Yahoo News Twin Peaks 2017: 11 questions and a theory
Twin Peaks is back, and it's already made a hell of an impression. A discombobulating two-part opener was followed by an even stranger episode three, before evening out in part four with a healthy dollop of broad comedy and plenty of old faces.
Four hours in, we've found out a helluva lot about what's gone on in the last 25 years. But we're still yet to fill in all the missing pieces. What's more, David Lynch and Mark Frost have more than evened out any solutions with some brand-new mysteries.
First we've got a theory/explanation as to what the hell is going on, and then 11 still-burning questions.
A theory
Despite all the strangeness, with the guiding words of Mike, Laura's spirit, the evolved Arm and the Woman in Red (The Giant is still naff all help, frankly), the goings-on in the Red Room and industrial space zone seem broadly interpretable.
Dale Cooper's genuine soul has been trapped in the Black Lodge for 25 long years. Something has precipitated its release. Given its prediction by Laura Palmer way back when, perhaps it really is nothing more than the end of a sentence that has been spent. A purification process, perhaps.
"The legend says that every spirit must pass through there on the way to perfection," Hawk told Cooper of the Black Lodge. "There, you will meet your own shadow self. My people call it 'The Dweller on the Threshold'."
Cooper is stumbling his way back. But he needs psychic assistance to overthrow Evil Coop and truly return. Evil Coop will not give up his place without a fight. He has killed Major Briggs, double-crossed Phillip Jeffries and will attempt anything to keep the Good Dale at bay.
It seems tangential at the moment, but Hawk's own mission feels bound up in Cooper's return and ultimate redemption. There's a line of Cooper's from season two that's been surfacing in recent days. "Hawk. If I'm ever lost, I hope you're the man they send to find me." Eventually, that's what will happen.
But before we get there, here are 11 questions we want answered:
1. How's Annie?
Look, we hate to repeat ourselves, but the question that rang out at the end of the original Twin Peaks finale was sidestepped in Fire Walk With Me, and there's not been a single mention of Annie Blackburn's fate in the comeback.
It's clear from the words of the original Twin Peaks residents that they had little knowledge of Evil Coop's reign of terror till they came face-to-face with him. We know that, BOB possession aside, Cooper survived his Lodge experience 25 years ago.
So what happened to the ex-convent dweller? Annie was hospitalised after her experience in Glastonbury Grove. She doesn't get a mention in Mark Frost's The Secret History of Twin Peaks, and she's not been mentioned in The Return... yet.
2. Where's Audrey?
And again. Beyond Cooper, there's been a steady trickle of old faces in roles of varying importance popping up. The Giant, Dr Jacoby, Ben and Jerry Horne, The Log Lady, Hawk, Lucy, Andy, Sarah Palmer, Shelly, James, Bobby, GORDON COLE, Albert Rosenfield, Denise Bryson, One-Armed Mike and even Laura and Leland Palmer.
Sherilyn Fenn's return has long been confirmed and teased in promo pictures, but Audrey Horne is yet to make an appearance. In Frost's Secret History it's suggested that she survived the bank vault blast, in part due to the heroic protection of Pete Martell. So where is she – and in Annie's presumed absence, will she and Coop finally get together?
3. What has Evil Cooper been doing for the past 25 years?
We know he's been growing his hair, buying bad clothes, telling some women how "nice and wet" they are (ugh) and killing other women. We've also pieced together that he likely killed Major Garland Briggs and possibly Agent Phillip Jeffries.
But what else? He's stayed off the trail of everyone in Twin Peaks for the bulk of his time "away", which must have taken considerable effort, given his importance in the FBI. We've only had a glimpse at his nefarious actions, and really do need to know more.
4. Who made Dougie Jones, and how long has he been knocking about?
If One-Armed Mike is to be believed. "Someone manufactured you for a purpose, but I think now that's been fulfilled." It appears that Dougie was made so as to allow Good Coop to leave the Lodge without actively dislodging Evil Coop from this mortal plain.
But who did it? Was it Mike himself? Other Lodge spirits? Who has an interest in Cooper's return? What has changed in the last 25 years to make the switch possible now? And how long has Dougie been around? Long enough to get married and have a child, clearly. Did Dougie get manufactured 25 years ago?
5. What the hell is that cube in New York all about?
Sam, and a load of digital cameras, are watching an "empty" glass cube in New York, owned by an "anonymous billionaire". When Sam and Tracey break the first rule of horror survival (sex = death), something makes its way out and goes all NutriBullet on their faces.
What the hell is it? How does it relate to anything to do with Twin Peaks? Is a rich man trying to use brute science to force his way into the Lodge? What was Cooper's astral spirit doing in the cube when all the blood started to fly?
6. Whose body is Ruth Davenport's head on, and who really killed both of them? And why?
The John Doe body has been ID'd, but some heavy-duty military clearance is needed to reveal the name. Who's protecting that name? Bill Hastings is the obvious murder suspect, but did his wife (with Cooper/BOB?) