tv static/electricity can be seen. Billy the dreamer's presence. We can think of Richard being electrocuted, or Cooper crossing past the wires in Part 18.


- At school, Laura is devastated but time moves on/and strangely and nobody notices her pain, leading up to a shot of her empty desk, which will remain empty in the Pilot.

Come on...This is pushing it a bit. James, Donna or the teacher would have noticed Laura's pain and done something. You can't get us to believe those characters would have just ignored it. Possibly the unpopular Billy is projecting this, having felt nobody noticed a pain he desperately kept to himself.

Ahem...Audrey isn't at school. But we're still leaving "Judy" out of it so that makes sense.

- Laura goes to Bobby's and wants more drugs, while he seems more focused on sex. He demands to know where she's going, and she says, "I'm going home, Bobby," in complete sadness over what that means now. Bobby realizes she doesn't love him, but is only after the drugs. He still gives it to her, obviously loving and caring for her greatly.

And herein falls one of the greatest themes in Twin Peaks that goes both realized and unrealized: how a home can become a tree of sores.

But...there are still some problems with applying this theme to Laura.

Not only was she not kept isolated in that tree of sores, as questioned earlier, neither did she try to run away from it. There is no way that she could have blocked out all of the anger and resentment she would have harbored for her parents. Even if we suppose she blocked BOB's identity, which we don't, there would have been the negative emotions felt for her parents seething beneath the surface, like how they didn't know some strange man was abusing her in her bedroom at night. With those feelings, she would have run away. That's another thing, the depiction throughout this film, and the series, that Laura could juggle all of this stuff is incredible...not to mention impossible. She went to the Roadhouse, a well frequented place by EVERYONE in Twin Peaks and no one caught her prostituting herself. What's the likelihood in that? That's the thing...most abuse workers run away from home and then become fully involved in the sex business, sex no longer meaning anything to them...but they do it as a way so they do not to have to go home. Laura's story is all off...she's selling herself while she's still at home, and there is no indication that she's ever tried to run away, even though she's 17 years old.

Now Audrey on the other hand...It is canonically shown that Audrey Horne has complicated feelings for her parents and a LOT of anger directed towards her father. It is also stated in canon that she has frequently run away from home, even though she supposedly is a spoiled little rich girl whom had everything she could ever want. Why would she run away? But it was stated she had, by Ben to Cooper infact: "Well, like I told you, Audrey's gone missing before on a semi-regular basis." That bit of dialogue is in the show, what he's referencing was a cut scene though, one where Ben implored Harry to keep Audrey's disappearance quiet, saying "Audrey has a penchant for the dramatic. The unexplained disappearance, is, after all, a part of her repetoire." Why was Audrey running away and why did Ben want it kept quiet? Even when talking to Donna in the high school bathroom, she centered on the hope that Cooper would take her away and when Donna made a joke about her joining the circus she focused less on the cruelty of the implication and more on the escape it would offer.

And then we have Special Agent Dale Cooper himself. A man we've never supposedly seen the actual house of and yet whom sees preoccupied in returning Laura Palmer to her own, be it the Fireman's or the house in Twin Peaks. And yet his doppleganger confesses, "I've never really left home, Gordon." That same shadow self, plus his tulpa, both vomit up violently a combination of creamed corn and oil, so toxic it puts a SOUTH DAKOTA state trooper named BILLY in the hospital, on the threat of going home (the Red Room). And then, when Dale Cooper emerges from the Red Room, we discover that he always had his room key to the Great Northern hidden inside of his dark suit's pocket.

No. Neither he nor Mr. C ever left home, we suspect, because both of them are actually Billy, and no matter how hard he tried, he never escaped the place where he lived with his mother (Audrey) and his grandfather/father (Ben). It didn't matter what he called it, The Great Northern, The Red Diamond, the Dutchman's...he was always there, always abused, always tormented, always suffering. And so he learned to project that on to others, like he does with Laura, or make his victims feel his pain, like American Girl instead.

That, unlike Laura whom never seemed to try to physically leave, was how he tried to escape it. Maybe by even trying to physically destroy the place, a fact he can't even accept so he finds ways to exonerate himself inside of his fantasy world, or pretend it still exists.

But Laura...none of these belong to her. Because this isn't really her story. This was the one that Cooper/Billy tried to push on her. Just like when he tried to take away her control by telling her not to take the ring, and which she regains when she doesn't listen to him. Even years later, when he tries for a second time to steal her autonomy, it will still be Laura whom reminds Richard/Cooper/Billy that he needs to face his own demons instead of pushing them off onto others: "Did you find him?...You didn't find him...You got the wrong house, mister."


- Laura says goodnight to Sarah, more or less as Sarah described it in the Pilot.


- In her bedroom, still high, Laura tries to put on the finishing touches for her arranged meeting at Jacques' cabin. She receives a call from James, whom wants to meet up with her, and she tells him in 15 minutes, which she regrets after hanging up.

Laura is having trouble putting on her stockings throughout this scene. They aren't shoes, but related to them and feet, and so we can probably be ridiculous and suggest that the stockings don't fit...just like this whole narrative for her. If the stockings don't fit, don't wear 'em.


- When she gets off the bed, Laura goes and looks to the angel portrait. In shock and sadness, she watches as it disappears.

Okay, so obviously Laura is feeling doomed about now. She also seems to believe that it is just Leland abusing her at this stage and that BOB isn't real. So with this in mind, she probably assumes she's already "corrupted" and that's the worst of it. Narrative wise, for Billy's dream, this means she's vulnerable for possession by BOB because she no longer believes in him. And BOB is real within the construct of Billy's dream. Outside of it, he is an imago and the way Billy sought to frame an innocent man for his own crime, but within it, right now, he is what Laura told Harold he was. So she's in danger, the reason why the angel disappears...

But is that the only reason it does?

The last time she focused on it, the first we saw of the painting infact, it was when she asked if it was true that her father was the one hurting her. We think that the painting being shown here again is indicating that Laura is not right when she believes her father is guilty. It's essentially a version of the hot and cold game. Laura asked if it was true, now, when she believes it is, the angel vanishes. She's wrong, in other words and the angel is trying to let her know.


- Laura sneaks out of the house, hoping on to the back of James' motorcycle, but BOB/Leland is watching.

This is where it's illustrated again that heightened, exagerated level of menace that loses a certain realistic quality. It's over the top and more like a melodrama, and yet, if the last part of Mulholland Drive, before the ending, is any indication, David Lynch understood what was realistic and was not. BOB/Leland doesn't seem real. It seems more imposed. That's still because we argue this is Billy's "story" his construct and his brain isn't entirely a rational, unbroken thing. He's making it like a grotesque fairy tale.



- James and Laura stop the motorcycle at some point and start to talk, where Laura is just as erratic as Hurley stated in the Pilot. When James asks, "What the hell is wrong with you?" she replies, "That's right. There's no place left to go, is there, James?" She obviously feels already damned without threat of being possessed by BOB, more indication she possibly believes she's only making him up. She alternately mocks James and loves him. At one point she says "He might try to kill you,' probably meaning BOB/Leland and then she looks into the woods and she screams.

Big point here: we found out from The Return that, at least in one reality, Laura was screaming at Dale Cooper...and since we've always said he masks Billy, the inventor of BOB, well, that makes sense.


- Laura tells James, "You don't even know me. There are things about me...Even Donna doesn't know me. Your Laura disappeared. It's just me now."

Laura feels divided. That, once again, is practically what we said Billy did after murdering American Girl, and why Cooper is too pure and perfect. Her disappearing also reflects the angel having disappeared in the painting possibly. This talk where she suggests she is someone other than Laura can also help make sense of why Phillip Jeffries tells Coop, in Part 17, he'll take him to Judy and instead brings him here, to this moment. Laura's not seeing herself as herself now, and could represent the mixup Billy has in his mind concerning his victims and his mother. Laura will soon also run into the woods of Twin Peaks, which we theorize Billy sees as his mother. Cooper approaching Laura THERE and trying to take her to "safety", then takes on new chilling meaning when we contemplate the theory that Billy partially sees himself as saving his victims.

Also, in the series, Audrey told Jack, "I don't think anybody really knows me," which mirror Laura's words here.


- Laura wants James to take her home but she hops off at the intersection at Sparkwood and 21 (21 being related to 3, keeping with the 3s connected to the grandson), seemingly heartbroken. She screams out that she loves him before running into the woods.

Laura screaming out her love for James feels like an act of defiance. Billy also probably took American Girl's involvement with another man as an act of disobedience.

As mentioned before, the woods are most likely Ghostwood, a representation of Audrey and her abuse at Ben's hands.


- Laura meets up with Jacques, Leo and Ronette and they go to the cabin, where a fire burns brightly as they engage in drugs and sex.

Fire, of course, is synonymous with BOB and abuse in the series. We also link it to destruction by Billy's hands.


- Ronette and Laura put on lipstick, Laura passing the same lipstick and mirror for Ronette to use.

More hints that these two girls are the same person in actuality. Any connection to Teresa's and what was used to write on Chet's car's windshield?


- Laura is tied up against her will, BOB/Leland peers in through the window and then disposes of Jacques, which freaks Leo out and he runs off. BOB/Leland comes in terrifying Laura, as they scream in each other's faces, BOB/Leland in joyful fury, Laura in fear.


-Waldo's cage is seen in the background as BOB/Leland and Laura scream. This is possibly an illustration to how BOB intends to "cage" her as his new host, just as he has done with Leland, some part of the host aware of the possession but trapped within their own body.


- MIKE/Phillip rushes through the woods but arrives at the cabin too late. BOB/Leland is bustling Laura and Ronette to the train car.

As BOB/Leland and the girls head through the woods, Laura is on BOB/Leland's right and Ronette to his left. If we're going by Jacoby's glasses, that would make Laura the red, potentially false, and Ronette the blue, and most likely real.

BOB/Leland looks like a full out devil/maniac, more exaggeration that makes this come off as fantasy.

Laura heartbreakingly calls out "daddy".


- The moon is full in the sky. The moon seemed to accompany Judy and the symbol Mr. C sought.


- At the train car, BOB/Leland circles the girls, whom are back to back, as we flip between seeing both Ray Wise and Frank Silva. BOB/Leland reties Laura's arms, making sure they are tight, and Laura asks if he's going to kill her.

Laura and Ronette being placed back to back is another indication they are the same person, Ronette hidden behind Laura's back. Obviously, the worst thing Laura is expecting here is death. She doesn't seem to remember the fact that BOB wanted to be her, most likely because she no longer believes in him.


- As Ronette prays to God, BOB/Leland puts a mirror in front of Laura. The reflection passes from Leland to Laura and when Laura looks at herself she becomes BOB.

Great how when Ronette is praying "Father...if I die now," which includes a father, like Leland, and when she reaches the "will you please see me?" Laura sees herself become BOB. She's back to seeing BOB as being real. Great too how the mirror/reflection is passed on from Leland to Laura and how that echoes, in part, the earlier scene in the cabin where Laura passed the mirror to Ronette.


- Laura screams in horror, the possibilty of her becoming BOB frightening her more than dying did. A flash of the tv electrical static then the Arm laughing appears.

Clearly, Laura hadn't been expecting this because she believed BOB wasn't real. The flash of tv static electricity once again seems connected to Billy and his role as the dreamer. The Arm laughing could be because Laura's reaction shows that she would rather die than be BOB. This is likely what the Arm desires, be it because he'd rather Laura not be BOB or because he wants the garmonbozia her death brings.


- The electricity lightning starts full force.


- We hear page ripping sounds and see the pages of the diary. BOB/Leland says, "Your diary," but we believe it is only Leland here whom says after, "I always thought you knew it was me."

This is the single line most believers of Leland's culpability cling to. And yet it makes perfect logical sense with the series' portrayal of Leland's "possession". While it was something he was mainly unconscious of, there was always the indication that he was aware of it on a subconscious level, but was helpless to do anything about it. Leland's death scene, where he discussed his relation to the Lodge spirits and how they wanted Laura made it seem that he was conversing with them, just as BOB's cruel joke, when he smashed Maddie's head into the Missoula, Montana picture, did: "Leland says you're going back to Missoula, Montana!" It was akin to a person caged conversing with their jailers: you can talk with them but you still have no control. We just suspect he always thought she knew it was his BODY, as in he was BOB's host. And he couldn't say that it wasn't. That would truly make no sense inside of the dream. It was him. BOB had used him as his vehicle.

It's very likely that Leland had always hoped his daughter thought it was him too, so that way BOB wouldn't want her. He understood what it was like to be a puppet for BOB, and wished for her to not have to face that.

Also, it wouldn't be much of a threat, Laura becoming BOB, if you didn't see the pain and horror he caused his host too.


- Laura now sees BOB on the other side, whispering to her, "I never knew you knew it was me. I want you."

Just as the diary showed Leland that his daughter didn't know he was host to BOB, the diary proved to BOB that Laura saw him, which massively stroked his ego and made him want her even more.

In another fashion, Billy could have thought that American Girl SAW him which made him want her too.


- Ronette says that she's dirty and not ready and Laura seems to feel and emphasize with her words, while looking like she would prefer to die now than what BOB has in store for her.


- As Ronette continues to say she isn't ready, an expression crosses Laura's face like she senses something is happening. Shortly after, Ronette sees an angel in the train car, one which frees her hands. We'll find out it did the same for Laura too.

Interesting fact here: the angels in Twin Peaks FWWM are all thanks to Pheobe Augustine. She had reservations about making a film this dark and she wanted an angel and so Lynch, somewhat crankily, said he'd give her an angel. Only then he threaded it through to Laura...but it started with Ronette...they belonged to her...which indicates again that Ronette is the true Laura, the one Billy has hidden and then saved inside of his dream...kind of like what he did with Audrey and Betty too.


- MIKE/Phillip arrives at the train car and pounds on the closed doors to be let in. And if the angel hadn't freed Ronette's hands, it's unlikely he could have opened the door. BOB/Leland notices what Ronette is up to and goes to beat her over the head. While he's pushing her out, however, MIKE/Phillip apparently uses the moment to throw in the Owl Cave ring. And while BOB/Leland's back is turned, Laura, whose hands were also obviously freed by the angel, takes advantage of the opportunity.


- Laura wears the Owl Cave ring and holds it up for BOB/Leland to see as he cries "No! Don't make me do this! No!"

Strange shot of Laura's hand holding up the ring, for you can see its shadow on the wall, but there appears to be a hole of light in it. Does this indicate Laura's shadow self? The one that is terrified of Cooper? It's important to note that MIKE/Phillp, even though he threw it in, still refrains from telling Laura what to do, letting her decide for herself instead of controlling her, like what Dale or BOB did. By wearing it she defies the dreamer essentially, thinking for herself.

What does the Owl Cave Ring do exactly? Dream narrative wise, we suspect it still suggests the wearer is pledged somehow to MIKE and not BOB, making them an inelligible host for possession. This could explain the whole "Bobby, you killed Mike" business, for now we see BOB killing MIKE, as in his potential host.

On the real world level however we believe it helps the wearer gain a knowledge and step out from the dream and its false influence. Wearing it, Laura could, on some level, know this is a dream and she refuses to play a role in it anymore. She might realize that, though she is being murdered, it wasn't BOB/Leland whom did it, but rather Dale Cooper/Billy. Kind of like how Ray went to the Dutchman's but knows it isn't real, just as he knows whom Mr. C really is after wearing it. This might be the reason for the hole in the shadow, we see here.

Interesting to note how Laura takes the ring freely and puts it on herself, while Ray was TOLD to put it on Mr. C, Mr. C tells Ray to put it on and Cooper put it on Mr. C. This further proves how it was her choice and not coercion.

BOB/Leland's cry of "Don't make me do this!" is tricky because both are being forced to do something they don't want to: BOB killing the host he really wanted, and Leland killing the daughter he really loved.


- As Laura is murdered, there are the same flashes of lightning, electricity/static, heralding both BOB and Billy we suspect. Plus we see the Arm laughing again, although he also looks somewhat upset. That's probably because this is both something he wants and yet bothers him too.


- Laura is depicted as being stabbed, but what was the bloody hammer seen at her murder site in the Pilot? Actually, that murder weapon would have gone with a quote Ben's father, the man we suspect molested him, said: "if you're gonna bring a hammer, you better bring nails." If this is Billy imagining all of this for his dream, for the first time, did he retcon that fact himself? Why was Cole reading How to Work with Tools and Wood, afterall, when Dale came to tell him about his dream, and Jeffries dropped in to say they all lived inside of one? Maybe Billy tried to obfuscate certain things while inventing this part...maybe the hammer reminded him too much about his great-grandfather/grandfather but Cole, whom was said to remember earlier versions, in Part 17, remembered the "official" hammer bit too.


- There's a specific shot of BOB/Leland tearing off the half heart necklace and holding it up. Does this further give credence to the belief that this might all revolve around Billy having become jealous after seeing American Girl with a gifted piece of jewelry and how he killed her in jealousy, or how he took something of hers as a trophy too and if her mother could only just remember it, like the scene with the locket at the dinner table or Jacoby stealing it in the Pilot, Billy would be discovered as the real killer?


- BOB/Leland holds up the plastic to wrap Laura in, as we see it through the viewpoint of her eyes, which seemed to have been open after her death. Meanwhile, a laughing MIKE/Phillip leaves the train car.



- BOB/Leland carries, with no problem, Laura's dead and wrapped in plastic body, out of the train car. He checks on Ronette, kicking her over, but just leaves her.

You can see that BOB/Leland's shirt is covered in blood, right around the site of Cooper's wound in the OG finale. It's from the wound BOB gave his host to write "Fire walk with me" in his blood at the murder site. The bloody towel, labelled a nasty piece of work, is there too.


- A shot of the sycamore trees and the gateway at Glastonbury Grove.


- BOB/Leland pushes Laura into the river.

Now how, if Leland sustained a wound that big, could he have carried a body that far without weakening or hurting himself into unconsciousness like Dale in Pittsburgh? It's either thanks to BOB or a big Fat Trout lie.


- BOB now walks his host right to Glastonbury Grove and the entrance to the Lodge, still without any sign of fatigue. There a shot of the oil pool and a shot of one of the trees, with a strange bit of blue on it. Leland's face now appears as Laura's did at Harold's place, echoing the oil pool, as he is shown screaming in what looks like fear and pain.

This could be BOB using his host's fear over what he was just forced into doing to open the Lodge, since the Black Lodge opens to fear. That's the most likely. Of course, given how a part of Billy was also probably scared after killing American Girl, and like BOB, he would rather have "possessed" her, it might be BOB/Billy's too.


- The curtains appear and BOB/Leland enter to find MIKE/Phillip and the Arm waiting for him.

Very interesting how BOB enters through a different angle than Cooper. It's interesting too how MIKE/Phillip is sitting in the chair that the Arm usually occupies. Are they still, in essence, the same individual?


- As BOB/Leland does a strange movement, like falling forward and sweeping motion, we see MIKE/Phillip and the Arm watching, eventually looking upward. The next shot shows Leland floating next to BOB.

We suspect this weird motion represented BOB stepping out of his host, like a pair of pants. As Leland rises (full of holes?), MIKE/Phillip and the Arm look at Leland in pity more than reproach as he hangs there like the puppet he was.


- MIKE/Phillip stares, in hatred, at BOB, whom glares at him in furious hatred in return, as the Arm comes and touches MIKE/Phillip's shoulder. "BOB, I want all my garmonbozia" they demand in unison, and we find out that garmonbozia is in fact pain and sorrow.

We theorize that MIKE and BOB mutually hate one another at this point because MIKE prevented BOB from being Laura, and MIKE remembers how he stole that pain and sorrow in the first place...by stealing her death with Cooper's advice for her not to take the ring.

Garmonbozia is a word which seems inspired by Ambrosia, the food of the gods. The gods were an incestuous bunch, whom lived on a cloud covered mountain called Olympus. The Hornes lived on a bluff over White Tails falls that created its own mist. In the credits, at the start of The Return, we fall into that mist, which leads to a shot of the Red Room curtains flapping violently and the room itself spinning out of control.


- BOB heals Leland's wound, looking at his host in revulsion and throwing the blood to the Red Room floor. There is a closeup of the Arm with the lightning flashes. The blood disappears off the floor and next we see the Arm eating the creamed corn.


Honestly, we take Leland's wound being healed, not only as an explanation of why he didn't need to visit the hospital, but as another instance of Leland being absolved of Laura's death. It never belonged to him, neither those words of "fire walk with me" by the killer, and so BOB isn't just healing it he is ERASING it, because it never happened. The flashing light, we still tie to BOB/Billy, but in this instance we connect it to moving forward in time also, to where we left Dale trapped in the Red Room at the end of the 2nd season. The blood disappearing further indicates this shift in time. The Arm enjoys the returned corn because...well...you know, maybe he's part a bastard. Maybe Billy believes his uncle, whom this being partially represents, just enjoys his pain and sorrow or Ben/BOB's. Afterall, Jerry loved his brother but still competed with him. Maybe this still being just Billy...well, that just means he just thrives off of it too.

- We cut to a large closeup shot of the monkey, surrounded by dark and cast in blue, without the mask now. It whispers the name Judy and it cuts to the famous scene of the plastic being unwrapped and the reveal of Laura's dead body.

The monkey, like the next shot of Laura's corpse, is shaded blue. That links the two. It also looks like the monkey is introducing us to Judy, the big "unveiling" in a way.

Several different ways to work with all of this, which is within the dream and outside of it, and both intersecting.

We've already posited that Billy sees everyone whom isn't his mother, and that includes himself, as a monkey, falling back to Ben telling Audrey, as she sat before the fire in a red dress, "Audrey. The most intelligent face I've seen all day. You make the rest of us look like primates." And so this shot of a blue monkey, going to Laura's blue corpse is telling us that she is just another primate to him too, one Billy had no use for, either because she wasn't his mother, or he wished to "save" her. So she is Judy. This goes with him seeing all of his victims as Judys and monkeys, which explains why there are several good candidates for Judy seen in The Return: Sarah, Laura, Naido, Lois. They all are Judys to our Billy, it's just there is the original, his mother(as represented by the Experiment), and inferior simulations, American Girl, Betty (Experiment model). This also explains Naido making monkey noises.

There is something else about the name Judy though...it also could be the name of Billy's real first victim "American Girl". Perhaps she shared his mother's name or the names sharing several letters confused him: aUDreY jUDY. It seems evident that, inside of his dream, Billy masked his victim behind "Laura" which was strongly informed by the old movie of the same name. But her true name very well might have been Judy, and why it haunts the narrative. Judy was also the name of Lynch's girlfriend during the Kennedy assassination and Twin Peaks began as an exploration of Marilyn Monroe and her involvement with the Kennedy brothers. If Lynch saw Cooper as similar to himself, and Billy is really Cooper, Lynch might have cleverly given the name for Billy's first "girlfriend" as that of his own in relation to the Kennedys: Judy.

Since we're looking at all sides of this theory, we'll now examine a few other options.

And these could be what is represented within the dream and its story.

We have that the monkey was seen behind the grandson's mask, and small children are sometimes referred to as monkeys.

Or maybe it has nothing to do so much with the grandson, but rather the mask itself. In The Return, when Mr. C goes above the convenience store, in Part 15, he encounters the jumping man, whom has Sarah's face imposed over his own, which resembles the mask strongly. We believe that Billy is imposing himself and his family on the Palmers (Sarah possessed by her dead daughter's spirit, which could also be seen as Judy, Billy imposing his mother on them both as we... yeah, it's all complicated and confusing) so maybe the monkey was just Leland. A monkey can be slang for a puppet too...just like BOB used Leland as, and which seemed illustrated inside of the Red Room at the end. And we also just argued that MIKE/Arm and BOB returned to the time when Dale was trapped inside of the Lodge, which would have meant a time when Leland was dead. That could help explain the blue color. The monkey saying the word "Judy" might also indicate that Leland, now removed from the dream, is aware of the real reason why his daughter died: because she reminded the killer/dreamer of this Judy. That would make sense. And it would also still fit how Billy sees everyone whom isn't his mother as monkeys, expendable and worthless, able to be used, just as he framed American Girl's dad for her murder.

Or, perhaps this representation of American Girl's father saying "Judy" is in essence him whispering the REAL name of his daughter, aware that it wasn't "Laura" at all. This adds extra depth to it and actually fits in nicely with the missing piece where the Palmers introduce themselves in Norwegian, saying their names, and then breaking into laughter, like it's a joke. What if those were NOT their names at all? What if Billy doesn't even remember his victims names, like many serial killers don't? What if that was why Laura, in the Between Two Worlds interview, said she met many people with no names: his victims (3-15) were all robbed of their real names inside of Billy's dream.

Seeing the monkey as Leland actually brings an added level to this sequence now too, for we see both Leland and Laura, our two main characters in the film, and how they are both now dead, just as we left them in the series.

Why, maybe this was even what MIKE/Phillip meant when he said that the thread would be torn. Maybe it was the thread of the mask. That would make this series of shots all involve what MIKE/Phillip was shouting about during the traffic scene: the corn (created by Laura's death), the thread (Leland being forced to wear the mask) and the look of stillness on her face when it was opened (Laura's face being revealed).

-For that's what we see now, as Dr. WILL Hayward opens the plastic and reveals Laura's still and peaceful face, dramatically different from Teresa's. Lynch uses an extended shot of this iconic image before going to the next scene.

Laura's eyes here are now closed, as opposed to when we saw her die in the train car.


- We travel through the Red Room, going to the spot, it seems, where Dale stepped through the curtains and where BOB and MIKE disappeared during the convenience store meeting. Here we find Laura siting in the chair Cooper usually does, while Cooper stands to her left, his arm on her shoulder and smiling down on her. Laura appears to be looking for some comfort in Cooper's grinning face, but finds none, turning away, looking inconsolable. Suddenly she jolts as a spotlight finds her and the light most usually associated with BOB begins to flash. However, Laura looks, not to see BOB there, but rather an angel coming through the darkness, Lynch focusing on its hands and wings. Laura looks stunned and it cuts to a shot of Cooper still looking at her and not the angel. Neither does he have any sign of the spotlight or flashing light which now seems reserved for only Laura Palmer. The hand and wing of the angel still focused on, as the Voice of Love plays, Laura begins to smile and laugh in a joy that seems synonymous with relief, tears falling down her face as the angel becomes more clear and folds its hands together in prayer. Laura now joyfully laughs outright, in joy, in relief, in humor(?). The camera goes to a shot of Laura still laughing and smiling in the chair, Cooper, now also looking in the same direction, still standing beside her. Lynch imposes the angel to the left of the screen, beside Laura and Dale. Cooper goes back to looking at Laura as she continues her moment of relieved joy, her left hand eventually going to her heart. Lynch freezes the image, accompanies it with a sound of transition and ends the film on Laura's beautiful and happy face, cast in shades of blue and white.


This has to be the moment Laura was referring to in her "Between Two Worlds" interview when she said: "And then there was a time when I cried because I was so happy, because I saw what it was. And it was so beautiful. I was awake."

What is she seeing though that makes it so beautiful? We seriously doubt it's because she'd just been brutally murdered by her own father because he was afraid people would find out he'd been abusing her for years and she'd finally put a stop to it. That seems ridiculous honestly. But what if it's the opposite? What if she's seeing now that her father hadn't been molesting her for years? What if she was finding out that, infact, he would never willingly hurt her because he loved her? Afterall, this appears to be the same angel she'd asked if it was true that her father was hurting her. The same angel that disappeared when she believed that he was. And just like in the scene where Laura turned to it, after Leland had held her hand and told her that he loved her, Lynch chooses to focus on its wings as the same song plays, more loudly and unmistakable. This is the angel showing to Laura that, no, it wasn't true: Her father never abused her. He loved her without anything resembling sexual desire. What she just experienced would likely seem like a bad joke then, or something she could laugh off in relief. Laura holds her left hand, the one BOB, in the guise of her father, tried to make her feel was dirty, to her heart. She wore the ring on the spiritual finger on the same hand. The angel is imposed to her left, and we're still wondering if that side holds truth in Twin Peaks, just like the color blue.

And the truth is, what we just saw, doesn't belong to her, and her parents, despite neglecting her sometimes to focus on their own problems, loved her.

It is something the man who forced this all on her cannot claim. The same man standing beside her now, masked behind the law man's dark suit.

Billy's parents hurt him, hurt him very badly, and it is what he cannot face and why he turns it on to innocent people like "Laura". There is a definite question of if Dale Cooper can see the angel. He doesn't turn to look when it comes, nor does he stay looking at it after he's turned in that direction. The angel isn't for him anyway. When he sat in Laura's place, in the OG finale, he received fire instead.

No, the angel doesn't belong to Dale Cooper. The story of trauma and abuse that we just saw does.

And so it is fitting that the film ends with both the dream (Laura) and the dreamer (Cooper/Billy), both being the largest motivators of Twin Peaks and the central figures within it to Billy Hastings. One is the door, the other is the one he walked through it as. Perhaps a fact strengthened by the Missing Pieces...which we will next try to fit into this very same theory.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Part Two "Twin Peaks"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


-We start the Twin Peaks segment of FWWM appropriately with a shot of the Welcome to Twin Peaks sign. It is one year after Teresa's death.


- We are shown Laura walking down the sidewalk to school.


It must be mentioned how this right here is when the sequence with Phillip Jeffries at the FBI Headquarters was supposed to go, according to the script. Why MUST it be mentioned and not ignored? Because in The Return, when Mr. C and Phillip have their chat, it seems to be hinted that this is when it occurred too, in 1989, when Lynch had originally wanted to place it, before time restraints. So maybe, he intended to replace it there...we don't know for certain. We can only guess. But if it had...well Jeffries appearance would have happened simultaneously to Laura's appearance and that included Jeffries claim that this was all a dream. Which goes along with our suggestion that this is all being dreamt by Billy FOLLOWING the events of the original finale, just like Jeffries comes from then too. So, it can't be wholly trusted once again...It's effected by the whole Twin Peaks original series.


- Laura's walking to school, and picking Donna up at her house along the way. And it's hard not to notice the wig that they have poor Sheryl Lee wearing. Just as it's hard not to remember one poor fan, whom had been waiting for her big entrance, and then was horrified by that obvious wig. Why can't somebody go back and AI that thing?


- She stops in front of the Hayward house and...hey, what's that kind of sickly looking tree to Donna's left? Is that a sycamore? We have to question it, this being WILLIAM Hayward's house afterall.


- They walk to school and encounter Bobby and Mike, where the piece of dialogue is included "Mike is the man." Man is usually used in a derogatory way for the boss, but can also be used in respect. It was used for Joseph, when he was the viceroy of Egypt. Ben Horne had a book about Joseph and his brothers on his desk, when they arrested him for Laura's murder. But this is in reference to a Mike, whom shares the name of MIKE. In FWWM, MIKE seems to be in control and calling some of the shots. Is MIKE really the MAN? And does that indicate that Billy saw his uncle as being the man too, in whatever way that was?

This film displays MIKE possessing some sort of authority over BOB. We have previously theorized that Billy's uncle was the only one whom could have stopped Billy's father/grandfather from abusing Billy's mother.


- They reach the school, where Laura meets up with James, probably arranging a meeting later. She snorts cocaine in the bathroom. There's a shot of the Twin Peaks High School sign outside.

Okay, so this is where we theorize that Billy met American Girl: at high school. It's also where Laura's photo during the original series is shown: in the trophy case there. It will also be where Billy works as a principal later in his life.

But what is also important about this is its relation to when we earlier connected Chet's introduction corresponding to traumatized children and how that dealt with Teresa/Billy's mother's death happening during his childhood. Likewise, for Laura/American Girl's death, it mainly revolves around High School. Cooper interrogates several high school students and one even falls in love with him. That is because this, American Girl's murder happened when Billy was a teenager. It's similar to how the Return centers on adults, when Billy had grown into an adult and tried to kill his assistant Betty. By that time, Billy had been exposed to more modern influences, the reason why The Return features more modern touches mixed in with the vintage. Here, in his high school life, Billy is still mostly seen through his grandmother's influence, the reason why FWWM seems so retro for the time.


- Bobby enters the school but stops to kiss the glass in front of Laura's photo in the display case. He did infact love her, despite Cooper's claim he didn't, which could help accentuate how Billy, in his jealousy, discounted anyone but his own feelings for his victim.

Now the photo ISN'T the same one as the one seen in the series at the high school. That one will be at the Palmer place. Now why would Lynch make such an obvious mistake? It could be one, but it's odd. Or is there some clue in the fact that the home and school photos were mixed up? We reason that Billy and American Girl went to school together and that was when he became obsessed with her. Is there any insinuation here, something about their school and her home?


- Laura meets with James but she's pretty disparaging of everything, quite a far cry from the girl whom gave him half of the locket. She tells him not to hold on so tight because she's already gone, like a turkey in the corn.

She's referencing a song by Lightnin' Hopkins which has several connections. First are those found in the song title itself: corn being the garmonbozia (pain and sorrow). Then we have a man named Lightnin' performing it, and how that fits in with electricity, connected with the Lodge spirits and the flashing light of BOB. The song also references a grandmother and grandfather.

There is a hand, which looks like a turkey, heading into the black corn on Hawk's map. We linked the black corn (fertility, diseased, unnatural, death), in the previous entry, to Billy's perception of himself, and his birth, or his mother. One of the corn pieces on the map seems to be falling towards the turkey hand. Hands also connect to the shaking hands in Path to the Black Lodge.


- James tells her that she's not a turkey because they are one of the dumbest birds on earth, to which she goes "gobble, gobble, gobble" indicating her general lack of self esteem. Later when Bobby approaches her on the schoolyard, Laura insults Bobby's own intelligence, showing her throwing/projecting her own fears on to someone else to make herself feel better.

This is what Billy does: he cannot deal with his feelings so he puts them on to innocent people, just as the Palmers have the burden now of what really happened to the Hornes. Likewise, Billy, whom felt he possessed no control over the abuse that occurred to him, forces others to suffer, stealing, he believes their own control.


- When Bobby hints that when she wants him (for drugs) he might not be around and she wins him over with a smile.

Billy could see him mother as having the same quality of winning him over, despite her abusive tendencies. He could also see himself that way, for he can fool those around him when needed. He could also still see American Girl as having led him on too, and manipulated him.


- Bobby walks backwards into the school, a general theme of going back in time.


- Laura and Donna lie around the Hayward living room. A fire is burning in the fireplace here *cough* a "Billy's" home. Fire was synonymous with BOB. The only fire at the Palmers is when BOB/Leland is remembering Teresa's death. Teresa, we theorize, is really a stand-in for Audrey.

There's also a rabbit statue by the fire here. We've pointed out that there is a giant rabbit statue in Richard/Cooper and Carrie/Laura's Odessa Texas. It's name is Jack BEN Rabbit. Bobby and his own dad had an imaginary place called Jack Rabbit's Palace. Lucy and Hawk wondered if it was all about the bunnies.


- To go along with the earlier talk about Mike being the man, now, out of the blue, Donna wonders if Mike could ever write a poem.

We don't know if Mike ever did, but MIKE might have, the poem about the Magician and the Fire...the same one this film is named after.


- Now Donna, just as equally inexplicably asks Laura, "Do you think that if you were falling in space that you would slow down after a while or go faster and faster?

Laura responds, "Faster and faster. And for a long time, you wouldn't feel anything. And then you'd burst into fire. Forever. And the angels wouldn't help you. Because they've all gone away."

First to point out, is how you can hear playing faintly, as Laura references the angels, strains of "The Voice of Love". This will repeat when she turns to the angel picture in her bedroom, after Leland has told her goodnight and she asks if it's true he's BOB. It's all foreshadowing the final sequence of the film.

Next we have the fact that it is Dale Cooper, at the beginning of Part 3, whom we see falling faster and faster through space until he hits the Mansion Room on the Purple Sea. This is the place where he enters through the window, just like BOB was known to do, and finds Naido in a room with a 15, and American Girl in a room (possibly the same at an earlier time) with a 3. We argue that it was never Laura whom was falling faster and faster through space and in real threat of bursting into fire...it was always Cooper. Or rather Billy. We may not see the bursting into fire bit, but when Cooper hits the mansion room box, it is in effect him bursting into flames. Because the box holds the memories of the real people he murdered, which in effect was equal to bursting into fire. Notice too, how inside of the mansion rooms the fireplace is lit. They, plus the fires at Sylvia's and Audrey Horne's places, are two of the only instances of fire inside of Twin Peaks. Which might actually hint that in Mansion Room number 1 & 2 are Billy's mother and grandmother actually and NOT his mother and father/grandfather as theorized earlier. Maybe there is no room saved for the father he hated inside of Billy's mind. Maybe he's still just BOB and he has the Convenience Store.

Overall, Billy probably should have appealed to his better angels, as Abraham Lincoln once said.

When Cooper goes to live at the Jones', Sonny Jim's bedroom features space motifs. We theorize that this is another representation of Billy's younger self. So the space aspects belong to him again more than Laura.

Donna having broached the subject, along with the one about Mike writing a poem, becomes relevant because this is the house of her father, whom just happens to be a Billy too.


- Laura returns home and retrieves her secret diary from behind her bedroom's dresser.

Okay, note how very much unlike a teenager-from-the-late-1980s-bedroom this bedroom actually is. No posters, very little trends of the time. It's like an adult's guest bedroom. That's still because Billy, whom lived at a hotel, then with his grandmother and finally with a strict uncle didn't really know what a regular teenager's bedroom looked like! He had a tendency to project him and his family onto others, leaving details like this, Laura's bedroom, difficult to reconcile with what we know about the actual time and regular people.

Lou Ming's Find Laura theory suggested that an emblem on the dresser resembled an owl. It very well could. But while he suggested that Laura saw it during her abuse, and it formed the basis for the owl motif, we argue that it is the truth about the Hornes once again leaking into Billy's dream, and that it is important that the diary is placed behind it perhaps. There's always been something off about it. If that is supposed to resemble an owl, we point out the horns it seems to possess, emphasizing that feature which ties it to Audrey's family: Great HORNEd Owls. Laura is "dressing" from the owls/Audrey's wardrobe not her own.

The secret diary is also hidden behind the dresser with that owl like emblem. Now during our analysis of the series seen through this theory's eyes, we already posited that the diary seemed "manufactured" in the second season, directly following Audrey being in a sexually frightening situation with her father, Ben. We suspect the diary existed as more or less Billy projecting/planting more of his family's trauma onto another family instead. That this diary seemed to appear as Audrey and Ben were doing their "dance" at Jack's, also when Cooper was shot and he saw the Giant, could go hand in hand with the Giant's clue "The owls are not what they seem." Which we think meant that the HORNES of the GREAT Northern (Great HORNEd owls) weren't what they seemed. The emblem and the diary being situated together could further strengthen the theory.


- Laura starts flipping through the diary. That's obviously not Jennifer Lynch's diary. That thing is too thin and the writing too large. Plus, the page we see isn't in the published diary. We could use JL's version of the diary for this theory (it flat out states that Laura was like Audrey) but we refuse to do so because it remains too problematic a material to reconcile with the series itself. It's almost like fanfic more than canon.


- Laura notes that pages have been ripped out, she immediately flees to Harold Smith's place, in a car that, once again, seems out of date.


- Harold's place obviously is now more focused on his love of books, Lynch emphasizing this above the plants.

Billy loves his stories too. Harold Smith, someone similar to him, is living in one of them, and he doesn't even realize it.


- Laura comes in and shows Harold the violated diary. He asks who would do it, but when she says BOB, he says BOB isn't real, and she retaliates that there are pages torn out and that is real.

We don't know what Laura told Harold about BOB and what he suspects. He seems to take a more realistic viewpoint, however, while Laura maintains that BOB is real.


- Laura now argues about her tormentor's existence: "Bob is real. He's been having me since I was 12."

We already went through the peculiar specifics about this. 12 is a somewhat strange age for BOB or Leland to have targeted Laura for abuse, especially if Leland had been abused by a male perpetrator. A 12 year old girl still looks like a child and not an adult woman. And if BOB or Leland was after someone who looked like a child, why not start the abuse earlier? It seems more informed by Lolita than truth. Or it might have more, we argue, to do with Billy and his creation of BOB than Laura. At the Twin Peaks Savings and Loan, an old woman sat sleeping in front of a new account cabinet listing 1985. This would have corresponded with Billy Hastings being 12. We suspect it might be symbolic that his grandmother died when he was 12. Have to also state that amongst Hastings information included on Mr. C/Dale's arrest report, his birthday being 1973, was one of the facts. 1985 was also the year of the Cooper/Caroline/Windom Pittsburgh tragedy, which BOB knew all about. We previously argued Windom as an earlier draft of the surrogate BOB/father figure inside of Billy's mind.


- Laura says, "And the diary was hidden too well. There is no other person who could've known where it was."

Umm...Billy, the dreamer and writer of the story, and Laura, would likely know. Also, Dale will soon show an uncanny ability to know just what Laura is doing. He'd know. But they are both BOB too, so Laura is right.


- Now she also reveals, "He comes in through my window at night."

Dale does that same thing when he enters the Mansion Room.


- Laura restates that BOB is real and that he's getting to know her now. He speaks to her. An obviously uncomfortable Harold asks what he says, and Laura reveals, "He says he wants to be me or he'll kill me."

So this lays the groundwork for BOB's wish to possess Laura. But we argue it was a different sort of possession for Billy's reality. Like Billy's father/grandfather seemed to *own* Billy's mother, controlling her movements and actions, seeing her as a POSSESSION, Billy wished to hold the same power over American Girl, a girl he saw being very much like his mother. This is the truth behind what Billy is reenvisioning for his dream.


- Suddenly a feeling seems to come over Laura, one of BOB, to prove her words to the doubtful Harold. She says "Fire Walk With Me" and her face changes color as she repeats the word, "Me."

We reason that the phrase "Fire walk with me" is the invitation given to BOB by a perspective host: the fire walking with them. Once again, for Billy, this was something more linked to his having given himself over to the fire. He might have believed it allowed him to better see and navigate through the pain he was dealing with.

Laura's face changed to how Windom's looked in the finale, which echoed the pool of oil at Glastonbury Grove, which was a gateway to the Lodge. However, Laura's mouth is red, like the curtains. This indicates that, in that moment, she would have been open for possession. She is also frightening Harold. BOB uses her father's own fear (the key to the Lodge) to open the entrance at Glastonbury Grove at the end of this film.


- After she is back to normal, Laura clings to Harold and says "Oh, the trees, the trees" referencing the sycamores at Glastonbury Grove we surmise.

Glastonbury Grove was in Ghostwood. We've argued that the forest represented Audrey and the threat to it, Ghostwood Development was infact her father's abuse. The trees within it could be the different parties involved.


- Laura beseeches Harold to hide the diary because he made her write it all down and BOB doesn't know about him.

Harold, a lover of stories like Billy, made Laura write down her own story, keeping with his living novel and further making it seem less like JL's account where Laura received it as a birthday present from her family.

Now, does Harold, a horticulturist, having made Laura keep the diary give further indication that it was planted inside the dreamer's narrative?

BOB not knowing about Harold gives a reason why Laura wasn't possessed even though she said the invitation for possession.


- Laura feel's Harold's forehead, as if to see if he's "on fire" and then kisses him, until she leaves crying, saying she doesn't know when she can come back. Maybe never. We don't believe she did. Which makes the diary still more seem like a convenient plot device for Billy then something that makes logical sense.


- We cut to the ceiling fan at the Palmers and a shot of Laura standing beneath it. There seems to be the flashes of static/electricity, plus the BOB light flashes, as BOB tells Laura, "I want to taste through your mouth" and Laura says "No" even while she seems in heat.

Laura associates the fan with BOB's visitations. The flashes of static/electricity could be Billy's influence/presence as the dreamer. BOB indicates he wants to be Laura Palmer, and interestingly, Carrie, in Part 18, shows a preoccupation on what her and Richard/Cooper are going to eat. We'll theorize Carrie is a Laura possessed by BOB.


- The curtains from the Red Room appear and fade into the next scene, imposed over Cooper and foreshadowing his next scene walking through them in the Red Room during Laura's dream. We think this might further imply that, when the Arm and BOB went into the Red Room during the Convenience Store meeting, they found Cooper there.


- Cooper tells Albert that lately he has been filled with the knowledge that the killer will strike and he is powerless to stop it.

No, duh. As Billy's favorite avatar, sure he'd have that feeling.


- Albert asks for more info, but all that Cooper gives him can fit half the schoolgirls in America. What is more inexplicable is how Dale knows she is preparing a large quantity of food, since Laura is at the Double R, readying to deliver food for Meals on Wheels.

Once more, Cooper knows this through his link to the dreamer. And again this centers around food, "I want to taste through your mouth." However, Laura, here, is helping to feed others, rather than herself.


- Shelly is forced to help Laura because Heidi has a bloody nose. There's the nose again. Soon Laura will see the grandson with his mask with its own prominent nose.


- While putting the meals in the trunk, Laura looks to see, standing on the street before a railroad crossing, the grandmother and grandson. Static/electricity flashes over them. The boy is wearing the mask, just as we saw him last time, and he also appears to be holding something similar to what the Jumping Man was holding. The grandmother looks almost like she is in funeral garb. The grandmother motions Laura towards her.

Interesting for FWWM, the grandson wears a tie, whereas in the series it was a bowtie...does it have anything to do with Laura's death? Why does this more resemble Cooper's dark suit? No. Actually it looks exactly like Coop's suit.

The railway crossing invokes the railroad car where Laura dies. We still contend that the real Laura, American Girl, was murdered in her bedroom. The abandoned train car, was used by Billy to keep us off track.

The electricity/static is the dreamer and his influence.


- Laura goes towards the grandmother and grandson, the former of which hands her a painting of a wall with a door. She tells Laura that it would look nice on her wall.

The room, we will see in The Return and it is the space above the Convenience Store which leads to the Dutchman's. The wallpaper resembles One-Eyed Jack's.

We believe that this painting is appropriate to Laura since she is the door that led Billy to his dream of Twin Peaks.


- The grandson whispers to Laura, "The man behind the mask is looking for the book with the pages torn out." He then relates his movements, as the camera cuts to a shot of his nose.

Now as with Chet and Sam's confusion over "wearing a sour face," BOB wears his host's face. We also strongly believe that this grandson is a childhood incarnation of Billy...whom is BOB in a way. So the *man* behind the *boy's* mask is BOB too. But Billy also hides behind BOB...So this remark works on several different levels for this theory and scene.


- Laura runs to tell Shelly she can't do the Meals on Wheels, looking once to find the grandmother and grandson walking away together.


- Laura runs home, only to find the ceiling fan on and BOB looking behind the dresser in her bedroom for the diary.

To go along with the potential owl on it, the word "dresser" is interesting since Laura/Carrie too will whisper to Dale something that deals with how he infact dresses.

Meanwhile, Laura's bedroom door knob resembles a diamond. Teresa worked out of the Red Diamond City Motel. Audrey was the Queen of Diamonds. Both women were shown with ice, a common slang term for diamonds.


- Laura screams and there is an image of BOB's mouth, cast in blue, as if he is feeding on her fear. Once again, this is fear not pain and sorrow.


- Laura runs out of the house, but stays by the hedge to see who leaves it To her horror, it is her father. Leland gets in his convertible and drives away, as Laura repeats over and over again, "It's not him." The camera finds the painting of the door the grandmother gave her, lying on the grass.

Laura's reaction is so horrified; she never suspected her father before. It's almost like he was the one person she never did suspect! This dissuades us from the common belief that Laura was hiding the truth from herself or had partly invented BOB. If she had, there would reasonably still be some negative feelings for Leland present. Most abuse victims can't help but feel anger, hatred, fear etc... for their abuser. But Laura seems more confused and traumatized that it's Leland, never seemingly conflicted in her opinion of him. Once again, Audrey Horne's complicated feelings for her own father seem more in line with the varied emotions that someone being betrayed by someone they loved and trusted would feel. The incestuous abuse story seems more imposed on Laura and Leland.


- Laura rushes to Donna at the Hayward house, wanting to know if she is her friend, which Donna says she is.

This scene will turn up reversed and zoomed in for The Return, when Cole has a vision of Laura at his door. At this stage, Cole had just finished drawing a buck filled with holes. We suggest that bucks are associated with Billy. Is there still some connection between Laura and Billy? She's meant to be a reworking/substitute for his victim, American Girl, but does that also make her part Billy? If Laura is crying over finding out her father is BOB here, if we reverse it, for Part 10, can we link it to how Billy felt about his MOTHER, whom we believe abused him and is Judy? Infact, can Mr. C's quest to find Judy directly be the echo/truth behind Laura's search for who BOB is? Was this all just another projection Billy performed? Is this why the mother calling out here for the child is what distresses them so terribly?


- When Laura gets home, BOB/Leland is at the dinner table waiting for her. He calls her into the dining room, tells her to sit down and asks various questions, the most interesting of which, to the theme, is "Are you hungry?"

People have difficulty in telling a BOB controlled Leland from Leland, when they don't see Frank Silva we suspect. But Ray Wise conveyed definite differences, and it's obvious from the dark undertones in his voice, that this is BOB. Plus that question if Laura is hungry, screams it. Who was it whom earlier said they wanted to taste through her mouth? BOB. So this is fairly easily discerned. Another telling fact, once you've seen the Missing Pieces, is how in an earlier supper scene, Leland was hungry but not waiting at the table. Even when Laura was sitting there waiting, he wasn't there. He couldn't care less, it seemed about bothering or fawning over his daughter, showing the difference between BOB and Leland even more.

Interesting to note, there is a banker's lamp behind Laura in this scene. Ben Horne had a banker's lamp. Lamps provide illumination.


- BOB/Leland sees the divided heart necklace on Laura's chest and becomes jealous. He devises a way to be nearer to it and the wearer by accusing Laura of not washing her hands, even though he was the one whom ordered her to sit before she had.

So, we notice that there is a theme of jewelry enraging BOB, the necklace, MIKE's ring. We still wonder if Billy held bad associations with his mother and a piece of jewelry (from his uncle?) and American Girl with her own (from her real boyfriend?).


- BOB/Leland takes Laura's hands and remarks how filthy they are, pointing out the supposed dirt beneath the nail of her left ring finger.

Now that is where BOB places the letters of his name. It's also what Cole will refer to as the spiritual mound. In the OG series, we pointed out how there was a scene of Ben and his father both shoveling dirt at the groundbreaking (a destruction of nature) for the Great Northern, the father passing the shovel to the son. We theorize this truly symbolized the passing on of the cycle of abuse within a family, and it happened between the Hornes not the Palmers. The episode where the scene was shown, featured it once again during the credits, the only time this replaced Laura's image in an episode not directed by David Lynch. That's pretty telling. Ben likewise referred to himself as dirt once. Now BOB/Leland is threatening Laura with dirt and that doesn't seem coincidental. Even the trailer where the grandson and grandmother were staying had dirt beneath it and Chet's car seemed covered in it.

In comparison, Garland, in his instructions for visiting Jack Rabbit's Palace, instructed placing some soil from it in the pocket before leaving. This was the still natural preserved place where Garland played with his son. A definite difference can be made between a father/son relationship which harmed nature, Ben and his father, and one which preserved it, Garland and Bobby.


- Sarah comes in and fearfully asks what Leland's doing. He mentions Laura's dirty hands again. BOB/Leland then takes the necklace and asks who gave it to Laura as the poor girl looks shocked and scared. He asks if a lover gave it to her, as Sarah protests they don't call them lovers in high school. BOB/Leland knows Bobby didn't give it to her, and when Sarah states to stop because Laura doesn't like it, BOB/Leland asks her how she knows what Laura likes. Finally Sarah's shriek to stop it works and BOB/Leland goes back to his chair.

Now, what's going on with that necklace? We clearly saw James remembering that Laura gave it to him and not the other way around. We all in all though have a very disturbing scene at the table, where both Laura and Sarah are acting like they've never seen Leland acting this way before...which you think might have happened in the 5-6 years if Leland really had been abusing Laura. It certainly would have made Laura consider the possibility that her father was BOB. But this seems new to both daughter and mother. Sarah also does scream to stop it. Would she really have let 5-6 years pass without a similar reaction?

BOB's obsession with the necklace still represents that Billy might have also seen American Girl with one and it led to his killing her over it in jealousy.


- BOB/Leland rebuffs Sarah's statement that they are all going to eat with the demand that Laura washes her hands first, which she does, crying before the bathroom sink's mirror.

Kind of another parallel here with Mr. C looking in his bathroom mirror at the Great Northern, as he procrastinated brushing his teeth, all while BOB was in him.


- Laura sits deep in thought at a desk in her bedroom, wearing an all black shirt, which was neither what she was wearing at dinner, nor is her bedclothes. It's 10:30.

Okay, bit of hidden importance here, thanks to the detective work of the people over at Twin Peaks Blog, it was discovered that the book Laura is reading from is "The Home University Bookshelf, Volume 5: Famous Stories and Verse”. It contains mainly stories, fairy tales and verse and is kind of an older book, published 1927, for the Twin Peaks high school to be giving its students to read. It's also for children, it even having a picture of "Hey, Diddle Diddle" on the inside cover, with every character included, save the cow which seems to be a pig. You might recall that Mr. C sent a message "The cow jumped over the moon" while being at Warden Murphy's prison. Other books published by this company are: “Boys and Girls Bookshelf,” copyright 1912, 1915, 1920; “Young Folks Treasure,” copyright 1909, 1917, 1919; “Father and Son Library,” copyright 1921; “Modern Boy Activity,” copyright 1921, 1923; “The Mother’s Book,” copyright 1919; “The Child Welfare Manual,” copyright 1916; “The Home Kindergarten Manual,” copyright 1921; and “Bible Stories and Character Building,”

Hmm...Father and Son Library? Modern Boy Activity? The Mother's Book? Child Welfare? Something is up. But it seems more to do with a boy...could this book have been at Billy's grandmother's place? Afterall, in Coma, the grandmother had some books lying about, most houses do.

What else proves interesting about this rather strange textbook a 17 year old girl in 1989 has supposedly been given?

Well, she's reading William M. Thackeray’s “The Rose and the Ring." WILLIAM. ROSE. RING. In that story, a boy gets his mother's ring and gives it to the cousin he fancies and it makes her appear lovelier than she truly is. The rose has the same effect. So we have a story by a William, involving a rose and a ring making people see the owners as something they are not. Which is what Billy does when he sees certain women as his mother. The ring having belonged to the boy's mother is also incredibly important. That echoes how in the Autobiography for Cooper, it states his ring belonged to his mother and she received it from her father. We don't take that book as canon either btw, but Lynch supposedly had some input in it.

- In the Palmers bedroom, as Sarah sits in front of a mirror, we see Leland's back reflected behind her. Beside her sits an owl lamp.

Mirrors are a big thing in Twin Peaks. And look at that owl lamp, in the Palmer bedroom, providing some light just like the bankers lamp, similar to Benjamin Horne's, did in the dining room. The Hornes were the owls. If we wish for enlightenment to the secrets of Twin Peaks, we must look to them.


-BOB/Leland rocks back and forth, until he suddenly stops. Suddenly his face goes blank, exhaling as if something has left him. His face contorts and he starts crying. Sarah, hearing this, rises from the nightstand and goes to her husband.

This is very obviously BOB leaving Leland, and the man coming back into possession of himself. He starts crying most probably because he feels something bad has happened, guilt for something maybe, but doesn't know what, BOB having left holes in him. With these missing lapses of time, Leland might also fear he is losing his mind.


- Leland enters Laura's bedroom and takes her hand. She is obviously frightened until he tells her that he loves her and seems just like Leland again, only very sad. Laura knows it's her dad and he kisses her forehead before saying "Goodnight Princess".

This is a very sweet scene. Laura clearly loses her fear and recognizes her father here and not BOB. Also Leland is purely just a loving father. If this was truly a depiction of an abuser, it would be difficult for the man to enter his daughter's bedroom this late and not use it for his own perversions. But Leland holds no such feelings for Laura, which she can sense.

Another thing is that sweet kiss to the forehead...Ben gave Audrey a similar kiss during "On the Wings of Love" and we believe it might connect to this scene and moment, because Ben and Audrey's burden is now placed on Leland and Laura, and they are both clearly struggling with it and confused throughout the film, probably because it doesn't belong to them. Leland even calling Laura "Princess" seems to involve Ben and Audrey...didn't the Twin Peaks card set say that was Audrey's nickname?


- Laura watches Leland leave, and he looks so sad still. She's touched still by what just happened, obviously loving her father a great deal and holding the hand he touched to her heart. She turns, tears in her eyes, and asks in a whisper to her painting of an angel, "Is it true?" Something takes over Laura as she stares at the painting, then she snaps out of it, remembering the picture the grandmother gave her.

Very important. When Laura asks the angel if it's true that her father is BOB, she suddenly becomes hypnotized by the painting. Just as when she talked of angels with Donna, strains of "The Voice of Love" plays and Lynch focuses on the Angel's wings. This will come back at the end of the film. When the angel enters the Red Room, the same song will fully play as, once again, Lynch begins by centering on the wings.

We theorize here, that the angel returning actually means something drastically different than most people interpret. We think the angel returning actually showed Laura that the answer to her question was, no, it wasn't her father. That is why, at the end of the film, she smiles and laughs in a joy that also seems very much like relief, bringing the hand she believed her father had said was dirty to her heart. She sees past Billy's dream and experiences the knowledge of something that he cannot share: her father never hurt her. The ring might help bring her to this realization.

The painting of the angel also seems to go along with the general theme of food, hunger and appetite that permeates the series: at a table, several children gather, anxiously waiting, as the angel prepares to feed them. That was earlier what Laura was trying to do with Meals on Wheels.

To go with the centering on the Angel's wings, we repeat that the episode where Ben kissed Audrey's forehead was called "On the Wings of Love."


- Having retrieved the painting and placed it on her wall, beside the angel painting, Laura goes to sleep in a negligee similar to what Audrey wore at One-Eyed Jack's, but doesn't look like anything a high school girl would wear to bed.


- Laura falls asleep, looking at the door picture. She enters the painting, going through the door. She finds the grandmother waiting on the other side and pointing her through another door. The first thing practically seen upon entering this door is a shadow of the grandson on the wall. Then we find him standing in the darkness at one end of the room. He snaps his fingers and light appears, and yet it looks like the light cast by a fire. This seems to take Laura, or her vision, to the Red Room, the same shot of the curtains seen once again.

This is hammering home how Laura is the door. We don't see her, but rather through her eyes as she walks through them.

Integral how we see the grandson's shadow first, just like Dale met his shadow self in the series finale which preceded this. Then we see the boy standing in the darkness..."Through the darkness of Future Past the Magician longs to see." Now the boy was supposed to hold his hands up and a RING of fire was to appear which led to the Red Room, but the effect didn't work. Lynch seemed to substitute it with the finger snap, which we saw both Dale and Leland do in Episode #2 and the boy during his first appearance. It seems to summon fire..."One chants out between two worlds, Fire Walk With Me." This is how the boy saw through the darkness: by playing with the fire.

This is Billy, the dreamer. We can also see why he made Leland know BOB when he was just a little boy too, this falling into his habit of projection. Plus his father/grandfather was abused by his own father when he was just a little boy.

That shot of the curtains appearing is another hint that what BOB showed MIKE in the Red Room, and what Jeffries might have also seen there, was Cooper.


- On the gold and black pedestal seen in the Red Room, during the finale, sits the green ring with the Owl Cave Symbol. This is Teresa's (Billy's substitution for his dead mother) ring.


- Cooper, from the second season finale, walks through the curtain to find the Arm waiting by the ring and the pedestal.

Question. Does it going from the grandson to Cooper, them both wearing the same clothing, indicate further that they are also the same? Billy and his avatar?


- The Arm asks Dale if he knows who he is and then tells him he is the Arm, the first Dale learned this. The Arm then says he sounds like the whooping sound the waiter made and the utility pole gave off in direction of the grandson's trailer. The Arm goes to the table and picks up the ring, holding it up for Laura, while looking at Dale almost nervously. Cooper looks at Laura and says, "Don't take the ring, Laura...don't take the ring."

This is what struck us about this scene viewed through this theory: the Arm offers Laura the ring without giving her any sort of advice. It is Cooper, on the other hand, whom outright tells her not to take it. One allows Laura the freedom of choice...the other tries to steal her autonomy. And isn't that what BOB was doing? Didn't he wish to control her too? Infact, BOB doesn't want Laura to have the ring...so Cooper and he are on the same page and practically the same impetus here...which goes along perfectly with the belief that both of them are the same...both are Billy.


- Cut to Laura in her bed, hearing Sarah's muffled call for her. She turns over holding her arm because it has gone numb, her hand clenching something. Cut to another shot of a door, this time her own. Laura looks back to find Annie lying in her bed, bloody, looking dead and wearing Caroline's dress from the OG series' finale. Annie tells her her name is Annie and she's been with Laura and Dale. She adds that the good Dale is in the Lodge and can't leave and for her to write it in her diary, before returning to a comatose/lifeless state.

Annie appearing in Caroline's dress makes this more viable to be Dale Cooper's dream. Even in Part 17, when Laura meets Dale, she'll tell him, "I've seen you in a dream. In a dream." Her repetition can literally make it read that she saw him in her dream while someone dreamt her dreaming seeing him. Why Laura would dream Annie in Caroline's dress is confusing, since that was Cooper's personal hang-up about Annie: he couldn't separate her from the love of his life inside of his mind. It's the same problem Billy faces, when he confuses his victims with his mother. That reflects in this sequence too, since we theorize both women are victims of Cooper/BOB/Billy and are in the same bed, both because of the inability for someone to separate individuals.

Annie is Caroline's dress also illustrates how Billy forces other people to wear things that belonged to another, like the earlier stated belief (with the dresser) that Laura was being forced to wear Audrey's tragedy. As we've already mentioned before, Laura's nightgown here resembles the one Audrey wore at One-Eyed Jack's, making both she and Annie forced to wear other women's clothing.

Interesting too, how Annie is in that fugue state and exists only to give a warning for Dale's safety, in non Lodgespeak which only Cooper himself seemed able to manage. We suspect that helps showcase the shell that Billy masks his victims inside within his dream, turning them from brunettes to blondes to help protect him from the truth. Annie, a blonde, is only a husk, it appears, her sole purpose to help protect/save Dale. It all comes back to the wearing of a face, the first bit of explanation Chet and Sam had about the coding of Lil.

Okay, so both Dale and Annie are new to Laura's dream, intruders in a way, if we are to take this as happening after Laura's original demise.


- Laura hears the muffled cry again and we once more see the door, but when she looks back, Annie is gone. Furthermore, she opens her hand to find the Owl Cave ring there, which badly scares her.

Hard not to think of the person whom laughed over Laura being more afraid of the bloody, stranger no longer lying in her bed than her appearing there in the first place.

Is Laura's fear of the ring mostly due to the advice of Cooper and the appearance of Annie instructions about a GOOD Dale being trapped in the Lodge? Would she have been more receptive to it without this future interference?


- Laura hears her mother calling again and goes to the door. She opens it, standing in the doorway, to see the top of the stairs and nobody there, but this harkens to Sarah running up the stairs to find the empty bedroom during the Pilot. As if she gets a feeling, Laura turns and looks back into her bedroom, at the painting the grandmother gave her. She sees herself standing in the doorway now, looking back. Her shadow is on the wall, similar to how the grandson's shadow was previously seen on the wall. Now Laura's in the painting, standing in the doorway and looking down at her bedroom and the image of herself sleeping peacefully in her bed.

Once again we have the strong connection between Laura and doors. We argue that Laura is the doorway that led Billy to his dream of Twin Peaks and the various characters and stories he found there.

We can equally theorize that the dream is trying to offer the ring to Laura, and that she should take it so she will be at peace like she sees herself in her bed.

There's a strange other possibility here though. That, if Laura has entered the painting, and sees herself, that perhaps, the grandson once looked at a painting of her and longed to enter her world. This goes along with the theory that Laura is the door. It is possible that Billy, while living with his grandmother above the Convenience Store, equally dreamt of Laura Palmer, and this allowed him entrance to her world? On a wall, was there a painting of someone whom resembled her sleeping, and the boy used to look at it?

Laura, meanwhile, enters his "reality": the Red Room and its connecting places, like we see throughout the whole of Twin Peaks.

We can also explore another possibility, that Laura, lying in her bed as her mother calls for her on the morning of her death, plus the appearance of the bloody, lifeless Annie having lain there too, goes along with the theory that Billy infact murdered her true self, American Girl, in her bedroom. That the mother, in actuality, called for her daughter and went into the bedroom only to discover her dead body, the whole bit about the train car and trip down the river to Blue Pine Lodge, a fantasy.


- Laura wakes up, without the ring, her palm empty. She looks at the painting on her wall in fear, eventually placing it face down on the desk. We never see it again, and we presume she threw it out.

Laura is now frightened of the ring and the painting, and we theorize that this had a direct influence on the past. Without Cooper and Annie, she would have taken it. With their presence she did not, and this path for her accepting it is now blocked, the "past" now altered.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Part One "Deer Meadow"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


The film begins with electricity shown up close, a blueish spackling, while jazzy music plays and the credits roll. As we get farther away, we can clearly see that it is the static on a TV set. Eventually the TV is violently struck with a pipe and we see a man's figure block the destroyed set from view as we hear a woman crying, "No," before she is then presumably struck too.

This starting shot usually only gets talked about in a meta way where it is speculated that it is David Lynch's cheeky way of saying that they are no longer dealing with TV but a movie. We don't think it gets explored enough within the context of the story of Twin Peaks itself. We will relate is to this theory in particular where it serves several roles. First, we have the chance that this electricity/static is showing to us that it is all a dream. Remember specifically how Dale described dreams: "Acetylcholine neurons fire high-voltage impulses into the forebrain. These impulses become pictures, the pictures become dreams. But no one knows why we choose these particular pictures." He basically related dreams with electricity. So that might be the key to figuring out the way electricity suits the story, including the flashing light seen throughout the series. It is all a dream, something Phillip Jeffries, whom seems to use electricity to travel, will explicitly tell Gordon and the gang that they are living inside of.

So the TV helps indicate that. It also further strengthens the belief that William "Billy" Hastings watched too much TV when he was younger and this helped influence his dream. Infact, when that TV is struck, it could indicate that he shifted his entertainment from the TV set to that which he created inside of his mind instead. If we're talking about "deaths" afterall, the TV dies before either Teresa or Laura. It's also very interesting to note that the TV is actually killed before Teresa in this very scene, which we will get into later.


- We immediately go to Teresa's body floating in daylight down the river. Had she been floating all night or did BOB/Leland kill her during the day? Why did nobody see it then? Is there some significance that Teresa's body was moving while Laura's was found beached?


- The first Twin Peaks character we actually see the face of is Gordon Cole. He's asking a secretary to get him in touch with Agent Chester Desmond, who is in North Dakota, which echoes Billy living in South Dakota.

Now pay attention to the secretary, she's a brunette...later on, Cole'll have a different one, blonde. This is giving away what Billy does in effect: he takes a brunette (like his mom) victim and replaces her inside of his dream with a blonde to help protect him from the truth.


- When we see Chester Desmond, he is helping to arrest what appears to be two prostitutes and a school bus driver, as a group of traumatized children look on from inside of the bus.

Now, we're going to get a little bit into what we think the deal with the FBI Blue Rose Agents really mean to Billy. We believe that one is/was created to go along with every major death (literal or figurative) he feels he was in some way responsible for, and which effected him on some level. They were always being upgraded to some extent.

The list goes as follows:

Phillip Jeffries he associates with the death of himself, as well as the image he had of his mother. This occurred the first time his mother abused him, back in 1975 when he was only two. He lived at the Red Diamond City Motel/Dutchman's, but in the dream it was reworked to be the motel in Olympia, Washington. In actuality, it happened in the very same room where Mr. C talks to Phillip Jeffries, this fact so very important but lost on Mr. C. That is why the apparatus that Jeffries has become, and the room he is in, seem to be imposed inside of the motel room while we still see the room itself. It also could be why Jeffries tells Mr. C he already met Judy. It reflects Billy's first foray into fantasy to help escape his trauma. Phillip was linked to the Lois Duffy tulpa murder, Lois we reason is another representation for Billy's mother, Audrey. Jeffries subsequently disappeared after this event, maybe after finding the ring. This really happens, we theorize, because Billy suffers another death he was responsible for which needed him to create a new agent. It's possible Jeffries' tulpa was the black box in Argentina.

Albert Rosenfield was the next. Albert was linked to the death of Billy's father, possibly in the motel fire that also killed his mom. Frankly, Billy wasn't too upset at this one, since he hated his father and probably wanted him dead. This explains why Albert was the only Agent who didn't disappear. It also can go along with how the painting of Danae (Perseus' conception) leads Dale to a dead end while rescuing Audrey at One-Eyed Jack's. Perseus killed his own father. Perhaps the dead end represented how Billy felt no remorse for killing his father and so Albert never really went anywhere for that fact. He also doesn't have a tulpa or doppleganger.

Chester Desmond, whom we just met, is the next one inducted. See that bus of screaming children with the act of prostitution they have been exposed to screaming in trauma? Notice how this is how we first meet Chet? Well this is a pretty good indication of how Billy felt during his childhood, and a fair hint that we are supposed to associate Desmond with Billy's childhood/school age trauma. Desmond will investigate Teresa Banks' death, whom we believe is a substitute for Billy's mom, Audrey Horne. This takes place in Deer Meadow, Washington. Chet disappears after he finds the ring. He doesn't seem to have a tulpa, nor does he encounter his doppleganger. Chet is also balanced to a degree, as displayed by the trick played on Sam.

The next FBI man is Special Agent Dale Cooper, whom is not properly balanced at all. He is too idealized, too perfect and we reckon that this is because he is associated with Billy having killed American Girl and promptly trying to act good to either shield himself from being discovered and/or repent from it. Cooper is sent to investigate Laura Palmer's murder in Twin Peaks, Washinton. Not only will Dale disappear, his doppleganger comes out in his place, and this doppleganger even gets a tulpa on tulpa, we mean on top of it all. We theorize Cooper's disappearance aligns with Billy's full descent into evil, when he failed in facing/acknowledging his darkness and it won out.

The last inductee to the Blue Rose force (not counting Tulpa Diane) is Tammy Preston. She is involved with investigating the murder of Ruth Davenport in Buckhorn, South Dakota. This, we believe, represents how Billy killed his assistant Betty, substituted with both Ruth and Diane inside of Billy's dream. It also goes hand in hand with the downfall of the killer and how he is technically brought down by two women: Betty and the mother of his first intentional victim, American Girl. To coincide with this fact, Billy purposely creates a woman FBI Agent to mimic how his end of being a serial killer (depicted by the destruction of Mr. C and BOB) was thanks to women. Tammy neither disappears nor gains a tulpa. This could go along with the theory that Albert, associated with his father's death, also did not disappear. Tammy involved with the destruction of that aspect of himself haunted/possessed by his father, Billy feels no need to have her vanish or doubled in any way.


- Okay, so Chet is introduced to us with screaming children and prostitution. This is because Billy associated this time of his life with being young and exposed to his mother's sexual activity, which both traumatized and involved him. He saw his mother as his father/grandfather's prostitute. Notice too how it involves a bus driver when there was a clear link established between BOB/Billy's father and vehicles, his woodsmen often associated with them in some way.


- Chet Desmond is helping to handcuff the women's hands behind their backs, which helps to illustrate how, with his mother's death, he no longer had to worry about her touching him, which could also return to the Venus sculptures without arms in the Red Room. The screaming children, however, still show how the damage is already done to the child.


- One of the Prostitutes is played by an Audra Cooper...is that coincidental or not?


- The car phone rings and the horn honks, both of which could indicate the RING or the HORNES or might just be Cole calling.


- Over the car phone, Cole informs Chet that he's in Oregon and that there is a case involving a dead 17 year old girl named Teresa Banks. Audrey was last seen in a bank explosion. Money generally plays a role in Twin Peaks. Both bills and bucks are kept in banks.


- As Cole says he has something interesting to show him, a different assistant is seen leaving Cole's office, this one a blonde now.

Once again, we have the illustration of a substitution being made, this case in particular a brunette for a blonde, which is what Billy does with his victims. He wants to distance them from his mom.


- Now might also be a good time to mention how John Thorne's Dreams of Deer Meadow theory wasn't proven wrong by The Return. In actuality, it was strengthened, it only was in a different direction than presumed. This wasn't about Cooper restructuring his failure concerning solving Teresa's murder as a dream, one featuring an alter ego. This was the dreamer, working through different stages of his trauma/deaths and gradually evolving into his perfected dream self: Dale Cooper.


- Chet lands at the airport, where Cole introduces him to Agent Sam Stanley, telling him to give him the glad hand.

This all happens at an airport. We can tie this perhaps to the airport where Audrey said goodbye to Jack by offering herself to him. Ben Horne was seen shaking hands when Cooper first met him, an act which made him refer to him as "the glad handing dandy."


- So the surprise is a strange woman in red, named Lil, dancing around for Chet.

This betrays how the whole of Twin Peaks contains clues within what we're seeing, but they might not be exactly what we are seeing. Her name Lil either indicates "little", which could harken to Teresa, as well as Audrey, being called a little girl. It might also refer to the fact that Billy was just a little boy when he lost his mother, which Teresa's death symbolizes. Lillies were often seen on the table at William Hayward's place too. Lilies mean rebirth.


- In the car, driving to Deer Meadow, Sam needs clarification over what Lil was all about and Chet explains. He begins by saying that Lil was wearing a sour face, but Sam asks what that means, and Chet clarifies it further, "Her face had a sour look on it "

Through Sam's confusion, it brings attention that Chet essentially said WEARING a face, which is what BOB/the dreamer is basically doing with Leland: he's wearing Leland's face when he is committing his horrors. The dreamer likewise wears several faces throughout the dream, Cooper's in particular.


- The sour face meant the local authorities won't be helpful. Eyes blinking meant trouble higher up, the eyes of the local authority, sheriff and deputy probably. One hand in pocket meant they are hiding something, the other in a fist meant belligerence. Walking in place involved legwork. Lil being Gordon's "mother's sister's girl meant that the uncle, missing from the statement, was in federal prison, not Cole's uncle but probably the sheriff's.

We suspect that Billy's uncle, an authoritarian presence in his life, is Jerry Horne, whom is revisualized/represented by the Lodge spirit MIKE/Phillip Gerard.

The tailored dress meant drugs. A blue rose was pinned to it, but Chet can't tell Sam about that. After The Return, we'll know that that is because it means the case involves a mysterious/unnatural element that can't really be explained and which the certain task force is set to crack. Unfortunately, it is also dangerous, so Chet could equally be trying to protect Sam.


- This is still all about giving hints that certain clues in the series have another meaning.

The blue rose cases, we suspect deal with the deaths that Billy has experienced in his life, most of them tied back, in some way, to his mother, the original rose. The state of them being blue indicates the death state, but it becomes something beautiful, though unnatural, just as Billy viewed his mother. Compare this to the black corn on Hawk's map which Hawk describes as fertility, diseased or unnatural, death. This could be Billy's negative view of his mother or of himself even. The blue roses are treated with wonder, the black corn with fear. Yet BOTH are described as unnatural. Perchance this is somewhat akin to the White and Black Lodges, and how we posited they also represented conflicting feelings Billy held about his mother. We can also attribute it to how he viewed himself as inferior, his birth a horrible thing his mother had to deal with.


- Chet and Sam finally arrive at Deer Meadow and maybe, before we find them trying to deal with those pesky local authorities, we should talk a little about that name. See Leland translates into meadow. And we've already pointed out how Billy seemed to be connected to a buck...which is a male deer. So we have the name of this place, presumably meaning deers in meadow. For this one we say one deer...Billy. Possessing Leland, through BOB...making Leland a Deer Meadow.


- Inside of the office, we find Chet looking like he's been waiting for a long time. Meanwhile, behind him, Sam seems to be talking to himself as he looks around the office, another one featuring buck art/photographs. The secretary and the deputy aren't friendly but laugh at how long they've been keeping the men waiting. Finally, Chet says, "All right, I've had enough of the waiting room now."

That line, and one Sam says in The Missing Pieces, which we will also get into later, can go back to the idea that Chet is a draft of Cooper. Once again, John Thorne theorized that this could indicate Dale being stuck in the Red Room. That is incredibly valid now, because what if this is still, despite being a prequel, only just a sequel? That Billy is formulating this past history from a point of somewhere later in time, one where he is incorporating things that happened to him and revising them to fit his dream.


- Chet grabs Deputy Cliff's nose and hurts it, putting him temporarily out of commission as the deputy deals with the pain. We'll mention any connections during this research, not that they always mean something, but the grandson's mask has a long nose, as does the Jumping Man, and Richard Tremayne's nose was hurt by the weasel at the Stop Ghostwood Fashion Show.


- After telling the secretary to make a fresh pot of coffee, Chet heads in to see the Sheriff. Kind of need to point out now how everything looks so vintage...like how old is the typewriter the secretary uses? That will kind of stand out all throughout the film. We still suggest that this is influenced by the grandson having watched older programs on TV, as well as the belief he lived with his grandmother, whom rarely upgraded her own decor. It left Billy seeing things through an old fashioned frame, one which was decidedly absent from the then modern influences, such as rock bands like Bon Jovi or Poison, singers like Madonna, fashion trends like hair bands, or shoulder pads, big hairdos things like that.


- Chet meets Sheriff Cable. Cable is a word that directly deals with electricity, being wires and conductors.


- The two confront each other, and Chet eventually is able to pressure Cable into letting him see Teresa's body, by intimidating him with the word federal, a vague reference to his uncle in prison. Here forms another elaboration to the belief that Chet is an earlier draft of Billy's dream persona. For, in The Return, Mr. C uses almost the same exact tactic against Warden Murphy that Chet uses here against Cable. Mr. C references the mysterious Mr. Strawberry, while Chet references the uncle in federal prison. It's the same thing, used for the same purpose but while this is good, Mr. C's is bad.

The uncle being hinted at, once again invokes Billy's uncle and the fear Billy felt for him.


- All of Teresa's belongings are handed to Chet in a box, hinting at the imagery that boxes represent a person's life, later carried through in The Return, as we believe that the glass box in NYC represents Billy's psyche.


- Cable lists Teresa's death as a basic kill. She was a drifter and nobody knew her.

Cooper and Chet state that Teresa had no family and nobody claimed Teresa's body. She had no family? Really? Do the FBI even investigate that here? We argue that Cooper/Billy/grandson was her family, or rather that of the woman she really stood in for inside of his dream: his mother.


- Outside of the building where Teresa's body is being stored, we find out that Sam was silently calculating the worth of the office and all of its furnishings, which he tells Chet was $27000.

This seems superfluous, an odd character quirk? However, we reason that, since this part of Billy's dream skirts around what happened to his mother, and that she truly died, not by BOB/Leland's hand, but when her son Billy played with fire and burnt down the motel where they lived, it really is the impression Billy was left with of the insurance investigators assessing the damage to the Red Diamond/Dutchman's. Insurance seems to pop up often throughout Twin Peaks, culminating in Coop/Dougie's role as an insurance investigator whom clears the Mitchums of having set fire to their own hotel.


- Chet and Sam study Teresa's body and we can instantly make a few observations. First of which Teresa seems to be wearing a garbage bag.

Okay. This involves several different things. Billy could view this substitute of his mother as "trash" or what others saw her as, in stark contrast to the beloved Laura. It's also dark and opaque, in contrast with both the plastic she and Laura were originally wrapped in. Laura's sheet at the morgue, is white by comparison and a little bit see through. We also have the Lodges invoked once again Black = Teresa, White = Laura. Billy's portrait of Laura is far kinder than his one of Teresa being a blackmailer, not caring about Laura's potential trouble but seeing only her own financial gain. This could once again fall under any resentment Billy held against his mother for staying around their father for material comfort. It also can betray that he thought she had exposed him to the continued abuse of that grandfather/father for her own comfort.

Teresa's eyes and mouth are opened, as opposed to Laura's look of stillness in death: eyes and mouth closed. Does this indicate she was open to fear and to BOB at the time of her death? Is there some link to the mouth that frightens Billy? The faces of those getting closer to the Black Lodge, afterall flash into looking like the oil pool gateway, white with black lips/mouth, and if they are allowed entrance like Laura/Leland, we reason their mouths are red like the curtains? Does it link to Mr. C playing with Jack's mouth in The Return before killing him? Was Billy abused by the mouth? Of further interest, Lynch specifically designed Teresa's mouth to look that way.


- Chet states that Teresa lived at the Fat Trout Trailer Park for a month. Several questions will arise from that...like when did she move from the Red Diamond to it? Was she hiding from BOB/Leland? Also why is there some confusion from shooting schedules of WHERE Teresa was murdered? We'll get into all of that later.


- Teresa was a waitress, just like Annie. Waitresses serve food, interesting to connect to the Lodge spirits emphasis on food and appetite, and how Teresa is our first known victim of BOB/Leland's.


- Teresa's waitress uniform is listed as her only belongings...was she found wearing them? Does that make her different from Laura and Maddie, whom were found naked and wrapped in plastic?


- Sam notices her ring missing, the dirt gives it away. Is that dirt? Is it smoke/ash? It sort of looks like the woodsmen's general dirtiness...but how did Teresa get so dirty? Or is this more indication of the fire we believe really killed Billy's mom?


- Sam notices something under the ring finger, via his machine's help, they find out it is the letter T. Does Sam's machine connect in any way to the use of machines and the apparatus that Phillp Jeffries turns into/hides inside? Anyway the letter is a T, which goes along with the first letter of her name. It is also the last letter in BOB's full name, which he'll seemingly be spelling backwards. This backwards forwards business goes along with the Lodgespeak infact. It can also go with the time shifts and loops/travel in the series, of our belief that Billy, in the future/present/is looking back on his past.


- Chet and Sam visit Haps, where a man named Jack is fooling around with the electricity and tells them to ask the waitress named Irene about Teresa.

Jack is somewhat reminiscent of the mechanic Jack that Mr. C enlists to sabotage Betty's car and hide his own, supposedly the same one that Richard/Coop is seen driving at the end of Part 18. Jack is a recurrent name in Twin Peaks, usually, we argue connected to how Billy views his father/wished he had been or betrays the truth of whom he was. We have One-Eyed Jack's (Ben Horne's brothel where he once accosted his daughter, Audrey, and where she was subsequently held captive), John "Jack" Justice Wheeler (the man who took Audrey's virginity), Jack Rabbit's Palace (the place Bobby and his father used to go and make up stories).

Jack here is accompanied by flashing electricity, often associated with BOB and a woodsman like figure resting off to the side.


- Deer Meadow generally presents itself as a shadow self of the idealized Twin Peaks. We saw it in the unfriendly sheriff station, and now we see it in the drab restaurant Hap's, which has no specials, serves probably mediocre coffee and is hosted by a cranky waitress with none of the glamorous and social graces of the staff at the Double R.


- Irene states that Teresa only worked there a month, never seemed to be on time and was suspected to be on drugs.

The "Never seemed to get here on time, though" can interestingly be tied to Teresa having been "late". She was the late Teresa Banks. Probably just like Billy's mom.


- Another really interesting thing is what Irene soon comments after Chet inquires if there's anything she wants to tell them that might help them out: "I've been thinking about that. If you ask me, her death was what you'd call a freak accident."

Now Teresa was hit by a blunt-obtuse item, on the back of the head, as Sam surmised, wrapped in plastic and then shipped on down Wind River...how could any of that be an accident? Unless, Irene isn't talking about Teresa, she's really discussing Billy's mother's death, the one Billy is using Teresa's to mask. This is one of those instances inside of Billy's dream, just like the appearance of Maddie - the mask/substitute of his victim/Laura showing up with a hair color closer to the real victim Ronette/American Girl - where the truth is inevitably leaking in. Irene is now voicing what truly killed Billy's mom/Audrey: a freak accident involving fire.

That she confides this, after Chet had asked if there was any way she could help them out, also seems to indicate that this is like Coop/Dougie clearing the Mitchum bros: Billy's subconscious is trying to tell him that the fire was an accident and he needn't have blamed or punished himself for it.


- As if to build on the truth leaking into the fiction, an older man, whom has been sitting at the counter with a younger french girl, now pipes up and asks, "Are you talking about that little girl that got murdered?" When Chet inquires if he has something to tell them, the man only replies, "I know shit from Shinola."

Okay, so Audrey referenced her own story, in The Return, as being that of "The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane." So the man's words connect Teresa to her. We also have his seemingly useless statement regarding being able to tell shit from a boot polish. But what if this is another betrayal of what the dream is hiding for Billy? The man is vaguely inferring that Teresa was shit compared to the real version of Billy's mom. He's also using a footwear reference to do it, shoes threaded throughout the series as being important. Audrey's first appearances centered on her shoes infact, which echoed the Red Room color scheme. Little known fact, but Shinola didn't just come in black, it was available in several different colors, red and white being two of them.


- When Sam asks if they should question him, Chet plays a rather meanspirited joke on his companion: he asks Sam, whom has been obsessed with the time, what time it is, causing the man to flip over his cup, as he looks at his watch, dousing himself with the coffee.

This serves two functions. First it prevents them from actually questioning the old guy, whom might now the difference between Teresa and Billy's mom, and secondly it betrays that Chet is not the perfect Dale Cooper. This is a man whom as his darker impulses and can give in to them, not unlike Richard/Coop at the end. But he is just as much a man whom regrets his action, apologizing to Sam afterwards and seemingly upset with himself.

An earlier version of Billy's dream self, Chet was better for his mistake, more aligned with this part of his life when Billy was responsible for the accidental death of his mother, but not the intentional one of American Girl. This was the path he should have stayed more on, instead of becoming the idealized Dale Cooper.


- Irene returns and mentions something she hadn't before: 3 (notice the number) days before her death, Teresa's left arm went dead. She couldn't use it.

This obviously correlates in a way to MIKE and how he severed his arm, making it dead to him. The Owl Cave ring Teresa wore on her left arm, and that ring and arm are closely associated to MIKE and the arm.


- The old man pops up again, asking the same question, if they are talking about the little girl who got murdered. Is this the truth still pressing in on the dream, and does this connect Audrey to the ring which caused the arm to go numb? It does have the Owl Cave symbol afterall, and we argue that the owls are the Hornes. We're curious if Billy's mother's uncle gave her a ring, and it incited feelings of jealousy etc...in either Billy or his father, that ripples throughout the dream, and might have led to the events where Billy accidentally burned down the motel. Just like Laura's divided heart necklace, jewelry seems to elicit feelings of jealousy and possessiveness inside of Billy's dream.


- Chet and Sam pay a visit to the Fat Trout Trailer Park. Just like Deer Meadow, note the name. A fat trout is a big fish. A fish story is usually an exagerated story deemed so outrageous it can't be true. It's also usually called a fish story for they started as a fisherman claiming to have caught a really big fish or a big fish that got away. There was even an instance of this shown in the original series, when Pete bemoaned the fact that his taxidermied fish was smaller than when he had caught it. So this place being called Fat Trout raises some questions about how real any of it is and further makes where Teresa's death took place even more confusing.


- The place is run by a cranky man named Carl Rodd. Now rods can also deal with electricity, causing a safe pathway for excess electricity to be grounded so it doesn't cause harm. This is an interesting choice of names for him, and we'll delve into the possibility for that later, right now, though, it's either too early or too late and Chet and Sam have gotten him up before the demanded time.


- When the FBI requests to see the trailer, Carl comments "that trailer is more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse."

Jerry Horne was himself, Audrey's very own uncle at her father's whorehouse, One-Eyed Jack's. He, infact, unintentionally prevented her father from hurting her in the second season opener. A trailer park is also like a hotel/motel and yet different. Possibly, if this is all an earlier draft for Billy, Carl represents Billy's uncle. Perhaps Teresa being here and not at the Red Diamond is some fish story wherein Billy imagined his uncle having safely got his mother away from their father, and to his own transient lodgings. Afterall, in the Return, an upset woman is frantically trying to get a sick niece to her uncle. The name rod, providing safe passage/attraction of electricity to prevent harm, then takes on a different meaning. Perhaps, in reality, Billy's mother looked forward to her uncle's visits because then her father would leave her alone, frightened his brother would find out and stop the abuse, which echoes BOB's fear of MIKE.


- Having shown Chet and Sam to Teresa's trailer, Carl states he never touched anything. More indication that Billy's mother's uncle never harmed her.


- The trailer looks average, but two things are realized: the electrical socket is missing a piece, and there is no damaged tv seen, like was shown at the start.


- Chet shows Sam a photograph that Teresa had of herself wearing the green Owl Cave ring, the symbol that Windom inverted seen on it. Interesting to point out, Lynch took this photo himself, outside of a library. Audrey was approached by Windom at a library, Ruth Davenport worked in one. Billy loves stories, probably why his dream mistress was a librarian.

The ring is green, like the formica table, but more along the lines of Ben Horne's BANKerS lamp. Those lamps were made that color because the shade was assumed to be soothing and to reduce the eye strain created from early electric lights.


- Chet seems hypnotized by Teresa's eyes and her mouth, the latter closed now and not open like at the morgue. Does this scene indicate Billy's fascination with his mother/victims? Are we supposed to notice Teresa's eyes and mouth and compare them to those of her corpse?


- Carl brings Sam and Chet some coffee, wherein the FBI agents generally indicate it's bad and Carl seems to think it's good. At one point, Sam states, "We sure do need a good wake-me-up, don't we, Agent Desmond?" He then repeats it, it having been taken as rhetorical by Chet, or gone unnoticed.

This could likely be more indication that Chet, this time, is masking Billy, what with him being an earlier incarnation of Cooper. This is perhaps telling Billy he needs to wake up instead of retreating to this fantasy, where he can never heal or face what he's done.


- Suddenly, a woman appears, peeking into the trailer. She's about as dirty looking as Teresa's body was, and as the woodsmen are too. Her right eye is wounded. Chet asks if she knew Teresa Banks, but she seems frightened and leaves. After she is gone, Chet notices that Carl has an odd expression on his face and it cuts to a shot of a utility pole outside, bearing the #6, as we hear the whooping sound we first and last saw the elderly waiter make in the original finale. Carl now remarks out of the blue, "You see, I've already gone places. I...I ju...I just wanna stay where I am."

Is her appearance now linked to the way Irene's statement about the accident seemed to instigate the old man mentioning the little girl being murdered? Does Sam's comment about a wake me up serve for its catalyst? Does Carl's reaction similarly come about from Chet asking the woman if she knew Teresa Banks, just as he asked the older man if he had something to tell them?

We believe that this wounded curious woman is the equivalent of the Log Lady and the honking horn woman from the Return. That might sound strange, but it goes as follows, the Log Lady warned Laura about the fire started inside of her. This woman here, we will theorize tried to save Teresa, and might have been inside of the TV (forces inside of Billy's dream, traveling through electricity), giving off the alarm sound whooping, when it was struck. Her damaged eye might coincide with the broken TV and/or the damaged socket. Meanwhile, the woman stuck in the traffic jam, in Part 11, was desperately trying to get the niece, whom we believe represented Audrey Horne, to see the Uncle...

Whom we believe was really Jerry Horne...

All as she honked her own horn(e).

Earlier we even suggested a link between Carl and Jerry.

After, the strange woman's appearance, another connection can also be made between Carl and Jerry. Carl specifically tells Chet, for no explained reason, that he's done a lot of traveling and just wants to stay where he is. Now, throughout the preceding series, we already talked about how Jerry's movements were controlled by his brother, Ben. We further threaded this in advance to the fact that, in The Return, Jerry's foot states it isn't his foot, and there is an establishing sequence when he regains control over it. We theorized this illustrated Jerry breaking free from Ben's control, just as MIKE cut off his arm to break free from BOB. We also further theorized that Ben purposely kept his brother away to obscure what he was doing to Audrey. If Jerry had known, he would have saved her, especially with the hint that he had received some sort of spiritual enlightenment.

Add to this, the honking woman claimed that the niece hadn't seen the uncle in ages, and Carl's words make an odd sort of sense, if he is linked to Billy's mother's uncle. He's backing up the speculation that Ben was in control of Jerry's motions, but Jerry grew tired of it, wishing to stay in place. This might have led to the discovery of what his brother was doing to the poor niece...but by then it was too late to do anything, just like Jerry witnessing his nephew's demise on the rock, through the wrong end of the binoculars: he didn't see things clearly to do any good.

We can tie this to the #6 utility pole outside, that directs Chet to the grandmother and grandson's trailer. It was also at the site where Richard Horne struck and killed the young boy playing with his mother, miles from where it was last seen, but with Carl present as well. We theorize Richard killing the boy indicates Billy killing the good in himself. Billy is intruding into the dream perhaps when we see the pole.

Must also mention how there are two sets of light switches when the woman enters. Does this indicate two places maybe? Perhaps the overlapping and confusion over the site of Teresa's death, which we will later discuss? Something very odd is going on, and it may have to do with the ways Billy tries to shield himself.


- Chet and Sam return to the Deer Meadow sheriff station, where motions have been made to take the body to Portland, where Sam will investigate why the arm went numb. Cable balks but Chet states that there's nothing he can do about it. When he questions Cable about the missing ring, Cable just mentions that their phone has a little ring.

Now he's obviously being snarky, but there has been a reoccurring theme about phones ringing. Audrey interrupted Cooper's dream about BOB/the owls when she phoned him from One-Eyed Jack's, a phone call went unanswered at the end of "The Path to the Black Lodge," a phone call interrupts Mr. C's discussion with Jeffries about Judy and at Carrie Page's place she leaves without answering the phone. The song Leland was first seen compulsively dancing to, Pennsylvania 65000, also contained a phone ringing, which made sense since it was the phone number of a famous HOTEL in New York.


- Chet tells Sam to take the body ahead to Portland but he's going back to the trailer park. Sam guesses that he's going back for the Blue Rose.


- At the dusky trailer park, Carl points out Deputy Cliff's trailer and truck to Chet before one of the park residents bugs Carl about water. That deserves a mention, seeing as though water puts out fire. Carl is apparently connected to it, but doesn't always come through, possibly how Billy's uncle was too.



- Chet is drawn to the #6 utility pole, where the whooping sound is heard. He follows it to a trailer. The lights are on, but nobody answers his knocking. Looking under the trailer, which was supposedly not connected to Teresa's, Chet finds the missing ring on a mound of dirt, very similar to how Laura's necklace was placed on its own mound of earth at her murder site. When Desmond squats to pick it up, the image freezes, and we have no idea what happened after that.

Desmond was able to do here what Cooper wasn't able to in a way. He looked past what he saw and was led by what he sensed to what he was looking for. Now, the #6 pole leads him there, straight to the ring and the grandson, and some sort of connection is being formed between that boy and the truth behind Twin Peaks. He is here, afterall, with Teresa's murder, and this was the first one, the one that even helped lead Cooper to Twin Peaks, with Ronette's strong accompaniment. It was at the site of the young boy's death by Richard Horne and it will be at Carrie Page's house, when she will ask Coop/Richard, "Did you find him? You didn't find him?" The person most people were trying to find in The Return was Billy. We suggest that the pole helps lead to Billy...whom is the grandson.

Now Chet has found him.

And the ring.

Does the ring help lead to Billy, the dreamer, too, we wonder? Is that what Laura discovered? Ray, too whom said he knew who Mr. C was? Does MIKE, whom also had a spiritual clarity, help lead the wearers to peek past the dream?

And does the ring, now being placed on the mound of dirt, in any way have to do with the dirt that Ben Horne and his father both helped dig for the creation of the Great Northern? Dirt was also referenced by BOB/Leland to help intimidate Laura at the dinner table and in connection to where the letters spelling BOB are placed, on the finger of the spiritual mound.


- To go with all the RINGing, we go to Philadelphia, showing the liberty bell.

Did Chet gain some sort of liberty from the dream?


- Cooper now enters the film, right as Chet leaves it, and his first shot depicts him walking through a door. Very significant here. See, we've theorized previously that, when they talk about Laura being the one, they really mean she's the door that led to Twin Peaks. You know, what's behind door #1? That will be elaborated on even more, but that is what we think she truly is. So, that we have the main avatar for our dreamer now seen walking through one, and into the story, is wonderful.


- Gordon has the copy of the wood and tool book on his desk. We previously got into that for Jack's quote from Ben's father and discussed the connection between the woods/trees a number of different times.


- Cooper squats by the desk, telling Gordon that it is 10:10 pm, February 16th, and he was worried about today because of the dream he had told him about. He never really mentions what the dream was about, but we can kind of gather it had something to do with what's about to happen.


- It immediately cuts to a scene of Cooper standing in the hallway and constantly looking into a surveillance camera there while running back to look at the security footage. An elevator, marked 7, opens and soon out steps Phillp Jeffries. Meanwhile, Cooper sees his image still out in the hallway, staring back at him, as Jeffries walks past him.

The exit sign behind Dale is green, like the ring. Does that further indicate that the wearer exits the dream? Is that a closet to Dale's right? In Part 17, his room key opens a closet door in the basement of the Great Northern. Cooper standing in the hallway can also elicit memories of the Red Room halls. And if we're getting silly Monty Hall from that gameshow we just mentioned with the door #1. That Cooper's still standing in the hallway might just further indicate himself as hiding the dreamer, Dale having described dreams as electricity, like was seen in the static on the tv at the film's beginning, and him being portrayed as manipulating the dream to be there, two places at once.

The #7 on the elevator follows #6. Jeffries wears a cross like the curious woman at Teresa's trailer.


- Cooper goes running for Cole, shouting his name as Jeffries continues walking towards the man too. We see his red shoes, which can remind us of Audrey's pair of red heels, Janey-E Jones' shoes, the woman at the Vegas police station, Dorothy Gayle and Bowie's own Let's Dance song. When Cooper says Jeffries name, he seems to weaken. We argue that Dale, being the dreamer as well as a not entirely positive force within the dream, effects him deeply.


- From a distance, and as Albert Rosenfield looks on, Cole introduces Jeffries to Dale Cooper as the long lost Phillip Jeffries, but Jeffries still seems wary of Dale, suddenly seeming to get somewhat angry and defensive and saying "Well, now, I'm not going to talk about Judy. In fact, we're not going to talk about Judy at all. We're gonna keep her out of it."

This was many a Peaks fan's first introduction to the mysterious Judy. She seemingly comes out of nowhere, only for us to learn that we aren't even going to talk about her. Talk about a tease.

There is more to go on about her for the Missing Pieces, but we'll get to those after. Now, all we know is that Jeffries seems to connect her with Cooper and not in a pleasant way.


Is he protective?

Since we already suggested that there are several Judys, this could be tricky finding out whom he is talking about. Afterall we linked Judy to the Experiment and Experiment Model from The Return: the original and one made in its image. We've speculated this as being Billy's mom (Audrey) and then the women Billy murders, whom remind him of her. We also speculated it could infact be the real Laura, American Girl.

It being Audrey would make sense because we last saw her life in danger when she was in the bank when it exploded, and then, in The Return, people seemed like they didn't want to talk about her, but to keep her out of it instead. Case in point, how Doc Hayward, briefly mentioned "Cooper" going in to see her at the hospital, but then instantly changing the subject. Or how Ben and Sylvia both mention Richard but not his mother, as in at all! And even this film and the shooting script...Audrey is absent entirely, minus one mention in the script! That would certainly link her to Judy and how they were going to leave her out of it.

But it could be the girl that Billy first murdered, the one that led to the others, and it would be nice to give American Girl a name. Jeffries also helps Cooper locate a Judy in Part 17, whom turns out to be Laura.

Whichever it is, Jeffries has reservations about Coop's relationship with her and both of those seem possible.


- Cooper seems upset by Phillip's words and turns to Cole, whom says, "I know Coop." So was this part of Cooper's dream?


- "Who do you think this is there?" Phillip asks, while pointing directly at Cooper. In the original finale, the Arm similarly pointed at him when he said, "Wrong way". The grandson will also point at BOB when he says, "Fell a victim." The question is why is Jeffries pointing at Coop? There are indications that Jeffries is from another time...is he pointing at Cooper because he knows the doppleganger came out and he thinks this is him? Or does he know Cooper might give Laura the wrong advice about the ring, now that he's in the Red Room, where time isn't linear? Or maybe it's simply because he's aware that Cooper masks the dreamer. Afterall, if Jeffries disappeared like Chet, he might have come into contact with the ring, which allowed him to peek behind the curtain...he will be the first character to outright state that they all live inside of a dream.


- At the same time Jeffries asks the question about Dale, Lynch starts to overlap a meeting happening above the fabled convenience store, beginning with electricity and the image of a jumping man, dressed in a suit of red and whose face is similar to the mask of the frogmoth that the grandson wears, only his possesses a mouth.

Lynch told the actor playing the Jumping Man that he was portraying a living talisman. The fact of this, along with the electrical static, leads to the strong implication that Cooper masks the dreamer and Jeffries realizes this. Afterall, a talisman wards off evil and possesses magical abilities...and we've reasoned that the Magician is our dreamer, making a world where he tries to ward off the evil that happened to his family and himself, by projecting it on to others. Plus, we've gone into electricity and dreams before.

We also need to once again point out that this is occurring above the convenience store, which we equate as being a true representation of Horne's Department Store, just as the Red Diamond/Dutchman's is the true self of the Great Northern.


- Jeffries dialogue goes in and out, often seeming messed up and out of order, but during it, the main thing to note is probably the revelation, "It was a dream...we live inside of a dream." This is our first major reveal that this is infact all a dream. Dream references permeated the series, but while it was suggested the Lodge forces operated through dreams sometimes, it was never outright said that the characters themselves were inside of a dream.


- During the Lodge meeting that Jeffries saw, but we did not (did he travel via electricity, as he seemed to during his trip there?) we see the Arm and BOB (who seems upset) sitting at a table. They are surrounded by four bowls of varying sizes, two white, two silver, of creamed corn. The Grandmother and grandson are by a couch, the grandson slouched over, as if dead or sleeping. Two woodsmen are also present, along with a character called the Electrician. The Arm calls the corn garmonbozia, and this is the first time it's been seen since the grandson's appearance and the first time it's received an alternate name.

The Arm points out the formica table they are sitting at and how it is green. That is the same color as the ring and the Bankers lamp. The boy points to BOB and says "Fell a victim". The Arm laughs "With this ring, I thee wed," making it seem like a joke. BOB claps his hands, the Jumping Man stops moving and hops backwards onto his black, smoking crate, as the grandson's foot jumps at the same time. The Arm seems startled by BOB's action. We see the Red Room, and now the grandson wears a mask that resembles the Jumping Man and frogmoth, except without mouth, and with a twig on its forehead. He lifts it and we see the grandson. He lifts it again, and we see the monkey.

Electricity is imposed throughout this whole sequence.

We're not sure what it all means, but we somehow think it is from the future, after Mr. C has gotten out of the Lodge. Why do we think that? Well, because the Missing Pieces seem to indicate it all has something to do with Mr. C getting out, Dale being in, and BOB possibly wanting another chance to be Laura. BOB clapped his hands, stopping the Jumping Man from moving. We think the grandson wearing the mask again has to deal with Leland's unconscious possession, BOB using his face for a mask and going back to the whole line about Chet saying "wearing a sour face." BOB/the dreamer has gone back to wearing Leland's face. With Mr. C this was unnecessary: the host being fully aware of the possession and BOB actually belonging to him since Cooper was a stand in for BOB's creator, the dreamer, the whole time. The monkey peeking out from beneath it falls back to what Ben Horne said about Audrey: she made everyone else look like a primate. Billy felt this way about his victims and also about himself too. Laura and Naido will similarly be linked to monkeys.

BOB and MIKE enter the Red Room and we believe that is where they find Cooper, whom will tell Laura not to take the ring.

Can we connect the bowls of corn to people then? The chrome for Billy's mother and father? The white ones for Laura and either Maddie, Annie or Leland? What does fell a victim mean, Cooper or Annie?


- Phillip Jeffries disappears screaming, in flashes of electricity. Cole announces he's gone and we see the empty chair. Albert calls the front desk to find out that they say he was never there, and on top of all this, Agent Chester Desmond is gone. Cooper's confused and asks Cole what's going on?

It is insinuated that Jeffries was kicked out through the electricity, just as he had arrived. This sudden time limit of his appearance, we will suggest later on down the line, is what Cooper experiences in Part 17 when he goes back in time to "save" Laura.


- Cole and Cooper watch the surveillance footage to find the impossible image of Jeffries walking past Dale in the hallway. They know he was there then, but still don't know what happened to Chet.


- Cooper goes to Deer Meadow to investigate Chet's disappearance and Carl points out Teresa's trailer to him, restating he didn't touch anything. He states that Chet came back for a second time to see Cliff's trailer and then he never saw him again. Cooper politely says thank you and apologizes for having awakened him. Carl says it's okay because he was having a bad dream anyway.

Cooper is once again his cheerful, friendly self and Carl's confession that he interrupted his bad dream might indicate how Dale was also used to help the dreamer better his own bad dream.


- Cooper goes in an entirely different direction, just as Chet did, finding the now empty place where the grandson and grandmother's trailer used to be. Cooper asks whom the trailer belonged to, and Carl tells him an old woman and her grandson. They were called Chalfont, just like the people whom previously rented the space.

Okay, so we have the grandson and grandmother from the original series, living at the same park as Teresa. And they have taken the name of the people whom were there beforehand, just like when they used the name Tremond.

Let's look at their names a little. Tremond is closest to Tremont which means three mountains. There was two mountains in Twin Peaks. Judi was also the name of the mountain Noah's Ark came to rest on. Chalfont, on the other hand, means "calf spring". A young of the large deer species used to be called a calf. These names will also turn up in Part 18, at the Palmer house...which we believe could go hand in hand with the Fireman's claim that "it is in our house now." The mountains go easily with Twin Peaks, with Judy added, and the spring could be the oil spring by the opening to Glastonbury Grove. Calf could indicate the grandson. The fact that they always adopt the names of the people from before hints at them being at the start of things, or before anything else.

- It is integral to this theory that it be realized that Cooper, while knowing of the mysterious grandson and his grandmother, is always too late to meet them. Then their names, when he's expecting some sort of victory in Part 18, seem to appear to taunt him instead. We believe it is because these are the two people he should be looking for, the grandson in particular...because it is him. It is Billy. However, to meet them would be a momentous event that might force Billy to wake up...then Cooper would have found Billy afterall, the magician, as well as his true self.


- Cooper goes to Chet's abandoned car, which seems to have "Let's Rock" written in lipstick...is that to evoke Teresa's...Laura's...Ronette's...all three? We also have it written on a car, cars being pivotal to Twin Peaks in an undercurrent way. Let's rock is what the Arm said to Dale in his dream from Episode 2. Diane's tulpa also said it in The Return, after being offered an official position in the investigation into the strange Hastings/Ruth/Briggs case. Was Chet similarly inducted? Did he know this all had to do with Billy too? A large rock was also where Richard Horne was electrocuted, in contrast to the large log where Laura's body was beached. We might be able to tie a thread then. The Arm says those words to Cooper, presumably close to when Laura whispers to him, something that hints that he's Billy. Chet found the ring under the grandson's trailer and knew it was about Billy. Diane was let in on a case that circled around Billy...and Richard Horne, a very close avatar for Billy was electrified on top of a rock, possibly making him closer to Billy, as the dreamer. The words are written on glass, which reflects and which mirrors, like the one Mr. C smashed his head into.


- At Wind River, Cooper dictates to the still unseen Diane how the case gives him a strange feeling. All the leads are dead but, thanks to the letter under the nail, he has a feeling that the killer will strike again, but like the song says, who knows where or when.

That Cooper is using a love song, we assume Rodgers' and Hammerstein's "Where or When" to talk about a killer showing up again is creepy when you stop and think of it. The lyrics make it even creepier when we suggest that BOB represents Billy's perception of his father and Cooper Billy's dream self, and our belief that BOB has always belonged to Dale and not Leland.

Some of the lyrics also strongly resonate with this theory and how we believe Billy is reliving events:

"It seems we stood and talked like this before.
We looked at each other in the same way then,
But I can't remember where or when.

The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore.
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then,
But I can't remember where or when.

Some things that happen for the first time
Seem to be happening again.

And so, it seems that we have met before
And laughed before and loved before,
But who knows where or when?

When you're awake, the things you think
Come from the dreams you dream.
Thought has wings
And lots of things
Are seldom what they seem.

Sometimes you think you've lived before
All that you live today.
Things you do
Come back to you
As though they knew the way.
Oh, the tricks your mind can play!

It seems we stood and talked like this before.
We looked at each other in the same way then,
But I can't remember where or when.

The clothes you're wearing are the clothes you wore.
The smile you are smiling you were smiling then,
But I can't remember where or when.

Some things that happen for the first time
Seem to be happening again.

And so, it seems that we have met before
And laughed before and loved before,
But who knows where or when?"
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 29 "Beyond Life and Death"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- For her last intro, the Log Lady specifically acknowledges that this is the end:

"And now, an ending. Where there was once one, there are now two. Or were there always two? What is a reflection? A chance to see two? When there are chances for reflections, there can always be two--or more. Only when we are everywhere will there be just one. It has been a pleasure speaking to you."

Is she referring to the first season finale or the ending to FWWM when she mentions there are now two endings? Laura's ending and now Dale's? That she says there might have always been two seems to indicate that it already happened, or was destined to.

Her mentioning there being a chance of there always being two seems to be about what we've been discussing here that there were always two sides to Dale/Billy, as shown by the split of Cooper in this episode. That's also hinted through the reflection line, which invokes BOB also and how this episode ends.

She then indicates that there might be even more than just two, given how many reflections there are. But reflections can also involve thinking about something. Whatever the case, we suspect the insinuation is that Billy has been everywhere throughout what we've seen, for these are his "reflections" about what has happened to him and the people in his life. So the whole world inside Billy's mind is made up of himself. He is everywhere inside of it and everyone.

The intro ends with her saying it has been a pleasure speaking to us. The camera zooms in on her eye, as she looks about, until she looks at us and we see white and hear static/hiss electricity, which kind of actually reminds us of the white that surrounds Audrey when she is transported away from the Roadhouse in Part 15 and is seen looking into a mirror at her own reflection. The kind of feedback is similar, if not exact too. The light is also the same behind Laura's face when she pulls it off in the Red Room. We can almost connect the electricity to the dreamer then, and how Cooper basically explained that that was all dreams were: electricity.


- Lucy and Andy are cheek to cheek at the sheriff station. Lucy keeps talking about the lights going on, and now knowing the end of Part 18, it's hard not to associate it with that.


- The part about hand signals not working in the dark was funny and true. And since it dealt with hands, it has to be pointed out.


- Andy declares to Lucy that if she had gone into labor in a dark elevator he would have helped deliver the baby "infront of God and everybody." This declaration melts Lucy's heart, leading to them mutually confessing their love.

Billy would have appreciated a father like Andy, whom, even if he isn't the baby's father, wants it and would do anything to keep it safe and let people know it was his. His grandfather not having wanted him, added to the abuse and the concealed fact that he was also his father, made Billy's life a hell where he probably wished he hadn't been born.


- Cooper is busy studying the petroglyph, while Harry has deputies in three counties looking for Earle...but not a lot of the regular Twin Peaks force it seems.


- Dale believes that the only chance they have of finding Windom lies in the Owl Cave map. He starts looking at it and says, "Giant, little man, fire, fire walk with me. Fire walk with me."

He's obviously connecting the picture of a tall figure beside a shorter one with the Giant and the Arm. The fire he connects with the words written at Laura's murder site...but it's the way that he says it the first time, almost wistfully, longingly which is strange. It's so creepy infact that Harry turns around to look at him, like he's more than a little disturbed too. And why shouldn't he be? Those words were sad by a psychotic madman or demon, depending on what you believe, and written in blood at a horrifying murder site. Why would Cooper say them?

Why? We believe it's because he is Billy, as well as the real murderer, and that that will also be hinted to him when he finally does find, Earle. Now though, a part of him might be nostalgically remembering the event on some subconscious level and wanting it more than to even locate Annie. We are reasoning, afterall, that this is Billy truly surrendering to his dark urges and that Cooper, the good Dale, partly aided that with his repression, weakness and probably even curiosity.


- When Pete comes in, claiming the Log Lady stole his truck and drove it into the woods, Cooper informs him that she didn't and she will be there in a minute. How did he know that precise time? He has inside information, being so closely connected to the dreamer afterall.


- Pete's comment does seem to spark something in Cooper's mind, though, and he realizes the woods must be what the map shows...in particular Ghostwood forest. Harry repeats Ghostwood.

Now those are the same woods that have been talked about throughout the series, particularly how Ben Horne began the process of threatening them for his own benefit. It's been a constant plot since the very same episode where Laura's body washed up on shore. It is Ghostwood we believe that symbolized Billy/Cooper's mother (Audrey) and whose desecration was equal to the abuse she suffered at her father's hands, an abuse that brought about Billy himself. So that Cooper, and even Harry, whom have really kept their distance from that whole Ghostwood Development plot are now singling it out and naming it by name seems incredibly important.


- Pete next bemoans the 12 rainbow trout he had in the bed, which reminds Harry of the 12 Sycamores in Glastonbury Grove.

We have to wonder, were any of these trout caught when Pete took Audrey fishing in the moonlight, up at Pearl Lakes, following her intimacy with Jack?


- Hawk recalls that that was where he found the bloody towel and diary pages.

We still point out that that is a long distance for Leland to have walked with a severed aorta. Just saying.


- Coop snaps his fingers and recognizes the name as the same place where King Arthur was buried.

Now, as an interesting fact here, when Mr. C pays Audrey Horne a visit, it outright echoes the original Sleeping Beauty which involved the characters Zellandine and Troylus. Instead of a kiss, the hero had sex with the sleeping heroine and that resulted in her pregnancy, which she slept during. She gave birth while she was still asleep and it was only her son, whom sucked on her finger, that led to her awakening. The son's name was BENuic. Yeah, that's not the same as Richard, but that might have been too repetitive. Ben Horne is played by a Richard, however. Kind of like how Jack was played by a Billy. But getting back to King Arthur, the son of the original sleeping beauty grew up to be an ancestor of Sir Lancelot, King Arthur's illustrious knight. And besides that, you want to know whom urged Troylus to sleep with the sleeping Zellandine? Venus. The same statue which haunts the Red Room.


- The Log Lady soon appears with a jar of oil her husband brought back, shortly before he died, and said, "This oil is an opening to a gateway." Cooper looks excited as he opens it, saying "Intriguing, isn't it?" Annie still seems somewhat of an after thought to him. Harry and he smell the oil and recognize the scorched engine oil smell from what Jacoby told them.


- Poor Ronette, whom was forgotten until now, enters the conference room and Dale asks her if she recognizes the smell, scaring her terribly in the process. She whimpers that she smelled it the night Laura died.

We theorized that Ronette here is actually the real Laura, and that Cooper masks her real killer, so this moment is secretly very interesting, just like how Cooper purposely frightens her, just as Windom enjoys doing to people.

We've also theorized that when BOB was particularly angry/murderous and was wearing out his host, it created this same smell. What's interesting though is that both Dougie and Mr. C seem to flat out barf this oil up at the threat of returning to the Red Room. The Red Room is technically home for them. So going home has the same effect of them, even though Dougie isn't even possessed by BOB!


- Windom takes Annie to Glastonbury Grove. He seems even more off of his rocker than usual and Lynch's portrayal of him is different than the script. He seems to indicate that Cooper won't be coming for Annie. In the script, it's outright stated that it's because Windom lies and says he killed Dale, in an attempt to frighten Annie. Here, Lynch leaves it more vague, leaving it possible that Windom believes that, should Dale come, it will be for another reason, not Annie herself. Actually, Windom doesn't seem to want to scare Annie. She just sort of becomes scared and goes into a trance when he pulls her into the circle of sycamores, which are either very young or very sick or both (just like Billy's inner perpetually juvenile self).

Windom even states, "You'll not run from me now, not in this circle of trees. You'll come with me," but why, how? What about that has made her under his control? Is it because she's a woman? Is that why Diane doesn't go near it in Part 18? Is it linked to Audrey's fear of her father and child?


- Windom also quotes to her from an old religious song, "I tell you, they have not died. Their hands clasp, yours and mine."

We argue that to Billy his dead have not died either. He keeps them locked away or disguised safely inside of his dream.


- The Red Room curtains appear and Windom leads Annie into the Red Room.


- Norma, Ed, Nadine, Mike and Will Hayward are gathered at The Hurley House. Nadine seems zoned out and hurt from the sandbag. Mike looks also injured, and will claim a tree hurt him. That sounds more like what happened to Bobby with the log...and Bobby looks fine. Was there a mixup? Another odd thing is that Norma doesn't look concerned at all that her baby sister has been abducted by a homicidal maniac. Probably because that really wasn't her sister at all, but something Billy wedged in to suit the dreamer's need.


- Mike is saying how much he realized Nadine meant to him when she was wounded and that now he knows he loves her and would do anything for her.

This could echo Billy's own feelings for his mother. He suffered doubts about that, because of what she had done to him, but when the Dutchman's caught on fire, and he lost her, probably even hearing her screams, he understood that he did love her, even if it is something he is still running away from facing.


- Nadine snaps out of it then. She remembers her age, reacts to Mike with disgust and horror, Norma with sadness, confusion over where her drape runners are and desperation with Ed, wanting him to help explain it all.

This can work on different levels. It could be what Billy's mother would have felt, if she'd been in her own right frame of mind. That she would have looked at her son as only her son, a much younger boy, and been horrified at any thought of sexualizing him. It can also foreshadow, what Cooper is going to experience in the Lodge as well, a sort of awakening to the truth.

Nadine pointing out her drape runners could instantly recall the drapes in the Red Room. We've already wondered if they were partly symbolic of a certain part of a woman's anatomy and how it relates to motherhood, something that will echo in the Cooper sequences too.


- Mike stands up and apologizes, saying, "I'm sorry, Ed. I think I let things get a little out of hand."

We have hands being referenced again and a man named Mike seeming to take accountability for his mistakes. This kind of reminds us of the other MIKE. In The Return, Mike will seem to have become responsible as well, owning a car dealership and chastising Steven when he comes in for what he sees as his own irresponsibility. That that deals with cars is interesting with the already established theme of vehicles. However, Mike in The Return, also comes across as unnecessarily harsh with Steven and has a cluttered office, indicating some faults of his own. We still see MIKE as being representative of Billy's uncle, whom could probably be viewed as the born again and helpful MIKE or the harsh and demanding Mike, depending on however Billy was feeling that day.


- At the Haywards, a fire burns in the fireplace - remember, besides the Great Northern and One-Eyed Jack's the Hayward place hosted the most fires - and Donna is preparing to leave, as Eileen and Ben try to make her stay. Ben says it wasn't her parents fault, it was his. Donna counters that she's unsure who her parents are anymore.

Shades of Billy.


- Ben says "I only wanted to do good. I wanted to be good. And it felt so good to tell the truth after all these years."

Okay, so apparently Ben placed his own needs before the welfare of the Haywards, calling it good when it was just another form of being self centered, just like when he pushed Audrey into the Miss Twin Peaks contest. It's just like Will said, goodness in Ben Horne was a time bomb. Which brings us to how, when a secret has been revealed, they often say that the person dropped a bomb or bombshell. That is what Ben has done in a way, and it involves his having fathered a child with a woman he shouldn't have been with. Now isn't that what we almost see in direct relation with Trinity? A bomb goes off and there is a birth?

The real bomb that was dropped was that Billy was fathered by his grandfather. This truth was destructive when it happened (Billy's creation) and the ramifications of it long reaching, like the effect of a nuclear bomb. In fact, it hurt others in the future even, because the badly damaged Billy refused to accept or acknowledge certain truths stemming from that and instead forced others to feel his pain.


- Will walks in now, and angrily demands that Ben get out of his house, something the man he is named for, William Hastings, wishes he could have done with the man whom both began and wrecked his life too.


- Coincidentally, Ben asks, "Will, can you forgive me for what I have done to you?"

Billy will not forgive his father.


- Now Sylvia Horne seemingly pops out of nowhere. We haven't seen her since the first season. She asks Ben, "What are you trying to do to this family?"

And just when we're thinking, maybe she went to see Audrey at Miss Twin Peaks, and was waiting in the car for Ben, her husband says, "Sylvia, I told you to stay home," indicating that none of those theories are true.

Why is she here? She isn't in the script...but Lynch wanted her for some reason and then purposely has dialogue that proves she in fact came out of nowhere. We mean, Ben could have easily said, "Sylvia, I told you to wait in the car." Instead, he invokes the word home and says that is where she should be.

We theorize that, for Lynch, with this whole thing having secretly revolved around the horrible secret that Ben and Audrey are Billy's parents he wanted/needed Audrey's mother to be present somehow to have both of her parents present as well. Her own words here can even be about their own family, not the Haywards "What are you trying to do to this family?"


- Donna desperately cries that Will is her daddy, leading to a violent confrontation between Will and Ben, the former of whom seems to grab the latter and push him into the fireplace, where he cracks his head and falls to the floor as cries of horror ring out through the house.

Now, in the script, Ben was supposed to hit his head on the coffee table. Lynch changed it to a fireplace, one with a fire burning inside of it.

This directly correlates to the belief that this is all related to BOB and Billy. We just had the only Bill in the OG push Ben violently towards the fire, endangering his life. BOB, we have reasoned is really a version of Billy's father, Ben, a creation that haunts and takes over him sometime.

We also have Ben's last scene now, until The Return, involve him having received a head injury while his face is covered in blood, that directly mirrors, excuse the pun, Mr. C's own last scene, where he sustained the same sort of injury, his face covered in blood, while he has the reflection of BOB. Cooper/Mr. C being Billy's favored avatar, we say, like father like son once again.


- Seeing what he has done, Will falls to his knees on the floor, letting out a violent scream of pain/rage, that isn't too far off from BOB's. He then sits in front of the fire, holding his head in his hands. We will often see William "Billy" Hayward doing exactly the same thing in his few scenes in The Return, drawing a link between both characters, besides from just their names. Ben Horne will also be seen holding his head in similar fashion following a phone call from Sylvia, regarding Richard, one that leads him to betray his better impulses and ask Beverly out.


- Andrew sneaks to the cake saver and discovers that the key is just like one he has from the Twin Peaks Savings and Loan. He switches the key, and Pete catches him, expressing disappointment.

Here we have the key that will help lead to Audrey's conception of Richard. We also have Andrew substituting it to prevent Catherine from finding out. Billy does this several times in his dream, substituting something with another, like his brunette victims for blondes. However, we suspect Billy is doing it more or less to keep himself from finding out.


- Harry and Cooper go to Ghostwood. Shortly before reaching Glastonbury Grove, on foot, Cooper stops by a group of trees, seems to meditate, and then tells Harry he has to go alone, much to Harry's confusion and dismay. What's odd is how, when Cooper tells him this, he sounds more like Mr. C than the Coop we know. Why was he stopping? Gathering strength, insight? Inviting BOB in?

What's also fascinating is how Lynch amplifies the sound of frogs on the soundtrack at this point. That easily recalls the frogmoth to mind. That we're also in Ghostwood at this time, is great, since we're suggesting that Ghostwood symbolizes Audrey and the sequence of the frogmoth entering the New Mexico Girl is directly related to Audrey's conception of Richard. Shortly, we will also see Audrey inside of a Bank, leading up to her pregnancy, as in Teresa Banks. The grandson (Billy) was seen hanging around her homes, and to have once been jumping around with the frogmoth mask on while she was in the vicinity. The frogs now amplified and croaking in Ghostwood seems highly connected to a depiction of Audrey being pregant with the grandson/Billy.


- A little while later, Coop hears an owl hooting to go along with the frogs croaking, and finds one looking down at him.

Owls were linked to Lodge spirits, and we see these as both being representations of the Hornes/Billy's family.


- Cooper soon finds the sycamores and the oil pool, which is once again called, "An opening to a gateway." Following the footprints, the curtains appear and Dale enters, without any of the trance business Annie faced. Hmmm...The rational Harry, whom has been watching is shocked.

Okay...we're still suggesting that the circle of trees is highly symbolic of female anatomy - the red curtains, the hole like gateway, the trees - and we still suggest this all secretly has to do with Billy's birth. Remember too, the story of Adonis' birth, how his mother gave birth to him, as a tree, following the incestuous relationship she had with their mutual father. That Cooper is entering it and will find himself again, or that darker part of himself that he's been denying, plus the hints he killed Laura, only strengthens the belief that this is all about one man's conception and birth and the monster he became partly because of it.


- Cooper enters the gateway and BAM! we discover it's the place of his dream from the end of the second episode. We see another Venus at the end of this hall, one without her arms.

We believe that the Venus statues are highly symbolic of Audrey Horne as well. As already mentioned, in the script, she was referred to a Botticelli-like beauty. In the halls of One-Eyed Jack's, as seen when Dale went to rescue Audrey, Titian's "Venus with a Mirror" was seen which was inspired by the Venus statue seen in the main room of the Red Room. Audrey was seen holding a mirror in her last scene, just as her first echoed the color scheme of the Red Room's floor. Venus also directly cursed Adonis' mother to fall in love with her own father, making her somewhat the creator of the love of her life: Adonis. She also had Troylus sleep with the sleeping Zellandine, which led to her pregnancy, which is what occurs between Audrey and Mr. C.

So we also find a deeper meaning to the exact position of Venus' arms in the Red Room, especially in regard to its connection to MIKE having cut his own off. We suggest the Venus statue not having arms either betrays her vulnerability (that Billy's mother was defenseless against her father's abuse) or that he envisions her this way to deny/prevent his own abuse by her. These statues appear in the hallways leading into the Red Room. Likewise, the Venus in the main room possesses arms she uses to shield and cover herself, which might show Billy's desire to protect his mother.


- As Cooper enters the main room, the room goes dark and the light flashing associated with BOB begins, which is unsettling.

Jimmy Scott appears singing The Sycamore Trees song, the lyrics of which are:

"Under the sycamore tree
And I'll see you
And you'll see me
And I'll see you in the branches
That blew in the breeze
I'll see you in the trees
I'll see you in the trees
Under the sycamore tree"

An instrumental of this plays when BOB takes Leland to Red Room in FWWM.

Now, can the lyrics specifically involve Cooper meeting his doppleganger, or, in a way, his true self?

Suddenly the Arm appears, dancing across the floor to the chair where Dale dreamt he was sitting. He turns and looks at Cooper as Jimmy continues to sing, and Cooper stands there with a strange look on his face, the lights still flashing. Eventually Jimmy disappears but Dale still stands there, BOB's light flashing all around and lighting up his face, still wearing the odd expression.

We believe that this is strongly hinting that Cooper is BOB.


- Outside, as the frogs are still heard croaking, Andy approaches the grove and Harry calls him over.


- Next, it's daylight and we see some shots of the forest, but even stranger, we see the bridge that Ronette was crossing over, the same event that led to Agent Cooper coming to Twin Peaks.

Why is that being centered on now? Because it is extremely important, this all dealing with Dale and his coming to Twin Peaks, just as it is dealing with Billy having been conceived and born. Remember too, that we theorize that Ronette was the true Laura, the girl that Billy really killed. That was the event that led to his creating Laura and Twin Peaks. It is all entwined inside of his mind.


- Outside of the Lodge, at Glastonbury Grove, Harry and Andy sit on a fallen tree. Harry comments it's been 10 hours since Coop went in. Andy proceeds to ask Harry if he'd like several items: a thermos of coffee, a plate special, dessert.

Harry replies yes to all of them.

Except for when Andy asks if he wants pie. Then Harry stares at the oil pool as Andy repeats his name a few times.

Okay, a few episodes back, Margaret went on about pies and we drew the connection between them and, once again, their connection to a certain part of the female anatomy. We're going to draw that again here, and how we believe much of this has all been circling around the subject of Billy's birth. Pies are circular, a constant theme throughout Twin Peaks. The pool of oil that Harry is staring at is circular too. And now, as he stares at it, we see a tree reflected in its darkness. Trees have been connected to people in the series. They are also phallic symbols. So we have either an image of birth or conception being seen, but one linked with a darkness, the oil of BOB generally not connected with anything good. So that links back to Billy...and it links to Cooper and his association with pies, Harry now rethinking if he wants any. It falls back to when Harry was unnerved back at the station when Dale uttered "Fire Walk With Me."

Something about Cooper, that oil pool and pies is disturbing Harry. And this is at Glastonbury Grove, after he saw the red curtains, which are often reflected in the oil pool too, and can also link to birthing imagery. We theorize that Harry senses this deals with conception and birth, but not in any good way.

- Maybe to go along with this all, we now go to the Twin Peaks Savings and Loans, specifically an older woman lying asleep at the New Accounts desk, with a file cabinet behind her showing the date 1985.

New Accounts could certainly go along with the idea of birthing and creation. We've also already speculated that the old woman sleeping, and the date 1985, might indicate that Billy lost his grandmother in 1985, when he was 12. That corresponds with the age Laura was when she says BOB started "having" her. It also goes with the year of Cooper/Caroline/Windom in Pittsburgh, when Caroline died, something BOB intimately was acquainted with. We theorize that this was around when Billy began to maybe flirt with the idea of BOB. Perhaps creating him to deal with the horrors of his existence. After having lived in the room above the Convenience Store, with his grandmother, the place where his father was raised, we speculate he might have learned a bit more about his father and used that to inform the concept/idea of BOB. It's a theory but one which goes along nicely with what we see here and the belief that it was preceded by Harry's own discomfort at birth related imagery.


- Soon Audrey walks in, talking to an employee of the bank, called Dell Mibbler, a man whom is very elderly and slow, just like the waiter. She chains herself to the vault doors, in protest of Ghostwood development, and demands that the paper be informed.

Now, the bank vault doors, like most vault doors, are circular, due to them offering better security that way. Audrey framing herself in the middle of one, returns to the imagery of the previous sequence at Glastonbury Grove, and yet adds the direct presentation that she has been chained. Speaking of Greek mythology, here Audrey even looks like Perseus' (the man who killed his father and whose conception was also depicted on the walls of One-Eyed Jack's) love Adromeda chained to the rocks as a sacrifice to the sea monster (more phallic imagery there).

The rape of Billy's mother and his birth is thus presented as a sacrifice involving money, still hearkening to the thread woven through that the son holds some sort of belief and resentment over the perception that he believes his mother was chained to the wealth and comfort her father provided for them. This can even link to the picture, Danae, seen at One-Eyed Jack's, wherein Perseus is conceived in the depiction of gold raining down on Danae and her maid.

Before her conception with the frogmoth, the New Mexico girl found a penny, as well, linking back to this general theme.


- Inexplicably, Audrey asks Dell for a glass of water, after having chained herself. Why didn't she bring water? Why not take some before? Why is she asking for water now? Does it betray her lack of foresight?

What it does do is link this sequence once again to the New Mexico Girl and her being impregnated by the frogmoth. For wasn't it during a Broadcast where the woodsman repeated, "This is the water and this is the well, drink full and descend," that the girl became unconscious and easy prey for the frogmoth, just as Audrey becomes easy prey for Mr. C?

Mibbler is seen giving her the water, which Audrey drinks.


- Soon Andrew and Pete show up, and Dell expresses shock, having been to the funeral. "But the funeral. And all of the flowers, and the choir boys," he exclaims.

Billy similarly brings people back from the dead.


- Dell informs them that there is going to be a problem, meaning Audrey. Pete and she greet one another warmly and she tells Andrew that she's performing an act of civil disobedience. Andrew sees no problem and Audrey let's them into the vault.

Isn't that not what Audrey's supposed to do? She's trying to disrupt the business from going on as usual, instead she's turned herself into an unwanted decoration.


- Anyway, Audrey reminds Dell to phone the Gazette and then says to contact the sheriff...and to ask for Agent Cooper. So Cooper's been included to this scene, which we believe once again is swirling around his/Billy's conception/birth.


- While Pete and Andrew are led to the box and about to open it, a phone rings in the bank and Audrey looks on as a guard answers it and cries happily, "A boy? It's a boy! It's a boy, it's a boy."

This bit is not scripted. This bit involves a phone ringing in a bank and the announcement that a boy is about to be born...right before a bomb goes off, leading to Audrey giving birth to a boy, which is in perfect balance with the Trinity bomb going off and leading to the birth of BOB and the frogmoth!

Can you get a better piece of the puzzle for this theory? Equal, yes, but better is debatable. Lynch appears to know exactly what he was doing.


- And so the safety deposit box that fits Eckhardt's key is 14761 which equals to 19 on the numerology path and then to 10...1. The number of completion.

And as if echoing that sentiment, as they open it Andrew says, "We've come to the end of a long road, Pete. And here we are."

That is very fitting. This has all been about Billy, and how he has worked down his own long road towards the telling of the tale of his creation, and now this is leading to it again, as well as his rebirth into a monster.

There are lines from T.S. Eliot's Little Gidding which help sum it up perfectly.

"We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;

That can be found in Eliot's Four Quartets, a book which is seen in Audrey and Charlie's house, resting on the fireplace, a fire blazing inside it, during Audrey's first scene in The Return.

Interesting to note here another poem found in the book, one called Burnt Norton, which contains the lines, "Time present and time past, Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past."

Perhaps everything exists all at once inside of Billy's dream then, his beginning and down fall happening all at once.


- The deposit door opens and there Andrew and Pete find the bomb left for them by Thomas, the bank explodes and Lynch gets a shot of poor Dell's glasses falling on a tree as money rains down...which once again echoes the painting by Titian of Perseus' conception.


- We go to the Double R next and find Garland and Betty sitting all lovey and dovey in a booth. Did Briggs ever save Shelly? He didn't need to, of course, but he should have saved Leo, at least instead of making out with his wife in a restaurant.


- In the same place, Bobby proposes to Shelly, whom reminds him she's still wearing Leo's ring, which actually gives weight to the theory that one of the meanings for the Owl Cave ring, within the dream narrative Billy had worked out, is that it "marries" the wearer to MIKE, thus preventing them from being possessed by BOB.


- They both mimic dogs barking, which is reminiscent of what Bobby and Mike did to James while they were all imprisoned.


- Next moment, Heidi comes in and we practically repeat her scene from the Pilot, where a joke is made about jumpstarting her old man. Once again, we have the theme of time loops, repeats and simultaneous time playing out.


- Bobby tells Shelly that Leo's probably up in the woods having the time of his life, which he is doing nothing of the sort, still keeping the string in his mouth to hold the spiders up.


- Now Jacoby comes in with Sarah Palmer, whom had been about as forgotten as Ronette until this episode. Jacoby wears a cape and has a tie with a key pattern. Capes are often worn by magicians, the Magician in Mulholland Drive gave the key, presumably, to Betty and Rita. The Magician holds the key.


- Sarah apparently knew that the Major would be there and has a message for him. In a distorted voice she says, "I'm in the Black Lodge with Dale Cooper."

There's been much speculation about this one for years. Is it Windom, Judy? Who is talking through Sarah? We're not actually sure. Here's a possibility though, that isn't discussed much. In one possible path, we will reason for The Return that Sarah isn't possessed by the big bad spirit Experiment/Judy(Billy's mom) but by the little bad (at least to Billy) spirit of Experiment Model/Judy, as in her daughter Laura. Billy/Cooper's opinion of Laura tainted by her whisper, he exiled her from the Red Room, we theorize, turning her into the dark and vengeful Laura whom is out for blood and possessing her mother, Sarah. The real world equivalent of this would be the victim of Billy's first victim/American Girl becoming aware that Billy really murdered her daughter and coming after him for justice. However, here, at this time, Sarah would be a vulnerable host for the good Laura. This could be why Billy is imagining her possessed by this Laura and believing that she would be trying to enlist Brigg's help in saving Cooper.

In any case, Briggs seems to get the message, even if we don't.


- We then get a shot of the Red Room hallway, minus any Venus statue, and hear a distorted voice saying "I'm waiting for you." Is that the same voice as before? It might be...it might not be. We don't know for sure. It would make logical sense if it was though, this being part of the message for Briggs. Otherwise we're not sure who is waiting for whom.


- As we return to the Red Room, now is as good a time as any to mention some significant differences between what was scripted and what ended up being filmed. Foremost, we have to comment that when Cooper first entered the Black Lodge in the original script he found himself in a shabby motel with a handicapped clerk whom called it "Home". Cooper was supposed to turn into a 10 year old boy, which he flips in and out of. Soon the clerk transforms into an old man Cooper recognizes as his father, although the man doesn't seem to recognize him, listing off the motel amenities instead. When Cooper practically begs for his help, then his father gives him a key.

Okay so this is very telling in its own omitted way. Cooper turns into a small boy...ahem the grandson. His home appears to be a shabby motel...double ahem the Dutchman/Red City Motel. His father works there...triple ahem, Ben Horne. We doubt that Frost intended this, but we believe that Lynch knew what it meant to him and...it meant he couldn't show any of it. Not with raising too many questions and harming his mystery. Especially to show Cooper's father. Although, Mark Frost probably wouldn't have realized it, David would have known it would be Benjamin Horne. He couldn't get around that. So it was easier to show a place he already knew partly represented "Home" to Billy/The Dreamer: The Red Room. Later, for FWWM, Lynch then did include Frost's ideas, but in a way that still preserved the mystery. Afterall, to David Lynch, if the real mystery to Twin Peaks was answered, the dream would literally be over. But he did respect his partner's ideas, and eventually got around to them when he introduced the Red Diamond City Motel and had the grandson haunting it, which, in a way IS Cooper's childhood self. It just happens to be Billy's too.

The bit with Cooper's father giving him the key also resurfaced for The Return, when Ben Horne give Frank Truman the key to give to Harry, but Cooper intercepts it along the way in Part 17. This helped maintain the theme of Harry, and extension Frank, being an imagined father figure to Billy. However, the key really came from Ben, his real father.

The next interesting fact about the original script for the finale is how Cooper was to find himself then suddenly at the Great Northern, a dark ominous version done in black and white with a checkerboard floor.

That was to be where Dale encountered his doppleganger.

Finally after some discussion with Windom over their respective quests for enlightenment, Cooper found himself in the Red Room.

Which is a good place to get back to now in the filmed version.


- Cooper and the Arm sit in the chairs they did during Cooper's dream.

The Arm appears to be glaring at Dale. He tells him, "When you see me again, it won't be me," then he stands up and kicks himself. Suddenly he seems all happy.

A thought we always have here is that the Arm knows that this present Coop is going to tell Laura in the dream from the past to not take the ring he is offering her, and is upset over that...at the same time, it also hasn't happened yet. So, this is why we can't help but feel that he stands up and kicks himself, and says when Dale sees him again it won't be him: It was his blissfully ignorant self he was referring to, not his doppleganger.


- We should mention now how everyone speaks Lodgespeak, even Windom and Annie, other than Dale Cooper, possibly because he is the dreamer/Billy.


- Now the Arm tells Dale this is the waiting room and offers him coffee. Interesting to note hospitals and maternity wards have waiting rooms for when mothers are about to give birth.


- The Arm tells him too that some of his friends are here.


- Laura appears and greets him, giving him a wink.

Now a wink is similar to the touching of the nose, as she did in the Red Room sequence in season one: they both indicate that the person knows some secret about the other. In this case, we suspect it is Laura indicating that she knows Cooper killed her and that he is really Billy.


- Laura snaps her fingers, as the grandson did, but in a completely different way, it being more of a flick. Does this indicate that she is different from him?


- She says she'll see him again in 25 years, and then gives a symbol with her hands after the declaration "Meanwhile."

This will be used at the start of The Return, and seems to indicate that Cooper will be trapped in the Red Room for 25 years. The symbol she gives appears similar to the sign language for tree, and given the circles of trees around the entrance to the Red Room, as well as the theme of trees and people in Twin Peaks, this seems likely. Generally, Red Room Laura seems to know all of Cooper's secrets. Did the ring he didn't want her to take help her become knowledgeable about them?


- Laura vanishes and the elderly waiter soon takes her place, making a whooping sound followed by a "Hallelujah" one the Arm repeats.

The Arm will make the same sound in FWWM. Is it supposed to sound like a Native American war cry, an owl, a fan, wings? We're still not sure. But any of them would fit.


- The waiter stands and moves towards Cooper to offer him coffee, repeating the word over and over again. Suddenly, he's the Giant, whom goes and sits down in the same spot as the waiter, informing Dale that he and the waiter are, "One and the same."


- The Giant disappears now, as Dale turns his coffee cup around and the Arm runs his hands together in the same way he did in Dale's dream, the ringing sound heard again.

The hand rubbing gives the appearance that the arm is checking something or waiting in anticipation.



- Cooper goes to drink the coffee, which frankly resembles the oil pool outside the Lodge now, what with the white rin of the glass. only to find it solid, which seems to please the arm. However, it immediately becomes weak and spills out in the next moment and the Arm looks somewhat shocked and disappointed as he turns to where BOB is seen standing at the end of FWWM. As the Arm says "Wow BOB wow," almost in congratulations, the coffee suddenly becomes the oil that represents a gateway.

We theorize the coffee symbolizes the character of Cooper/Billy, what the Giant ultimately discovered while helping him try to solve Laura's murder and prevent Maddie's death. He seemed strong, unopened to evil, but soon proved to be weak when he arrested Ben and not Leland. Now he proves vulnerable to being BOB's next vehicle, a gateway for BOB to exit from.

Looked at through another lens, Cooper arrested Ben, which we theorized showed a weakness in his character. It also might betray how Billy is quick to blame his father for his actions instead of taking accountability for them himself. For whatever reason, it betrayed the fact that when the time came Billy was destined to be overpowered by his darkness, and his goodness too weak to overpower it, illustrated by Dale falling to his own shadow self.


- With the oil and the Arms words "Fire Walk With Me," which we believe is either an invitation to BOB or represents the act of being possessed/controlled by him, we see a flash of fire and hear a scream, before the room goes dark again, the flashing BOB light returns and Dale is sitting there alone.

We believe this indicates that Dale is soon to fall, his darkness being set free with BOB as his partner. This also represents how Billy is going to give in to the evil within him and turn fully into a serial killer. The flash of fire, and the woman screaming is most likely Laura, and the fact that he killed her, but could also be the fire that Billy started at the Red Diamond City Motel that killed his mother, the scream secretly being hers instead, but this buried even deeper in his subconscious.


- Cooper leaves the room and enters a room that looks exactly the same. When he backtracks, it's to find the Arm back and sitting in the chair again, pointing at him and saying, almost like an accusation, "Wrong way."

This we theorize is the Arm (Billy's uncle?) basically telling him that he's going about this (navigating his path) the wrong way, making the wrong choices and making poor decisions, like not facing himself or acknowledging his mistakes or darkness. He's destined to fail because he's depending on himself without acknowledging himself, meaning he is at war with himself rather than at peace. In truth, just as the coffee revealed, Dale Cooper failed before he took one step into the Red Room, just as the Giant probably found out while trying to help him.

- Going to another room, Cooper encounters an almost hysterical doppleganger of the Arm, whom announces "Another friend," before going behind the chairs and hiding behind them. The friend in question is Maddie's doppleganger, whom warns "Watch out for my cousin." Cooper turns, looks back and leaves and Maddie's dopple vanishes.

Is the Dopple frightened of Maddie's dopple? Or is the Arm's dopple more scared of Cooper? Does it fall in line with the version of it in The Return also seemingly being angry at him? And does Maddie's dopple seem to know that Laura's dopple won't like Dale? Why would she think he should watch out for her cousin? Are all of the dopplegangers aware of what Cooper is, being familiar with his own doppleganger?


- Cooper goes to the next room and finds it completely empty, except when he moves forward, the Arm's dopple is dancing oddly by his legs. "Doppleganger," it says.


- Cooper looks up to find Laura's doppleganger, giving the symbol that Laura was last seen giving. Maddie was right to warn Dale, for Laura is looking at him in pure, angry hatred. "Meanwhile," she says before screaming bloody murder at him, as the room darkens and flashes again. The shot goes farther back, and we see that she is on a red chair that consists of two joined together, one facing Coop, the other not. Laura's dopple, still screaming, climbs over to the one not facing Dale and then makes a frantic run at the frightened Cooper, taking hold of her skirt, and looking like she's in attack/defense mode. An inverted shot of Windom is shown as Dale turns around in fear and runs away, right out of the room and down the hall and into the next. Meanwhile, Laura's dopple keeps screaming.

Okay. So this is what Laura Palmer has repressed/hidden. This is indicated by the chair she climbs backwards over, one side facing, the other one not. And what has been hidden you ask? That she is terrified and hates Dale Cooper himself! Meanwhile, Coop, warned not to show fear inside of the Lodge, directly gives in to his terror. Why? Yes, Laura Dopple was screaming, but she was not touching him at all, she seemed more worried he would hurt her. Why was Dale frightened? He supposedly understood and pitied Laura, why the sudden about face? Because, we argue, it was the first sign that he had something horrible that he was hiding and it involved Laura herself! Remember too, that we found out in FWWM that Laura was screaming at Cooper in the woods. Why is Dopple Laura terrified of Dale? Because he killed her.

Why does Windom pop up laughing then? Because he is pleased at the indication that Cooper isn't as pure as he's been portrayed and that the truth is coming out. The shot of Windom itself is inverted. Remember how he was the one to discover that the Owl Cave symbol needed to be inverted to reveal the map. Remember too how a mirror reflection is flipped. It's along the same lines of the speculation that Billy substitutes his brunette victims in his dream with blondes to help hide the truth from himself. In an inverted photograph, dark becomes light. This is helped shown during the inverted Windom too. This inverted Windom is quite happy that the Good Dale is the one whom is secretly evil.


- Cooper enters another room only to find that he is badly bleeding. This will soon be revealed as the wound he received in Pittsburgh, and yet it is also the same place Leland has his wound at the end of FWWM. The fact that Dale also is shown having it directly AFTER encountering Laura's doppleganger leaves us wondering if his fear over her wounded him in any way. We reason, afterall, that he killed her and is trying to deny that fact, creating a subsequent terror. If that wound was shown on Leland, at the end of FWWM, as a sign of his guilt in having written "Fire Walk With Me" at the murder site, and remember how trying to identify and match the blood type to it was always important, than why is Cooper shown having the wound? We believe it's to indicate that Dale was the one whom actually wrote the note, the same reason why he might have said it back at the station. With this in mind, the end of FWWM, when BOB heals Leland's wound, might in fact be a way of showing BOB ERASING the wound instead and how it never truly belonged to the man. Why else show Cooper receiving the wound directly following his terror at seeing the vengeful Laura Dopple?


- A wounded Coop goes back to the hallway, still bleeding, only to go into a room and see himself lying, wounded, on the floor next to the similarly bloody and dead Caroline. Caroline switches to Annie, wearing the same dress and having the same wound. She tries to sit up, and looks around in an unnerving way, as Cooper calls out her name. Soon the flashing lights return and the figures on the floor are gone.

This is obviously a flashback to Pittsburgh, but one melding with current events and revealing that Cooper is mixing up Caroline and Annie. This is a big clue that Billy is guilty of the same thing, unable to differentiate women from the love of his life: his mother. And similarly to how she died, the other women he targets die too.


- Back in another room, Cooper finds Annie in her Miss Twin Peaks dress and normal eyes, indicating she's not a doppleganger. She speaks Lodgespeak, as she walks towards him, telling him that she saw the face of the man who killed her and that it was her husband. Dale is confused and calls her Annie, only for the woman to ask, "Who's Annie?" Suddenly it's Caroline's Dopple saying "It's me." Suddenly it's back to normal Annie, in Caroline's dress, telling Dale that he must be mistaken and that she's alive, as she touches his face.

Hammering home again, Dale's confusion between the love of his life and his latest romance, and clearly betraying the same confusion that Billy faces when he becomes attracted to a woman, believing she is his mother, brought back to life.


- Now the Laura Dopple is back, once again screaming bloody murder at Dale Cooper.

This is bonechilling when we realize that the last topic of discussion had just been Caroline seeing the face of the man who killer her and it was her husband. It goes straight back to Harold Smith words that the ultimate secret was knowing who killed you. Loudly, but vaguely, Laura's hidden self is trying to convey to us, and to Dale, that she also saw the face of the man who killed her...and it was him. Just as her true self, American Girl, saw his true self, Billy, before he murdered her. This also implies that Laura/American Girl were killed because Coop/Billy can't separate the women he is attracted to from the woman he first loved, just as Caroline and Annie are interchangeable inside of his mind.


- Notice the weird gold and black pedestal the ring usually rests on in the background throughout this scene, and how it changes positions. What does this mean?


- Suddenly Windom is standing there instead. With the strange gold and black pedestal in the background, more off to his side, he shows Dale an unharmed Annie. When she disappears, another pedestal is in her place, beside the other. Are the pedestals representations of individuals? Is this when she received the ring?


- Windom says if Cooper gives him his soul he'll let Annie live and Cooper agrees, just the one pedestal seen between them now. Cooper falls to the floor, only for a burst of fire to be seen and the action immediacy reversed, screaming heard.

Hmmm...does the pedestal represent Billy? A mix of gold and black like the gateways to the respective Lodges? And why does Coop give his soul so fast? How can he trust Windom? And what would that mean for the rest of the world if he theorized Earle would use the power of the Lodge for bad? Is Dale, like Ben, putting his own desires first?


- Cooper watches in the now dark room, the lights flashing again, as BOB squats by a kneeling, screaming Windom Earle. BOB laughs at the other villain. BOB tells Earle to be quiet, which silences him, but doesn't stop the actual action. He then informs Cooper that Windom was wrong because he couldn't ask for his soul. He then takes his, which looks like fire shooting out from Earle, whom soon becomes dead. There is one of those pedestals behind them (does the fire go to it?) and it might be connected to Earle this time.

Now why did BOB save Cooper? And what does it mean that he couldn't ask for his soul? Was it Cooper's in particular he couldn't for or is asking for one wrong? In any case, BOB came to Dale's rescue. We reason, it is because Billy always had wanted or planned this in a way, and it basically represents a switch he is making: The Windom (daddy figure) and Good Dale for the BOB (daddy figure) and evil Dale. Billy's gone full out bad and he's discarding what no longer suits him, which includes anything he sees as weakness.


-Now this is where the filmed version differs from the scripted one. BOB was supposed to turn face then and suddenly try to take Coop's soul for himself. That was until the blinding light of Laura came and saved him. Now Lynch deviated from that idea drastically. In his finished finale Laura doesn't save Dale at all, nor try to. Instead we get Laura's doppleganger screaming at Dale.

What we do have is Dale calmly walking out of the room...and everything that follows.


- As soon as Dale leaves, while BOB remains by the dead Windom, we see a hunched over shadow of Dale's Dopple moving past the curtains. He comes through those curtains in the most violent, angry way possible and then goes and shares a hearty laugh with BOB before pursuing his good self.

Okay. This is the birth of the bad Dale...and it is the birth of Billy too, or the rebirth of him as pure evil. It could go both ways if future past is future present and this is all Billy ever was. We've theorized that the curtains represent the female body in a representation of their relationship to motherhood and the way that Mr. C exits them now pretty well proves that. It's clear that he's in full league with BOB too, which is disastrous and not a good indication for Dale himself, if this was what he was always hiding. This is the part of Billy that doesn't even exactly condemn his father for the evil he did. This part of Billy might envy it and wish to be a part of it.


- Cooper's just casually strolling down the hallway, when whom should he happen to meet? Why it's Leland's doppleganger, whom laughs at him before turning serious and outright denying what Dale claimed Laura had whispered to him. If you recall, Coop heard it as being, in non Lodgespeak mind you, "My father killed me." Well, now Leland says, "I did not kill anybody." He then moves forward, giving the impression that he's leaning towards Dale's left ear, the same one Laura whispered into. But Dale backs away, seeming intimidated.

That marks 3 times that Dale has been approached by voices from the grave, all of whom give a partial indication regarding Cooper and Laura.

This is Leland's hidden side...so why is he claiming he didn't kill anybody? That contradicts the fact that Leland always admitted to killing Jacques, at least...and, as he was dying, Leland said that he had killed Laura and Teresa...so what's this all about? Let's think about dopplegangers for a second, their nature...if a shadow self is what we repress, it is likely connected to a truth. People parade lies around to conceal truths they don't want known. So why is Leland's hidden self claiming not to have killed, after he had confessed to murder? It doesn't go with the claim by some that he wasn't taking responsibility either...what's being denied about Leland is that he was innocent of murder, it appears. And he seems to resent Dale for what he had stated earlier. Why? Because he knows that Cooper/Billy was the real murder and simply "imagined" the whole thing to deflect blame. If Leland had managed to whisper to Dale it probably would have been the same thing, more or less, that his daughter had whispered to him, something that indicated Dale Cooper's guilt. That is why, just like with Laura's Dopple, Dale's instinct is to get out of there. However, he makes the mistake of looking back, only to see the truth further hinted to him.


- When Dale looks back, he sees standing in Leland's dopple's shadow, so to speak, his own doppleganger. And this...this just like Laura's screaming doppleganger is enough to make Dale Cooper run. That is because it fully hints to Dale that it was him, not Leland, that murdered Laura.


- After Dale has left, Leland's dopple looks upset, until Cooper's comes to him and they share a laugh. Then, after Mr. C has left, Leland stands there as if patiently waiting.

We believe that Leland's doppleganger is looking forward to the downfall of the man whom framed him for his own daughter's murder. This glee would be the perfect thing that someone would most likely hide from themselves, the desire for revenge against the person whom hurt them...even if that involves gloating with the hidden aspect of that same guilty person.


- So now we see Dale full on running to get out of the Red Room, with his dark self in hot pursuit, going through several rooms in the process. It seems the thing besides Laura that terrifies him is himself...and he doesn't want to face it. Not at all. In a way, it is something you can even see happening in The Return. The big battle doesn't really include Dale defeating or even facing himself...not even Mr. C facing the good Dale. It would most likely mean his death, but a reconciliation, an understanding cannot even be reached. They do not truly face each other, other than Dale looking over his shoulder nervously. Even when the bad Dale catches the good one, it is from behind, the two never facing one another.


- As the bad Dale captures the good, falling into the curtains, the room darkens and the flashing light begins again. Now BOB's face (or his doppleganger, can't tell) smiles up close into the camera at us, or is he smiling at the dreamer?


- The curtains appear in Glastonbury Grove again and now Harry sees the forms of Annie and Cooper (really Mr. C) on the ground, Annie unresponsive and bloody and Mr. C opening his eyes a few times.

Now the last time we saw Annie she was fine. It has to be Mr. C/BOB whom hurt her. This could be further symbolism for Billy destroying or paralyzing the good in himself. We've previously argued that Annie was merely a reflection of Cooper: Billy's light side. It also serves as the imagery that he has killed again, just like he did with American Girl/Laura.


- Suddenly we see White Tail Falls, in that same clip that looked like they were actually splitting in two after Cooper gave Audrey the kiss off.


- Mr. C is lying in bed and starts to open his eyes. Will says "There he is," and we'll point out for the last time, for the original series, how he is our only major derivative of Bill here present and saying something important, because The Return will be filled with no shortage of Bills.

While we're here, and on that note, we'll once again say that (Teresa) Banks are filled with Bills too.


- Mr. C says he wasn't sleeping. What was he doing? Resting? Living outside of the dream, inside of another? Trying to act like he was meditating? Talking to BOB?


- He asks how Annie is, and Harry says she's gonna be just fine and at the hospital, but he and Will share a look like it's a lie.


- Mr. C then states that he needs to brush his teeth, and the men seem to humor him, even after he's repeated it, before going into the bathroom.


- Once inside of the bathroom, Mr. C seems to be going through with really brushing his teeth until he starts pouring the toothpaste, from the middle of the tube, into the sink, having no intention of really brushing his teeth. He seems to be getting great joy out of being messy, rebelling against Cooper's usual adherence to hygiene. He looks into his reflection and smashes his head into the mirror, and we see BOB's reflection at last. The sound alarms Harry and Will, whom start calling out to him. Meanwhile, Mr. C repeats his question of "How's Annie?" over and over again, it obviously having been an act or even a joke, just like we theorized Annie's character was. That was what she was. Honestly, this dark side of Dale set free gives that away, just as he does his secret loathing of doing such "perfect" things as brushing his teeth, something Sonny Jim, another representation of Billy, also does. Billy never cared about Annie and neither did Cooper, she was an ends to a means: a way to give Dale Cooper an excuse to go to the Lodge and finally let Billy become what all of his caged in rage and anger over what was done and happened to him, all of the repression and secrets, weakness and fear had made him into: a monster.

For that was what this series was all about. See, the question had always been WHO killed Laura Palmer but what nobody realized was the series was truly about exploring whom had killed her even more than Laura herself. For her killer had projected much of himself and his family on to her and then disguised himself as the detective helping to "solve" the case with his rare insight and gifts. But it was never meant to be solved...for Dale Cooper was the killer and for that to be revealed, even to himself, outside of insinuation and vague hints anyway, would end the story altogether. Twin Peaks existed to help him escape...to face what it was risked destroying it...just as surely as changing the act that started it would.

To answer the question of who killed Laura Palmer directly was to force the dreamer to end his dreaming.

But for now this would do. The clues had all been planted and in a way it is wonderful symmetry to have Ben, Audrey and even Cooper's fate all hanging in the balance, in one way or another, when that was the secret trinity at the heart of the story, the killer's parents and himself. It might not be the one everyone realized, or even accept if they did, but it was these three whom secretly threaded through the original series a disturbing hint about the true family whose house had become a tree of sores.

And it will be that family whom equally haunt The Return...

But first, in the middle, we get to see what happens when the dreamer tries to force the narrative onto his victim, and perhaps even regrets killing her, long before his 25 years are up...

Now we move on to the dream that is Laura's story. The dream called "Fire Walk With Me".


- With this, it is fitting that the Original Series' credits end with Laura's face in the Red Room coffee cup. The dream is set to return to her, and her own test, plus Laura was our gateway to Twin Peaks. Margaret told us that in her first intro: "The one leading to the many is Laura Palmer. Laura is the one."

People like to take her words as meaning that Laura is the dreamer or the main character of Twin Peaks, but what she is basically saying is that Laura is a door. Her reflection in the cup even hints at this very thing, since it resembles the pool of oil outside of the Lodge, which was called a gateway.

She was the door that took Billy and us to his dream of Twin Peaks.

But it was a door Billy went through split, divided, as this episode showed us. Maybe it wasn't even the moment Cooper turned down Audrey that he split, maybe from the moment he drove into town he wasn't whole. Probably, we suspect, this was because after killing American Girl, Billy tried to be too good to help shield himself and possibly fix things. It is the natural urge we all have after making a mistake or committing a sin, we try to be good to help balance it out and make amends. Only, over time, the urge weakens until we fall again, in Billy's case the fall being devastating to himself and to everyone around him. It is essentially what Jesus said about being purified of one demon, only to let several more in. So, for Twin Peaks, Billy's avatar came to us too perfect, as Audrey said.

And that is why, when Dale finally manages to "save" Laura and Billy's dream is reimagined, we find Coop/Richard as someone closer to Chet Desmond, able to be both kind and cruel at once. Like we all are.

Maybe this holds the key for David Lynch's reluctance to have Cooper be possessed by BOB and making it be only a part of him, his evil side. BOB was always Dale Cooper, or what belonged to him, but the good Dale should never be aware of that fact fully. For to face that would be to wake up again.

And it wasn't time to wake up.

There were still dreams to be had in the world of Twin Peaks.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 28 "Miss Twin Peaks"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- For the penultimate episode of the Original series, the Log Lady discusses trees, her Log, her husband as well as fire.


"A log is a portion of a tree. At the end of a crosscut log -- many of you know this -- there are rings."

Rings being mentioned is significant, since circles and rings repeat within the show.

"Each ring represents one year in the life of the tree. How long it takes to a grow a tree."

She is talking about the age of a tree here and how long it takes to grow one. If we can possibly connect that to the previous episode, which we believed hinted at the conception and birth of Billy, and the talk of trees as representing people, we can get a sense that she's referring to the age of Billy, perhaps, and also of his mother.

She points out that the fireplace is boarded up, and that there will never be a fire there. Could be a reference to BOB/Ben or of the abuse likened to it or even the connection to Billy, whom played with fire and how it burned down his home and family.

She also points out that her husband's ashes are in a jar on her mantle. Now why would she even keep them there? Still contemplating if her husband worked for the "fire" as in he was a woodsman, one of Ben's helpers. She also mentions, soon after, that her log has stopped growing, but it is aware. Is the log her husband?

Interesting how Margaret state,"My log hears things I cannot hear. But my log tells me about the sounds, about the new words." What does she mean? Are the sounds the same as the ones the Fireman showed to Dale in The Return. What are the new words anyway?


- Alone with Major Briggs, Leo manages to reach a key. The key doesn't fit his own lock, so Leo let's a disoriented Briggs go with the instruction to "Save Shelly".

Did Earle purposely leave that particular key there, assuming that, even if he reached it, Leo wouldn't let the father of the man having an affair with his wife go? Is that how incapable of understanding love Windom is, and how appreciative of it Leo has become? Leo stares at Shelly's photo.


- Earle returns and expresses disappointment in Leo's actions. He intends to play a game with Leo instead of punishing him, but that is just as bad.


- What's really interesting is how Windom's face, during this scene, is how Laura and Leland's momentarily look in FWWM, when Laura tells Harold "Fire Walk With Me" after talking about BOB and when BOB uses his host's fear to open the door at Glastonbury Grove to enter the Red Room. Now those two were more stylized, with Lynch's special touch, but we think they were meant to be the same, with one major difference. Their faces were greyish/white, like the sycamores/ring around the oil pool, black lips like oil and very red mouth inside, like the curtains. This could have indicated that they were both opened, like the Lodge, and that BOB wanted to enter them. Now Windom's face is white/light grey, but his mouth is all black. Does that indicate that BOB had no desire to use him?

And how could that pertain to this specific theory? Well, we reckon that Billy had a purpose for Laura (he was in possessive love with American Girl and wanted to be with her) and Leland (he needed to impose a lie on someone to help make everyone not realize he was the real killer) but Windom...there was no real use for him. Remember too, he might truly be an earlier template for BOB, a representation of Billy's dad, and there was no use for that anymore.

He also doesn't really care for another father figure, just as he didn't care for the real one either. When going through One-Eyed Jack's, searching for Audrey, going down the corridor with Titian's painting of Danae, Coop declared it a dead end. The photo represented Danae being impregnated by Zeus, with a son destined to kill her father. In Billy's case, we reason Zeus and the father were one and the same...and neither mattered to him. Albert even specifically referred to Windom as Zeus. We also will later equate Albert's induction into the Blue Rose task force as having been directly linked to Billy's dad. Besides Gordon, whom accompanied Phillip Jeffries on the first Blue Rose case, Albert is the only FBI Agent whom didn't disappear. We believe the Agents each correspond to a traumatic/life changing death for Billy. Except Albert...well he got Billy's father, a death that barely affected Billy. Plus he might have started to see his dad as BOB a little at that stage, and considered him alive. So, in any case, Windom isn't useful to Billy. So there is little use in going inside him.


- Norma is back and making pies for the Miss Twin Peaks pageant.

She tells Annie and Shelly, "This is the biggest day of the year for us. And we have to have somebody up there who really deserves this title. Especially this year."

Annie asks, "You mean Laura Palmer?"

And Norma replies, "It would be a good day for healing."

Shelly responds, "I think we need more than a day."

For us, Laura being mentioned here is extremely relevant. They are saying that the Miss Twin Peaks contest should heal the town, and yet we believe this is one of the strongest catalysts for spreading the pain and sorrow Laura's death meant. For it will help lead to her killer, whom wasn't truly punished or caught, trapping the last vestiges of morality inside of his darkness, allowing him to become not just the murderer of one young girl but many.

And it is ironic that Annie, mentions Laura, because she is essentially next in line and going to symbolize his becoming a serial killer. Frankly, she's even dating the guy who killed Laura. Sure, he might seem all nice and wonderful, as Dale Cooper, but that's what many people often say about monsters...they seemed so nice. This fact, makes a bloody Annie appearing in Laura's bed, warning that the good Dale is stuck in the Lodge, make all the more sense. There lies the first woman he intentionally killed, and there will be the one after her.


- Shelly and Annie want to know who Norma is voting for and joke about her splitting her vote. Seeing as though Cooper splits in the finale, we wonder if this is a sly little wink to that.


- The next sequence finds Audrey Horne, sitting by the fire, in her father's office, and wearing a red dress, which instantly reminded us of the Red Room and our theorizing during the last episode that the curtains were symbolic for the birth of her son. Now she's sitting, staring at the fire and she's also barefoot, the initial shot of the scene infact. The first few scenes of Audrey in the Pilot centered on her shoes, which we compared to the colors of the Red Room itself. And now, for some reason, she's barefoot. Does this have any connection to Laura/Carrie's whisper about spotting Cooper's dark suit off? Is seeing Audrey by the fire a big clue?

Coincidentally, or not, the first time we saw Ben, he was spitting into a fire in this same fireplace.


- Ben comes in, his hands loaded with books. Audrey was seen in a library a few episodes back. The Hornes have been surrounded by books lately, and given the fact that we believe Billy, the child of Audrey and Ben, lives through/loves stories, this seems very fitting indeed.


- Ohhhh....important line here. Ben sees his daughter sitting by the fire in her red (curtain) dress and exclaims, "Audrey. The most intelligent face that I've seen all day.
You make the rest of us look like primates."

Now in FWWM, we see the grandson (Billy to us) adorn his mask of the frogmoth. When he lifts it once, we see a monkey hiding beneath it. Later, after Laura has been killed, and before we actually see a shot of Will Hayward unwrapping the plastic to reveal her peaceful blue face, we also see a monkey shaded the same color blue, whom whispers "Judy", as if introducing Laura's corpse. Now, in The Return, Naido/Betty also makes sounds like a monkey. We believe this supposedly inconsequential line from Ben Horne, is what is at the heart of this monkey business.

In this way, Billy and his father are in agreement: Audrey makes everyone else look like a monkey, the girls that remind him of her and even Billy himself.


- Audrey asks Ben about the books and he explains they are all of the world's enlightening literature. He states, "Somewhere in here are the answers that I seek. And I intend to read them
from cover to cover, until I find..." Unfortunately, he says it like a man who probably doesn't even know what he's looking for. He's trying to be good, but like he confessed to Jack, he doesn't know how. It isn't natural for him and Billy is merely imposing it on him even now.


- Ben sits directly in front of the fire, Audrey off to its side.


- Ben notices Audrey is distracted (was she looking out the window like Cooper?) and that she is missing Jack. He says, Jack is a man of his word, so he will be back, and yet we know he won't. Like Windom, Billy had no further use for him, and besides, he probably always hoped that the father he heard about would come back someday too...until he found out that his father had never really left and he had been calling him grandpa the whole time.


- Audrey relays what she found out during her trip to Seattle. Supposedly the Packards are using Twin Peaks Savings and Loans to funnel cash into Ghostwood Development, but the bank is keeping a low profile because they don't want bad publicity.

So this, in fact, leads up to Audrey chaining herself to the vault door, which leads to a myriad of similarities to the flashbacks shown in Part 8 involving BOB and the Experiment, plus the New Mexico Girl and the frogmoth. Plus we have it being in a Bank, as in Teresa Banks. Audrey locked away in a Bank(s).


- Ben brings up the subject of Miss Twin Peaks again and how Audrey should enter. She obviously doesn't want to do it, and yet Ben keeps pressuring her, saying it's to stop Ghostwood's destruction, and obviously, at some point she concedes...which goes along with our hypothesis that the incest that haunts the series truly happened between them. Unfortunately, Ben Horne, we believe, forced Audrey to do far worse things than enter a beauty pageant.


- At one point, Audrey has her hands placed together in front of her and resembles the stance of Ronette and Laura's Angels. This also goes hand in hand with Windom calling the 3 original targets angels and our belief that Audrey was still supposed to be the chosen one before Coop/Billy invented a decoy.


- Have to comment on how the direction often frames the shot so we are watching Ben and Audrey through the open office door. What is that precisely getting at? That in Billy's fantasy they leave the door open when they are together, when in reality it was most likely shut for privacy and so nobody knew what Ben was doing to her?


- Andy is continually staring at the petroglyph. Meanwhile, the station is on the lookout for the missing Briggs, and Cooper just sort of carelessly let's it drop to Harry that he saw BOB when Josie died and he believes it was fear that killed her, and her fear attracted BOB, allowing him to slip in and feed from her.

Dale specifically says Josie was trembling like an animal, recalling the shaking hands. It also recalls a missing piece where the Lodge spirits say "animal life". We once again also have the statement that BOB feeds on fear. So does he also feed on pain and sorrow? Is that included? Or was that something different from his usual sustenance? How was it stolen then?


- When Harry guesses a connection between BOB and the Black Lodge, Cooper tells him, "I think that the Black Lodge is what you have referred to in the past as 'the evil in these woods.'"

Last episode, we theorized that this was an allegory for Billy himself. Ghostwood is a representation of his mother, Audrey, and him being her child, he was literally in the woods for 9 months. He was the evil in the woods. As the imaginer of BOB, he is also BOB, making that assessment true too. We also reason that both Lodges represent his feelings for his mother/life divided into positive and negative, and this makes the Black Lodge a permanent residence for his fear and hatred, it forever residing in the woods and in connection with his mother. Add to that the Red Room, we believe, is partly a gateway to Billy's own psyche and all of this is actually very valid, just not the literal way Cooper and Harry are guessing.


- What's upsetting is how Cooper states that they need to get to the Black Lodge before Windom. "There's a source of great power there, Harry," he states. "Far beyond our ability to comprehend."

He doesn't say anything about the destructive capability of the Lodge and how horrible it is, but seems more curious. Now this is all about Billy's descent into pure evil we theorize. That is the power that is really being referenced. And that is probably beyond Harry and Cooper's ability to comprehend, seeing as though they are characters inside of his mind, and Dale, his main avatar, doesn't want to face his true self.


- Listening in, Windom is excited to learn that fear, his favorite emotional state, is the dark forces' bread and butter.

So this still raises the question over why creamed corn is pain and sorrow. Can it be all negative emotions? But then why make it seem exclusively two things at the end of FWWM, when the series often told us BOB lived on fear and pleasure?


- Windom references his excitement when he severed Caroline's aorta, revealing that he did kill her.


- Windom expresses his regret to Leo that he's leaving, because he grew fond of him. He refers to him at the end like a dog, something we already linked to Coop/Billy and Ben.


- He's rigged a contraption so that Leo has to hold a string in his teeth so a cage full of poisonous spiders won't descend on him. This illustrates that Windom was speaking the truth about his own penchant for creating fear.


- At the Roadhouse, a leering Mr. Pinkle (remember his name can mean penis/sausage in German, and sometimes rectum too) is instructing the contestants on how to perform their choreography, which seems lewd more than classy.

Now Pinkle gives these instructions, "Now, turn around and bend forward like a sapling. A sapling in the wind."

This is disturbing when viewed through this theory and brings more credence to the belief that Billy was also abused by the father/grandfather. Afterall, we've been saying the the woods represent Audrey, and the trees by extension. Now we have a sapling, a young tree mentioned, and how it is told to bend in the wind, the wind and fans strong motifs in the series. This could go for the young Audrey with Ben and her son Richard/Cooper/Billy too, their being trees in the same forest (think Gersten/Steven).

Even one girl asks: "What exactly are we celebrating with us all bending over like this?"

Pinkle then snaps, " Don't ever question the vision of your choreographer! You are but a petal on my rose."

There is the rose motif as well. Billy was a petal on the rose of his mother.

We should mention that this all pertains to a dance, also, one being taught/performed at the Roadhouse, the same place where Audrey will be instructed to perform her own dance for the audience.


- Audrey is missing from the dance rehearsal but we just read the script and, actually, not only was she supposed to be there, it was to HER that Pinkle said that bit about the rose, after she had been the one to ask what was with all the bending. Pinkle was actually supposed to take her aside and seem like he was singling her out from the rest and making a move on her. That she isn't there now at all seems weird. She won't even be doing it during the actual performance...she's separate which only brings more attention to her and seems like she's excluded for a reason. Now Fenn probably just didn't want to do it, but it fits in perfectly with the theory and that Billy is partly sheltering her, just as he he will do in the form of the father-like Charlie.


- Dwayne, Norma and Richard are standing watching the rehearsal, trying to figure out what they should be considering when choosing Miss Twin Peaks. Very interesting how Richard, whom shares a name with Audrey's future son, remarks that breeding should be placed highly.


- Okay, so, to go along with the earlier choreography routine, and the uncomfortable implications, now, as a Richard is standing there, we have a man moving a buck decoration to the stage, where a doe one is already placed. The issue here, though, is that he honestly appears to look like he is sodomizing it. Seriously. There's no real reason to carry it that way...unless it's supposed to look dubious. And this is all as he passes by Richard Tremayne, whom was also a part of the whole kiss the weasel thing, and spit and swallow thing too, both hosted at the Great Northern.

In The Return, Richard Horne will invade his grandmother's home and hurl insults at her and his uncle, all while threatening to "cornhole" Johnny, a reference about sodomy and one which involves corn (related to garmonbozia?). Why does he do this? What's the source of his rage and this particular threat when we saw him accosting a young woman earlier. Later on, his grandfather, Ben will field Frank Truman's reports about Richard's other actions, in a "that boy was never right" fashion, and we buy it, knowing he is the son of a doppleganger. And yet Ben also indicates his grandson's actions repeatedly progressed, which implies he wasn't wholly evil at one point.

We suggest that what lies hidden beneath this is the subtly hinted at possiblity that Ben Horne is partly responsible for his grandson's behavior, something he doesn't wish to admit to. Consider too, this whole conversation leads to his telling Beverly about his father buying him that second hand CYCLE. Ben also tried to reason away Richard's horrific acts by being that he didn't have a father but...if Ben was truly a changed man, wouldn't he have been a good influence and father figure for the boy? Not if he is the source of the corruption and disease to begin with, we argue.


- Lana seduces Richard in a storage room that looks more like a closet. A closet in the basement of the Great Northern indicated that the Horne family held it's own dark secrets and that Dale Cooper, whom would become a Richard, the same name as Ben Horne's grandson, was one of them.


- Dale dictates to Diane about his meditation instead of sleep. Does this connect to his dopple stating, after freshly leaving the Lodge, that he wasn't sleeping? He talks a bit about the petroglyph, Earle and the Lodges before gushing to her about Annie, how she's like a child (similar to him in ways, and how we argue Billy is stuck partially in a juvenile state, as represented by the grandson). Now, why, if Dale is involved with Diane, would he be telling her all about this other woman he was involved with? That would border on Narcissistic behavior, although seeing as though we believe he's involved with himself (Annie) that may infact be true. But, we reason more it's because Billy hasn't fully formed his idea of Diane yet, why she is left unseen and just presents as a recorder. It is only later, after having met and become involved with his own assistant, Betty, that Billy Hastings can form some substitute/representation of her inside of his dream.


- A knock at the door, proves to be Annie herself. She's paid him a visit because she's worried about her speech, which she informs him must center around saving local forests. She makes a reference about campfires, which links to the theme of fire in the woods, as well as the secret Smokey the Bear ashtray Audrey had hidden away in her locker at school, along with her red heels.

Cooper theorizes, "If the Ghostwood development cost thousands of lives, do you think it would have a chance of going forward?

Annie counters, "Well, trees aren't the same
as people. But they are alive."

Okay so clearly here the forests/trees are being equated to people, strengthening the viewpoint that Ghostwood could mean Audrey, and that the displayed destruction of nature we see throughout the series directly displays abuse of a certain kind ie: Ben's father passing the shovel to him at the Great Northern groundbreaking.

More analogy follows:

Cooper: Your forest is beautiful and peaceful.

Billy sees his mother's as being a haunted place "Ghostwood". It is his as well, and he is ignoring that Annie has shown signs of similar torment, because he denies it in himself.

Annie: Part of it's been damaged. I've tried to replant, but nothing's taken root. Every forest has its shadow.

Direct shadow mention here, which can easily be foreshadowing Cooper's doppleganger.


- Annie's next line also adds more to the theory that she is just an extension of Dale Cooper and the dreamer, more than being her own person, "I can see half my life's history in your face, and I'm not sure that I want to."


- They end up making love in Cooper's hotel bed, but we equate this more to an act of masturbation than anything else, the signs all shown that Annie is essentially Dale Cooper on a deeper level. Must mention that this occurs with Cooper on top, which doesn't seem his natural position, The Return having shown him twice on the bottom. Mr. C was the one whom appeared to like the dominant position, but that was when he killed Darya, in another motel. When he was with Chantal, he was sitting.


- Nadine shows Ed, Nadine, Jacoby and Mike her slides regarding winning, including all of her trophies. She talks about how happy she is, and everything, and yet, when Ed says he's marrying Norma, she squeezes Mike's hand in anger and seems generally to be hiding how she really feels.

Another good indication that, despite his cheery air, Cooper might be hiding, supressing/repressing his true feelings, just as Billy does regarding his own horrific past and his feelings for his mother.


- Hawk finds Briggs stumbling around the woods and still out to lunch. Briggs asks, "Which way to the castle?" which could refer to the business at hands, regarding Kings and Queens and the Black Lodge or even be about Jack Rabbit's Palace, a place in the woods where he played and made up stories with Bobby. Or maybe they are all the same, given that specific naming for the Palace, and how we argue the Black Lodge is connected to the Great Northern and the troubling undercurrent and theme that the horrifying fact about Billy's true paternity is what is partly influencing all of this.


- Garland is brought back to the station where Cooper is told he has been shot through with haloperidol, the same drug Phillip Gerard used to keep MIKE at bay.


- Now, Earle used the drug to help Briggs be more honest with him, so we're paying strict attention to what he is mumbling.

When questioned about his name, he calls it an odd name and references Judy Garland. Was Billy influenced by Garland when naming him, and her connection to the Wizard of Oz, a huge influence on Lynch too?

When asked if Earle did this to him, Garland replies, "It was God, I suppose." Technically, that ain't too far off. Billy plays writer inside of his dream, so he's in a way saying that Billy did this to him.

He says he was taken to the woods, which is truthful. He also adds that they were lovely and dark and that the King of Romania was unable to attend. Those are all technically true too. We saw no King of Romania there.


- Cooper tells Harry they don't have much time because the entrance to the Black Lodge won't be there for long.

This goes for Billy most likely too. He was created at a specific point in time and would not exist if things hadn't been just the way that lead to it. We might even be able to apply that to Laura Palmer herself and why things drastically change if she doesn't die. If Billy hadn't killed American Girl, there would be no Laura Palmer, at least not the one we knew her, and his dream would have altered to suit that.


- Andy asks if it has anything to do with the 4H club. On the surface it doesn't, but if Laura's love of horses was something taken from American Girl, she could have been involved in it. Billy might have been too, or should have been and actually paid attention, since the club tries to shape youths into helpful parts of the community.


- Pete and Andrew, meanwhile, try to deal with their own puzzle, albeit this one in a cheating fashion. They have Eckhardt's box in a vice and are trying to squeeze it open.

This could still imply that Billy was lazy and didn't want to do the shadow work to understand himself and become a better person.


- This take becomes even more relevant when Catherine remarks, "I can't take any more of this. Boxes inside boxes." The glass box in NYC, the one that Sam keeps a careful watch over, we argue is Billy Hastings' psyche. When Cooper exits the Lodge and falls into it, it soon after becomes a box upon box upon box that he further falls into, leading up to his visit to the mansion room. We theorize that, when things get tough, Billy doesn't face them, or wake up, but simply falls into another dream: boxes inside boxes.


- Interesting how the box is resistant to the vice when Peter names it "Cram Jack all-duty vise." There's "Jack" a name and we wonder if it holds any connection to Billy's imagining/perception of his father, and whom he had once hoped he might be.


- Andrew has had enough and shoots the box, displaying Billy's choice of violence over work even more fully.


- The box is now opened and a safety deposit key is inside, one we all know will lead to the bank that Audrey was earlier talking about. This also still is a precursor to the box and key in Mulholland Drive.


- Andrew and Catherine, despite being brother and sister, don't trust each other, just like Billy and his mother, and so the key is placed in the cake saver.

Now why they still think this can be anything good is beyond us.


- Donna comes down the stairs in her Miss Twin Peaks fashion and her parents are waiting. They compliment her, but Donna is more looking for the truth. When she presses them, Eileen warns, "Donna, I understand your feeling. But there are some things you just have to trust. You're young and you don't know all the limitations."

Why are the Haywards being so secretive with Donna? She's already suspecting something with Ben and she's angry at them, why not say what happened and go forward? Unless, this is still Billy making his own story, which involves the rape of a daughter by her own father, and so that is secretly informing things and making it all seem darker and more ominous. Afterall, this does involve a Will. Infact, after watching most of the whole OG series again, he's the only derivative of a Billy that we've seen throughout it.


- This episode contains a strong emphasis on fathers, which holds special significance since it is occurring after the previous episode, which we theorized danced around the subject of Billy's conception.


- Cooper deduces that what Andy mistook for the 4h club is in fact a conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. He explains, "Well, historically, Harry, when Jupiter and Saturn are conjunct, there are enormous shifts in power and fortune. Jupiter being expansive in its influence, Saturn, contractive. Conjunction suggests a state of intensification, concentration. What this indicates to me is the potential for explosive change, good and bad.

Incredibly important when viewing this under the light that Dale's repressed urges are going to be set free, while his lighter ones are caged, the opposite of what he has been doing. This, of course, is equal to how his true self, Billy, is going to let his own darker impulses overshadow the light, and decide to further what he started by killing American Girl, repeating the act over and over again, in an effort to further not deal in a healthy fashion with what happened to him.

- They soon discover the conjunction is set to occur from January to June, all around when Laura was murdered and Coop came to town.

- Briggs soon pipes up with, "Protect the Queen" and "Fear and love open the doors."

He's probably just referring to Miss Twin Peaks, but we'd also wonder if he still is referring to Audrey too, Billy's goal partly being to keep his mother safe.


- Cooper reasons that two Lodges, two doors, fear opens one, the Black, and love the other, the White. When Harry asks what that means, Cooper replies, "I don't know exactly. It just came to me."

It came to him because he masks the dreamer and so he subconsciously realizes that this has to do with Billy's conflicting feelings, particularly in regards to his mother/home.


- Briggs comments "How does the Queen..." which is from Hamlet.

The character we saw most quoting Shakespeare was Ben Horne. Meanwhile, Hamlet involves the potentially Oedipal feelings a son possesses for his mother. We've also got the relationship between that mother and the uncle, which the son is jealous of, and creates a note of interest when we realize that FWWM involves a ring given by an uncle figure (MIKE) to those Billy sees as being similar to his mother. It all started with Teresa whom we outright suggest is a substitute for Audrey/Billy's mom. Does that indicate anything occurring between the uncle and niece, even in a protective way?

Furthermore, this is Briggs saying it, whom created Jack Rabbit's Palace with his son. We've theorized Jack as being linked with his father in Billy's mind. So a palace would indicate that he was the King. That would make Billy's mother the Queen. Audrey is still the true Queen. That Annie becomes her instead just reinforces the belief that Billy forces other women to become his mother.


- Coop and Harry realize that whomever wins Miss Twin Peaks is in trouble.


- They knock over the Bonsai and finally discover it isn't from Josie but Windom, realizing they have been helping him all the time.


- Andy is trying to tell them all something, but nobody is listening.


- We cut to the contest, and see the women all performing the dance routine. All except Audrey. But what is so goosebump inducing to this theory, once again, is how this sequence, though seemingly unimportant, now becomes something to blow the mind. The women parade around the stage with plastic umbrellas, as they wear similarly plastic coats...that's too reminiscent of Laura Palmer.

Norma said they should be doing this all to help heal the community, and yet they are prancing around the stage invoking in the most morbid way the memory of the victim?

Why?

Because this is the dream of the man who killed her and it is celebrating how he's about to make a HABIT out of it, and whom better to do it with next than the ex nun.

Meanwhile, his mother, the true queen, is kept safely out of it, just like the true Judy that she is. Audrey doesn't have the umbrella. Audrey does not wear the plastic. Billy has protected his Queen and she shall not be harmed.

Probably partly because he already burned her in a fire, not the water, and he cannot accept that.

And this is the true horrific meaning behind Miss Twin Peaks, how it all involves a group of dead women. One of the reasons why the whole thing changes when the first one doesn't die.

And whom better to host our little Miss Twin Peaks than WILLIAM Hayward, bearer of the same first name and initials as WILLIAM "Billy" Hastings, our dreamer and the evil bastard of a serial killer himself.


- Mr. Pinkle makes a pass at the Log Lady.


- Bobby approaches Windom, dressed up as the Log Lady, and Windom introduces him to the fake log personally. Guess what's mainly interesting about this is how Bobby asks "So, what, did you bring your whole family?" before the act. With Billy's family being what it was, that is a sore spot.


- Harry and Coop make it to the Pageant, Cooper stating the winner should have 24 hour guard and house security. At this stage he still doesn't seem concerned that Annie might be the one to win.


- Earlier, in the scene in Ben's office, Horne implored Audrey to, "Make the speech. Stop Ghostwood. And take us to a better day."

Now Audrey is doing just that, even though she was excluded from the dance and we never see her talent.

"There is only one way to save a forest, an idea, or anything of value," she says. "And that is by refusing to stand by and watch it die. There is a law of nature, which is more fundamental to life than the laws of man. And when something you care about
is in danger, you must fight to save it or lose it forever."

Her words take on deeper meaning if what we have theorized is true, that she was Ghostwood and this is all about her: Billy's tormented relationship with his mother and how he yearns to both protect and destroy her.

It also takes on greater significance and becomes more profound when we see Cooper stop and stare at her as she makes her speech. He is Billy, he loves her, and yet he has separated himself from her to keep her safe. That is how he is fighting to save her...to protect her even from finding out what he is. Just like we see Charlie not sharing the news he heard about Billy with her.


- Donna watches as Audrey and Ben share a sweet moment after Audrey has given her speech. Donna then confronts Benjamin about what went on between him and her mother. He wants for them to all sit down and talk about it. Eventually Donna deduces the obvious: he is her father. She runs away in disgust.

Billy has placed this on Donna here, potentially because of her coming into contact with the grandson, his childhood self. And yet she gets off pretty lucky. She's getting a sanitized Ben Horne. The real deal was even worse, believe it or not, and the truth about his illegitimate child truly devastating: Ben fathered his own grandson, the one Donna herself met.


- Cooper looks on as Annie gives her speech, all happy and seemingly having forgotten that whoever wins this thing is in BIG trouble.

Her speech mentions the dead living on in the earth basically (it's kind of condescending actually), but is very complimentary to this theory for that fact and the statement, "For the Indians love the earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat."

We have been saying that Billy equates his mother to Ghostwood, and this imagery of a child loving their mother's heartbeat fits it wonderfully.

She also adds, "Maybe saving a forest starts with preserving some of the feelings
that die inside us every day. Those parts of ourselves that we deny. For if we cannot respect that interior land, then neither can we respect the land we walk."

Boom. Another bit of dialogue backing what we've been claiming: That Billy has essentially compromised his strength and goodness by denying certain aspects and feelings he has inside of himself. This we have witnessed through Dale Cooper, especially in how he became too good following Leland's death and the supposed "solution" of Laura's murder. It is all leading up to his meeting the parts of himself that he has denied and he has created the proverbial monster.


- Here's the other storyline revolving around a baby's father: Lucy has made her decision and she wants Andy to be her baby's daddy. Richard seems barely upset, and we might be able to link that to how Billy, himself, shows no interest in being a daddy either.

However, this clearly keeps that thread going, the question of paternity, and that directly is at the heart of the tragedy of the Horne family.


- Annie wins and finally Cooper looks concerned, but, at this stage, it might be too obvious if he didn't.


- While mostly everyone seems happy, Dwayne gives the most funny, truthful observation about the whole thing: "This is an outrage. She's been living in this town
about 15 minutes."


- Windom Earle strikes, as the lights go out and seem to strobe, ala BOB. All heck breaks loose, Will leads Annie backstage and then almost seems to abandon her, which allows Earle to grab her.


- Nadine gets beaned with a sandbag, which, considering this is all a dream, may fit oddly in with Mr. Sandman somehow. That's pathetic but we're going anywhere this theory will lead us. It also helps to "wake" her up.


- Windom claims he will help Annie and here's the odd thing, given that we think Dale is really a serial killer purposely wanting her destruction, it doesn't really matter who she goes with at this point.


- Cooper finally is freaking out about Annie, Harry is trying to console him that they will find her and Andy is finally able to tell them both what he figured out: the petroglyph is a map.

You bet it is, Andy. It's a map leading to Cooper/Billy's birth/rebirth. Infact, just like Donna had been looking at last episode, that petroglyph might partially be William Hastings birth certificate.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 27 "The Path to the Black Lodge"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- The Log Lady talks about clues and puzzles:

"There are clues everywhere, all around us. But the puzzle maker is clever. The clues, although surrounding us, are somehow mistaken for something else. And the something else, the wrong interpretation of the clues, we call our world."

She is referencing Billy's dream itself, which holds many clues to unravelling it. However, Billy is clever and, though he has placed the clues all throughout Twin Peaks they may never be understood because they are mistaken for something else. It is like BOB himself. People assume, like Albert said, he is the evil that men do, when, infact, he is a representation of Billy's vision of his father, and how he framed an innocent man for the murder, he, himself committed. The words possession and imposed are related.

But all of Twin Peaks is created from such things, abstractions of ideas Billy has, of events that happened, feelings he felt, people he knew, all twisted into something else, projected, masked, misrepresented, substituted. That, has the Log Lady says is "our world" meaning the world of Twin Peaks.

"Our world is a magical smoke screen. How should we interpret the happy song of the meadowlark or the robust flavor of a wild strawberry?"

Twin Peaks is a smokescreen meant to protect Billy from reality, his past and himself. And even something like the happy song of the meadowlark, or the flavor of a strawberry, may mean something very different in reality.

BTW Sylvia Horne outright has a puzzle on her table when her grandson Richard comes to visit her in The Return and there is a fire in the fireplace.


- As the chess piece is removed from the gazebo, one of the victim's friends is interviewed and we learn that the man in the giant pawn was called Rusty and was a musician, heading to Knife River with his band. So that is interesting because rust can occur to nails over time, and coincidentally those were a topic mentioned two episodes ago, when Ben's father was mentioned. Cooper also referenced a song in just the last episode, and how he felt like the cases being studied all related to one another.


- On the topic of relations, Rusty hated his parents and lived with his uncle, in Moses River, but was trying to move out and go to LA.

Billy, we suspect, also lived with parents whom he had issues with and then lived with his uncle, following a short time spent with his grandmother/great grandmother.


- Cooper deduces that Windom is now playing off of the board, which means that the chess game is over, we guess. Since Dale wasn't playing it though, that was Pete, it hardly seems to matter much to the story...which brings up the realization that Dale was in effect having a substitute playing for him, which keeps with Billy's propensity to substitute as well. It also goes well with the theory that Dale has adopted a substitute Queen in Annie.


- The next morning, Lucy says that someone she's never seen before is with Hawk, but he looks really sad, so Hawk is fixing him breakfast. We guess it's Rusty's friend and we guess this goes with the theme of food and appetite.


- Lucy wants to know what Andy thinks about saving the planet, because she's entering the Miss Twin Peaks pageant, and let's him know that tomorrow is D-Day, where she chooses a father for her baby.

The thread of the environment has once again been woven through with the concept of parents, in particular, fathers.


- Andy doesn't know much, other than that people had better stop throwing beer cans into Pearl Lakes and styrofoam never dies.

That last one shocks Lucy. Pearl Lakes being mentioned is interesting, seeing as though that was where Leland said he had met BOB, before he realized it was in a dream.


- Jack is preparing to leave the Great Northern, and is looking for Audrey, whom isn't back yet.


- Meanwhile, Will Hayward is giving Ben Horne a physical inside of Ben's office. Major TP Will/Bill here sharing a scene with Ben.


- Ben makes a joke about the insurance companies sending him so many forms he could get a heart attack from lifting them.

There's the ever current theme of insurance again, one which runs through this series but could go unnoticed. We speculate that Billy associates insurance with Ben/his father, in a way, since the motel where they all lived burned down, causing Ben and Audrey's deaths and leaving Billy with a memory of insurance investigators and agents.


- Will says Ben's fine and he should concern himself more with what is in his heart.

Ben counters that he only wants to do the right thing.

Will applauds Ben's desire to do the right thing, and here's the really interesting part, though, he flat out tells him, "But goodness in you is...It's like a time bomb. There's nothing good about ruined lives."

Given how we know that a bomb led to Audrey's pregnancy and it also led to the Experiment barfing down both BOB and the eggs to Earth, Will's words here are so relevant and connected to this theory, and those events, it's enough to give goosebumps. It seems that Billy can't help but see his father as destructive to those around him, whether he's trying to redeem him or not. Seeing as though this involves him having fathered a child, it might betray the fact that Billy realizes nothing can make what he did right...not even placing it onto another person.


- Despite the warning, Ben is intent on following through with letting Donna know he is her father and making things "right" indicating that, though Billy is seemingly in control here, his father is still fighting against the lack of control he has within his revisionist history.


- Will and Jack seem to know each other already, just as Jack says he knows Donna, though we never saw any scene between them. Will also calls Jack "John" here, showing once again that the man shares the name of Ben Horne's son and Audrey's brother.


- Will warns Ben to be careful before he goes, Billy's instruction, through his namesake, to his father.


- Jack tells Ben he's been looking for Audrey because he has to go. Ben says he can phone her when he gets wherever he's going. Jack states that a friend, more than a friend, a partner of his has been murdered.

What does that mean exactly? You'd usually say that someone whom was a business partner was actually more than that, they were a friend. Is this indicating that his partner was a lover? It's just kind of curious. Why were they murdered anyway and what were they doing, more environmental work?


- Up in the attic, a fan going loudly, Donna looks over her birth records and notes how her father's name is not listed. Oddly enough, her mother's maiden name is also listed as Eileen Hayward...is she related to Will? The doctor who delivered her is a R. Robinson...Robert? Richard? As she continues to look through the items, she finds photographs of Eileen and Will, plus Ben Horne with them, Ben giving them bunny ears.

Okay, so the fan itself was a popular fixture in the Palmer house. It was what BOB/Leland would turn on before "visiting" Laura. That it is shown now, as Donna is investigating her paternity, scream at us another more accurate connection between Ben and the tragic tale of incest woven through Billy's narrative for the Palmers. Ben giving those rabbit ears seems inconsequential, but we can still link that to Audrey giving the same rabbit ears to Laura in the photograph where she was the one wearing the Red Room colors not Laura. Both girls were proverbial snow bunnies in the photo. It sounds crazy, but Lucy wondered if it was all about the bunnies, and there might still be some clues that it was, especially remembering that large Jack Rabbit statue in Odessa called "Jack Ben Rabbit" for it's founder "John Ben Shepperd. Since Donna's segment here is finding out hints that Ben is her father, and this episode swirls around weird events involving Audrey giving her virginity to a man called John "Jack" we have to pay attention to everything...

And that fan during this scene is still pretty overwhelming.


- In one of the photos of Eileen and Ben, Ben is holding a lit sparkler that looks like fire.


- Audrey returns to the Great Northern and is met by Hawk, whom has been sitting in a chair reading a book about owls in the lobby. He says that Agent Cooper wants to see her, and she tries to put it off until the afternoon, until Hawk says it's important and she eventually goes with him.

Gotta love owls, Cooper and Audrey all being involved in the same scene.


- Ben and Jack sit on the stairs, talking. Since this is steps, another motif which play heavily in Twin Peaks, it deserves a fair bit of attention.


- Ben is worried about the Stop Ghostwood campaign. Jack is worried about his friend being dead, claiming he was a brave man. He has to take his place. Ben realizes that it's something to do with the rainforest and that Jack isn't coming back.

We saw over at PopApostle them wondering if Ben had anything to do with the murder of the man. That is an interesting possibility, especially seeing as though Jack never really seems to give the name of who was murdered, where or why and yet Ben connects it to the "rainforest business" for some reason. They suspected he might have done it to keep Jack away from Audrey, and that would fit nicely into this theory. Another possibility is that Billy, aware that Mr. C is soon going to take over inside of his fantasy, no longer needs Jack. This is complimentary to the fact that it was while talking and toasting with Cooper, both in front of the fire, that Jack received notice that his friend had been murdered.

Hmmm...we can posit, because of the fire, both the influence of Cooper/Billy and BOB/Ben working to get Jack away. This can rather nicely go with Mr. C being possessed by BOB at the end and them working together.


- Ben is worried that he won't be able to complete the Stop Ghostwood campaign because he is weak.

Remember that Jack is here to help him clean up his act. It's the way Billy works it within his dream to also help reform his father/grandfather. And yet, despite Jack's reassurance that Ben Horne isn't weak, that is exactly what he is. Just like when he caves in and asks Beverly on a date in The Return, following an argument with his wife, Ben will regain Ghostwood and then sell it again for destruction, just as brother Jerry suspected in both cases he would succumb to his baser instincts. And that was Billy's father also. He might have occassionally tried to stop abusing his daughter/family, but he was always weak and would do it again. David Lynch said that FWWM was about "the loneliness, shame, guilt, confusion, and devastation of the victim of incest. It also dealt with the torment of the father - the war within him." Within our theory, we state that it is perfectly reasonable for Lynch to say that that was what FWWM was about because it is also equally about how Billy had transplanted the abuse that had occurred between his father/grandfather and mother/sister on to Leland and Laura inside of the dream, which is what FWWM is. It even offers to us the first major statement that Twin Peaks is all a dream too "We live inside of a dream." So, with this in mind, we reason that the "war in him" Lynch was referring to truly belonged to Ben Horne, and it is moments like this, and when Ben asks Beverly out, that it becomes more honestly conveyed then the sometimes heightened dramatic quality that BOB himself lends to things.


- Jack wants Ben to tell Audrey something, but then just gives him a letter he wrote to give to her. Now, Jack probably stops himself, knowing the confession is too intimate. However, Billy would also feel uncomfortable having his father relay anything intimate to Audrey, the act once more hitting too close to home for him.


- We next see a chewed up styrofoam cup, holding 3 writing utensils. We have 3 again, plus the fact that we're focusing on styrofoam after having heard it never went away. We can also mix that in weirdly with the theme of appetite throughout the series. How...we're not sure, but there's got to be some imagery in there for eating something that never goes away!


- Briggs has been at the station, studying the petroglyph and trying to discover the symbols. He's also been perusing Project Blue Book and Windom's relationship with it. Just like Hank, he was supposedly the best and brightest among them and then fell. Supposedly, it was only when he began looking to the woods in Twin Peaks that he became obsessive, overzealous, secretive, possessive and finally violent.

We've already theorized that Ghostwood's desecration represents Ben's abuse of Audrey and how Windom is partly a reimagined Ben/father inside of Billy's mind. Now Briggs is using very specific words when it comes to Windom's relationship to Ghostwood, all being easily synonymous with the perpetrator of incestuous sexual abuse. Remember Audrey's words in Part 13, as she suffers Charlie's own manipulative behavior: "It's like Ghostwood here."


- He shows an old tape of Windom discussing Dugpas, evil sorcerers, and where he goes on about evil for evil's sake and how it can bring about power. The place of that power is known by many names, chief among them The Black Lodge.

We reason that as really being the place where Billy's own darkness and urge to hurt those whom have never wronged him is emanating from, a place linked to the dark feelings he has for his mother.


- Cooper now states that he had believed this was all about himself, but now he knows that Windom was working towards something else: getting to the Black Lodge.

Actually, in some way, both are probably connected, since Billy's battle inside is directly following a path leading to Billy's darkness winning over his lightness, which is what the Black Lodge represents.

This is all very convenient though, storywise, that Dale would be in the vicinity that Windom would be centering in on, all because a young girl had been murdered? And he'd be forced to stay there because of that business at One-Eyed Jack's and Jean Renault? Earle's goals of tormenting Dale and getting to the Lodge could seriously overlap like that? It has to be artificially constructed, and now this switch helps to accommodate things. Or for Billy, it's just like Catherine said about Josie: "What she needed to believe was always shifting to suit the moment."

Dale also remarks about Earle, "He has engaged us in subterfuge and red herring. A fish I don't particularly care for."

With Billy's mind, it is the same for his dream. And we still argue that Laura herself was perhaps the largest red herring within the whole framework of his dream.


- Coop guesses that the petroglyph and the Black Lodge are connected, which they are.


- The Major goes out to the woods for a stretch and Harry tells him not to forget the breadcrumbs. This is an obvious Hansel and Gretel reference, when fairy tales are now also being woven into the narrative. That particular one involves a brother and sister lost in the woods, whom risk getting eaten, which could directly relate to Billy and his mother/sister being fed off of by their father, the Ghostwood Project being equal to Ben's abuse of his family still at work. In The Return, we will also see Gersten and Steven lost in a different way in those same woods, and we still suggest that they represent Billy and his mother too.


- Windom gloats in his cabin in the woods, he also pushes the chess pieces off from the board, the game he was playing with Dale being abandoned, perhaps after hearing Cooper's realization that it wasn't about that. And it never was. The true chess game is the one he, Billy, is playing against himself.


- A customer at the Double R's right hand begins to shake violently as they eat pie. The first person we saw whose hand trembled violently was actually Harold Smith when he realized, in fear, he had left the safety of his house in an attempt to get back Laura's diary. This shaking hand will happen to several people throughout the episode and even occur in The Return when Gordon's hand shakes and he exclaims, "Cat on a hot tin roof!" That is the episode where William Hastings dies and the conversation that follows Cole's shaking hand actually revolves around Hastings and Ruth. It was also a mask of a cat that Audrey Horne was wearing when her father propositioned her at One-Eyed Jack's, Jack being the name of the man currently in love with Audrey and whom she will supposedly give her virginity to by the episode's ending. Audrey also shook the hand of her father two episodes back. We suggest that there is a connection between all of these things, as well as the Black Lodge and BOB.


- Shelly and Bobby sit at a table, as Shelly reads her speech about saving the trees, which is still, we argue, Billy's secret way of discussing his mother and his own abuse.


- Bobby apologizes to Shelly about neglecting her. "I got busy with Mr. Horne. I started wearing suits, okay, and suddenly I'm walking around like I'm more important
than everybody else."

Notice how he points out Ben Horne and how his behavior involved the man and also how his suit made him feel better than everyone else. This directly reflects how Ben Horne's influence was negative in nature and how the suit also made him assume that he was better, just as Laura/Carrie's whisper in the Red Room implies Dale presumes his FBI suit gives him an air of moral superiority, or that he is lawful, as contrasted even by Mr. C's attire. However, Bobby rejects both the Hornes and the suit, and in The Return we will see that he's traded everything in for a Twin Peaks law uniform, and is better for it. Although, the presence of Chad in the same uniform helps us remember that a suit does not make the man.


- The subtitles said that that was Norma calling Shelly to the phone, but that did NOT sound like Norma. Where is she anyway?


- At the Roadhouse, Dwaynd and Lana talk about the judges for Miss Twin Peaks: presumably him, Norma and Dick Tremayne. Now how Norma or Dwayne can be judges with people they love competing is a mystery. Even Dick has the potential mother of his baby in there...sounds suspect. Plus, why does Dwayne make it a point to mention that Tremayne is the THIRD judge. Is that another sly Trinity connection, one involving a Richard?


- It appears that Lana will only marry (sleep) with Dwayne if she wins. She's manipulative and still interested in what she gets more than receives. Still, perhaps, a negative viewpoint Billy harbours about his mother.


- At the station (the same room where Leland died?), Cooper questions Shelly, Audrey and Donna about the poems they received and any weird strangers they might have met. Interesting to notice how Audrey and Dale are sitting opposite, facing each other, kind of like their cards.


- Each of the women tell Dale about their encounters with the disguised Windom, Audrey particularly stating: "You know, there was a funny old guy at the library. He asked me to read the poem to him." So she directly mentions the library, beloved place of Billy's equally beloved stories, and how Earle had her read the poem, the same one Dale sent to Caroline and contained the phrase "sister-flower".


- Cooper makes it a point to mention, "all three," just like Trinity again.


- Shelly recognizes Leo's handwriting suddenly. Why didn't she recognize it before, we now wonder? But, then again, didn't Windom partially help Leo with it, because Leo couldn't fully do it by himself?


- Cooper warns the "angels": "I want each of you to check in with the sheriff twice a day. Nine o'clock in the morning, 9:00 at night. I want your parents to know your whereabouts at all times. You walk to school, you drive to work, make sure that you do not do so alone. Please believe me
when I tell you to be very careful. You're in danger."

So why does he leave Annie Blackburn so vulnerable and unprotected? He's not concerned about her welfare in the slightest. Probably because...he's not concerned about her welfare in the slightest.


- Leo sees Shelly's photo hanging up as one of Earle's prospective Queens and he tries to attack Windom, whom has been berating her. Leo confesses he loves Shelly.

This honestly mimics the dynamic Billy had with his grandfather/father and mother. Though he held angry and violent feelings for his mother, he was protective, loving towards her when it came to the father whom abused them both. You can see the same dynamic at work in Part 10, between Richard/Sylvia/Johnny. This is still also indicative that Leo, whom in part represents darker aspects of Billy, still balks against senseless killing, the sort Earle, and later Billy, commits.


- Having stolen the remote Windom uses to zap him, Leo only ends up electrocuting himself. This could display how when we wish to hurt someone, even to defend someone we love, like Billy is doing with his mother's memory, it only becomes self destructive in its own way.


- Windom chides, "Poor Leo...We are all love's fools, more or less. But you will learn, as I have, the value of hate."

Windom is an earlier abstraction of Billy's father, before the more brutal BOB, but he still is Billy's idea of his father, making these words his own. That is what he is working up to by this season's end: trapping away his goodness and love and setting free his hate.


- Audrey returns to the Great Northern, narrowly missing Jack but coming across Pete, whom looks rather happy to see her. Does she remind him of Josie?


- Ben sits alone, looking seriously conflicted in his office.


- Audrey goes to her father's office and they warmly greet each other with a father-daughter kiss, Billy obviously having repaired their relationship inside of his dream, from when it was even presented first inside it. Afterall, when we met Audrey, she was sabotaging Ben's business, now she is helping him with it. Of course, when we first met her, Ben was working to destroy Ghostwood, now he is working to save the trees.


- Audrey specifically mentions Cooper to her father, saying she was late because he needed to see her. When a concerned Ben asks why, she tells him "Some creep sent me a poem."

This scene is another containing Audrey, Cooper and the owls, this time in the form of Ben, their father. Audrey also mentions it was because some creep sent her a poem, the poem which contained the telling line "sister-flower" about her true relationship with Dale, with the addition of the romantic nature he intended when he sent the poem to Caroline, another substitute for her. The creep in question was a substitute for Ben, echoing back to the intended triangle that Ben/Audrey/Dale formed during the storyline when Audrey was held prisoner at One-Eyed Jack's. This is the triangle that forever haunts Billy, for it was his own, one tormented by incest and abuse but also a sort of poisoned and yet genuine love.

We also might be suddenly reminded of the poem MIKE often recited, as well, the one about the Magician and fire.


- Despite his seemingly being changed, Ben selfishly ignores what Audrey is trying to talk to him about, Jack's whereabouts, because he is more centered on her entering Miss Twin Peaks as a platform to talk about the Stop Ghostwood campaign. This betrays further how Billy cannot fully escape the truth in his dreamworld, Ben not being able to place his own desires as secondary, or to deny them altogether, just as Billy's father should have done. Ben knows about what happened with Jack, he knows about the letter, but he only gives it to Audrey after she keeps pressing him about it.

- Ben also states how Jack went to Brazil over some tragedy. Now he knows it was a murder, but doesn't mention it. Also we have Brazil mentioned here when in FWWM we will meet Phillip Jeffries whom is also in a South American city. Any connection?


- Audrey takes the letter and leaves, rushing out to see Jack at the airport before he leaves. Ben seems reluctant for her to go, wanting to discuss Miss Twin Peaks, but Audrey promises when she gets back.

Okay. So Audrey is rushing out the door, and we'll find out later that it almost exclusively has to do with losing/giving her virginity to Jack, as her father, Ben, walks after her, going to the steps we already mentioned play a recurrent role in Twin Peaks. He calls out her name repeatedly. After she's gone, he sighs, falling into a squat on those same steps and looking defeated for some unknown reason. It directly resembles the same scene a few episodes back, when, while discussing the secret that he is Donna's father, Eileen, the mother of his child, wheeled away from him, as he knelt by the fire, similarly defeated.

Now, the sound that usually accompanies Cooper's dreams, begins to play, behind Ben, in the direction of that same fireplace, and Ben turns around startled.

That sound, a strange ringing, will haunt the Great Northern, culminating in The Return, when Cooper's returned key for Room 315 makes it louder, and Dale later uses that same key, not to open his old room, no, but instead a closet door in the basement boiler room, both closets and basements synonymous with the places family's figuratively hide their dark secrets. And when he opens that door, Cooper will encounter Mike once more, whom repeats the Fire poem to him, before taking him to the Convenience Store first and then onwards to the Dutchman's...which we argue is the true self of the Great Northern.

And it began here, in this moment.

Not when Josie Packard died, not even when Cooper was shot by her, but when Audrey Horne has rushed off to have sex for the supposed first time.

With a man mentored by her father.

Whom has her brother's name.

As well as that of the brothel that her father owns and where she was once held captive.

The same name as a large rabbit in Odessa that also has the middle name Ben.

And there is the secret that Billy is trying to supress, and why Ben looks to the fireplace, fire synonymous with abuse and BOB, as the truth rings out...

That it wasn't Jack whom took his daughter's virginity...it was him.

Nor was it Jack, whom is just another substitute, idea or dreamself inside of Billy's mind, or even Mr. C, whom fathered Audrey Horne's child. It was Ben Horne. Her own father, in an act of unnatural lust and abuse. Making her son her own brother, just like the poem that likened love to nature itself had said.


- In the Great Northern lobby, Pete is staring at the fireplace there intimating that he sees Josie's face, which is just spooky when we previously wondered if Josie was some amalgamation of both son and mother (Billy/Cooper and Audrey).


- Audrey runs out. After deciding Randy (should mention now that the Great Northern's concierge is called Randy, as in sexually aroused, which is similar to horny) isn't of any use, she asks Pete if he has a car.


- Pete says he has a truck that runs like a dream, which is significant since this is all a dream and now Billy might be working on some subterfuge or whatnot to try to mask the true identity of his father. Audrey rushes Pete out, hoping to catch up to Jack.


- Cooper understands that the petroglyph symbols suggest a time but doesn't know for what. He speculates it could be a signpost or invitation, or both.

Invitations were important to BOB, whom apparently needed one to possess a target.


- Cooper becomes distracted and walk to the window. He confesses to Harry that he's thinking of Annie.

Now BOB used to "visit" Laura by crawling through her bedroom window. This will also be how Coop enters the mansion room where he meets Naido (15) and American Girl (3). Now we've previously speculated that BOB was really just Billy, whom murdered American Girl when he snuck in through her bedroom window. We also speculate that the mansion room will come to host all of Billy's poor victims, from American Girl (the third person he killed) to Betty/Naido (his last victim at number 15). That also echoes Coop's hotel room at the Great Northern: 3-15. We speculate his father (Ben) and mother (Audrey) were in rooms number 1 & 2 in the mansion room.

But Cooper having this compulsive urge to look out the window, while thinking of Annie, is actually the opposite of what it is presented as. It's not the sweet call of love, we reason, but rather Billy's urge to kill and take another victim, this time the dispensable Annie.


- Going back to look out the window, Coop's hand begins to shake again. Once again, this action seems to be centering around the storyline and events featuring Jack and Audrey, which also are happening in alignment with the Saturn/Jupiter conjunction which relates to the Lodge. We theorize that, just as Cooper figured out the Leo/Windom/Petroglyph cases were all related, so are Audrey Horne's sex life and the Black Lodge.


- Out in the woods, the Major touches a tree and then the tattoo behind his ear, which is of a nuclear warning. These two are linked, what with Trinity and the general way Billy equates abuse with the destruction/contamination of nature.


- Windom approaches Briggs, while dressed up as a white and black horse, pretty significant when we consider that oft seen white horse that haunts the series and seems connected with death, and both of the Lodges.

He's singing "Home on the Range" which is incredibly significant to our belief that Billy views his feelings for his mother/home as the White and Black Lodges. He also specifically mentions deer and antelope, which are all horned animals and can be called bucks, as we feel Billy is often represented as.

We also just found out a male rabbit is a buck too.


- Windom shoots Briggs with something that knocks him out and then kidnaps him. Briggs has a habit of being taken by unfriendly forces, most often connected to Billy's perception of his father.


- Cooper visits Annie at the Double R, where they briefly discuss her entering the Miss Twin Peaks contest, his cases, but more or less talk about how they feel about one another, and how they can't stop thinking about each other.

Annie states she's been seeing Dale's face in fried eggs all morning.

That might connect to the eggs that the Experiment barfs down to Earth alongside BOB.

It's obvious that Annie and Dale are the same person, both aspects of Billy's perception of the good inside himself, maybe. Why, at one point one of them even comments, "We're very much alike." They follow it up with these reflections and we won't bother with whom says what because they are the same so it barely even matters really.

"It helps."

"We think too much."

"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning."

For that last part, a quote from Heisenberg, what heralded the Experiment and BOB, was known as the Heisenberg Trinity. But what is more important about the quote is how it relates to Twin Peaks. It's exactly what we've been saying and had even finished mentioning earlier: Twin Peaks is Billy's perceptions of things. They are not even probably wholly accurate for that fact, filtered through his broken and dangerous mind. Nature is reflected through his opinions/thoughts on it and so he likens abuse to the destruction of nature, it's perversion, or his birth as something akin to a bomb exploding.

- Cooper suggests they go dancing, Annie says she doesn't know how and he says that he'll teach her. Dancing has been connected to Audrey. It was also connected to Leland, but we still suspect that this was forced on him.


- What is also interesting about this sequence between Cooper and Annie is the general unsettling atmosphere, despite it seeming to be romantic or sweet. There is an ominous noise on the soundtrack which occurs steadily throughout it, the camera keeps zooming away, and when it cuts back to a closer shot of them kissing, even this is disrupted when plates crash and break as if in a bad omen, another shot focusing on the dripping liquid. This, like the shaking hands and Ben's sudden turn to the noise at the fireplace, are not included in the script. They give the episode a darkness however, the sense that something bad is about to happen.


- Audrey stops Jack at the airport and they exchange a sort of old Hollywood goodbye, complete with confessions of love. What's not so old Hollywood is Audrey's declaration of being a virgin and how she wants Jack to make love to her, which he presumably does. So this does seem to have wholly centered on that one aspect, Audrey losing her virginity, and we can deduce the implication that this is a driving force of the puzzle that the Log Lady was talking about. But why does Audrey's virginity matter? Her sexuality? Simple. Because she is the dreamer's mother and the man whom truly claimed her sexuality, her father, haunted both her and the child she conceived of him. Here now, in his dream, the dreamer wishes to give his mother the romantic movie style "first time" he wishes she could have had.

Unfortunately...it is not the truth.


- We can see this as Pete watches the two, teary eyed...until his hand starts shaking too, in that frightening way. It is then that he looks at the jet Audrey and Jack disappeared into with a sort of horror written across his expressive face.


- At the cabin, Windom has Garland tied up to a giant target. Leo's still reluctantly helping him, but it's clear he doesn't want to, and this is the father of Bobby, the boy Leo hates, so that is saying something.


- Windom, we think according to the next ep, pumps Garland full of the same drug that Phillip used to suppress MIKE, which acts as a truth serum here. Not quite sure how that works...maybe because MIKE was really Billy's uncle and never inhabited some guy called Phillip Gerard?


- When Earle asks Briggs what he fears most in the world, Garland answers, "The possibility that love is not enough."

Unfortunately, he is right here, or, at least in Billy's world. The love Billy felt for his mother, and for anything else, will not be able to overpower his fear and hatred. Dale Cooper, his main avatar, will fall, love unable to save him.


- Garland reveals he first saw the petroglyph in dreams after he was abducted while night fishing with Cooper. He also reveals that the petroglyph reveals that when Jupiter and Saturn meet, they will receive you, presumably the Lodge spirits/Red Room.



- The Major then begins to talk backwards, saying "That gum you like is going to come back in style."

Now that was said to Leland shortly before BOB left/killed him and he died. Briggs is now saying it to Windom, whom will shortly be destroyed by BOB too. Um...so can we construe that the Arm saying it to Dale, 25 years later, also meant his own defeat/freedom from BOB?


- Catherine shows the puzzle box from Eckhardt to her brother, as Andrew explains to her how nicely Ghostwood is coming along, Ben having gotten rid of every hurdle himself. They both agree Ben Horne is his own worst enemy.

That they are discussing this while examining the box, a puzzle like the Log Lady discussed, can imply a connection between both. And remember how this box will lead to the bomb which explodes at the bank, placing Audrey in a coma and leading to her conception of Richard.


- Andrew guesses that the next box opens by placing the date of when it arrived into it. Frankly, it seems to echo the petroglyph. They are both puzzles, appearing simultaneously, needing to be solved, both containing symbols that seem mysterious and astrology related.


- The male Packard, however, doesn't want to spend any more energy on solving riddles or puzzles, he just smashes it with a rolling pin.

What is revealed, is a small, silver box, which isn't too different from the one that poses such a big mystery in Mulholland Drive, and appears to be representative of Diane's psyche.

So, now, if we take this box as being instrumental to Audrey conceiving her son within Billy's dream, can we also glean that Andrew's opening it in such a violent and lazy fashion betrays the fact that Billy, himself, is lazy and violent in regards to his own psyche and development. He doesn't want to put the work in to it to become a good person, or to heal himself, he'd rather be destructive to others instead of facing it and understanding himself.


- At the Roadhouse, preparations continue for Miss Twin Peaks. Annie waits for Cooper whom arrives and makes her come on to the dance floor, despite her hesitancy and confession that she is not prepared.

Gotta point out that this is the same Roadhouse, the same floor, where Audrey will similarly go to dance on, although her dance is performed alone.


- Dale leads, telling Annie, "Just think of it as a walking embrace, all right? Two people stepping as one would step."

So we have another clue that Annie and Dale are in fact the same person.


- Annie picks it up, stating, "It's genetic memory. Mom and Dad danced the lindy."

She doesn't particularly look old enough for her parents to have done anything of the sort, neither did Vivian seem like that type of woman. But it is interesting she's mentioning a mother and father, when we speculate this episode revolves around Billy's and how badly it haunts him.


- Annie gives a big speech about how she wants to be physical with Dale (at least we think that's what she's getting at) but for most of it she doesn't even look at him, but at the stage where Dwayne Milford is standing, which is peculiar.


- Changing her mind from earlier, Annie says she will compete in the contest afterall. "There's worse places to start
than Miss Twin Peaks. It's like a fairy tale," she claims.

And Dale says, "And you're the queen."

We're back to fairy tale imagery again, but what nobody realizes it that we're actually leading up to Sleeping Beauty, as performed by Audrey and Mr. C.

We're also continuing on with Cooper being supposedly ignorant about the danger he's putting Annie in. He could possibly just be being naive we could argue...

Until the next scene which makes that reasoning hard to swallow.


- As Annie and Cooper are about to kiss, everything goes dark except for Cooper and the stage, where the Giant is now seen, frantically waving his arms about and silently screaming, "No!"

This couldn't be more easily understood than a child's See Spot Run book. The Giant is letting Cooper know that in no way, shape or form should Annie enter the contest.


- Okay, so now, seemingly inexplicably we go back to the airport where Pete has fallen asleep and it's dark. He seems to think Audrey might have left with Jack, but then finds her standing on the runway.

Audrey bemoans, "What a gyp. Finally meet the man of my dreams, next thing I know, he's on a plane to Brazil."

So Jack is the man of her dreams, just as Billy intended, fashioning him inside of a dream for his mother.


- Duscussing whether he'll be back or not (he isn't) Audrey says he also promised to take her fishing but never did. When Pete asks fishing?, Audrey says, "Pearl Lake or something."

Pete now takes Audrey there, claiming, "Audrey, there are many cures for a broken heart, but nothing quite like a trout's leap in the moonlight."

Hmmm...

Didn't Briggs make it a point to say he saw the petroglyph after night fishing with Cooper?

And, well, the first time we met Pete, he was going fishing. That was when he saw Laura's dead body.

And Pearl Lakes is the place where Leland says he first met BOB...

And moonlight...well Judy was associated with the moon around Blue Pine Mountain, close to Pearl Lakes.

So...we're theorizing that the Giant's warning and Annie and Cooper, since this leads to the Black Lodge and Mr. C/BOB's exit, are related to this scene of Audrey afterall.

You see it all involves Audrey's virginity/pregnancy...which is really about the birth of BOB and Judy in a roundabout, horrifying way, them being Billy's perception of his parents, and, in that way, being himself as well.


- Meanwhile, back on Windom's "range", Leo is screaming in a sort of horror and Earle's figured out that the petroglyph is a clock, an invitation and map all at the same time (trinity), one leading right to the Black Lodge.


- Interesting how Windom sings, "When Jupiter and Saturn meet Oh, what a crop of mummy wheat." He's referring to Egyptian mummy. Now we already pointed out the book about Joseph lying on Ben's desk, as he was arrested. Now that story involved Egypt and how Joseph was sold there, eventually providing "corn" during a famine he'd foretold through God's wisdom. Now Windom's adding mummy to wheat, which was what the corn really was in biblical times. You can change that to mean "Mommy's wheat" or "Mommy's corn" biblically speaking.

Corn was the manifestation of pain and sorrow, something we already theorized was Billy's pain and sorrow and his mother's pain and sorrow for that was what he was born of: being the product of her rape by her own father.

We strongly believe that this is what this is all circling around, in a fantasy setting. The sad truth being softly whispered and silently informing everything in a dream.


- Suddenly, we're back at the Roadhouse, Cooper's vision ends and he blatantly ignores it! Proceeding to kiss Annie! It's not like he didn't kiss her before...so what's happening? It's simple. He's purposely not listening to the Giant. He wants Annie to be kidnapped and hurt. He wants to go to the Lodge. He's Billy and Billy is calling the shots, secretly wanting all of this to happen because, as we reasoned before, he's lazy and weak and doesn't want to truly be good. That might not even be in his nature.


- On stage, Dwayne senses something isn't right. He says, "There's something wrong. This isn't right. There's something wrong here" as we lead into a series of different shots around the town of Twin Peaks itself, many of it vacant and eerie.


The Roadhouse...
A string of lights above the street...
The Double R...
The Twin Peaks High school...
A hall and window inside of the Great Northern...
A phone RINGS at the empty sheriff station, and it recalls the phone call Mr. C answers whilst talking to Jeffries about Judy and the unanswered call at Carrie Page's house...
The Owl Cave Map...
Then the trees...
And finally Glastonbury Grove.

From between the 12 sycamores, we see a spotlight appear and a right hand emerge from the darkness, feeling around and trembling like the hands seen throughout this episode. Suddenly BOB appears and holds the hand to his heart, incredibly similar to how Laura holds her right one to her heart too, after Leland's told her he loves her, or her left one to her heart at the end of FWWM. The camera pans to the pool of oil in the middle of the ring of trees, circled with white/light gray and we see the red curtains reflected in the oil's surface.

Now the path to the Black Lodge is opening, as Jupiter and Saturn meet, so BOB is allowed exit perhaps. But what if it also connects directly to the events that involved Audrey? What if it correlates, as we have reasoned, to her sexuality and the conception of her son? Ben hearing that ringing sound, separate from the trembling hands, is connected to the conjunction and yet drastically different, distinguished from the others. It also directly pertains to Cooper in The Return. BOB's exit, his existence, is linked somehow to Audrey, Ben and Dale.

Now think of Ben's earlier question, after he'd been watching the clip of his family.

"Do you think the furniture in this room is adequately arranged? I have been toying with the notion that if one could find the perfect arrangement of all objects in any particular space, it could create a resonance the benefits from which to the individual dwelling in that space could be, uh...could be extensive, could be far-reaching, far-reaching."

Then, in the next episode,when Ben had seemed to achieve it with his "skyscraper" he said: balance, distance, symmetry, that that was what it involved.

What if, inside of Billy's mind, he was able to achieve what his father had been doing. He placed himself and his mother at a DISTANCE, created a SYMMETRY in their new found relationships, and then BALANCED them both inside of his dream. Then suddenly, he tried to reimagine a different loss of innocence for his mother and he believed he had succeeded, allowing for a "resonance the benefits from which to the individual dwelling in that space could be, uh...could be extensive, could be far-reaching, far-reaching."

To Billy, that would be, the destruction of his perceived "weakness" and the becoming of his darker self, one unencumbered by the pain and liabilities he perceives.

BOB is allowed to be set free. Mr. C is allowed his birth, Billy gets his own skyscraper in NYC.

But this is all still stemming from the sad truth that Billy's mother was raped by her own father and Billy was born from it too.

We've theorized that Ghostwood Forest and it's desecration is Audrey Horne. Now take a look at Glastonbury Grove and the gateway to the Red Room/Black Lodge...the pool of oil, the circle of trees, the red curtains that open and are reflected in the oil pool so very much like a hole...so very much like a vagina...so very much like the way Billy entered the world.

Very much how we see BOB coming out now, or Cooper's doppleganger later.

Harry talked about the evil in the woods. What was never realized was that Audrey Horne IS those woods. And for several months she carried a child within her, a child she had conceived with her father Ben Horne. Billy, the dreamer and all the pain that he brought into the world, is the evil in the woods (Audrey).

This is all about his conception, all about his birth and the pain caused both before and after it.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 26 "Variations on Relations"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- The Log Lady discusses pie in her intro. She then seems to become obsessed with Norma and her pies, which frankly, is leading us into very odd speculation about what the heck she's really talking about.

We might just have dirty minds, but we're discussing a lot of things here that are getting questionable lately. So maybe we should also point out now that Dale Cooper has a large appetite for pie too, particularly cherry, something his actor even joked about, while having complained about the Audrey/Cooper storyline.

Anyway, we can probably link Billy's own appetites to Dale's.

We can also link Margaret's confession, "Sometimes I get angry and do things I'm not proud of," also to Billy.

We're unsure of what her claim that she loves pie with coffee. She seems to mean something, but we're not quite grasping it.


- The Twin Peaks Law Crew return to Owl Cave only to find the full petroglyph revealed on the wall and that Windom Earle has been there.


- Dale references getting Briggs on the horn, and there we have a phone call being linked to the word Horn(e) again.


- Dale also wants Andy to draw a large scale rendering of the petroglyph. Looking somewhat frightened and sad, Dale stares at the petroglyph as it goes to Windom Earle discussing the White Lodge.

We suspect it's because, as Billy, he secretly understands what it all means beneath his consciousness.


- Windom describes the White Lodge as follows: "Once upon a time, there was a place of great goodness called the White Lodge. Gentle fawns gamboled there
amidst happy, laughing spirits. The sounds of innocence and joy filled the air. And when it rained, it rained sweet nectar that infused one's heart with a desire to live life
in truth and beauty. Generally speaking, a ghastly place, reeking of virtue's sour smell."

We have fawns, baby deers/bucks mentioned, like good old Billy Hastings of Buckhorn(e). Moreover a fawn is, generally speaking, a deer in its first year. Cole and Jeffries visited Lois Duffy at an Olympia motel in 1975, which would have made Billy 2 at the time. We theorize that that was the age that Billy's mother began to abuse him. In his stage as a fawn, Billy was untouched.


- The next way that Windom describes the White Lodge is also especially relevant to this theory:

"Engorged with the whispered prayers of kneeling mothers, mewling newborns, and fools, young and old, compelled to do good without reason."

Ahem, we have a mother's prayer mentioned and newborns: Billy and his mother. Audrey saying a prayer to Dale Cooper, the song "My Prayer" being used for the conception of the New Mexico Girl with the Frogmoth, and then later as Dale and Diane had sex in a motel room, and he seemed to picture her as someone else, and she hid his face or didn't want him to see her...which echoed BOB/Leland and Teresa in FWWM. "Bury Me Not," the only song Audrey had been serenaded with's, full lyrics also contained a reference to a mother's prayers.

As we theorized previously, the White Lodge represents Billy's love for his mother.



- Windom then describes the Black Lodge: "For there's another place. Its opposite. A place of almost unimaginable power, chock-full of dark forces and vicious secrets."

The Black Lodge is filled with Billy's hatred/fear towards his mother and family. This is why it is also a place of secrets. He has locked away the horror of what his family did to one another, and everything that happened, inside of the Black Lodge.

"No prayers dare enter this frightful maw."

We can associate this with Billy having silenced his mother's prayers there, or that this is the side of her that would not say one for him.

"And if harnessed, these spirits in this hidden land of unmuffled screams and broken hearts..."

This is where Billy screams, his heart broken, as well as that of his mother and the people Billy has also hurt to try to silence his pain.

"...will offer up a power so vast that its bearer might reorder the earth itself to his liking. Now, this place I speak of is known as the Black Lodge."

Well, this is likely true for Billy, since he reorders his dreamworld to his liking. It also betrays the complete narcissism of those with psychopathic tendencies: they falsely believe that they control the world through the act of killing, and that they regain their control.


- The poor listening man Windom coerced into coming to the cabin, on the promise of beer and a party, asks, "I mean, White Lodge, Black Lodge? I mean, what's the big deal?"

The big deal is that they are not, as is surmised, an actual version of Heaven and hell, but are a very personal interpretation of both to Billy Hastings. In one he has all of his love for his mother stored away, while in the other he has hidden away his hatred and fear.


- Pete is still mooning over Josie as he examines the chess board, probably thinking of what Coop's next move should be. He's paraphrasing a famous tree poem. Josie is now wood.


- Catherine wants his help on opening the large black box that Thomas Eckhardt left to her. The box is just like the Owl Cave petroglyph and the bafflement over why Cooper thinks it can be anything good when it deals with tattoos that are associated with BOB. Catherine knows that Eckhardt hated her brother, so how can the box lead to anything good?


- Note how both the petroglyph and the box are connected to father figures: BOB with the "they are his children" and Thomas with his uncomfortable relationship with Josie.


- Pete figures out that it's a puzzle box.

It's actually reminiscent of the blue box that Rita has in Mulholland Drive, and might be the template for it. We should pay attention to this for that reason and how Betty and Rita receive the key to open their blue box from the Club Silencio, possibly after the Magician has stared at Betty and made her shake.

Mulholland Drive was meant to be a story about Audrey. We can link Eckhardt's box to what specifically happens to Audrey at the bank, which we know leads to her conception of Richard and echoes strongly the Trinity event and BOB coming to Earth.


- Pete references having seen a puzzle box before, in relation to twins and a monkey which is worth mentioning: "I saw one of these at a crafts emporium on Guam. I was there taking a little R and R
with the Doolittle twins. Heh. There was a monkey show you wouldn't believe, and Dale Doolittle...Now, he was the larger of the two... Come to think of it, for twins,
they weren't all that much alike."

He's referring to the twins having acted like monkeys, we suppose, in a derogatory way. That will be repeated in a few episodes. We should note how it involves dissimilar twins too.


- Bobby tries to convince Shelly to enter Miss Twin Peaks, by saying beautiful people succeed and honestly his statement regarding it is very strange: "When's the last time you saw a beautiful blond go to the electric chair?"

His girlfriend, a blonde, just died...why is he even equating them with being killers? There are female killers, but men are more often serial killers...just like we believe Billy is becoming. We are also suspecting he masks his brunette victims as blondes inside of his fantasy world, when he actually doesn't like blondes, the reason Hastings married Phyllis, a blonde, he has no real interest in. Phyllis is played by Cornelia Guest, herself, having won several Debutante awards and known as the first "celebutante". The blonde that Audrey was instructing to walk down the catwalk was also a beauty contestant. Bobby's words are just strange here...betraying a certain misogyny and contempt for blondes. Is there a reason why Billy masks his victims with blondes, a secret derision?

The electric chair, itself, probably really concerns Billy.


- Lana is not just interested in entering the contest, she wants her new fiance, Dwayne, to rig it for her. Lana started out seeming possibly innocent, but she's dissolved into being a manipulative gold digger, just like Dwayne had suspected. Now he's just too blindly in love to see it. Perhaps, another resentment Billy holds against his mother, or women in general.


- Cooper goes to the Double R and asks Annie out on a date, saying it's a nature study. We've already established how Billy acquaints the act of abuse with the destruction/negative impact on nature, so this is very interesting.


- Cooper is still too much publicly broadcasting his feelings for Annie. It seems too odd for him, not to mention that Windom is still on the loose and a threat. It's too showy. So...is it a show? A monkey show?


- Cooper overhears Shelly quoting, "What is all this sweet work worth, if thou kiss not me?" from the poem Windom sent the "angels" and Cooper instantly recognizes it, requesting Shelly bring him her segment of the poem.


- As Cooper goes to leave, upset about the poem, Annie reaffirms their date and he just keeps it! We mean, he just found out that Windom is targeting Peaks girls, in a very personal manner, and he isn't more concerned about keeping Annie safe?!? Something is seriously wrong with Cooper's relationship/actions towards this vulnerable women and we strongly suggest that it isn't because he's so very much in love with her.


- Back at the station, emphasis is placed on the poem being torn into thirds and sent to 3 girls. Any connection to Trinity?


- Harry asks Dale what is so important about the poem. Dale states that he sent it to Caroline: "See the mountains kiss high heaven And the waves clasp one another No sister-flower would be forgiven If it disdained its brother." There's that sister/brother thing, like Billy and his mother/sister.


- Dale hopes it's just a taunt and Earle's way of insinuating himself into innocent lives. So why the heck is he still not worried and more covert in his relationship with Annie?


- Hawk brings in Donna's piece of the poem but states Audrey is in Seattle. Btw, Judy was said to have a place in Seattle.


- Cooper suspects the handwriting as belonging to Leo and asks for his arrest report. Harry asks him what's going on and he replies, he's putting the pieces together...kind of like Eckhardt's puzzle box, the one which reminded Pete of the monkey show with the twins.


- Briggs sits in the conference room, correcting Andy on his rendering of the Petroglyph. He thinks he's seen it before, but doesn't know where.


- Cooper talks with Garland, saying how they are investigating separate cases but how they all, he believes, are actually connected: Leo's disappearance, Windom's appearance and the Owl Cave petroglyph. That's 3 cases, the number 3 again. Trinity. The three Coopers in the Return...

Dale refers to them as complimentary verses of the same song he can't hear but feels.

Is that "The Sycamore Trees" or "My Prayer" we wonder.


- Coop wants information on Project Blue Book, but Briggs has moral issues with divulging confidential information. He asks if it will prevent the loss of future lives.

Cooper says most assuredly.

This is horribly sad in a way because Briggs is actually being set up to cost future lives. For we speculate that this is all leading up to the good Dale being overwhelmed by his darkness, which is really Billy giving himself over to his own horrific impulses. Think too, how it is Billy Hastings, in The Return, whom gives Briggs the coordinates that make his head float as he repeats Cooper's name. Or how Briggs' head will float through space above the mansion room where we believe that Billy keeps the memories of his real victims safely hidden. "Blue Rose," Garland will mutter as he passes by, and we believe that is still just another code for what Billy Hastings calls his victims, all of them women whom remind him unnaturally of his mother.


- When asked where he's seen the petroglyph before, Briggs says he's dreamed it or seen it somewhere before. BOB visits people in dreams. This is all Billy's dream.


- Then we see a hooded figure walking in front of a white background. Through him we see the petroglyph then an owl and fire...and this is certainly not good within the mythos of both Twin Peaks and Billy's own dream.


- Coop checks Leo's handwriting against the poem and deduces that it was in fact written by Leo. But the most integral thing about this event is how he centers on the word "No sister-flower" while doing so. This is Audrey! Audrey is Cooper/Billy's sister-flower (born of the same father) and the dream and his mind/heart is still hammering this home to him! Audrey was also called, by Lynch, the flower of Twin Peaks.


- Delightful how this show, even the latter end of the loathed 2nd season begins to become RICH-er when viewed through this theory. Because from this last scene we go directly to Richard Tremayne, of Horne's fashion, whom is the name bearer of the name of Mr. C and Audrey's son, the same name Cooper will adorn by series ending. He's playing with his bandaged/white nose and this draws direct attention to it, recalling the long white proboscis of the mask that the grandson was seen wearing, as well as the Jumping Man and the frogmoth.


- Whom should this Richard be looking for, directly approaching Benjamin Horne to inquire about her whereabouts? Well, Miss Audrey Horne herself!


- Ben informs him, just as Dale had been informed, that Audrey is in Seattle but the concierge will help him for the wine tasting event Dick is going to host.


- Dick goes to leave and Ben calls him back, Richard telling him his name. We have to point out once more that Tremayne means "surrounded by stone" just as we suspect that Billy used Twin Peaks to protect his own secrets, just as Laura supposedly did too. Mountains are stone/rock.


- It is stated again that Richard works in Men's Fashion, recalling Dale's dark suit and Laura/Carrie's ominous whisper about others being able to spot him without it.


- Ben makes it a point to ask about his nose, which seeing as though Dick wasn't mentioning it, shows that either Ben is trying to be more caring, or it means something else to Billy and his dream, an interesting possibility because of any connection to the grandson's mask.


- Dick tells him to think nothing of it, but after Ben says they will pay for medical expenses Dick presses for worker's compensation too, which he receives.

Okay, so we already thought that the whole business of Mr. Pinkle pressing Richard to kiss the weasel at the fashion show for Stop Ghostwood was odd. Weasels are phallic and we questioned Pinkle's name, comparing it to the mysterious late Mr. Strawberry, whom belonged to Warden Murphy in The Return. We also discovered that the word "pinkel" in German can mean penis and refers to a sausage too, which did nothing to calm our suspicions. Richard is the name of Ben Horne's grandson. And a Richard was forced to do something he didn't want to at Ben Horne's fashion show.


- Richard then tells Ben he will alert his attorney, indicating he was planning something monetary.

This can also link to how we theorize Audrey accepted some sort of material/monetary exchange for not accusing her father of abusing her.


- As Ben watches Richard leave, he comments, "Sometimes the urge to do bad is nearly overpowering."

He's obviously thinking bad thoughts about Richard and wants to act of them. We suspect that Billy still is just forcing his father/grandfather to be a better person, but it is neither natural or true.


- Ben pulls out a carrot and eats it, again with the phallic imagery, and now's the time to mention how his tie looks like it has a fire, offset with the color green, and a skyscraper/tower in the middle.


- Windom has placed the unsuspecting metalhead inside of a large chess piece and now prepares to kill him. He wants Leo to fetch him the arrows (remember Johnny Horne in the previous episode) but Leo is reluctant, only doing it after he's electrocuted. And so we have another illustration of Leo's redemption and how some of the representations for darknesses inside Billy's soul still fight against senseless murders. They possess strength and self knowledge we argue. Dale Cooper, whom has separated himself and ignored his own darkness, is vulnerable and weak.


- Windom says the metalhead is soon going to answer of what awaits on the other side. This thought plagued Billy, after his mother died.


- Ben addresses the Miss Twin Peaks committee, urging them to change the theme to "how to save our forests." Great addition to this theory. For now we have the father/grandfather we believe Billy is trying to "re-form" now wanting to make Miss Twin Peaks be about saving the forest/trees, when we theorize that the original Ghostwood Development project was really an allegory for his abuse of Audrey.

That Miss Twin Peaks should be made about the secret that haunts the dreamer's life, and we still believe it was Audrey whom should have won it - Annie merely being the decoy to help save her - is poignant in an unexplainable way. Billy's fantasy revolves around his mother. She is Miss Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks to him.


- On his way out, Ben talks to Bobby about picking up his dry cleaning. Ahem, fashion and cleaning both involved in relation to Benjamin Horne. With what we have been theorizing, a wonderful little moment.


- Ben shares an uncomfortable but silent reaction with Donna, whom is sitting with Bobby and Shelly. She will turn out to be this guy's daughter afterall, another truth Billy projected onto another person so it needn't have to be his.


- Bobby talks to Mike alone, confused about his sudden interest in "fossils". Mike explains it involves sexual maturity and strength, then whispers something to Bobby that makes him understand.

The emphasis on sex with an older woman, whom overpowers him, directly connects to the relationship Billy had with his mother. Recall how Coop is shown having sex in the submissive pose in The Return.


- Harry goes to talk with Catherine, wanting to know about Josie "What made her do the things she did? What was she after?"

This is Billy's secret longing to understand his mother's own motivations and actions, besides being partly about Billy himself.

That Harry is willing to find out about Josie and understand why she did what she did, extending some level of compassion, that Dale seemed to not want Harry to possess, having believed that once Harry saw Josie was a hardened criminal it would lessen his sorrow for her. That Harry is still trying to comprehend shows an awareness that is commendable and displays what sort of person Billy imagined his father would be. Unfortunately, Billy does not possess this level of wanting to understand or compassion towards himself, something that leads to his self-destruction.


- Wow! And now comes a bit of dialogue we forgot all about when we first began considering this theory and which sounds directly tailored for it, given evidence that this might infact be the truth behind Twin Peaks. Trying to explain Josie, Catherine remarks, "I think that early in her life, she must have learned the lesson that she could survive by being what other people wanted to see, by showing them that. And whatever was left of her private self, she may never have shown to anyone."

That is EXACTLY what we think Billy has done. Abused and tormented, haunted and frightened, Billy tried to preserve himself, and his horrible secrets, by becoming what others wanted him to be. Then later, when he became a cold blooded killer, that too he kept hidden in the same way. In both cases, his wounded/sad/frightened self and his dangerous/evil/murderous self, he kept hidden, never shown to anyone, the former unknown to his victims.


- Josie's first scene happened in front of a mirror, the term for what Catherine is describing actually called mirroring. Coop/Dougie displays this perfectly well in The Return, as well, how he is able to survive by mimicking those around him until they project what they wish to see (which a lot of times involves themselves) back on him. Audrey's last scene occurred in front of a mirror too, where she had been holding Charlie, before he got her out of the Roadhouse, turning into a mirror in the process. Charlie was just Billy too, we reason.


- Harry replies, "So all the stories, the lies were...?" to which Catherine answers, "Well, who knows? They may not have seemed untrue to her. What she needed to believe was always shifting to suit the moment."

This too is Billy. We see his lies, "stories", appear in Twin Peaks, and have been discussing/analyzing them all here, as we will continue to do. The stories shift, change as his belief of what he needs to do to survive alters too.


- Catherine then confesses, "In spite of all the things she tried to do to me and my family, I find it curiously hard to hate her for it.

Harry, obviously still in love with Josie states, "Well, she was... She was so very beautiful."

So we have it shifting back now to how Billy probably feels about his mom. How he can't hate her, despite what she did to him...and how she was so beautiful, his desire overtaking him, perhaps like the scene beforehand with Nadine and Mike.

So maybe...in some strange way, Josie was an amalgamation of both Audrey and Cooper/Billy inside of his dream. Maybe that too is why the whole series' character intros began with her image in the mirror, and why the dogs on her lamp were together and then apart, later, in the episode where she died, featuring another scene of her looking in the mirror: bookends.


- Catherine now asks for Harry's help in deciphering Eckhardt's puzzle box, saying it might have to do with Josie.

Once again, this box will greatly effect Audrey Horne and help bring about the birth of her son Richard, a direct representation for Billy. As theorized above, Josie seems to contain a strong fusion of Billy and his mother.


- While Harry and Catherine are discussing this, Pete comes in saying, "Wowee Bob!" about the Miss Twin Peaks contestants. In the OG finale, the arm says "Wow BOB wow", now we have Pete foreshadowing it and talking about Miss Twin Peaks as the box is being examined. Hmmm...


- Pete drops the box and opens it, revealing another box inside. Kind of like that glass box Cooper ends up inside of in NYC. Diane Selwyn's identity was connected to the blue box. Is Billy's connected to both of these?


- Cooper and Annie are on a boat near the spot Maddie and James said goodbye to one another. It's also close to the gazebo where Maddy was dressed as Laura.


- Annie states "I always felt closer to nature
than I did to people," keeping with the nature theme woven subtly throughout the series, ever since Ghostwood and Cooper's obsession with the trees.

- And next another wonderful bit of dialogue, forgotten about, but magnificent to this theory.

Annie reveals, "I never had many friends. Norma was always Miss Popularity. She was always moving toward the world. And I was always moving away from it. Lived in my head, mostly." Cooper comments, "That's not a bad neighborhood." to which Annie replies, "There's some pretty strange
neighbors."

Bingo! We have more indication that Annie is partly Billy too, which also makes her Dale. Afterall, we've been theorizing, that this is all inside Billy's head; The dreamworld he created to escape his reality...his stories and his friends.

It also goes directly to what we mentioned earlier, or we hope we mentioned earlier, how David Lynch repeatedly used a Billy in his art whom had "mental problems" and "a lot of different friends within him." Many of those pieces of art were disturbing and involved violence.


- Cooper broaches the subject of boyfriends, to which Annie indicates that there was one in high school (Billy becomes a high school principal), senior year (we theorize American Girl was murdered in her senior year) and it was why she slit her wrists, but she doesn't want to talk about it.

This is still Billy. Only it was really American Girl not a boy. Killing her has also led him to where he is right here and now, where he can decide to either become even more self destructive, destroy others or choose to acknowledge everything that happened, find/face himself and heal.


- That concept goes further into what she says next, "I wanna come back to the world. I was so frightened for so long...Hiding from your fear doesn't make your fear go away. Makes it stronger. So I had to face it. I had to face myself. And I had to do it here. Where everything went so wrong."

Maybe this aspect of himself is something the darkness in Billy equally wishes to destroy, because it speaks the truth to him, but he is against it. Cooper will also have to face himself and it will destroy both himself and Annie, when he chooses not to confront his fear but run/hide instead.

And that fear presents itself openly as Laura Palmer's murder, a murder he thought he solved, but whom the victim and the accused seem to indicate he never really did for HE was the real killer.

That, in effect, goes back to the belief that what Annie is talking about, the love in high school and her self destructive urge, is secretly about the same subject.


- Cooper now equates whatever happened to her being similar to the dark tunnel he faced (Caroline's death) and we see the thread that Cooper and Annie are the same individual reinforced as well as the connection to lost loves, if we consider Annie's boyfriend, Caroline and Billy's own American Girl/mother being all the same or viewed as almost the same within his broken mind.


- Annie says she's trying to trust her instincts and they are saying to trust Dale. They kiss, as Dale smiles...But should she trust him?

Honestly, he's taken her out publicly, is kissing her out in the open, strolling past park gazebos, hand in hand, all while a homicidal maniac, whom has it in for him, is on the loose, and, in fact, even watching them now!

This leads us to question if Dale is intentionally trying to get her killed! Being Billy, we think that he is. And so Dale's sudden out of character smiley, happy-in-love attitude comes off as suddenly menacing...

In fact, it becomes essentially what Catherine was discussing earlier in regards to Josie: an act serial killer's adopt of false charm intended to gain their victim's trust so they can then kill them. That is what Billy Hastings does we suspect...and we highly feel that, whether he knows it or not, the "good" Dale is just as guilty of it here.


- At the Great Northern, Richard hosts the wine tasting event. There isn't too much to comment on, other than a reference to noses again, and how the whole thing still seems kind of...dubious. Maybe we've seen too many sex comedies/Russ Meyer films, but all of the talk about spitting and swallowing seems questionable.


- At the Double R, Gordon is trying to impress Shelly. What interests us is the first line we hear from a story he's in the process of telling: "So he came slowly out of the shadows, leaving the dead girl behind." Shadow...shadow self...dead girl. A bit of foreSHADOWING about Dale Cooper?


- Annie and Cooper join them, and Gordon orders 3 pies each. We have the number 3 again...as in Trinity. As in BOB being puked down to Earth.


- When Bobby walks in on Gordon about to kiss Shelly, he asks what's going on and Cole refers to it as "two adults sharing a tender moment."

Have to wonder if this was another dig at MacLachlan's reluctance for Cooper to become involved with Audrey. David Lynch, his boss and friend, is outright calling Shelly an adult, even though she is younger than Audrey.


- Bobby's jealousy can outright represent Billy's own possessiveness over American Girl.


- Back to the wine tasting contest and things are getting worse with the oral innuendo. We have Lucy saying it tastes "woody", Lana claiming it tastes like banana, and Andy saying chocolate. Which, by the way, pinkel in German can also mean rectum. :/


- Dick suggests they swallow now, stating, "What other wonder invites taste buds toward pleasure?"


- Lucy spits hers in Dick's face, because she's angry at him and pregnant.


- Have to point out, this is all happening within the Great Northern and how Audrey is well known for her trick with the cherry stem, despite her claim of being a virgin.


- In another area of the Great Northern, we see a fire blazing in the darkened room as Cooper states at it. Okay...so another incredibly important scene we have here...because who should happen to come and sit in the chair beside him, both men soon staring into the fire?

None other than John "Jack" Justice Wheeler.

This is so important because we theorize that Jack is Cooper/Billy, as well as being the father that Billy always imagined himself having. Maybe picture a mixture of Harry, Cooper, Billy, Johnny and, unfortunately, Ben and you get the picture.

And what should Cooper be drinking for this integral meeting? Why a glass of milk! Just like a kid. And what is he drinking it from? A measuring glass featuring a cowboy riding a horse and the words, "In the West". Now Sonny Jim had a room filled with cowboy memorabilia, a room that looked like it almost belonged more in Charlie and Audrey's house. And Coop/Dougie was entranced by a statue of a cowboy (made in the image of David Lynch's father) as red balloons symbolizing childhood were seen in the background.

So here, we theorize, Coop/Billy is about to have a conversation with Jack/Billy, wherein they both discuss love, and wherein Billy can also interact with, not only himself, but the daddy he always wished he had!

Have to mention how that glass Dale has involves measuring HEIGHT and how, in The Return, a HEIGHT measuring chart gives away his connection to William "Billy" Hastings. Billy also was stated to have jumped a 6 foot high fence, Cooper's listed HEIGHT. And now, here sits Dale, sipping from a measuring glass, which has no good reason to be used at the Great Northern, as he shoots the breeze with a character played by a man named Billy.


- Why the room is darkened seems peculiar. It emphasizes the fire more and casts everything in a red, fiery gaze, which is appropriate to Jack's conversation starter.


- Jack starts things off by saying love is hell, which is probably more Billy's own thoughts on the subject.


- Cooper says that love is a ladder to Heaven. In the previous ep, Audrey was on a ladder. Significantly, she, Billy's mother, his one true love, is dead and thus in Heaven to go along with Eales previous discussion to the metalhead about where we go when we die.


- What follows is a discussion between both men, where they discuss the pros and cons of love, Cooper being cheerily optimistic and Jack being more downbeat/realistic. He even says at one point, "Self-discipline and love? There's a bad match," which outright criticizes Cooper's response to Audrey. Infact, as both men talk, Dale never learns that the stranger he is talking to is in love with Audrey Horne, giving off the air that it is important he DOESN'T realize it, because it should be left unspoken. What would his reaction have been any way, we wonder? Jealousy like Bobby? A break in his cheery facade?

We also have to ponder...if Jack is talking about Audrey, and Cooper doesn't realize it, but it means *something* to him given the past history between Dale and Audrey, could that mean that Jack is the man that Annie had been talking about? In symmetry, does Jack not realize Cooper is talking about *his* past love Annie? Interesting to wonder.


- Cooper confesses that it feels like someone took a crowbar to his own heart, but it was locked away long enough. Other aspects have also been locked away, including his and Billy's feeling for Audrey Horne, the avatar and the dreamer respectively. They are about to be unleashed soon however.


- Both men toast each other, from their respective CHAIRS, reaching across to clink their GLASSES in front of the FIRE. Chairs, glass and fire have a way of seeming important in Twin Peaks.


- A bellman (ring), whom has the same name as the propmaster whose letter was at the Haywards, brings a telegram to Jack, the contents of which disturb him. He'll be checking out, he announces, and Dale and he wish one another good luck.

They are the same person, so it's unnecessary. Although their luck isn't great, Billy (themselves) being their mutual downfall.


- Dale is left alone, with his cowboy measuring glass filled with milk, staring into the fire, darkness all around him.


- The Haywards, well just Will, Eileen and Donna, share an uncomfortable supper, one where Will seems intent on hiding Eileen's connection to Ben with lies and Eileen doesn't so much as seem to want to lie as she does want to avoid answering things. Donna mentions the roses sent and how roses are romantic.

Audrey is the flower of Twin Peaks.
Blue roses are in honor of her.
Billy's feelings for her are romantic.


- During the meal, Eileen twice asks for peas. Now, if we reason that Billy is substituting his being Ben's child, with Donna having to carry that burden, can we possibly, and admittedly ridiculously, argue that the peas are substituting the creamed corn here?


- Earle left the giant chess piece with the dead man inside at the gazebo we saw earlier. Now this is where Dale knows he took Annie and yet he doesn't seem concerned in the least, all as he's rambling about how dangerous Windom is and then precautions everyone to stand back as he cleverly opens the piece at a distance?

Dale's actions are still betraying how he secretly doesn't care for Annie Blackburn's wellbeing and might even intentionally want her harmed, which is EXACTLY what Billy is longing for, and why he created her. She is the real pawn, not the guy in the giant chess piece.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 25 "On the Wings of Love"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- The Log Lady centers her intro in today's episode by talking about treasure. It's beautiful because it exists and it exists to be found. There is a treasure that when found can leave one eternally happy, she insists we all know it exists. She states that some speculate that it is inside of us and that would be strange because it would be so near and yet hard and difficult to find and attain.

We've reached the conclusion that these intros do work best if we believe she is continually, secretly, discussing an individual person. We also still believe that it works best if it is the theorized Billy. Here she is telling him that the greatest treasure he could find would be what comes from within himself, which would basically being at peace with himself. If he could accept his past and feelings, forgive his mistakes and attempt to become a better person, motivated by knowing who the heck he really is and not running from it, it would be the true treasure, which is living a balanced, good and peace-filled life of love.

Okay, so we can tie the intro in to the treasure that the law enforcement team, and by extension Windom Earle, are looking for at Owl Cave. That it involves the symbol seen on a ring, a material treasure, is perfect. Gordon Cole will even make a crack about Tiffany's in the episode. But can we then link that ring to what the Log Lady is talking about? How the true treasure lies within, does the ring help bring the wearer to such a state, if they are willing to? Is it self acknowledgement and acceptance? A realization of truth?

In the Between Two Worlds interview with the Palmers, Laura says this, and it sounds like she's talking about the end of FWWM after she has worn the ring/treasure.

"And then there was a time when I cried because I was so happy, because I saw what it was. And it was so beautiful. I was awake."

Can we then take Dale's reluctance for Laura to wear the ring to betray how he/Billy is unable to look inside himself for such a treasure? American Girl, knew who she was and stayed true to that, Billy only ever seeks escape and denial.

So we can link this all to Ben's discussion about looking in the mirror, and though he wants to be good, he actually doesn't know how to. He too is looking for a treasure, but just like Billy, his son, it is himself that is blocking him, the person he sees in the mirror.


- The episode begins in the Book House with a shot of the buck head there. We've already discussed how we perceive the buck to represent Billy (Hastings shown as living in Buckhorn/e) but maybe now we should spend a little time on this particular motif of bucks throughout the series, you know...how they are dead.

Hunters whom wish to make a trophy of deers/elks etc...often go after male deer for their "horns", antlers. They, like the owls, are HORNEd. They are also needlessly killed despite causing no real threat nor for any sustenance they offer. They are innocent and usually only harmed for their beauty. Billy sees his own "death" has being only for such causes. What was his death? Probably when he was first abused by his mother. It created a spiritual death inside of him that he has never gotten over.

This, infact, might be linked to the "murder" that Lois Duffy was about to be interrogated for, when Cole and Jeffries went to question her inside of that motel room in Olympia Washington. We've referenced how Olympus was the mountain where the Greek gods lived, and how those gods frequently indulged in incest. Venus, a mythological symbol, stands throughout the Red Room in statue form. We theorize that the trees are somehow connected to Adonis' mother Myrrha (come to think of that, her name contains Double R) whom had given birth to a son, whom was also her brother, after lying with her father, for which she was turned into a tree to help save her from his wrath. The Greek gods also consumed ambrosia, which seems to have informed the word "garmonbozia" a sustenance for Lodge spirits, whom label it as pain and sorrow.

When Cole and Jeffries arrived in the motel room it was to witness one Lois Duffy kill another Lois Duffy. The one shot vanished after whispering "I'm like the blue rose." It was obviously a tulpa. We've stated we see the tulpas as being people that Billy views as being two faced/duplicitous, as opposed to the dopplegangers representing hidden truths/aspects. So we believe that Lois Duffy was someone whom had somehow hurt or betrayed Billy by acting two different ways.

Remember Lois Duffy technically means "Most beautiful/superior dark/black one".

She was, as we have been saying throughout exploring this theory, a brunette, not a blonde...and the first one to both horrify and entrance Billy. Audrey Horne. Judy. His mother. Someone he loved and hated and worthy of a tulpa, because while she loved him, she also had hurt him.

And we argue it was in that same motel room where Lois Duffy murdered her tulpa - the same one seen in the Dutchman's where Mr. C would confront Phillp Jeffries and demand to know who Judy was and Phillip would tell him he'd already met her - that Billy was first abused by his mother.

So this, we reason, is the reason for the continuous buck heads we see and Billy's figurative murder.

It's probably also interesting to remember how one famous buck, Bambi, is almost synonymous with the death of his mother, another issue that haunts Billy Hastings.


- We go from the buck to a lamp and the books that presumably give the Book House its name. Electricity is linked with life and dreams in Twin Peaks, and books, stories, are integral to Billy's inner survival.


- Pretty sure that it IS the same bed where Audrey lay, after being rescued from Jack's, where Harry is now lying as Jones comes to him.


- Just realized her name being Jones ties in to the Jones family in Las Vegas...That's fairly interesting...The name Audrey Jones actually can anagram into "Judys are one".


- Jones feels Harry's body up, eventually turning him over so he is lying on his back. "Do you like that?" she asks.

We can honestly suggest that this is something Billy faced, his mother coming in while he was sleeping and sexually molesting him. The question to "Do you like that?" carries with it a decidedly predatory quality to it.


- So now Harry is lying on his back as Jones is on top, straddling him. May we point out right now that this is the position that Janey-E and Diane will take (supposedly sisters?) when Dale is having sex with them in the Return. We outright believe that Janey-E represents some idealized version of his mother as both perfect mother-wife, one which Cooper's tulpa can live happily ever after with inside of Billy's mind. Now, though, we will specifically be focusing on Dale and Diane at the Pearblossom Motel for this sequence...for we believe in that scene Dale/Billy was essentially seeing his mother when he had sex with her, forcing Diane to adorn his mother's identity (Audrey/Judy/Lois) as they had sex, part of the reason she became so distraught and had seen herself outside of the motel.


- Jones takes out something from what looks like a perfume bottle and runs it over both Harry and her own lips. There was a perfume bottle beside the bed where Audrey was being held captive at One-Eyed Jack's too. It had a golden-orb top. Is there a connection?


- After this act, kissing the sleeping Sheriff, Harry awakens to see Jones as Josie, whom repeatedly consoles him that it's her "Yes...Yes, it's me...I'm here. Harry, I'm here."

This further strengthens, that at the Pearblossom, Cooper is seeing Diane, not as Diane, but someone else. We STRONGLY suggest, since My Prayer is playing and this is a motel, that it is the woman most associated with saying a prayer to her special Agent and whom lived at a hotel. However, we just as equally STRONGLY suggest that she is also Cooper's mother, seeing as though My Prayer was played during the New Mexico Girl's self-impregnation by the frogmoth, and how that whole sequence mirrored Audrey's conception of Richard by Dale's doppleganger, and how Dale will become a Richard by the series end.


- We can also, come to think of it, get a parallel going between Harry and Audrey, since this is the bed where she lay after being rescued at her father's brothel. Weeks after that, comatose in a hospital, Audrey was also taken advantage of by Mr. C, which in fact recreated the original Sleeping Beauty, Troylus and Zellandine, which also included Venus, and involved a pregnancy, while a woman slept. We theorize however that the father of the child was really Audrey/Billy's mom's own father. Billy just reimagines it as his having raped his mother, believing that was in effect what his conception/existence amounted to.


- Harry is happily lost to the fantasy until Jones tries to strangle him. This wakes him up real fast. A fight ensues in which Harry eventually beats her, hitting her several times until she falls on a couch. He looks like he might kill her but then actually stops himself and seems to even regret hurting a woman.

This is both similar and drastically different from Billy. Billy's illusions always fail and he suddenly discovers the girls he is attracted to aren't really his mother. He then "punishes" them for what he takes as an attack. Although he still probably perceives them as having equally hurt him like his mother, and thus he sees them as her dark self, that must equally be hurt too. Mr. C's disturbing encounter with Darya in another motel room, conveys this in a bleak and horrible fashion. Harry, meanwhile, a good man, refuses to hurt Jones, no matter how she threatened him.


- Jack is seen working on an invention. He's wearing white, black and red, just like Audrey's shoes and the color scheme of the Red Room.


- Audrey brings room service into Jack. After our discussion regarding the last scene, and her role as Billy's mother/Lois Duffy, this can take on a dark and distressing note, as can her next statement: "I trust your sleep was untroubled? Here at The Great Northern, we aim to make your stay as comfortable and as enjoyable as possible. You know, we take the concept of room service very seriously."


- Jack gets the innuendo and responds, which is probably just the aspect of Billy, whom loved and was attracted to his mother, coming full out in this substitute he created for Dale Cooper.


- Strange how Jack mentions Audrey's grandfather here. Once again, it creates more of a portrait for Ben Horne's father and potential abuser more than we ever receive for Leland Palmer's, making the cycle of abuse having happened within the Horne's a more fleshed out exploration of intergenerational trauma.

Amidst the sexuality of their conversation, Jack asks Audrey if she remembers her grandfather, to which Audrey replies, "Mm hmm." Jack calls him a colorful man and one of the wisest he ever met. He also states that he once said, "If you're gonna bring a hammer, you better bring nails." Which he clarifies means "the next time
you come into my room and carry on, you'd better be ready to finish whatever it is you came here to start."

Ummm...this is all kinds of...weird? He's quoting something her grandfather told him and meaning it in a sexual way...is there any chance that the grandfather said it with the same meaning? Does he think the grandfather would approve of him using it on his granddaughter, or is this secretly insinuating something truly upsetting about Ben Horne's father himself? Nails and hammers have sexual metaphors already, afterall.

Gordon Cole also has a book called “How to Work with Tools and Wood” by Fred J. Gross, lying on his desk. The cover depicts a young boy hammering a nail into wood, with a second one laying in wait - making it nails - as an older man watches, whom could be either a father or teacher. The cover doesn't mean anything for the people on it, but how it's used in Twin Peaks, it might just be a clue.


- Audrey says she's ready now, to which Jack tells her to "be yourself." She counters, she is. He says she's absolutely right, and he stands corrected: "You're a beautiful, intelligent young woman." Audrey asks him what else and he answers, "You have an undeniable magic about you."

Is this Billy being cheeky with his mother inside of the dream? What's with the be yourself bit, especially since we believe that Billy is reimagining his mother inside of his dream? And when he says there is an undeniable magic about her...is that natural or is it partly because the Magician is working his spell? Billy is making his mother get the chance to sparkle and shine, live a life free from her father's abuse...one where she didn't abuse him either and they can have a "healthier" relationship.


- Audrey agrees to a sunset flight with Jack, after a visit to the library and a meeting with her dad. Then she tells Jack, "And if you bring a hammer,
you better bring some nails too."


- Jack puts his glasses back on after she's left. He'd been wearing them when she'd come in, but apparently removed them. Ben wears glasses...any indication here then that that is still whom this Jack is partially also? He's Billy...he's the absent father he used to be told about whom swept in, got his mother pregnant and then never returned...and he's really just her own father too?


- Harry's had Jones imprisoned and is back to work. Jones wants to speak to the South African consulate (have to look into South Africa for any parallels). Harry wonders why Thomas Eckhardt wanted him dead, and Dale reasons "Sexual jealousy". Billy's grandfather/father was the same with Billy's mom. Billy probably shares the impulse too.


- Coop then starts a running gag about Harry's hangover and eating a lot of food. Cole will do it too. It's a joke, but with how appetite and hunger works in this show, it could be trying to subtly imply how food is linked to sickness, or gross desires and over indulging can lead to it. Harry, who is honestly a well balanced and good guy, has a normal appetite, as opposed to the Hornes, Cooper, BOB and MIKE.

By the way, Mr. C and Dougie Jones had a similar response at the notion of going back home.


- Will Hayward and Cooper spend a moment together alone in Harry's office which is worth noting since we envision them as two of Billy's main avatars here. They even mirror each other, one staring at a bonsai tree and the other holding a glass:

Will: The bonsai. The ultimate miniature.

Cooper: Bicarbonate of soda, the ultimate digestive aid.


- Harry wants to know where the Bonsai tree came from, and a note tells him it was from Josie, when it was really from Windom.

Should we point out how a Bonsai is a miniature tree, and the arm will turn into a tree? We did anyway.


- Will states that Windom was at his house and hands over Earle's next chess move. Coop realizes his enemy is closing in...

So why does he get recklessly involved with Annie? Because, we reckon, she's more of a pawn than his Queen...and he sort of wanted her dead anyway.


- We really don't want to get too gross with this (too late) but why does Gordon Cole keep saying he's going to or has been to Bend, Oregon. Now he even states that "Whole lot of shaking going on down in Bend." The name Ben is obviously in Bend, but you also have the sexual position linked to sodomizing. We can possibly link both of those to the *shaking* hand thing in an upcoming episode. Honestly, we aren't trying to go overboard here, or offend any readers, but we're trying to mention everything and we've got to mention this because Bend has come up more than once and now it's linked to shaking. Come to think of it, Betty shakes as the Magician is staring at her at the Club Silencio in Mulholland Drive too, and since she was supposed to be Audrey, that has to be mentioned now too.


- Cole reveals that Windom was on the same drug as Phillip Gerard, but everyone presumes it was used to fake his illness.


Frankly Windom Earle's story is a little bit confusing if he is or isn't crazy and when it happened. I guess, the problem is that we know so little of what he did and when or why. He certainly seems to have a few screws loose now. If you're going to bring the loose screws, then you'd better have a screwdriver.


- Windom was a part of Project Blue Book in 1965. His contributions are blacked out for security. He's linked this way to Briggs, which makes Cole think of sausages and point out he likes patties better, and honestly this is going in some directions we didn't foresee...nor did we want to. :/


- Gordon tells Dale, "You'd better dust off
your own black suit," because he is being reinstated to hunt Earle down. So we have another reference, this time out of David Lynch's own mouth, about Dale's suit being linked to his state as an FBI agent and man of the law. This notion will be directly invoked in Laura/Carrie's whisper to Dale for him not to assume that she is the only one whom can spot it off.


- Windom, who has been listening to this all, thanks to the bonsai tree, now has a deck of cards out and he asks Leo to pick three from it. The cards are the Queen of Clubs/Donna, the Queen of Diamonds/Audrey and the Queen of Spades/Shelly. He asks Leo to find the King and the next card he pulls out is the King of Spades/Dale. They need one more Queen, Windom reckons and that will be Miss Twin Peaks, whom he intends to kill, while Dale watches.

Now Dale is the King of Spades. His doppleganger was also looking for the Ace of Spades. What is a spade? A spade is a shovel, our dear friends! Now whom did we see shoveling? Ben Horne and his father, whom we saw breaking the ground at the Great Northern. We likened this to the destruction of natural ground being linked to abuse, a theme that carried through with Ghostwood (Audrey) and Trinity (which is either Billy, or something that represents it all rolled into one). We likened the passing of the shovel from father to son, in the old home movie, as being the cycle of abuse being passed on, just like the imagery of Ben's father giving him a second hand biCYCLE. We've further heard, in just this episode, how Ben's father referenced tools specifically to Jack. So now having Dale be the King of Spades, related to a tool that is at its heart a shovel, is profound.

Shelly, on the other hand, is the Queen of Spades. She is the wife of someone whom generally seems to be carrying out his own cycle of abuse, Leo, but this one more violent than sexually abusive.

Audrey, placed significantly right below Dale's card, is the Queen of Diamonds, which we've gotten into before. This was the card she was wearing, and chose for herself, at One-Eyed Jack's. It's associated with wealth and materialism. We've also pointed out how Teresa Banks, whom we believe to be Audrey's substitute in Billy's dream, worked out of the Red Diamond City motel. Audrey and Teresa were both seen holding ice, as well, which is often used as slang for diamonds. We speculate that Billy believed, and may not be incorrect, that his mother stayed with their father for the material comfort/security he provided, something mirrored in Teresa's blackmail of Leland. It might be something he secretly came to resent his mother for. He might also see her as being more "sparkling" than any other woman and rare also. Gordon, himself, makes a joke about steaks and Tiffany's, Tiffany's selling rare jewels and having a zero tolerance towards fake diamonds.

What is incredibly important about this diamond reference is when we realize that the cards Windom uses all have a red diamond backing on them. This isn't the only time the underlying theme of diamonds will play out this episode either.


- Leo. Gotta say that Leo has possibly the most interesting story and character development/arc within Twin Peaks as a visible whole. Now, he looks at Shelly's card, and it's obvious that despite his hurting her, he does truly love her. She is now his mother-wife, and with the threat of father Windom, he wishes to protect her.

This encapsulates Billy's own conflicting feelings for his mother-love.


- Donna follows her mom into the Great Northern, where she sees her meeting Ben in the hallways, she wishes to speak to Audrey.


- Mike and Nadine are seen leaving the Great Northern, still threading this through with the depiction of a woman with a boy young enough to be her son.


- Audrey doesn't know of any reason Donna's mother would be seeing her father either, despite the Stop Ghostwood campaign, and so she shows Donna the peephole where they watch Ben and Eileen talking.


- Ben and Eileen talk in his office, the fire burning in the fireplace behind them.

It seems that Eileen has brought back Ben's love letters, which upsets him. Eileen thinks he's risking opening old wounds, while Ben wants her to believe that he's a changed man. Eileen argues that sometimes making up for things only makes it worse.

This might actually go for Billy too, well inside of his dreamworld. He's trying to "fix" his family inside of his fantasy when it's too late to fix. Meanwhile, to help keep his dream going, he is descending into destroying people outside of it, partially in an act of balance or to help feed his delusions.


- Ben suddenly dissolves into clearly wanting Eileen, despite her not wishing to have anything to do with him. Ben claims, "You should have been the best thing that ever happened to me." Honestly, that is how parents are often supposed to look at their children. However Ben's feelings are clearly lust related, despite the woman not being interested. He crosses a boundary where Eileen pleads with him in fear/outrage, "Please, don't!" and he stops, eventually apologizing.

Billy's father/grandfather was the same way with his mother, unable to keep himself from crossing his own daughter's boundaries. She was just like Eileen, at a disadvantage from the more powerful man, and honestly could have even been, at some point, in a wheelchair.

That this is all happening in front of a lit fire in the fireplace makes it even more disturbing and relevant to this theory.


- Audrey and Donna look and listen on, as Eileen and Ben discuss if a girl has been told, with Eileen warning Ben that no, she hasn't and she never will. She warns Ben to stay away from the house and the girl they are talking about, whom is obviously Donna. Eileen wheels away from Ben as he squats/kneels in front of the fire place, looking distressed. Neither Audrey nor Donna know what it means but Donna vows to find out.

Okay, some interesting stuff to point out now. Donna...She's obviously going to turn out to be Ben's illegitimate daughter. So this is what we are theorizing here haunted Billy, as well. Only, when Billy imposes this on Donna inside of his dream, in reality Billy had it far worse: he was the child of a father having raped his own daughter.

The interesting thing about Donna is that she is the only main Twin Peaks character to have actually met the grandson. Laura did, yes, but she also wasn't exactly a main character in the series, not as much as Donna was. The only other main character whom has even heard of this grandson, is Dale Cooper, whom is always just a little too late to be introduced to the boy, we theorize is his/Billy's younger self.

Donna did meet him though.

And now she is the one burdened with being Ben Horne's child. Was this passed on to her from that encounter? It can even make us wonder, if, when Dale entered the Palmer house for the first time, to arrest Leland, and Harry and he found the man sitting on the couch in the living room with Maddie, this also partly influenced what happened a few episodes later in "Lonely Souls".

We see Ben, after his conversation with Eileen about Donna's paternity, resting on one knee in front of the fireplace. What is fascinating about this, is that soon we will see Ben also lowering himself to a similar position, on the steps in his office, as he calls out for Audrey as she runs to say goodbye to Jack, which involves offering her virginity to Jack too. He falls and immediately afterwards is when the ringing/humming sound begins and Ben looks to the fireplace inside of his office...the same one, in this ep, where he just discussed fathering an illegitimate child.

It's all connected we argue, only the ringing following Audrey's departure is more true...because it actually represents the conception of her son, by Ben and not either Jack or Mr. C.

That child was Cooper/Billy, why the noise calls out for him.


- At the Double R, Gordon is also now egging poor Harry on to vomit with his talk of food.


- This makes Cole confess he's in the mood for "A steak so rare you could sell it at Tiffany's." And so there we glean a subtle hint that we should be looking for diamonds, infact, it might be something Cooper subtly picked up on as well, as we will soon see.


- Everybody keeps saying Holy Smokes...Does that tie in with the fire?


- Gordon sees Shelly and is instantly smitten. She reminds him of the babe with no arms, which is the Venus de Milo. Does anybody know for certain if that particular statue appears in the Red Room? We tried to find out, but didn't know for certain.


- Have to wonder if Gordon's interest in Shelly, a girl Audrey's age or younger, is a slight dig at Coop (and his actor's) reluctance to be with Audrey. Cole is certainly older than Dale and doesn't seem bothered that he's taken certain oathes. He doesn't seem to be so rigid as to think they conflict with each other.


- Cole says his stomach feels like it's filled with bumblebees while looking at Shelly's beauty, which invokes the playing cards Earle had with the red diamond backs: not only was the joker riding a bee, they are Bee playing cards.


- Gordon can hear Shelly excellently, which he describes as a miracle, to which the Log Lady asks what's so wrong about a miracle, when Cole wasn't saying there was anything bad about them at all. He can hear Shelly but not the Log Lady. Hmmm...maybe this is pushing it, but perhaps Shelly healing/being good for Cole is an indication that Audrey would have been equally good for Dale, or that Billy accepting his feelings for his mother might have also helped to heal him. Dale is a spade. Now spades can either dig up or bury something, depending on how you use them. Dr. Amp's own advice was to use a shovel to dig yourself out of your problems. By denying Audrey, perhaps Dale/Billy used his spade to bury himself deeper.

- The Log Lady is wearing a pattern of diamonds on her sweater.


- Cole asks for a glass of water because his feet are on fire. Well, we know that Audrey asked for a glass of water and drank it before she fell into a coma after the bank explosion and the New Mexico girl heard a broadcast where a woodsman repeated, "This is the water and this is the well, drink well and descend" before she became unconscious and the frog moth entered her, we know of fire being synonymous with BOB too.


- Cooper appears to be doodling on a napkin. It's of the twin peaks tattoo on Margaret's leg, and Major Briggs' tattoo which he is re-forming into a series of 3 (Trinity) diamonds in the center of it. Okay, so Gordon made a crack involving Tiffany's and Audrey is the Queen of Diamonds, and as Cole is flirting with a teenage Twin Peaks girl, Dale just happens to be drawing diamonds? And even more telling...the napkin he is drawing them on has a snowflake embossed pattern. Snowflakes are ice and ice is slang for diamonds. There is an undercurrent here that still betrays a curious link between Dale Cooper and Audrey Horne. This most likely stems from the fact that Billy is always thinking of his mother, and this is still all about her.


- Dale looks perplexed at his drawing and then out the window. He seems to sense something about it that disturbs him. His looking out of the window connects to BOB's favorite entryway and later on in this episode we will see Ben looking out of his own window. Like father like son. Coincidentally, when Ben is looking out his window, it is implied he is watching his son Johnny Horne, shooting arrows at cardboard buffalo; Johnny we suggest is still just another representation of Billy, making Cooper and Johnny also the same person.


- Harry comes back out and Dale and he argue about if it's a chickadee or a finch on a Dodge Dart (hmmm darts are similar to arrows) outside. Annie comes along, saying chickadee, agreeing with Dale. Ahem...they are the same person too, we thinks.


- Cooper and Annie talk and Cooper is smitten, just like Gordon was with Shelly. They honestly still seem like the same person though, with their mannerisms and choices of words and topics. Even the way Annie is wearing her hair, makes it look similar to Cooper's which is rather odd. Shelly's ponytail/hair is placed over her shoulder to the front, making Annie's hairstyle and its similarity to Coop's, even more pointed out. Does Shelly usually wear her hair like that? Too late now to see.


- Dale attempts to tell Annie a joke

"Two penguins were walking across an iceberg. One penguin turned to the second penguin and said: "You look like you're wearing a tuxedo." He's interrupted when Shelly calls for Annie's help. In the brief intermission, Harry guesses that Dale is in love with Annie because he tried to tell her a joke. Annie returns and Dale finishes what he started, which that whole interruption recalls the Jack and Audrey discussion. Anyway the rest of the joke goes, Well, the first penguin said
to the second penguin: "You look like
you're wearing a tuxedo." And the second penguin said, "Maybe I am". They both laugh at it.

Um...that joke is kind of...well dumb, proving that if they found it funny together and understood it, they must be one and the same. But anyway, it involves icebergs and penguins, which we can still tie to diamonds, and, in an under the surface way, Audrey. A penguin will also be a sort of joke between Chloe and Ella, whom also might be referring to the same person they call a zebra (who is out again) both wearing black and white primarily...which is like Dale Cooper, whom has just left the Red Room after 25 years in.

Must mention this too, no matter how cruel it seems. When discussing the Queen of Hearts to Leo, Windom placed the Joker card to accompany it...now Dale is telling Annie, the Queen of Hearts, a joke. And by the end of this season, Mr. C makes a joke of the question "How's Annie?"

Does that ultimately make Annie a joke? We believe that that was in fact all she was to Billy and Dale's true self.

- Gordon claims he's going to write an epic poem about the pie he is eating. Can we tie this into the poem that Windom sent to the "angels"?


- Annie is the one who points out to Dale that his napkin (still see the snowflakes) drawing (still see those diamonds) looks like something from Owl Cave. There is those owls included now too, whom we speculate are the Lodge forces whom really just mask/equal the Horne family and company.

Coop tells Harry they must go there.


- Donna is shown looking through her mail. One of them is addressed to a man named Jeff Moore, whom was the property master for the show. This is one of those incidences someone may use to undermine any importance between William "Billy" Hastings' information showing up in Mr C/Cooper's arrest report, stating that shows do this all the time and it's usually more laziness or an injoke than anything else. And that might truly seem legitimately a viable argument, until you realize that Mr. C's mugshot showed him as being Hasting's height not Cooper's listed one. This would have taken more work to accomplish than laziness suggests. A false height chart would have been placed behind MacLachlan or it was digitally added afterwards. That both the written and visual information is bleeding into Hastings suggests that this was thoroughly intentional.


- James addressed this to Donna, but has her living on Dale street, which supposedly contradicts previous information of where she lived. We point out the fact again that Donna met the grandson and Dale keeps missing him. We also suggest the link here that the grandson is placing Donna now where he infact lives, as Ben Horne's son, and that includes Cooper, as well, bringing another meaning to Donna Hayward suddenly living on Dale street.


- James is in San Francisco and going to Mexico, both known for their gay subcultures. Is this a coincidence or not when we speculate that Billy also was confused about his sexuality after possibly being abused by his father/grandfather? Frank Booth appears to have similar issues in Blue Velvet.


- James promises he'll be back with a million stories, once more strengthening how Billy lives in them.


- While sitting on the stairs, Donna has a conversation with her father about Ben Horne's relationship with her mother. Important to note that this secretly involves Donna's paternity, Ben being her father, as the major Will/Bill in the original series climbs the stairs. Stairways play a major role in the series, from Sarah coming down and going up them to look for Laura, to Mr C and Dale both climbing the stairs in the Convenience Store to get to the Dutchman's. We'll get into it at a later date, but a stairway plays prominently throughout Lynch's short The Grandmother, where a boy, wearing a tuxedo (sound familiar?), climbs a staircase to plant a seed which becomes a loving grandmother (sound equally familiar?), which helps him escape his abusive home life. The boy is played by an actor called Richard in the piece while the father is portrayed by a Robert...very interesting, when we think of Audrey's son's name, who Cooper becomes and the name of the spirit which ruins so many lives.


- Will Hayward constantly lies and gaslight his daughter during the conversation. Actually Will has been acting weird recently, considering his defense of Nicky. He's almost outright angry/intimidating Donna by the end. We can easily see it being linked to how Billy is denying the identity of his own father and how he also gaslights those around him, trying to force them to believe the lie that he isn't lying to them, and that he is anything other than what he wants them to see.


- A knock at the door brings a dozen long stem roses for Eileen and Donna knows something is still wrong and that her "father" just lied to her. Interesting to connect these roses being for the mother of Ben's illegitimate child, when we theorize that Audrey/Billy's mom was the original rose which inspired the blue roses, which are the women Billy murders whom remind him of her.


- Audrey is on a ladder, in the library, looking for books on civil disobedience to help with the Stop Ghostwood campaign.

In The Return, Coop/Dougie scribbles ladders and stairs and a ladder will be seen outside of the house where the addict mother and her son are squatting. We theorize Billy used a ladder to get to his victim's window.

Libraries are the place for stories and books, the world where Billy escaped to, just like Harold Smith, whom was linked to the grandson too. The photo of Teresa wearing the Owl Cave ring was photographed by David Lynch outside of a library. Ruth Davenport, whom we see as Billy's fictitious mistress in his dreamworld, whereas Betty was the real, was stated to be a librarian. Audrey and Ruth share the same lamp in The Return. Both are involved with Billys, and we theorize it's just the same one.

Audrey is set to protest Ghostwood...makes sense since it secretly conveys her abuse at the hand of her father.


- We can see a book called "In the Days" on the shelf. Is this a reference to the days when Billy lived with his mother (Audrey) and their father at the Red Diamond City motel?


- Windom, in disguise, "bumps" into Audrey and introduces himself as Edward Perkins. We might be able to derive a reference to Anthony Perkins, the actor whom played the homicidal, mother fixated, son whom ran the Bates Motel.


- That Windom's encounter with Audrey happens in a library is extremely telling, for all of the reasons listed above. Billy has created a world of stories to escape to and it is partly brought about by and for his mother (Audrey).


- Audrey shows "Perkins" the poem she received but he urges her to read it, which seems to put her slightly on guard, more than either Donna or Shelly were when they met the man. She reads it now, with Windom finishing the last bit:

"See the mountains kiss high heaven
And the waves clasp one another

No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother

And the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea

What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?"

There is Audrey now reading the line about sister-flower would not be forgiven if it disdain'd it's brother. David Lynch, on a napkin - just like the one Dale was doodling on in a scene featuring Gordon Cole - called Audrey the flower of Twin Peaks. And, we repeat, if Audrey had borne Ben's child, it would not only be her son but her brother too.


- Windom says Shelley and Audrey becomes more wary, probably because she remembers Shelly reading the poem at the Roadhouse. Then Earle comments, "Gazing at you reciting the verse of Shelley, you look very much like a queen," and she bids the man an anxious adieu.

Here's what we were saying earlier though...Earle flat out seems to indicate that Audrey should be his queen. It is like the whole Miss Twin Peaks thing with Annie is false, imposed on what his true choice/actions would be.

This is Audrey reading the poem Dale meant for Caroline and Caroline's husband knowing it. It should have been Audrey...but Billy, finding that too painful, and wishing to save Audrey from a situation which was intended to already represent the painful triangle he formed with his mother and father/grandfather, he chooses to save her this time by placing a decoy, not at all like her but more like his own dream self, in danger.


- After Audrey has left, Windom looks compelled by her, suddenly blowing smoke RINGS. Remember, this is about Audrey. Smoke...fire...circles.


- Shelly asks Annie if she's thinking about entering the contest to which Annie answers, "I think the real world's strange enough without getting on-stage." We knooooowww that the writers claimed Annie wasn't Lodge related but honestly there are far too many references indicating that she's not real and comes from somewhere else to be ignored. Besides, this theory takes things that were not intentional and reframes them to have them make sense, something we fully believe David did, just like when he was trying to complete Mulholland Drive and have it make sense. Besides, we still claim that Annie is more a reflection of Dale Cooper, one that can be used as a decoy. We also think she serves two other functions, which is to showcase how Billy willingly wants to lure and kill women, discarding them in the most brutal fashion and how he masks them beneath this light haired shell, that is Annie, after she's worn the ring, when, in truth, they are dark haired beauties, like Audrey.


- Annie claims to not even be remotely interested in Cooper...is she telling the truth? Is she lying? What does this mean? Maybe the word "remotely" is key. It can also mean "from a distance". We are theorizing here that the creation of Jack and Annie keep Audrey and Cooper safely away from each other until the threat of Windom (the father figure) is solved and then Cooper/Billy's dark side can fully indulge in his love for Audrey Horne by shelving her away in some sort of alternate Twin Peaks, an act he achieves partly by having sex with her while she sleeps, nicely echoing the dreamer.


- The Twin Peaks law enforcement team prepares to go to Owl Cave, minus Cole, whom Shelly took to see Doc Hayward. Now when did it look like Shelly, while she was talking to Annie, was taking Gordon Cole to see Doc Hayward?!? Interesting that Cole is set to meet up with the major Twin Peaks Will/Bill though.


- Johnny, in full North American Indigenous headdress, shoots arrows at colorful, cardboard buffalo. We just mentioned the whole Dodge Dart chickadee. We should also mention how Windom was having Leo, who is working at a similar mental capacity as Johnny, make arrows for him a little while ago.


-Ben watches his son through the window. We already mentioned how that corresponded with Dale watching through a window at the chickadee on the Dodge Dart. Now we can also include the Windom and Leo father-son relationship and tie it into the Ben and Johnny one too.


- Ben talks to Audrey about how Jack Kennedy brought his brother Bobby with him to the White House, because he trusted him and needed the truth.

Twin Peaks began, technically, when Frost and Lynch intended to work on a film about Marilyn Monroe. Dale Cooper questioned the Kennedys relationship with Marilyn in the first episode, shortly before he met the Monroesque Audrey Horne.


- Audrey assumes he is talking about Jerry but he insinuates that he can't depend on his brother.

More shades of the BOB and MIKE dynamic, neither of them trusting the other and also competing too.


- Ben says that he believes that Audrey is the best man for the job and Audrey seems shocked, as we hear Johnny yelling outside.

Billy is still working on fixing the relationship between his father/grandfather and mother inside of his mind. Now he is making them even business partners, erasing the role of his uncle, to some degree, whom he still might resent. Interesting how Audrey is being called a "man" here now. We have yet another indication of a male hiding beneath the female.


- Very interesting exchange here.

Ben: Audrey. I know that I haven't been
a very good father. Oh, heck, who am I kidding? When have I ever been anything
but a sleazy, rapacious heel?

Audrey: Well, Daddy, maybe when I was little, but--

Ben: Exactly. But I've changed. And I am determined to be a better person. The kind of father that you will respect.

Billy, inside of his dream, is trying to essentially redeem his dad/grandfather and give his mother the type of father she deserved. It's very odd that Ben even says that he's been a sleazy and rapacious heel to his daughter. It implies, in some offhanded way, that he has been that way directly towards HER.

Audrey even says that maybe when she was little, but then stops, as if maybe he was or more likely he was NEVER anything but. Looked at from a certain view, it's indicating he was inappropriate with her.

But now Billy is trying to change that by FORCING his dad/grandpa to be a better man, just as he forced Leland to be a worse one.


- Ben then states "When I think about Laura, when I think about the mistakes that I've made, I want to build a life in happiness
for our whole family. You, me. Will you help me do that? Please?"

Laura is mentioned here, in relation to his mistakes. We have a question though, is he talking about his having slept with her, or what happened to her? It can go either way frankly. In one you have that he was sleeping with a girl obviously similar to his daughter, and what that covertly implies. On the other, you have that he could be talking about his having heard that Leland abused and killed Laura and he's relating that to his own family.

In either case, Billy is trying to wipe his father's sins away and fix his family, just like Jack has been called in to fix the Horne family business.


- Audrey agrees to be Ben's "man" and they shake on it, Billy still trying to repair his broken, diseased family. Have to point out the "shaking" of hands and how, soon, people around Twin Peaks' hands will begin to shake violently on their own, which somehow links to BOB and the Red Room.


- Ben now prepares to ship Audrey out on a plane to do some family business. Should note that the episode is entitled "On the Wings of Love" which seems to tie in to the Hornes storylines, particularly Audrey. Meanwhile, Dale did tell a joke about a penguin to Annie, but that only reminds us how a penguin doesn't actually use its wings to fly, but to swim...hmmm. Is that more subtle hinting that it is Audrey whom truly makes our Billy's dreams take flight and his heart soar and Annie is the joke? We think so.


- Jack walks in, and it's interesting how Ben calls him John now, underlining the fact how his son, shooting arrows outside in a fantasy world, is also named John. Billy is both Johns too. Ben explains how Audrey's heading to Seattle to preach about the pine weasel and both Audrey and Jack look disappointed, neither telling her father and his father figure how he's spoiling their plans.

Is that subtly what is happening here? That despite the fact that Billy is dreaming a better father, the man remains forever scarred by what Billy knows of him. He unintentionally wrecks havoc on the Audrey/Jack affair because that was what the real Ben Horne was: jealously possessive of his daughter, perhaps even of Audrey's relationship with their son.


- Ben kisses Audrey's forehead before she leaves. In FWWM, we will see Leland doing this same thing with Laura when he goes into her room to tell her he loves her and as he says "Goodnight Princess." It is a very moving sequence and it is perhaps telling that we see it happen between Audrey and Ben first, and how that further creates a level of tragedy to the scene between Leland and Laura. The trauma/abuse doesn't belong to them, you see. They are being forced to live out a narrative that doesn't belong with them, making them even more confused and lost. The TP card for Audrey Horne even interestingly says that her nickname was princess, which actually makes sense given her wealth and family.


- Alone with Jack, whom he's still calling John, Ben admits, "l am filled to the brim
with a feeling of goodness. Like a Christmas tree all lit up inside. But at the end of the day when I look in the mirror, I have to face the fact that I really don't know how to be good."

Ohhhh...cold hard truth intruding into Billy's fantasy world. He's trying to force his dad to behave and be better, but the man simply can't, because that was not who he was. Just like when his lust and selfishness took over as he talked with Eileen, which might have actually represented his inappropriate feelings for his daughter, the reality bubbles to the surface. We have the mention of looking in the mirror too, which is a very prominent link to BOB and this theory, Audrey will be seen looking at herself in a mirror in her final scene in The Return, just as Dale will finish out this season as his doppleganger seeing BOB in the mirror. We suggest that this is the story of Father and Daughter and their son, afterall, Ben, Audrey and Cooper/Billy respectively.


- Should point out how Ben takes off his shoes before facing Jack on the couch. Cooper will lose his shoes before switching places with Dougie, and Audrey's shoes were focused on in the Pilot. Leo stashed an incriminating tape with Ben in his own footwear. Shoes seem to connect to the Hornes under the view of this theory. Hmmm...and the term horned also frequently accompanies shoes. We still believe that the whole incest story was SHOEHORNED onto the Palmers when it actually fit the Hornes instead. After all, if the shoe fits...

- Now Ben wants advice on how to be good, from John/Jack whom is really just Billy, the same person imposing the "goodness" on him.

John tells him, "Just keep your eye on your heart. And always tell the truth...Tell the hardest truth first, though."

Ben agrees, "This truth business, it's clearly at the forefront of goodness."

This might be true, but it's ironic since Billy has yet to face and accept the hardest truths about himself and his family. If he did, though, he might actually heal.


- Jack than admits to Ben that he is falling in love with Audrey. Ben seems to think it's either a joke or a horrible truth, but when Jack states it is the truth, he then seems to accept it rather happily. He offers the man a carrot and they sit eating them together, kind of like father to son.

But this carrot business is sort of odd, when we were looking at the weasel thing as already being phallic.

And Jack looks like he's close to a nervous breakdown having to eat the carrot with Ben.


- Ben declares "What a wonderful world we live in" and not only is it schmaltzy but it invokes the Louis Armstrong song playing on the morning of the day things went horribly wrong at the Palmer household.


- The Twin Peaks law enforcement, plus one reinstated Special Agent Dale Cooper, enter Owl Cave. Now Owl Cave is in Ghostwood forest, we presume. That makes it having been on Horne land. Hawk now comments, "We used to play here when I was a kid. Pretended it was haunted
by fierce ghosts."

Billy himself is haunted by fierce ghosts: the ghost of his family and what happened to them and to him. This is Ghostwood too.


- Cooper is taken to see the symbol, and they find it written on the wall. It appears to be an image of 4 diamonds (not three) leading upward, through twin peaks, towards fire. The way the mountains intersect through one diamond makes it look almost owl like.

We can view this as the diamonds (Audrey and the Hornes) leading towards the fire. In this case, the fire might represent Billy himself, whom actually destroyed (melted) his mother and father/grandfather in a fire at their home, and whom ended the cycle of abuse by becoming something the others had not: a serial killer without children.


- The fire, at this point, does not bear the same insignia on the Owl Cave ring.


- Cooper remarks, "Two symbols combined
into a larger whole," commenting on the tattoos left on Briggs and Margaret.

And then:

"The tattoos are the question. This must be the answer."

Now...Dale knows that tattoos aren't any good from knowing that MIKE had one of fire on his arm and then removed the arm to be rid of it. Infact, is the tattoo he had the same picture of fire that the diamonds lead to?

Maybe now is also the time to mention, considering the mountains seen in the image, that Judi is the name of the mountain that Noah's Ark came to rest following the flood.


- An owl that has been watching now begins to fly, as if on cue, screeching and causing Andy's pick to hit the fire image, that sparks with fire and suddenly has the insignia on the Owl Cave ring at its center.

Now it was an owl that led to this and fire that was seen coming from the image of fire. Both of those are linked with BOB. We think it can be gleaned that this isn't good...

We still theorize that this is, in fact, Billy trying to allow his dark urges to overtake any good left inside of him.


- Should point out that Andy's pick did this, carrying on with the theme of tools already discussed in this entry.


- The center diamond, between the mountains, falls out, revealing a rod within it, that seems to look like a ring. Now that is at the center of another image of fire hidden behind the rest of the wall. On the pole is the Owl Cave ring insignia inverted.


- Cooper rather excitedly announces, "Fellas, coincidence and fate figure largely in our lives. It appears to be a petroglyph. Harry, I have no idea where this will lead us. But I have a definite feeling it will be
a place both wonderful and strange."

There probably is no coincidence where Billy is concerned in all this.

And why Cooper thinks this can be anything but bad when fire is involved, we haven't a clue...except that maybe he secretly wants to be bad, just as Billy does.

As a famous William would say "Journeys end in lovers meeting," afterall.

And Coop is being set up to meet a "soulmate".

Mr. C.


- The owl swoops ominously out of the Owl Cave, its mission seemingly accomplished.


- Cooper enters the Great Northern dining area, and tells Diane, "I’ve just returned from a place called Owl Cave. How I got there is a rather complicated story.It all began with a pair of tattoos..."

Once again, these are tattoos! Why does he think this is all hunky dory???


- In the area of the Horne hotel where he met Audrey, a place dealing with food and appetite, Coop sees Annie at the bar. We guess that the bar is supposed to indicate her age, and how she's old enough for Coop, but she still feels like a pale imitation to his heat generated with Audrey. Probably what Billy feels too...a reason she can be sacrificed in Audrey's place. Dale approaches Annie and the two have another conversation where they still feel like the same entity conversing with itself.

A fire is seen burning in the Great Northern Dining Room fireplace behind Annie.

Annie's drink has a cherry, reminding us of Audrey.


- Now Annie doesn't appear to be honest with Cooper here, just like she might have been dishonest with Shelly earlier. She claims she's having a rum and tonic because one of the sisters put it in her tea, but in reality it's because the bartender suggested to her that ladies like rum.


- Annie gives another bit of dialogue that suggests she's not real, doing so in language similar to Cooper's: "I feel constantly amazed, stunned. Music and people, the way they talk and laugh, and the way some of them are so clearly in love. It's like a foreign language to me. I know just enough of the words to realize how little I understand."

Yet, in the next episode it will sound like she tried to kill herself over a boy she went to High School with. Ummm...maybe we're right that she mirrors Cooper, but maybe there is also a large part of Billy inside of her too, since Dale IS Billy. People are like a foreign language to Billy too and love has been corrupted, twisted, tarnished, complicated...

- Annie's slit wrists are shown once again too, more indication that Billy might have tried to kill himself, or that he was, at least, self destructive.


- Dale states he'd love to see the world through Annie's eyes....Come on Coop! You already do! You two are like carbon copies of different sexes!

He explains, telling her that there are some things he'd like to do differently and she says, "Me too."

*cough* same person.


- Seeing the scar on her wrist, Dale says he can help her.

Annie warns, "I'm stubborn. Extremely willful. I can handle that. Some people think I'm strange."

Cooper replies: "I know the feeling."

Annie counters: "I couldn't promise you
that I would always make sense or do things that you would expect me to do."

We're yelling at the screen now, "YOU ARE THE SAME PERSON ANNIE AND COOPER!"

That might be part of the joke.


- Windom seems to make it into Owl Cave without ANY of the equipment the local law enforcement needed, other than a flashlight. Goes to show you what Billy thinks secretly about the law.


- He also manages to find the Owl Cave ring insignia inverted on the other cave wall. That it's inverted should be paid attention to, seeing as though mirrors play a role in Twin Peaks and that causes the image to be reversed.


- Windom grabs the pole and twists it, the pick falls from out of the fire/owl cave symbol on the wall, as the rest of the wall falls apart.


Okay, so we're still not meaning to be anatomical here, or crude, but we have the image of a pole and a man playing with it. We're seeing phallic symbols regularly now to go with the previous testicle ones. After the Annie/Dale scene we just witnessed, where we speculated they were the same person, this image can further strengthen the masturbatory element of their relationship and Dale's journey to the Lodge/himself.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 24 "Wounds and Scars"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- The Log Lady's intro pretty well revolves around the concept of our behavior, saying that at all times things are changing. We are judged by how we treat our fellow human beings.

Times are changing for Billy. He is fighting a war inside of himself, one which will decide if he has any chance of being redeemed.

Margaret asks, when it's dark, before we fall asleep, how do we feel about ourselves and our behavior, are we ashamed?

Billy should be ashamed of his behavior and what he has done, especially to American Girl and her family.

She implores that if you have hurt someone, you should make things right and apologize, because the world can fall apart from sadness in the meantime.

Billy won't make things right though. When we reach Part 18, and his world is falling apart, it is too late by then to save himself.


- Harry is at the Book House mourning Josie. Norma sent breakfast to him because this story centers around appetite and hunger and Harry's seems to have lost both his and Josie, all at once.


- Cooper and Hawk are running the Station in the Sheriff's absense. Harry comments, "Hey, you and Cooper can handle it. It's a pretty simple town. Used to be. I guess the world's just caught up to us."

Harry hasn't realized what Jean did a few episodes back: that Cooper brought the nightmare with him. In the finale, there are subtle indications that he's catching up to that notion though.


- Annie arrives in Twin Peaks and now we can finally discuss the counterpart to Jack. Last episode, we met the distraction that Billy is constructing to keep Audrey safely away from Cooper, while Windom is a threat, well now we flat out have the character he's made to distract Dale: Annie Blackburn.

Only we theorize, while Billy invented a substitute for Dale (as well as a substitute father figure), with Annie, he's basically just recreated Dale Cooper in female form. You see, Coop/Billy can reinvent someone he'd easily like to be, someone else to go with his beloved Audrey, but when it comes to someone he'd rather be with than Audrey herself...well, it's impossible. The only women he is attracted to remind him of his mother...and this whole scenario is meant to save her from danger. It would defeat the purpose to substitute Audrey with another Audrey.

It's far better to replace her with someone he doesn't truly care about, someone he secretly loathes.

That would be himself.

All of those too perfect qualities, all of the weakness and failures. Inside of his dream world, not having accepted the Black Lodge yet fully and the fact that he's also secretly terrified of and hates his mother, for Billy it is better to sacrifice himself than the person he loves most.

And who better to go with Dale Cooper than someone equally from a different time and place, equally as philosophical, moral and upright, having just come out of the convent no less. Someone lacking his mother's strong sensuality and the darkness that appeals to him.

So in walks Annie (named for the goody goody comic character?) a ray of light in the world to contrast the darkness of Audrey Horne...his possible Judy.


- Norma asks Annie about their mother, but when on Earth did it ever seem like Vivian had another daughter? I'm sure she would have been mentioned during Norma's fights with her mother.


- Annie tells Norma, "Feels a little strange. The real world. Little things, like I'd almost forgotten how to use money."

Is she pointing out, in a way, that she isn't real, just like Jack being called Santa Claus?

We also have her outright stating she has forgotten how to use money, betraying she has no use for it. This is opposite to how Billy obviously viewed his mother, with the bank/diamond references and emphasis on wealth and comfort.


- Margaret, or should we say her log, spots Garland's scar and realizes something important.


- Cooper talks with Hawk, mentioning how Will Hayward couldn't determine the cause of death for Josie, and she only weighed 65 pounds at the time of her death.

Obviously she was consumed, BOB having fed on her fear. This is still AFTER Laura and Leland are gone from the show. Also have to note that the series states that BOB feeds off of fear and pleasure. That is shown in it, and FWWM and The Return. Now, garmonbozia is stated as only being pain and sorrow...so what does that mean exactly? Can it be fear too? Or is it a misconception that BOB feeds on it. Mr. C is seen eating it, so is the Arm, but do we know for a fact that BOB eats garmonbozia or is he mainly after fear and pleasure? Will have to look into that.


- Windom comments to Leo, whom he is basically using as his dog to fetch him things, how mental images are always imperfect.

Subtle clue that Billy's also not remembering things accurately? That he's off in some of his depictions?


- When seeing Dale's next move, Earle realizes that it isn't a move but a trick. He deduces that he's playing a stalemate game, when Cooper doesn't know the meaning of stalemate. Does that betray Cooper's secret aggression or urge to dominate, win, or that he doesn't usually care what is lost? In any case, Windom knows he is receiving help and basically cheating.


Many people are going to regret this, he vows.

A bird makes a screeching sound during Windom's tirade, was it an owl?


- After making his vow, Windom begins to play his flute and it gets a closeup of his wedding ring, which is of Celtic design. Oddly enough, the script states it was supposed to be Emerald, green like the Owl Cave Ring.

The song plays eerily as it carries through to the next scene, which is of Audrey Horne's legs as she walks down a cat walk, the camera slowly rising up her body. This wasn't the order the scenes were supposed to go in, nor was Audrey's walk specifically mentioned. As it plays now, it is one of those examples where it looks like it is flat out implying that Audrey is to be Windom's Queen. It's too strange, that focus on his ring and then to go to Audrey, as the audio bleeds over. It even conjures up the whole thing about Audrey asking Dale about her own ring when they first met, and how the Owl Cave ring seems to be more subtly connected to this and Dale's own ring.

There is something underlying the whole surface story being presented in Twin Peaks, like something painted on the wall being hidden beneath a layer of wallpaper. We are determined to continue to try to peel it away.


- Audrey is teaching some models how to walk on the catwalk for her father's Stop Ghostwood fashion show.

Now Audrey wore a cat mask as her father propositioned her at One-Eyed Jack's...

Fashion also plays a definite role, including Laura/Carrie's ominous whisper to Dale insinuating she wasn't the only one able to spot his dark suit off. Lynch also used the song "Sharp Dressed Man" in The Return to great effect.

The models watching Audrey on the catwalk, look at her in almost derision. They are a blonde and a redhead, respectively. We theorize that Billy substitutes victims whom remind him of his mother (a brunette) with blondes inside of his dream, and occasionally a red head too, ex. Ruth, Darya, Diane. After Maddie's death, Sheryl Lee was even told that a character was being created for her that would be a red head...That now a blonde and red head are shown, on the floor, watching in contempt/jealousy as a brunette shows them how it is done, on a level higher up than them, is too wonderfully delicious to ignore. Infact, Audrey is basically instructing them to follow in her footsteps and imitate her.

We theorize that the women Billy chooses, those whom remind him of his mother, all fail him. He wants them to imitate her, yes, to follow in his mother's footsteps, but they all fail. All becoming monkeys to him and dispensable.

We point out that this is all revolving around a fashion show and Ghostwood again. Fashion is something you wear, like Billy wishes for his victims to wear the essence of his mother. Ghostwood, we theorize is Audrey's abuse by her father, yet it also contains the word "Ghost" in it, like the dead mother which haunts the dreamer, her son.

While this is happening, notice how a fire blazes in the fireplace, and a man named Richard lustily watches over it all, sizing the women up.


- Audrey and Richard Tremayne share a brief conversation about his work in the fashion show. It doesn't seem to hold many clues but Richard (the name Audrey will inexplicably give her son) tells Audrey, after she says he should coordinate with Pinkle "You are dreaming."

In The Return, we theorize that Billy/Mr.C/Cooper/Richard have set it up so Audrey is permanently safe and dreaming inside his own dream.


- Jack and Audrey mutually apologize, make up and then make plans for a picnic. Sure is a popular pastime in Twin Peaks. It involves food and appetite though, plus relationships. Jack makes a reference that he waltzed out of nowhere, which sums up his role inside of Billy's dream and the show. It also is worded like a dance, which relates to Audrey.


- Cooper brings Harry the list of felonies on Josie's interpol report. Not very tactful or nice. He thinks that knowing Josie was a hardened criminal will somehow stop Harry's missing her. If any part of Billy has such reasoning with himself, over his own mother's death, it could further help explain his decent into a dream. He should know, as should Cooper, that love is blind and rarely gives a darn if the person was a hardened criminal of not. Josie did honestly love Harry and he loved her back. Billy needs to accept he was in love with his mother as well.


- The prostitution charge seems to really upset Harry, which could indicate that Billy finds the thought of his mother playing prostitute disturbing as well, and holds a prejudice/insecurity against it.


- Eckhardt's assistant, Jones, pays Catherine a visit, where she says that Eckhardt and Josie are to be buried side by side. This echoes Josie's earlier words to Ben Horne and is also how Leland and Laura Palmer were buried.

This probably represents how Billy's own parents were probably buried side by side, nobody knowing about the abuse, something he forced on Leland and Laura to have to endure too.


- Windom impersonates a friend of Will Hayward and visits Donna at her home, while she's alone. He keeps mentioning her sisters. Gersten will play a small, but we believe vital role in The Return.


- They get into a discussion about High School, both of them thinking "You have no idea what you want to do with your life, so it seems that absolutely none of it applies to your life."

Being a teenager presently, Billy feels the same way. Little does he know he'll end up being a High School Principal.


- Pete is frantically looking for options to create a full stalemate game against Windom, but he's coming up empty. Dale claims that Earle cares only about royalty and if they protect those, particularly the Queen, they can frustrate him.

That currently makes us wonder if Billy was secretly doing that the whole time with Audrey and if Windom truly failed because he took Annie, a decoy, instead of the true Queen of Diamonds. Sounds crazy, but it's interesting to think about.


- Margaret and Briggs go to the Station together. Margaret makes it a point to say her log noticed the mark on Briggs' neck and she remembers a time, when she was 7, when she disappeared for a day when walking through the woods. She received a scar, like the Major's, but of two mountain peaks. She also remembers, like Briggs and Dale, a flash of light and the call of an owl. The only other time Margaret saw the light and heard the sound was before her husband died in the fire. All three stare at the blackboard and consider the words, feeling like they are connecting to something, but unsure what.

So something is leaving scars on people, at allotted times, but it outright killed the Log Lady's husband. We already wondered if he worked for Ben/Billy's dad and this was the real "fire" that killed him in the woods, which was Ghostwood, we assume, Benjamin Horne's woods. BOB's woods. In the script, Margaret doesn't state the part about the fire. Her tattoo isn't also of the Twin Peaks. Now, it kind of reminds us of the last episode and Audrey playing Heidi, a little girl who lived in the mountains.


We'll find out later that this is all leading Cooper to the Black Lodge. Pay close attention to the bright light and the owl being mentioned. When Laura/Carrie lifted her face in The Return, there was a bright light behind it. But also, when Charlie got Audrey out of the Roadhouse in Part 15, she was surrounded by a bright white light as she looked into the mirror that Charlie seemed to have become. The owl, well, this whole theory speculates that the owls/lodge forces are connected to the Hornes and their close associates. This is in effect leading Cooper to the Red Room and his doppleganger/shadow self escaping it, with BOB in tow. It could be similarly argued that it is leading him to his true self, which gets him closer to the Hornes, whom he is a part of.

Dale was supposed to combine both scars on the blackboard. Margaret's was supposed to be of a square cut into four triangles. This melding was to make all 3 in the room feel some connection. Now it remains the separate images that stir this uneasy feeling.

What we find most interesting is how this eerily cuts to yet another scene featuring Audrey Horne, this time on her picnic with Jack. Is this part of the implied connection? Why, like the scene with Windom are both scenes audibly connected, but this is the opposite from when Earle's flute was heard over Audrey's legs, by having Jack's singing heard while we see Cooper, Garland and Margaret?


- Jack is singing to Audrey, the song is "Bury Me Not", the full lyrics of which detail a cowboy's plea not to be buried on the lonesome prairie. He wishes to be buried beside his father (a topic we strangely already covered for this episode with Eckhardt and Josie). He also wishes "to be laid where mothers prayers And sisters tears will mingle there." We constantly mention Audrey's prayer to Cooper and it's later unrecognized influence/importance in The Return, and how Audrey was both mother and sister to Billy. Jack never sings this part to Audrey, but thinking "mothers prayers" being pinpointed in this song with what we speculate accounts to a Cooper/Billy substitute is goosebumps inducing.


- Audrey is moved, stating that nobody has ever sang to her before. We might recall how back in Episode 2, she outright told Donna that her father used to sing to Laura, and it seemed to incite jealousy in her.

Jack, whom Billy now uses to fulfill her desire, counters that she must have been serenaded once or twice. Audrey states that she doesn't inspire much singing and most boys are afraid of her. Jack says they don't know her, to which Audrey replies, "I don't think anybody really knows me."

This whole conversation skirts around the notion that it was Audrey whom was abused and not Laura Palmer. Audrey, a beautiful, charming and wealthy girl, states that she doesn't inspire much singing and that men are afraid of her? It seems to go back to what she confessed to Dale the first time that they met, that emotional problems ran in her family. That can tie into the way even the Haywards, a supposedly nice family, seemed to treat her as if she were strange. Obviously, Audrey, through her behavior, had indicated that something is wrong with her family, with how she views herself and treats others. This is a classic sign of abuse. Others, not understanding, see her as weird and keep their distance, something she also helps to promote. This is in stark contrast to Laura, whom everyone loved and flocked around, boys all wishing to be around her. Audrey has Ben also isolating her, keeping her to himself. Remember his warning to Dale about the "buckshot". Audrey then outright says the same thing that Laura told James on the night of the murder, that nobody really knows her. This is more hidden indication that Billy projected his mother onto his victim, when it never really belonged there.

Jack even takes her words as a warning.


- Jack wonders if there is someone else, but Audrey corrects him, sadly stating "There was someone, but not anymore. There's nobody." It's obvious that she is thinking about Cooper.

Throughout this episode and last, it is clear how deep Audrey's feelings were for Dale, disproving the claim it was schoolgirl folly. It's sad then to see how quickly Cooper has forgotten about her, but perhaps that is merely how Billy wants it, and Cooper's instant attraction to Annie, whom we argue is mostly himself reflected back at him, is necessary and also a tad narcissistic, with how Billy views his "upright" avatar. Cooper is in love with himself and his virtue.

Audrey's depth of feeling also raises another interesting question though. If she was not in a coma when Mr. C came to her, would it still have been against her will that they had sex? Did she need to be sleeping for it to have been construed as rape? The fact Mr. C did it while she was sleeping also betrays that he was not after her fear, which is odd. It became more like the original, unwatered down telling of Sleeping Beauty, the story that Laura used to read to another John, but one still connected to the Hornes.


- Audrey asks Jack if he has any other tricks. Okay, previously, Windom referred to Dale's chess move as a trick. Now Audrey is referencing tricks with Jack too. Jacoby will also use the word for Nadine leaving her fantasy, later in the same episode. Is this a thread we can follow about Billy and his magic trick of dreaming away his own traumas and troubles?


- Will and Eileen return home and Donna tells her father about his friend whom dropped by. Will says that's impossible because that friend died 30 years ago and he watched it happen. The phone number given leads to a cemetary, lots of references of burying in this episode.

William "Billy" Hastings also watched his family die and now resurrects them inside of his fantasy.


- Will opens the chess piece and says he has to give it to Cooper, warning Donna that the man was dangerous and not to let him into the house again.

Interesting how the major Will of the original series has been offered the chess piece...hmm...and it happens on the same episode we speculate that Billy has fashioned his decoy Queen to the save the true one that matters to him.

- Nadine, Ed and Jacoby sit around the Hurley living room. Jacoby is there because Ed wants to ask Nadine for the divorce, but Nadine still thinks she's a teenager and he's not sure how to do it. Jacoby tells him, "Ed, there are no secret tricks or magic words. It's like the dissolving of scar tissue around a wound. She'll start to see reality again when her mind begins to feel safe." When the subject of divorce is flat out said, Nadine finally realizes that she is blind in one eye.

Clear cut how this ties into Billy: he never actually feels safe and so there remains the question of if he will ever wake up or if it's easier to just go to another dream or reshape this one, like the glass box becoming a matroska that Cooper gets lost/falls into.

However, when confronted with reality, something upsetting to her true self, it's interesting how then Nadine starts coming to a little, realizing about her eye.

Magic terminology is being connected to a fantasy though, just as we speculate the Magician is used in relation to Billy's own dreamworld/delusions.


- Donna witnesses a strange moment where her mother answers the door and it's Ben Horne. The two seem strangely intimate and Ben whispers into her ear, conjuring memories of Laura's whisper to Dale in the Red Room.

This storyline outright involves Donna's discovery that Ben is her father, so this is very significant, since it is what Billy is trying to escape from/deny.

Is there any significance to the first shot of Audrey being of her legs, we wonder now? Is there still any link between Eileen being in a wheelchair, and bearing Ben Horne's child, and that possibly, Audrey/Billy's mom was in one too? Figuratively, literally?


- Norma tells Shelly she should enter the Miss Twin Peaks pageant, and so now we have the artificial way that Billy devises for Windom to capture the artificial Queen he has set up. Afterall, c'mon! Windom didn't need this contest before! He had already centered on his 3 potential queens when he bought that copy of Rolling Stones with them all on the cover! No, wait a minute, that was real life. But anyway, he'd singled them out already. This is just imposed onto what would have been the true narrative, so he can now take Annie, when he really should have taken Audrey.


- To prove Windom didn't need Miss Twin Peaks, we now see him interacting with Shelly, as he had just done with Donna, two options for the Queen...once again, his interaction with Audrey is being singled out as being special and left for a later, exclusive time.


- Shelly doesn't believe she is pretty, and Windom says it's an inner thing. Billy doesn't see himself as handsome either, hence why he becomes Cooper and Jack mainly inside of his dream. However, Billy isn't pretty on the inside, considering he's a killer.


- Dale meets Annie and it's obvious he is interested in her. It's not the same sort of interested he was in Audrey, the attraction having been instant and obvious then too. What he felt for Audrey seemed heated and carnal. Annie is more innocent. That is because that is mostly all Cooper is now, his wholesome qualities amped up.

Annie's also exactly like him.

An inner thing.

A similarity is even voiced when Annie states, "I might be here quite a while," and he replies, "It's happened to me."

This is just the type of woman that Billy contemptuously believes his good self would be attracted to: someone just like him. We've already seen this neutered sort of Dale implying to Harry that his feelings would suddenly end for Josie when he realized she wasn't good. Of course, he would fancy the girl straight out of the convent.


- Interesting to note that in the script, Annie is referred to as being Botticelli's Venus, when Audrey, the other woman Dale was instantly attracted to in a restaurant, was also referred to as Botticelli-like in her first appearance in the script. Audrey is the one we can tie to the Red Room, however, with the colors of her shoes having reflected it, and Titian's Venus with a Mirror (inspired by the Venus haunting the Red Room) being shown at One-Eyed Jack's when Dale was rescuing Audrey from there. Audrey's the one looking into the mirror, like that painting too.


- Dale notices Annie's scar. Now...we've already theorized that Annie is just essentially Cooper, Billy believing that the good Dale could only allow himself to be with someone equally as pure. And we've already theorized that the one person Dale cannot love is himself, which seems to contradict that stance. Until we realize what happens to Annie in the finale, and how the bad Dale takes it as some monstrous joke. And so we can see this betraying some of Billy's own hatred for the good Dale, Annie and his own weak self. Billy infact hates himself. This self destructive streak might have very well displayed itself as Annie's own attempt at self destruction inside of his dream. Suicide might very well have been something Billy also considered to escape his own traumas. So a very real possibility that Annie is just another avatar for Billy, a duplication of Cooper, is strengthened, and may help to explain why Annie, in Laura's dream in FWWM, was allowed to break free from the Lodgespeak, just as Cooper did: they are one and the same, especially after her seeming annihilation.


- Cooper is called to the Book House because Harry is destroying furniture. Any connection to what happened to Josie or the business with the chairs in The Return? Even Ben's comment about rearranging furniture to achieve resonance can come into play, Harry being in the opposite state.


- Harry is deeply distressed and also self destructive, just generally destructive all the way around, as he grieves for Josie. He centers on the fact that the law is good because it cannot be killed.

Billy is focusing on his loss here, primarily the loss of his mother, a woman very similar to Josie.


- Harry states Josie made everything so much better, another feeling Billy both shares and opposes about his mom, and Cooper reminds him he still has his life without her. Billy isn't too keen on that idea either, why he seeks to make others into her.


- Harry has a breakdown, upset he didn't take Josie away and questioning why it all happened; Cooper, whom lost Caroline, comforts him.

This telling exchange takes place:

Harry: I loved her. She didn't have to die. I don't understand. There's a whole lot I don't understand.

Cooper: We're all like that.

This is how Billy feels about his mother, her life and his own. It's even echoed in "Questions in a World of Blue" a song Windom hums and Laura will listen to and cry to while at the Roadhouse in FWWM. Billy loved his mother and hated her. He didn't want her to die in the fire, but she did. He can't understand why his life is worse without her when she abused him and also made his life a horror or what made her even do it in the first place. He doesn't understand. Twin Peaks both can help him understand and yet prevent him from understanding at the same time. Infact, maybe we, as viewers, have a better chance of understanding him than he allows himself to.


- Hawk states about Harry's destroyed state: "It was like taking a hike to your favorite spot and finding a hole where the lake used to be. Josie had power."

Given how Josie was a much abused woman whom abused others in turn, we can fit this nicely into how abuse is being likened to the devastation of land and power: Ben's abuse by his father was represented as the construction of the Great Northern on the previously untouched bluff. The spoil of Ghostwood is equated to Ben's subsequent abuse of his daughter Audrey. Her giving birth to their son, and potentially his own abuse (or maybe even Ben's father's molestation, as well as his own) was equated with the Trinity testing. A hole is created, something broken, tarnished. And only those with power are able to destroy, one of the very reasons they do it in the first place, to regain/attain that power when they feel like it was stolen from them.


- Nadine and Mike check in under disguise at the Great Northern. Why didn't they choose the Timber Falls motel? Maybe there is some significance here, you know, that this is the hotel the Hornes run, where Audrey and Dale live, where an older woman and a man young enough to be her son now intend to rent a room for sexual purposes.


- Nadine wrecks the service bell in annoyance/anger. Since that includes a ring in a hotel being broken by a vengeful older woman (Billy's mom/Judy substitute) it needs to be pointed out.


- The fashion show to save Ghostwood takes place, and we'll point out again the importance of Dale's "fashionable" dark suit insinuated as hiding his true self and how we theorize Ghostwood's destruction is really a metaphor for Audrey Horne's desecration by her own father. Both themes are now combined. Catherine now owns Ghostwood, but is that covering up it's own truth?

Ben states during his introduction speech: "I would just like to remind all of us that ecology is not a luxury science. It is not about pleasant appearances. It is about survival. About whether we are all going to make it, period." That Ben himself is stating all of this is intriguing, especially the line about it not being about pleasant appearances; that is essentially what Laura's whisper to Dale centered around, that he was using his suit for an appearance which wasn't honest. However, that was how Billy survived after he killed her/American Girl and the others: he tried to appear pleasant, contrary to what lay inside.


- Richard Tremayne, meanwhile, hosts the fashion show and Richard will be the name of Cooper's dark side with Audrey, as well as the name Cooper adorns by the end of Part 18. Dick will even refer to Lucy's attire as being "A moonless night, black, slim skirt" which is almost like how Dale describes how he like his coffee.


- Backstage, Audrey helps the women with their fashion before going onstage, going along with our discussion about her first appearance in this episode.


- Catherine and Ben have a chat where the woman doubts Ben's sincerity in turning over a new leaf. Ben remains adamant, Billy still trying to "cleanse" his dad inside of his dream. Interestingly, Ben even refers to himself in this way:  "I was still a black,
miserable clod of dirt."

Previously, we've compared the groundbreaking, shoveling of dirt, by father and son at the Great Northern, to symbolize father passing on the cycle of abuse to his son. Now Ben is outright calling himself dirt. BOB/Leland tried to intimidate/scare Laura by saying she had dirt beneath the nail of her spiritual finger. That is where the name ROBERT was being spelled in reference to BOB. We can create a nice little thread leading from Ben to BOB with his words.


- Catherine suddenly seems convinced that Ben means his words, to which Ben replies, "I do. For you, for me, the future." Ben is still focusing on the future, which can be connected to the emphasis on that word in the Fire Walk With Me poem and the Arm's question regarding time.


- This is really kind of gross, but Mr. Pinkle (a name that sounds kind of dubious and almost reminiscent of the name Mr. Starwberry from The Return, both being red/shades of pink) kind of forces Richard to kiss the pine weasel, an animal we previously said was considered phallic. Under the eyes of this theory, could this be symbolic for Billy having been abused by his father? In The Return, is Mr. C hinting to the prison warden that he is aware he is molesting his own son? Is that what the whole business is really masking? And did Billy perceive his own dad as a prison warden as well?

After Richard is pressured into doing it, covering the act with his hand to help hide it from the crowd, it bites him on the nose and all heck breaks loose as he throws it into the audience, the whole sequence being torn between horror and comedy.


- The weasel runs through the Great Northern, scaring everyone and now is as good a time as any to mention that we just found out that it was once believed that weasels conceived through the ear and gave birth through the mouth. This whole weasel storyline is connected to the Hornes, it is Ben's pet project, and that belief can be linked directly to how the Experiment gave birth to BOB and the eggs. We also have the whispers involving ears and the fact that a flight of owls is called a silence.

Hmmm...

Come to think of it, Briggs scar was left by his ear, while Margaret's was on her leg. We can link Briggs' to the weasel nonsense and Margaret's to the whole storyline of Eileen/Ben and if that might pertain somehow to Audrey's legs and if Billy's mother was actually paralyzed.


- At some point, amidst the bedlam, Audrey is pushed off the stage and is caught by Jack. They have a brief, calm discussion contrasting the chaos around them, and eventually kiss after he admits he came for her not the show. This would seem sweet except for one thing: the event is followed by a shot of one of the models screaming. It should be funny, we guess, but the way her scream echoes, as the screen turns black (like a moonless night), and recalls the screams heard in the Red Room in the finale is rather disturbing.

Is this hinting that Jack/Audrey is not good?

We think it is.

That is a thread which will also continue.


- Some guy, Cappy?, is shown reading as he guards Harry. It's still establishing, through the Book House club and boys, Billy's love of books and stories.

Unfortunately, it makes this guy vulnerable to an attack from Jones, whom knocks him out, going to Harry and crawling into bed with him. Billy is similarly vulnerable/weakened by his love of stories and escapism. This event, his mother sneaking into his bed, was also a recurrent event for the young story-loving child. Is this supposed to be the same bed that Cooper brought Audrey to after rescuing her from One-Eyed Jack's, Ben's personal whorehouse? Probably.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 23 "The Condemned Woman"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.



The Log Lady intro circles around the fate of Josie obviously, stating, "A hotel. A nightstand. A drawer pull on the drawer. A drawer pull of a nightstand in the room of a hotel. What could possibly be happening on or in this drawer pull? " And yet her words also tantalizingly can apply to this theory, for the fact that she's emphasizing that a hotel is playing a role in the situation, and this hotel happens to belong to the Hornes. Afterall, we theorize that Billy lived in a motel with his mother and grandfather/father and they were Audrey and Ben, or some version of them.

Margaret points out the overabundance of drawer pulls in the world. She asks what a drawer pull is. Well, technically it is something that opens a drawer of a cabinet, nightstand etc...Is she pointing out it can be opened then, or hide something? Cole, episodes ago, stated about people whom make a living of going through other people's drawers, as in snooping.

The Log Lady asks, "This drawer pull - why is it featured so prominently in a life or in a death of one woman who was caught in a web of power? Can a victim of power end, in any way, connected to a drawer pull? How can this be?"

The camera shifts to a closeup of Margaret as she asks that. Josie was used by both Thomas and Andrew, friends whom also had a rivalry going and wished to take the other down, but Thomas' feeling were more emphasized as being spurred on by love and possession of Josie. Secrets might have played a role somehow.

We have a connection that will come later too, which can equate to Andrew and Thomas, but we'll get into that more then.

What the Log Lady doesn't outright mention is how the pull is made of wood, possibly trees from Ghostwood. Those woods and the trees therein maybe linked to the abuse of Audrey, as we have already suggested.


- The episode begins with the rest of Windom's tape playing as the camera pans over certain items on Harry S Truman's desk. That it starts with the paperweight of an owl, encased in a glass dome, is interesting, especially when it also focuses on the chess board and Caroline's mask. We're trying to claim that this is all about the Hornes, owls being code for them, and the last half of the original series deals with Billy's battle against himself and his dark nature. We also have been speculating that Caroline is another form/mask/decoy Billy created for his mother. So looking at this sequence, we can say that on the one end, the owl in the dome, represents Audrey, a more accurate portrait of his mother, being protected inside of his fantasy so she won't end up like the Caroline version of her whom died inside of it to, and is represented at the other end. Billy wants his mother to live. In between sits the chessboard which is the war, to fight against anything happening to her, and that includes by his own hand, Dale's.


- Windom has noticed that Dale's heart isn't in it, his thoughts elsewhere. Where we wonder? Josie? Or perhaps is it Audrey herself? He's denied her and distanced himself, but is the secret part of himself wanting her, just as Mr. C betrays? Remember Dale's repressed urges, his secret self's first action practically is to go pay Audrey Horne a visit, before he eventually leaves Twin Peaks.


- Cooper says that if Windom wanted him dead, he already would be. Why doesn't he? Or is that just part of Billy's "story" and downfall, his dark side leading up for when he can swap father Windom and Goody Dale for BOB and Mr. C?


- Cooper says to get Pete on the horn. Hmmm...we forgot calling someone could be referenced as such, along with giving them a ring...Neat to be able to connect all of those and then think of moments like when Mr. C's conversation with Phillip Jeffries about Judy gets interrupted by a "horn".


- Harry compliments Caroline and Cooper says she was the love of his life...so, once again, why didn't he save HER and not Laura??? Why the obsession with Laura, or was that because HE killed her and was about to get arrested/punished for it? That's what The Return centers around, what he/Billy is truly guilty of and where it started: the night Laura died, not the night in Pittsburgh.


- Andrew and Catherine are now in charge of Ghostwood. Billy has used his "dream" to rip it away from his father/grandfather and give it away to a brother and sister instead.


- Josie walks in through the door carrying an armful of twigs. That's technically wood. We've linked Ghostwood to Audrey's abuse and Josie is destined to become trapped in a wooden drawer pull after she's frightened to death. Now, in foreshadowing, she falls to the floor after seeing Andrew alive and "home".


- The forces that be still are circling around Josie, both Hank threatening to tell everyone she killed Andrew and Albert telling Cooper that Josie was definitely the one who shot him.


- Audrey is dipping her feet into different jobs at the Great Northern, to help her learn the business. Today she is obviously ruffling the concierge, Randy's, feather's; he thinks she's after his job. He can't wait to see her tackle housekeeping.

That was what Nicky's mother was, at the actual Great Northern too.

Becoming a maid in her own house, was what also happened to Josie.


- Randy gives Audrey Windom's letter, saying it arrived that morning, but didn't it get there last night? Anyway, she's got it now.


- Okay, so now in walks a certain character, tall, dark, handsome, whom walks up to Audrey as she's sitting at the concierge desk, fooling around with her name tag.

He's just checked into room 215.

He realizes Audrey is a Horne, and seems surprised. He requests her help in getting his heavy equipment to the hotel, there having not been enough room in the van. She asks what flight he was on, he replies his own and she seems put off, thinking he thinks he's rich and powerful.

As he's set to leave, he says he has a photograph of her in certain attire. Audrey counters she doesn't wear it. He says she did then and it was right there in the Great Northern dining room (food/appetite appearing again, and in a disturbing way when we learn how old Audrey was). If he closes his eyes, he can see it: "Little Audrey Horne as Heidi."

Hmm...a story about a little girl who lives in the mountains? The little girl who lived down the lane in Twin Peaks.

Anyway, he turns to walk away and Audrey realizes he's talking about an event from when she was 10, but he's gone by then.

A lot to unpack here, and it's all kind of simple and also unsettling and important at once.

This guy...he's just kind of plopped down. That's in effect what he was because he's Audrey's new love interest. That could help explain things, the writers hastily coming up with a replacement for Cooper...

But there's something not right.

He's staying in room 215. That's exactly a 100 off from Cooper's room itself. Then Audrey says the photograph he has of her was from when she was 10. 100 and 10 are both numbers of completion as Gordon Cole would say in The Return.

And about that last bit of having a photo of a 10 year old...not only is that creepy but it's outright hinting he doesn't care about her age, as opposed to Cooper.

His outfit isn't Coop's dark suit either, he's unabashedly western...and yet, we've already speculated that Cooper/Billy likes cowboys, if Harry as his idealized father, a statue Dougie/Coop stares at and Sonny Jim's bedroom are any indication. Plus, there will be a scene later on, when this cowboy and Cooper actually meet one another in front of a blazing fire in the Hornes' hotel, where Dale is seen drinking from a very odd but relevant measuring cup featuring a cowboy.

We are claiming right now that THIS character isn't just the writers replacement for Dale Cooper he IS Billy's replacement for him too. Well, not so much a replacement, but a substitute.

A wish from Cooper, whom is really still just Billy, himself.

Why would Coop need an alternative self, besides just for his "rules"?

Well. What happens next helps to elaborate on this.


- Audrey opens Windom's letter to find one third of the letter that Earle had Leo write. It appears to be a poem, and comes with a more legible and whole note "Save the one you love. Please attend gathering of angels
tonight at the Road House, 9:30."

This...this is why a substitute lover has been dropped infront of Audrey Horne. Windom Earle has finally reached out and touched Audrey, placing her existence within the dream in jeopardy, something neither Cooper, nor his true self Billy, can stand.

As the letter says...

"Save the one you love."

John "Jack" Justice Wheeler is one of the ways for Billy to do that.

Remember when Windom told Dale that it was his move? Well this IS his next move.

If Dale could save any one pawn or Queen it would be his Audrey.

Think of the owl kept safe in its dome. Think later too, of Audrey, apparently kept safe in her world with Charlie, which she soon feels trapped inside.


- "Young" Nadine breaks up with Ed to be with the much younger Mike, telling Ed they have to call a spade a spade.

Mr. C had the symbol, possibly for Judy, written on a scratched Ace of Spades card.


- Cooper talks with Josie, imploring him to tell him about Seattle and Jonathan. He gives her the ultimatum to be at the Station by 9 to confess everything or he will find her.

9 is 30 minutes before the gathering of angels.

To be honest, we're still examining this whole Cooper and Josie dynamic in relation to Billy's later relationship with Betty. And we still recall how Dale revealed an instant attraction to Josie when he asked Harry "Who's the babe?" which sounded like a 16 year old boy's remark, which Billy would have been at that time. Josie, like Audrey, is opposite to the whole Caroline, Laura and Annie thing, as well as Diane and Janey-E later. But even Dougie, when he was cheating, chose the dark Jade as his secret lover. And we still believe the dark beauty Ronette was Billy's American Girl.

But who is Josie? Just another aspect to help explore his mother? Betty's sister? Someone else Billy was attracted to, or whom threatened him, like Betty? We honestly don't know.


- Catherine, whom had been listening in, asks if Cooper had been paying a social call (more insinuation of Billy being attracted to whomever Josie represents to him?). She frightens Josie with talk about Eckhardt, and what he will do once he knows Andrew is alive. Josie believes he will kill her. Catherine gets a book from off the shelf, leaving Josie to gratefully find a gun waiting there for her.

So Catherine wants Josie to kill Eckhardt and then go to jail? The book she will be seen reading later is Great Expectations. That was also the same book Dale had on his nightstand in the first season. Any relation to Josie turning into a drawer pull on a nightstand?


All that seems clear, at this stage, is that Billy is painting one woman's terror of one man, which could represent his mother's fear of their father.


- Ben, whom is apparently trying to be healthier in body and spirit, attends to a group gathered in his office consisting of Audrey, Jerry and Bobby, whom he insists stay. He says, "You know, board meetings are usually nothing more than a gathering of self-minded individuals, each more intent than the other on financial gain." Is that what the Convenience Store meeting is essentially in FWWM? Is that what the unhealthy Ben's meetings were before Billy has tried to redeem/clean him inside his fantasy?

Is Ben making himself "better" echoing Cooper's own strict adherence to his own oaths.


- There's a fire burning in Ben's office.


- The Cooper substitute comes in, and Ben obviously knows and likes him, introducing him to everyone: John Justice Wheeler. He used to be in construction, came up the hard way. Ben believed in the local boy "Jack" and gave him a pittance, which he built into an empire. Audrey isn't so impressed, or doesn't let herself appear to be. Meanwhile, Jack says Ben is testing his well-worn modesty.

We find out more about Jack and it's all a little too convenient and strange. First the guys name. He shares the name of Ben's son and Audrey's brother: John. But his nickname is Jack, as in the name of the brothel Ben used to own and Audrey was just rescued from by Cooper. Then we have Justice thrown in, which is just/fair behavior and treatment. Plus you end ir all off with Wheeler, which invokes the whole circle motif again.

We think that this is Billy's way of trying to enact some justice. Audrey, he believes, should be kept away from the whole Windom danger, plus she needs someone whom can treat her a little better than the damaged, too perfect, Cooper was able to, not to mention the possibility that Billy always intended for his main avatar not to become sexual with his mother inside of the dreamworld, but trying to establish "healthy" boundaries to fix things he was ashamed about.

Plus, this guy, this "Jack" also functions as possibly the father Billy had once believed or fantasized he had. When The Return aired, it was a major debate amongst fans whether Mr. C or Jack was the father of Richard. Both seemed logical, especially given how Audrey had definitely slept with Jack before he left town. That made him a very large candidate. But that was partially what Billy needed as well. He wanted to think someone like Jack Wheeler was his father, because that was another function this new character provided in his dreamscape: it could help further deviate from his accepting that his own grandfather was actually his father.

Think of Jack Rabbit's palace, where Bobby and his own father used to play and make believe...But also think about how there's a large statue of a Jack Rabbit in Odessa Texas named "Jack BEN Rabbit" after its founder John BEN Sheppard, because deep down, that fact can't be escaped, echoed in the fact that this man is someone Ben fashioned in his partial likeness, or how his name is Wheeler, as in cycle. Billy's true parentage haunts his dreamworld, intruding even where it isn't wanted.

Billy himself intrudes in the "construct" of Jack, as indicated by his name also being John, Audrey's brother, just as Billy and his mother were brother and sister, and how Jack is like the son Ben Horne wished Johnny had been. Inside of Billy's dream, maybe he grants his family a few dreams each for themselves.


- Looking at the word Horne, besides the links to owls, bucks and roses, it can also look like "Home" if you place the r and n closely together.


- This meeting seems to be about getting Ghostwood back or undermining Catherine's plans for it.


- Ben states that the greatest gift a human being can give to another is the future...

"Through the darkness of future past, the Magician longs to see..."

Billy wishes his father/grandfather had given him a better future.


- Ben hopes to save the Pine Weasel, which is being threatened by the Packard plans for Ghostwood development. He seems to want to save the environment, but Jerry speculates "So we block Catherine's development until the wheel turns and we get another shot. That's brilliant, Ben. That's brilliant."

Basically, Jerry's assessment is true when we discover, in The Return, that that was just what Ben did. It's kind of similar to how Jerry knew that Ben's claim that he wouldn't take advantage of Beverly was just a lie to himself. Jerry seems to see right through his brother, making their connection/similarities to MIKE and BOB even more pronounced.

Then we have the animal that Ben is trying to save, having been once considered a sexually deviant, phallic like pet, sometimes used in old paintings for dubious meanings...this particular weasel he is now linking to Ghostwood, which we disturbingly link to his abuse of his daughter.

So, it appears, no matter how Billy might be trying to clear and redeem his father, he will never be able to, for the man longs to be his true self, even while a different narrative is being forced on him.


- Ben then makes a joke about running for Senate next. We have that Lynch and Frost initially started as a partnership in planning some adaption of Marilyn Monroe's life. Lynch infact says Laura was all about Marilyn and so was Mulholland Drive. And yet Sherilyn Fenn looks more like Munroe than Sheryl Lee does and Mulholland Drive was meant to be about Audrey. Before Dale met Audrey, he was even wondering about the Kennedys role in Marilyn's death. Now we have Ben joking about running for Senate, just like the Kennedy brothers. We state it again: This whole thing is about the Hornes.


- Windom leaves his letter for Shelly at the Double R, while Norma talks to her sister on the phone. Now, we'll get into this sister when she's formally introduced, but what we need to pay attention about her now is how Norma viewed her as being "from another place and time" and how she just left the convent. We should also note how she's being mentioned on the same episode where Jack first appeared.

Balance.

Symmetry.


- Shelly gets the letter and reads about saving the one she loves and that she should be at the Roadhouse at 9:30. Norma wisely thinks it's dangerous.


- Windom plays teacher to Leo in the wilderness, as he has Leo working on whittling wood for arrows. One of the lessons Windom says is that nature is cruel. We can perhaps tie this to the "nature" of Billy's own father, or the unnatural relationships that perpetuated his family, and we might then also link this to Ghostwood again, and its real meaning.


- Norma asks Hank for a divorce but the man indicates he will only give it to her if she gives him an alibi for the attempt on Leo's life. It is clearly portrayed how desperate Hank is to stay out of prison, mirroring Josie's own fears, believing it will end their lives. This is probably Billy's own feelings on the subject, more than anything. He fears going to jail partly because then Mr. C can't come out to play. Billy is becoming a slave to his murderous urges and they soon will become the only thing that drives him. He also fears discovery because then they will delve into his past and everyone, including himself, will be forced to learn about his history.


- At the station, Pete gives Dale his next move, claiming it will be 5 or 6 moves before Windom can take another piece from the board. Harry fears Earle will just kill out of frustration, Cooper says Windom holds a perverse sense of honor about these things.


- Albert comes bearing more nails for Josie's coffin, this time that there was gun powder on her gloves that matched the shootings of Coop and Jonathan and that people ID'd her exiting Jonathan's car. So if we're looking for anything at all that is similar from Josie to Betty, we have that Josie killed Jonathan in a car and Billy drove Betty home in his, before her own exploded afterwards, but we suspect Hastings still just might have tried to kill her in his own car. We know it's stupid...but we have to list this sort of thing.


- A shot of Josie preparing to meet Eckhardt is staged similar to Josie's first scene from the pilot. Only the dogs from the lamp are now separated...kind of like Audrey and Cooper, an odd observation to make, perhaps, but one we still make.

Come to think of it, Josie looking in the mirror can be connected to Audrey looking in the mirror. Josie also did what many people with personality disorders do: mirror people back at themselves, so they see what they want to, which is basically themselves. Coop/Dougie survives mainly by doing this, and we suspect it showed how Billy survived detection as a monster from his ability of mirroring human behavior back at people.

This can provide one interesting thread between Josie and Betty. We suspect tulpas represent people that Billy believed put on a false self for others. That Diane, whom we believe is one of the dreamworld substitutes for Betty, had one shows that Billy saw Betty as false somehow. This can tie into the thread, as well, of someone trying to spy on someone to find out what they are hiding, or, in other words, going through their drawers. Josie and Betty are linked by this. But does that still indicate that Josie was someone whom was getting to close to finding out what Billy was?


- Andrew and Josie have a discussion where it is obvious Josie wants his help. He makes the statement that maybe she and Eckhardt were meant to be together all along, and that maybe Eckhardt can get her out of the country.

It is a very deceptively cruel conversation. Andrew feigns kindness and yet he barely means any of it.

Still confused over the whole triangle to be honest. We guess Josie was working for Eckhardt because she was terrified of him? We can still compare the Eckhardt/Josie dynamic to the one Billy's mother had with their father. In her mind, she was a prisoner in the same way that Billy fears becoming one.


- Donna and James have a picnic. Donna isn't wearing James ring. James knows what he did was wrong and that he always should have known it. Donna wants him to come home, but he can't (sort of like Cooper and Billy). Donna wants to be a part of something good now after being a part of the horrible things. Poor Donna. She's about to get one aspect that Billy considers to be the most horrifying of all, mostly because it deals with himself: She's going to turn out to be Benjamin Horne's child

- Donna knows when James returns he will have stories to tell that won't include Laura or Maddie or Evelyn.

We have the world of Twin Peaks being brought back to stories again, the type that Billy loved.


- Harry goes to Blue Pine Lodge to find Josie, having guessed what Albert and Dale were whispering about behind his back.

He interrupts Catherine reading Great Expectations, no doubt nursing her own along with her drink.

Catherine rather coyly let's it be known that Josie took her car (Josie and a car again) to the Great Northern where she met an old friend named Thomas Eckhardt.


- Despite his earlier words to Josie, Andrew now let's Thomas know that he is alive and well. He even lies and states that Josie saved him, making Eckhardt believe he was betrayed. Andrew seems to be fully aware of his enemy's love for Josie and tries to blacken it, stating that Eckhardt should be careful, and the man replies he always is. Yet...he won't be. This brings up a very interesting point: though Josie kept fearing Thomas would kill her, the man seems obsessed with her to the point it doesn't even seem like an option. Infact, other than the sexual/emotional kind, Eckhardt seems to not show any evidence of physically harming her, as opposed to Jonathan, or even what Andrew and Catherine are flat out doing to the girl. It doesn't mean it isn't happening, but why the push that Josie's life is at stake when it doesn't seem to be. What's really going on here?

- In the dining room of the Great Northern, Ben, Audrey and Jack have supper, a fire roaring behind them. Ben goes to smoke but then stops himself, his "healthy" living kicking in again.


- Ben wants Jack to be his teacher, telling him "Think of me as an open book, upon whose virgin pages you shall scribe," a comment which makes Audrey choke that the word "virgin" would ever be used for her father.

We suggest, this is Billy still trying to re-form his father's memory into something better. We have book used again, just like stories, and how Billy is using Twin Peaks to rewrite his past.


- When asked by Audrey what he does, Billy says he buys bankrupt businesses and streamlines them, brings them up to speed and then sells them for a profit.

That's what Billy is essentially doing here, taking his morally bankrupt family, the Hornes, and trying to make them more profitable for his personal piece of mind.

Ben adds that he not only does that, but leaves them more environmentally sound. When Jack is finished with them, Ben praises, "the waste is rerouted, the air...The air is cleaner. And the people happier."

Bingo. Just what Billy's trying to do too, and it's not lost on us that Jack is played by a Billy here either. Billy Hastings, is trying to purify his family too, making them all the way more clean and happy to suit his liking more than the truth.

We've also got the environment being connected with the Hornes trauma again, just as we likened the Great Northern's construction being symbolic of Ben being abused by his father and Ghostwood representing Audrey's abuse by Ben in turn. We can even liken this all to the Trinity bomb which supposedly hearalded BOB's birth to earth. They are all acts which hurt nature (even though nature is cruel in itself, as Windom said) and all can be connected to the Hornes.

Now Jack has come out of the blue and is gonna save 'em all! Yes haw! We reckon just like a tale out of one of Sonny Jim's storybooks.


- This is all too good to be true, that even Audrey comments that he sounds like Santa Claus. She repeats the statement after Ben has left to save Jerry whom has almost been stabbed by a chef. The comparison to Santa makes sense. Jack is no more real than he is. This is, afterall, just Billy's way of fixing things for his mother and family and keeping Audrey safe...just like Santa or, more appropriately, a cowboy riding in to save the day in an old western.


- Audrey states that the Hornes have taken care of themselves for ages, and though desperate they might seem, they will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

What Audrey doesn't realize is that her family, her father and she, had no future. Neither did Billy, in his own way. They were all destroyed, by the fire that burned down the motel, and by the fire/abuse that destroyed them long before that. This, is her son's attempt to fix it all, in a dream, before all future pasts were lost to them.


- Audrey asks Jack where he'd been for all those years and he tells her, "The far corners of the earth. I tell you, it's glorious out there, Audrey. All in all, it's good to be home."

Billy is in effect coming home, but trying to make it a better one, wishing somehow for a life with his mother and family which isn't corrupted. This is his second attempt to be with the woman he loves in a way that won't make him feel dirty or ashamed any more.


- Jack's words indirectly remind Audrey of Billy's first attempt to be with her, something actually stated in the script:

"Wheeler says it simply, without affect. Audrey's never met a man like him before. With a single exception ... Agent Cooper. And that goes straight to the heart of her."

No wonder he reminds her of Cooper! He IS Cooper! Jack and he are both Billy and designed to be, at their very core, in love with Audrey Horne, just like he is.


- Audrey now tells him that she is 18, remembering in pain Cooper's refusal of her because of the fact. Jack simply responds: "And what exactly does that have to do with the price of eggs?"

It's a direct rebuttal of his too-good self, letting Audrey know that that won't stop this "dream lover".

We have to comment, though, that the connotation that Jack saw Audrey when she was only 10 and fancied her IS rather upsetting, and that it was in the same dining room where they are eating, linking it to appetite/hunger, which is predominate in the whole BOB as predator theme and how we believe it masks what Ben did to Audrey, in part. The truth is ALWAYS creeping in, like BOB through the window, and Billy seems as influenced by it even when he's not trying to be.

On the other hand, he can be trying to reverse the own imbalance in age and power in his own relationship with his mom. Or perhaps Billy had her be 10 when she sparked his interest because that is the age he permanently feels inside of his mind/soul and he really wanted them to be equal.

Should mention eggs being referenced conjures up memories of the Experiment vomiting down her own stream of eggs, that cost those they encountered quite a lot we suspect.


- Audrey leaves the conversation to go to the Roadhouse, which directly has to do with Cooper (though she doesn't know this), whom she had just been reminded of.


- Shelly and Donna meet at the Roadhouse, each having brought their torn piece of the poem Windom sent. When they place their pieces together, Audrey soon appears, adding her own. Together it reads:

"See the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdain'd its brother
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea--
What is all this sweet work worth,
If thou kiss not me?"

It is the last part of Love’s Philosophy by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

We can clearly draw a parallel between this poem, using nature as an allegory for love, and the already discussed themes of nature and its destruction becoming symbolic for the different abuses that occurred within the Horne family. We can even connect that to Jack's sudden appearance, whom seeks to help heal the environment.

The line too "No sister-flower would be forgiven If it disdain'd its brother" holds special significance to this theory when we realize that Billy and his mother were also brother and sister, and that Audrey was specifically called the flower of Twin Peaks by David Lynch himself.

Another bit of interesting knowledge to be dreamed over, however, comes from the information that, in the original script, it was actually supposed to be Robert's (Bob) Desnos' poem "I Have Dreamed of You so Much" that was used.

The gathered "angels" were supposed to read this:

"I have dreamed so much of you
walked so much, spoken, lain with your phantom...
That all I have to do now perhaps is to be a phantom
among phantoms and a ghost hundred times...
More than the ghost who walks gaily over the sun-dial of
your life."

Even more curious is how most translations of the last lines read this way instead:

"and a hundred times more shadow than the shadow which saunters and will saunter so gladly over the sundial of your life."

Ghost was meant to read as "shadow". That that is what Dale Cooper lost himself to at the end, his shadow self, seems pertinent.

And so we can look to the full poem (another translation of it) then and perhaps find more clues:

"I have dreamed of you so much that you are no longer real.
Is there still time for me to reach your breathing body, to kiss your mouth and make
your dear voice come alive again?

I have dreamed of you so much that my arms, grown used to being crossed on my
chest as I hugged your shadow, would perhaps not bend to the shape of your body.
For faced with the real form of what has haunted me and governed me for so many
days and years, I would surely become a shadow.

O scales of feeling.

I have dreamed of you so much that surely there is no more time for me to wake up.
I sleep on my feet prey to all the forms of life and love, and you, the only one who
counts for me today, I can no more touch your face and lips than touch the lips and
face of some passerby.

I have dreamed of you so much, have walked so much, talked so much, slept so much
with your phantom, that perhaps the only thing left for me is to become a phantom
among phantoms, a shadow a hundred times more shadow than the shadow the
moves and goes on moving, brightly, over the sundial of your life."


In the poem a man loves and even seems to mourn for the woman he is separated from, finding her only in his dreams, because she has either died or will no longer be equal to what he has dreamt; her real appearance would turn him into a shadow. He has dreamt of her so often he no longer wishes to wake, preferring the dream. He sleeps standing, as if giving the appearance that he is awake, and she is all that matters to him, and yet he can far easier touch a passerby than he can touch her. He has dreamt of her so much and existed so much with her phantom that all that is left is for him to become is a phantom more phantom than the rest, a shadow that becomes more than the shadow that moves and actually touches/reaches her.

This poem can completely encapsulate this theme of Twin Peaks, the essence of it, not only as horror story, but a love story of the most tragic kind, although most would consider it grotesque. For it confesses Billy's love for the woman whom hurt and shaped him, the woman he still loves and can only find in a dream: his mother. We have both Lodges coming full force into view in this latter fragment of the series, and this is of Billy's love, be it wrong or right, healthy of unhealthy.

It mirrors exactly Lynch's own Frank Booth, whom listened to the similarly themed "In Dreams" and most likely thought of his own mother, refusing to let Ben reach the part of the song that reveals the sad truth:

"But just before the dawn
I awake and find you gone
I can't help it
I can't help it
If I cry
I remember that you said goodbye

It's too bad that all these things
Can only happen in my dreams
Only in dreams
In beautiful dreams..."

Frank forces Dorothy to become his mother and live out his dream, yet, deep down, he suspects the truth and one night, finding he has been betrayed, deprives Dorothy of the blue velvet she's become accustomed to, leaving her just as exposed as Cooper without his dark suit. And in this similarity, we can actually see Jeffrey Beaumont AS being just like Frank, furthering Kyle MacLachlan's claim that he saw Cooper as a grown up Beaumont.

For Cooper is Billy and they are all in love with their mother, as abusive as she might have been. However, dreams are the only way they can hold out any hope of being with her again, for she is gone.

Compare "I Have Dreamed of You so Much" and "In Dreams" to "My Prayer" heard twice to startling effect in The Return. The theme is similar, especially in this one line: "My prayer is to linger with you
At the end of the day in a dream that's divine."

David Lynch confessed once he makes a story and then takes away the major parts to turn it into a mystery. We suspect, he did this even more with Twin Peaks, whom's secret/mystery he guarded zealously, especially after it had almost been taken from him without his consent. We also theorize that if something was too close to revealing the secret he would substitute it with something else to preserve it, very much as Billy did. In this case, it is interesting to consider that he saw switching "I Have Dreamed of You so Much" with "Love's Philosophy" which carried through the theme of nature and incest, but without the major clues of it being all about a lovesick man's dream to be near his lover, a dream where he would become a shadow at its season's end.


- As the 3 women/angels, discuss its strangeness, Windom watches them. Now, of note, is how Windom clearly has the best view of Audrey Horne. His focus is on her. Infact, throughout most of his story, it seemed to be hinting that his most likely Queen would infact be Audrey. That was whom it was SUPPOSED to be before MacLachlan interfered. But what is weird is how it still looks like, through actual incidents in the script and visual/audio clues, that it still SHOULD and would have been Audrey.

But this makes no sense when they had just introduced Jack for Audrey and were about to introduce Annie for Dale. But it remains a strong indication. Infact, when Windom meets Audrey in a library (libraries being filled with stories, outside of a library being the place where Lynch took the photo of Teresa wearing the Owl Cave ring, and Ruth Davenport, whom Audrey shared the lamp of, being a librarian) and has her read the poem, he outright comments how she looks very much like a queen.

So it feels forced when Annie is his queen instead.

Unless we realize it was always supposed to be Audrey. To protect her, Billy used the magic trick of substitution (Annie) to protect her and himself, like always. And, once again, it was a trick David Lynch also liked performing, especially when networks, writers and actors forced him to work a bit of magic.


- A shot of the falls leads in to Dale Cooper, playing fisherman on his bed at the Great Northern. He's got a tackle box open on his bed and is fooling around with a fly lure.

First, let's get the juvenile bit out of he way. We can easily make a joke about Dale playing with his fishing pole/rod in his bedroom. It actually won't be the only masturbation reference we can make with Cooper, and we believe that Billy probably did this act a lot himself, being awkward and antisocial.

We can also link this to the fact that Billy Hastings is an avid fisherman. Even more interesting is how it is under fishing equipment in the trunk of his car they find the lump of flesh. This is the car he drove Betty home in afterall. And now, before that, Cooper is shown with his own tackle box. What makes this even more interesting is that it's before the whole Josie incident and wasn't in the script. Fishing - Josie - Betty.


- Another thing to think about is how, after Catherine (who has Dale's number for some reason) phones and tells him that Josie is in Thomas Eckhardt's suite, he goes into his nightstand drawer and gets out his gun.

Why is this so interesting?

Well because, according to the script, Dale was supposed to already have his gun out before the call, and be examining it. Secondly, he always keeps it ON the nightstand, not in the drawer. Lastly, with the Log Lady's intro, and more importantly what's about to happen to Josie, that Dale has to use a drawer pull to get in at the gun hidden there seems incredibly important.


- So Cooper, minus the fishing cap (good idea), goes to Eckhardt's room and overhears some interesting dialogue from Josie and Eckhardt.

This too is changed from the script. It was supposed to be about Harry:

MAN'S VOICE (from inside one of the rooms): Say it, SAY YOU DON'T LOVE HIM!!
Cooper now stands outside the door.
WOMAN'S VOICE: No! Not as long as I live...
MAN'S VOICE: Then you won't.

What Dale hears is this:

JOSIE: Help! Please help.
THOMAS: I love you.
JOSIE: No!
THOMAS: Josie. For God's sake-
JOSIE: Don't touch me. Don't touch me! Don't hurt me.

Once again, we have no indication that Thomas planned on physically hurting or killing Josie. Why was this changed?

What if it was because what Cooper believes he is hearing between Josie and Eckhardt more accurately is what he, as Billy, heard his mother (Audrey) saying to their father (Ben). This is what he overheard through the walls of the motel where they all lived, not the Great Northern but the Red Diamond/Dutchman's?


- When Cooper enters the room, he finds a contrasting scene from what he heard. Josie and Eckhardt are lying in bed together. Suddenly Thomas rises, walks towards Coop and we see he has been wounded. In the script he has a gun, here he doesn't, further dissuading from any notion he was going to kill her. He falls to the floor and we see Josie kneeling on the bed and pointing a gun at Dale.


- Josie seems to be wearing traditional Chinese dress, indicating a return to home for her.


- She claims Eckhardt was going to kill her, which Dale doubts asking if he, Dale, was going to kill her, or Jonathan too. Josie says she shot Jonathan because he was taking her back.

When Dale asks why she shot him, she answers because he came there. She then says she knew that that this day would come and she's not going to jail, she can't.

So once again we come back to the fact that it looks like Eckhardt wasn't going to kill her. So the fear of going/being with Eckhardt was what terrified her. Is this still related to Billy's mother's feelings about being trapped with their father?

Why did Josie shoot Coop? Because he came there? Maybe there still is some link between WHEN Josie shot Coop and what was happening with Audrey and Ben at One-Eyed Jack's? Was Josie some conduit for Billy's mother's feelings, or what he believed she felt? That had he not been conceived, she might have escaped. Josie wore a mask at the time she shot Cooper, just as Audrey wore a mask as Ben cornered her.

This is all still happening at the Great Northern too.

But does her sudden fear of going to jail echo Billy's fear about going to jail for killing American Girl? Can both his mother's fear of being trapped with their father echo her son's fear of going to prison? Does Billy also fear that if he were to be arrested all of his painful secrets, his being the result of his mother's rape by their father, his being abused by her and possibly his dad too, his setting the motel on fire, would be brought to light, something he dreads more than death?

Can this be linked in any way to secrets being kept in drawers?


- Harry rushes in and angrily tells Josie to put the gun down. She's genuinely sorry and apologizes to Harry. She looks like she might turn the gun on herself, but holds it to her chest (like nightstand?) and then gasps for breath and collapses. Harry runs to her, pronounces her dead.

We wonder what killed her until we suddenly see a spotlight light up Dale Cooper and then the Great Northern bed, which is suddenly empty, no Harry, no Josie. A left hand appears on it and then BOB, missing until now, despite there being other deaths/murders appears.

"Coop, what happened to Josie?" he asks and starts maniacally laughing.

Soon he disappears and we see the Arm dancing on the bed.

They disappear, Harry is back holding Josie's body and crying as he repeats her name.

The camera pans across to the nightstand and then we have the infamous shot of Josie being stuck in the drawer pull. She starts off human and turns into wood.

Okay, so...what exactly did happen to Josie?!?

We have BOB being here and the Arm, so under the guise of this theory it somehow involves how Billy views his father living within him and his uncle too. The Arm is still dancing, which can't be connected to Leland now, if it ever was...because maybe it's all still just about Cooper/Billy.

So does this have to do with Billy's mother still, as theorized, or is there another option?

The Log Lady mentioned power plays and Josie being stuck in one, between Andrew and Eckhardt, we presume. Does this echo BOB and MIKE's own power plays? How about their one for Laura or the corn?

But if Coop/Billy killed "Laura" what does that mean?

Cooper was shown to get his gun out from his own nightstand drawer, about the only time he was seen doing so...did HE kill Josie under BOB's influence? Did Billy? Was it for the same reason as Laura/American Girl or to save his secrets like with Betty?

There seems to be an indication that Josie is connected somehow to The Great Northern. The original series finale was supposed to show her body hanging in the Red Room. Was this a clear hint that it and the Great Northern were connected, just as the Northern was also linked to the Convenience Store and the Dutchman's? Did Lynch scrap it because it also gave too much away?

Did Josie know about Billy's past connection to the Dutchman?

Does this still connect to Betty in any way, all those years later? Is Betty, one of the many Judys still Josie's sister?

Who was Josie? A mother substitute, someone Billy was attracted to? Remember Dale showed an instant attraction to Josie. Someone who found out too much and was killed for it? Did she kill herself? Did fear really kill her, why we'll find out in the next episode she weighed like 65 pounds? BOB or the Arm obviously consumed her. Did Billy threaten her?

The truth is, we feel like there is an answer here but we're not hitting it exactly. There are clear cut ties to Billy's mom and ties to also Billy himself and to Betty...but what's it really mean? We've already discussed this episode for long enough...we might have to try to open this drawer some other night.
armsholdair: (Cooper Billy)
"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" A Twin Peaks Rewatch with the Theory in Mind: Episode 22 "Slaves and Masters"


The theory: Twin Peaks is the dream of William "Billy" Hastings, a serial killer. The result of his mother's abuse, at the hands of her father, Billy was abused by her in turn, keeping the cycle going. Playing with fire, as abused/neglected/antisocial children are prone to, he accidentally burned down the motel where he lived with his mother and grandfather/father, killing them. He was sent to live with his grandmother/great-grandmother, until she died too. Billy then went to live with his strict, born again uncle. In high school, Billy became obsessed with a schoolmate, the American Girl. He murdered her, the first in a string of victims, all similar in the way that they reminded him of his mother. To deal with his past and what he'd become, he constructed the world of Twin Peaks, allowing him to also "protect" and honor his mother, the woman he both loved and feared. Inside of the dream, Billy's family was represented by both the Hornes and the Lodge Spirits, while Billy's main avatar was our hero Dale Cooper. Inside of his dream, Billy sought to project his tragedy and sins onto his victim's family instead, which worked for a while. However, if the OG is a representation of how Billy got away with murder, the Return is how he was eventually discovered by the mother of his first victim, an act precipitated by his involvement with Betty, his final victim.


A longer essay on the theory: https://armsholdair.dreamwidth.org/7192.html


WARNING: A knowledge of the whole Twin Peaks series is needed for this, fittingly from A to Z and Z back to A.


- The Log Lady discusses death masks, as Caroline's will appear at the episode's end. Margaret makes it a point to mention how they don't truly capture what the living person looked like without the animated spark. Any connection drawn to the white mask the grandson wears or the one Audrey wore of the cat? That sounds ridiculous, but it's already pointed out that a death mask doesn't look much like the person it's of anyway. Are the masks representative of some form of death? Since Audrey is wearing hers, as her father tries to have sex with her, does it indicate a part of her died when he actually succeeded? Does the grandson (Billy) wearing one represent his own spiritual death when his mother began her abuse of him? Is this symbolized by Lois Duffy having committed murder? Does it also echo in the young boy Richard Horne kills, a boy whom had been playing a game with his mother.

Margaret references a train whistle, which recalls the train car where Laura died, but that one was abandoned. Did a train have anything to do with Billy's childhood, or his teenage years?


- The episode begins with the camera weaving through chess pieces.

We're still looking at this last part of the original series as not being about Cooper's battle with Windom, but his even larger one against himself: Billy.


- What exactly was Malcolm and Evelyn's plot regarding James'? It seems like they didn't work on a good motive. Are they claiming James was a bad mechanic whom didn't fix the Jaguar right?


- James isn't acting like himself. He's playing oddly with a drink umbrella, kind of like the ones Donna and he found at Jacoby's.


- James seems fixated on Evelyn now, even with Donna by his side. With all of his mommy issues this is interesting. Perhaps, like Billy, what he really needs to fix is the wound of his mother, not anything or anyone else.


- Bobby and Shelly are talking with Harry and Cooper and it just sort of finally comes out that Hank shot Leo, just when you think it hardly matters anymore. Bobby keeps playing with his lighter.


- Harry's always seemed fixated on Shelly and we're not sure why. He couldn't stop suggesting her as a suspect in the 2nd season opener, and then he was all excited to tell her Leo was coming home and now he's sending security to her house. Maddie's probably wondering why she never got any after she'd seen BOB and was doomed.


- Albert comes in and is all friendly. This episode honestly feels weird. Something's off. Billy must have eaten pickles before dreaming.


- Earle has spelled out a giant C on the map by mailing packages to police departments and major law agencies (Springfield, Kansas City, Lawton, Dallas, Jackson) which look like bombs but contain items dealing with Caroline's wedding attire (a white veil, a garter, a pair of white slippers, a pearl necklace, a wedding dress).

The C must be to spell Caroline, but the letter/communication must be to Dale Cooper.

This can outright go alongside our belief that the letters "ROBERT" being placed under the nails of murdered girls is also a message. We still believe this was a message to Billy or from Billy, basically to himself or the world. The letters represent his father's name and the murdered girls represent his mother, possibly JUDY. And the act and message are about Billy's conception, that he is the result of this specific coupling, which was a father violating his own daughter. Billy equates that as having destroyed his mother's life, HE destroyed his mother too, both father and son.

Is there any reason for the placement of the C though? It includes Kansas and Texas, and is circling Arkansas, but does that mean anything? Why wouldn't it be Pennsylvania, to emphasize Pittsburgh? It's like the chessboard not being the same game he was playing against Dale, or how William Hastings' information was mixed up with Mr. C/Dale's arrest report. Did Billy's family actually live in Arkansas?

Hmm...Some looking into and we learned that Arkansas means South Wind, recalling Ben's name also meaning son of the South. It also contains the city Little Rock (Let's Rock!), which Caroline is a township of.

What proved to be incredibly interesting about Arkansas was that in the Lonoke County, there is also a Gum (that gum you like) Woods, and both a Williams and Pulaski townships. We're speculating here that Billy (a vast majority of William's found running around The Return) actually killed American Girl, whom looked like Ronette Pulaski, not Laura Palmer. Maybe AG's real name was Pulaski afterall.

Also Lonoke, a sort of suburban area of Little Rock, has connections to both the fire, the Civil War, Railroads and a tree. We just saw last episode, Ben enacting his Civil War fantasy with a train/railroad and a fire burning behind him, which also haunts Twin Peaks. Why does Ben choose the Civil War, afterall? He's not Southern? What's that all about on a deeper level?

Anyway, Lonoke was formed after the town of Brownsville was burned to the ground. The leaders decided a new town should be built by the railroad. The city took it's name from a misspelling of the lone red oak that railroad surveyor George P. C. Rumbough used while surveying.

Is that why the Log Lady mentioned the train whistle? It's interesting to contemplate anyway, because we're still trying to understand Windom's decision to send the parcels here.

Arkansas also has a Batesville...Norman Bates.

One more interesting fact about Arkansas and Earle's C on the map. The state beneath Arkansas is Louisiana, Phillip Jeffries home state. When we reach FWWM we will propose that Billy created an FBI man for every traumatic "death/murder" that happened to or by him. Jeffries, with Cole, was the first of these...What if, Billy coming from Arkansas was influenced by the state below when creating him?

Actually, forget Caroline, what if the C is actually for Cooper? Arkansas is where "Cooper" comes from.


- Albert to Dale: "But my guess is, he won't dance with anyone but you, Coop."

The dance remains after Leland Palmer has left the dance floor.


- Albert says that Windom played Zeus at the power station, where he left the map.

We have another Greek mythology reference, and this one connected to lightning. We've already drawn a comparison to Windom Earle and Ben Horne, and suggested Windom existed as a fantasy representation of Billy's father that bridged the real deal and the most horrific BOB. To have this all connected to electricity, which plays such an integral role is...electrifying.

We can also draw another specific web, that probably isn't intended but is very intriguing. In Part 16, Mr. C brought Richard to the rock to check out two sets of the coordinates he had obtained. Richard was electrocuted and this was the event Jerry witnessed the wrong way through his binoculars. This was also where Mr. C confirmed that Richard was his son. That this, and the incident with Windom here, involved a rock (can we connect that to the C on the map circling a Little Rock?) and a possible father (Zeus) and electricity (the power station) is interesting, at least.

- Hmm...it gets even more interesting when Albert approaches Dale, whom has begun to look out the window and Rosenfield comments: "Replacing the quiet elegance of the dark suit and tie with the casual indifference of these muted earth tones is a form of fashion suicide, but, uh, call me crazy. On you, it works."

That's interesting because, before the rock incident with Mr. C, when Richard first approached Mr. C, they shared a conversation that swirled around Cooper's suit.

Richard: You're FBI.

Mr. C: How do you figure that?

Richard: 'Cause I seen your picture in your fancy FBI suit.

Mr. C:..Where'd you see that picture?

Richard: My mom had it.

Mr. C: Who's your mom?

Richard: Audrey Horne. And your name's Cooper.

Hmm...what the chance of this conversation following the whole discussion about Windom, the map and the power station?

The talk about Dale and his suit being specifically tied to his role as a lawful FBI agent also leads directly back to Laura/Carrie's whisper to Cooper in the Red Room: "Don't assume (that) nobody can spot your dark suit off but me." Her insinuation/threat still seemed to be that she knew what/who he really was, and others did too. The others we speculate are Betty/Naido and American Girl's Mom/Sarah.

Speaking of that last one...Ronette's mother is called Suburbis Pulaski...kind of leads us back to Lonoke/Little Rock and Arkansas.


- With all the talk about Coop's fashion and FBI suit, it another fascinating fact that the next sequence shows Windom out of his own "dark suit" and roaming around the cabin in his underwear/long John's.

This also can recall Laura/Carrie's whisper, and certainly not in a good way. It shows Windom being one sick and twisted bastard without his own dark suit. Of course, he's the same in it too, so *shrugs*.

Earle also admits to being partial to domestic violence.


- Windom threatens Leo with his flute, strokes it kind of uncomfortably, as he also tends and cares for him, forcing him to eat after placing an electrocuting collar on him. He also refers to him as a lion and then proceeds to make cat noises. With the help of the Log Lady's intro, this conjures up memories of Audrey Horne's cat mask, while also keeping the thread of appetite/food.


- Norma and Ed discuss their wasted years apart where an interesting statement is given:

"I bought you a present last Christmas. It was a turquoise and onyx bolo tie. I walked over to your house to give it to you, but I couldn't go in. I just waited. I could see you through the window. I don't know why I couldn't go in. I'm sorry I didn't."

We've repeatedly theorized that Billy climbed in through American Girl's window and now someone whom was lovesick is mentioning to their own object of attention having watched them through one too.

In Part 12, as we see the Palmer household from the outside, the camera lingers on Laura's bedroom window, as seen from outside. It's the viewpoint one might have had, say if they were walking by the house and looking up. We believe Billy often did that, obsessing over American Girl. You can even see the fan through the open doorway. Perhaps Billy was the girl's biggest fan, bringing a different meaning to its symbolism, and why the sound of it plays as Cooper is transported back in time to save Laura in Part 17.

By the end of his freedom/life (Part 18?) we believe that Billy was sorry he had gone in.

Very very curious too, how in Part 15, the same episode where Mr. C and Richard officially meet and the FBI suit is mentioned, Steven Burnett will ramble to Gersten Hayward, before taking his own life: "Or will I be completely, uh, like... like... Turquoise?" Turquoise represents emotional balance and self acceptance, qualities Billy needed and lacked.


- Nadine comes in and talks about her being disqualified at Knife River, which is a weird name for a place, especially to be mentioned now.


- Nadine mentions her and Mike, continuing with the theory they echo Billy and his mom.


- Harry and Coop question Josie about Jonathan's death and Josie's hands and long red fingernails are focused on, recalling the letters BOB placed beneath them and Diane's own colored nails in The Return. There is a beetle on the wood table too, drawing our thoughts to the frogmoth and the scratching sounds Cooper was meant to listen to/for perhaps being insect related.


- It's quite distressing seeing Josie unraveling. She held some power before, but now she is falling apart and desperate. She takes Harry's hand for comfort warmth.


- As Coop leaves Harry and Josie alone, he comes across Pete, whom is bringing in Josie's dry cleaning. We're keeping the fashion theme going in this episode.

The dry cleaners doesn't speak English, leading Pete to remark: "We just stood there and looked at each other like we were made of wood." This is another moment when people are compared to tree/wood, supporting the belief that the Ghostwood development meant Ben Horne's abuse of his daughter inside of Billy's dream, more than an actual real estate deal.


- Cooper helps Pete out, but also takes advantage of the moment when he steals a fiber of Josie's coat to compare with that of the person whom shot him.


- Josie receives a phone call from Thomas Eckhardt and she is terrified of him and his insinuations of them getting together. Through this situation, Billy is perfectly displaying his mother's reaction/feelings about being with/around her father, and how she must have felt needing to stay with her abuser to help protect/keep/raise her child.


- Catherine interrupts the call and an owl painting is seen behind her.


- Thomas meanwhile voices his disappointment to his secretary that Josie ran back to Catherine.


- Dr. Jacoby has let Ben be around the public again, which basically only includes a deserted lobby of the Great Northern, except for some staff holding war drums, and the rest of his family, including Johnny in headdress, and Bobby in Bugle Boy outfit.


- When Ben makes a dirty joke, Johnny laughs. Now we partly theorize this is Billy too, so it indicates his own sexual leanings, despite his stunted emotional maturity. It also involves a whorehouse, as Billy might have viewed his own home, a motel, in that way, his mother playing prostitute, as was indicated by Cooper rescuing Audrey from her father's brothel.


- Audrey is shocked when Jerry suggests leaving Ben the way he is. Jerry reasons they have the opportunity to do a few business things now, they couldn't explore previously.

This seems awful reminiscent of MIKE and BOB's own competitive, manipulative relationship and the power struggle between them.


- Audrey threatens her uncle saying if Ben is incapacitated she gets everything and Jerry will end up selling baseboard heaters at the local Cash N Carry. Interesting that Audrey alludes to Jerry selling electrical heat. On this train of thought, MIKE seemed more connected to electricity (modern fire) while BOB was connected to the more raw/primitive fire. MIKE was more spiritually enlightened than BOB too, something we see Jerry leaning towards in The Return, while Ben's enlightenment seems to be proven weak or for show, his having sold Ghostwood and his asking Beverly out despite protesting that he wouldn't.

- Audrey tells Jacoby she wants him to bring her father back.

This whole dream could be viewed, in effect, to how Billy is trying to give her [his mother] back her father as a man whom was not interested in her sexually. He's certainly working hard at repairing their relationship through everything, only unfortunately it can not hold.


- Donna talks to Evelyn at Wallies and the woman is obviously regretting her whole life and existence, something Billy's mother often did.


- Albert found the fibers Dale collected to have come from the same coat as whomever shot him. Josie's gloves are being analyzed for gun powder too. Fashion is still a strong thread in this episode. Albert suspects the bullets they collect from Jonathan will match those used on Cooper. Dale is zeroing in on Josie as his attempted killer, but there is really no clear cut answer yet for why she did it. She held no connection to the Palmer/Pulaski case that Dale was working on, afterall.

We suspect it still has to do with the fact that Audrey and Ben were in a threatening sexual situation at Jack's together, which struck too close to "home". This might be able to be tied to Josie's relationship with Eckhardt somehow...a close similarity being formed between both "couples".


- Harry tells Dale that the name of the murdered transient was Erik Powell and Dale reveals that was Caroline's maiden name. We have names and murder again, recalling BOB spelling his own name. We also have a maiden name, an unmarried woman, which likely Billy's mother was.


- Cooper reasons that whenever a piece is lost from the chessboard, Earle will take a life. He's afraid because he has never beat him. Harry suggests he get the help of their finest chess player: Pete Martell.

It's very sad that while Harry and Pete are going to help Cooper against Windom, he is secretly going around trying to prove the woman both men love, Josie, is a murderer.


- Shelly asks Norma for her old job back and we realize, in the face of this almost mother/daughter relationship, very few couples/characters from this age bracket have children in Twin Peaks. It's as if they aren't allowed to. Pets are also mysteriously absent. We suspect it is Billy's aversion to it all, his not liking children because he also hates himself because of his origin and his hatred of animals, like most serial killers have.


- Behind a window of a door at the Double R, we witness Harry and Norma talk about Hank's soon to be incarceration.


- There is an incredibly painful dinner shown between Eckhardt and Catherine, painful because Josie is forced to act as maid/waitress during it. We come back to food and appetites again, especially the sexual sort. Eckhardt admits he had Andrew killed not for art or money but for love. They talk about Josie like she is neither human nor present.

Once again, it was probably how Billy's mother felt while forced to live with, serve and feed her father's appetites.

- Eventually the discussion turns to Josie's hands, which are commented on being incredible and the fingers things of beauty. Eckhardt kisses Josie's hand. Shades of BOB here with the fingernails again. The feeling is that Eckhardt is thinking of her hands/fingers primarily as sexual tools too. It's a stark contrast from the way that Harry and Josie held hands earlier.


- A cat or dog is mentioned during their talk, how Josie could be replaced by one. We've linked cats to Audrey and dogs to Dale/Billy.


- Josie serves the main course, as requested and it is a pig's head. Knowing what she is about to do to Thomas soon, that could be fitting.

During the scene in FWWM, where BOB crawls through her window and Laura finally sees him as Leland, a shot of a pig's head was supposed to also be seen, but one couldn't be located, much to Sheryl Lee's relief.


- Evelyn lies on the couch in her study, blowing smoke rings.


- James comes in and confronts her, books are shown on the shelves behind them, carrying through Billy's love and escape into stories.


- James wants to know why she did this to him (destroy his life). Evelyn replies she did it because she wanted to, even though that isn't the answer she knows he wants to hear. She's not honest nor good like him. However that doesn't mean that she didn't want him there, at times, just for herself, because of the good and honest way that he tasted. James replies that he liked the way she tasted too.

Billy probably has the same question he wants to ask his mother. Why did she hurt him, why did she even bring him into the world? There's also still the very large likelihood that Billy associates his life with the material comfort it provided his mother through their father. Audrey is still very much tied into money and wealth, while Billy connects himself with a "buck". This equates nicely to Evelyn using James as a way to achieve money. In Billy's mind, his mother can't offer up a reason and so, to him, she did it because she simply wanted to and because she isn't very good. She ended up wanting him though and there is a disconcerting connection being drawn once again to taste, humans being viewed as food. Through Evelyn and James, it is betrayed that both mother and son developed a "taste" for each other, just as the Lodge spirits feed on others around them. This could have easily turned into Billy acquiring a taste for both his mother's pleasure and fear, which transformed horribly into BOB's own personal hunger with the mother substitutes.

Can a link be formed to the old proverb then that a dog returns to its own folly, or a fool to their folly? We've connected Billy to dogs, and witnessed Mr. C/Dougie vomiting up creamed corn. Can this represent Billy's cycle of searching for women whom are like his mother and eating of his own sickness?


- As James and Evelyn make out, Malcolm comes and knocks James out, much to Evelyn's dismay, setting it up so that they can kill James and claim self defense.

The father of Billy and his mother's jealousy could be displayed here, along with the belief Billy still holds that his death would have meant his mother's life.


- Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or rather the Great Northern, Jacoby is enacting a recreation where Ben will be General Lee whom will be victorious over General Grant (Jacoby), and win the Civil War.

This begins with him meeting Audrey, whom introduces herself as a Scarlet Mclean, no relation to him. Ben kisses her gloved hand, which actually can be viewed, under the light of this theory, as mirroring Eckhardt's attention to Josie's hand, both of them being the right.


- Audrey welcomes him to their "humble horse" first before changing it to home. Now that was probably a flub-ad-lib but with this theory we consider even those happy accidents, just as Lynch did. The Hornes are being brought back to a horse and we can recall the horse Ben bought for Laura and the death horse that haunts the series.


- Jerry is playing Audrey's father here. He probably would have been a better one.


- Bobby keeps hitting on Audrey or comments something negative, for which Audrey slaps him.


- The South now having "won", Ben collapses and leaves his delusion, the playacting having brought him back to "reality".

For Billy it isn't so simple, as Cooper discovers in Part 18. He can't have Laura not die, because, frankly, she only existed as a dead girl that helped him deal with his real murder of American Girl. If she doesn't die, everything changes, and also leaves it vulnerable to the only option left for "Laura Palmer": that she becomes BOB. There is, of course, the even greater problem with Billy's scenario of saving Laura...it won't erase the fact that he still killed American Girl and all of the women he killed after. Ben, living inside of Billy's dream, can have his little roleplaying work to help "heal" him, as Billy wanted. But the very real Billy, can't escape from the truth, even inside of his fantasy.


- The Horne family (minus Johnny?) including Bobby and Jacoby, gather round as Ben states that he just had the strangest dream and then points out they were all there. This is all very Wizard of Oz like, when Dorothy awakens from the dream of Oz. Clear parallel to his son's own dream (which could explain Johnny's absence). Cooper appeared in an ad for Twin Peaks, returning to its former timeslot (home), which was also directly parodying Wizard of Oz. When Coop/Dougie was also in the hospital in Part 15, the placement of him, with his family and friends strongly echoed Dorothy waking up. In all instances these are men, Ben and Dale, and we theorize strongly that the "dreaming/escape" runs strongly in their family, not the Palmers.


- Everyone laughs, after Ben comments on their clothing, and the family seems healed through the dream...just as Billy is trying to do.


- Ben holds Audrey's hand, which is sweet but at the same time appears in an episode where Eckhardt's lust for Josie has been conveyed through her hand. Infact, Ben outright, kisses Audrey's hand for a second time, though still gloved, this time the palm.


- We go to another scene involving a hand and a father figure and their child: Windom is forcing Leo to write something for him, and repeatedly punishes/electrocutes him for it, until he stands behind him and guides his hand to write what he wants.

Obviously Billy's dad was abusive.

Clear illustration can be gleaned from this also in how Billy sees his father guiding his own actions, which is BOB living inside of him.


- Despite the abuse, Leland seems to warm to Windom after being praised, grateful for any kindness he does show and Windom even uncomfortably kisses his cheek, the fake moustache he'd been applying in disguise partly falling off.

We can see how Billy developed feelings of true fondness for his mother and father, despite the abuse, the further formation of the White Lodge to go alongside the Black. We can also wonder still if grandfather/father abused his grandson/son sexually too.


- Leo becomes less pleased when he discovers that Windom is having him write something that he tears up and intends to send to 3 women, one of whom will be his queen: Donna, Shelly and Audrey. "No, no, no," Leo protests. This could represent the part of Billy (a childlike aspect) that doesn't want to hurt women, which once again, is showing up, not through Dale Cooper, but through a "bad" character.


- The picture of the 3 women falls to the floor.


- Malcolm wants Evelyn to shoot James, or hold the gun to get her prints on it, Donna comes in begging for Evelyn not to hurt James, Evelyn finally stands up to Malcolm and shoots him, repeating the same instructions he'd given her to use against James.

Billy's mother trying to protect her son from their father?


- Infront of the Great Northern elevator, Cooper states at a photo of Caroline he keeps in his wallet. Funny now that Windom suddenly has photographic evidence of his existence, so does this Caroline. She's his damsel-in-distress type, long light hair, his attraction shown as being decidedly different from someone like Audrey...or so we are led to believe.


- Windom walks out of the elevator, passing behind Dale's back. Now he's just been in Dale's room and he's going to the front desk to leave his little letter for Audrey. He spots a postcard rack with nothing but the same owl postcard, exclaims happily, "Owls?" takes one and leaves. In this way, Cooper, his room at the hotel, Audrey and owls have all been linked, and this eventually to the white death mask of the woman Cooper loved, lying in his bed. The same bed Audrey had crept into... A hidden web can be formed again, all revolving around the Hornes and Dale Cooper.


- Cooper enters his room and lovingly looks at his previously mentioned "dark suit" throwing this into the mix of everything already mentioned with the Hornes, loss and him.

This is the dark suit Cooper figuratively adorns so people don't know what he truly is.


- Lying in Dale's bed, the same one we mentioned previously Audrey also lay in without his expecting it, is a death mask of Caroline. The eyes appear to be lit up.

When Dale lifts it up, the eyeholes of the mask darken. Cooper's eyes peering into the mask's, Windom's recording plays about how beautiful Caroline was and how much he still loves her, even after Pittsburgh, and we're still left wondering why Windom was circling Arkansas and not Pennsylvania...hmmm...

Windom states that he knows Cooper still loves her too and to listen carefully because it's now his move.

Okay, we can view this all very easily within this theory. Both Billy and his father/grandfather loved Billy's mom. Now Billy, having lost both of his parents, feels that his father still lives inside of him, "possessing" him, leading him to find and kill the women whom remind him of the woman they both loved. It might be Dale's move, but regardless for him, or for Billy, someone will always die as long as he's trapped playing the game with his "father" which is only a game against himself and a trauma he has not truly faced and healed from.

Case in point, Dale is studying a mask of Caroline, but the Log Lady said a death mask usually doesn't fully represent the person. Masks also hide identity. We see Dale facing the mask, peering through the empty eyes, but who really was Caroline? Is she someone he really doesn't want to face, like Annie becoming her and then her becoming a screaming Laura? We believe he really isn't ready to accept the truth, because, with all the masks pulled away, including the faces of his victims, she was just Audrey Horne again, his mother, the person he alternately longs to save and destroy.

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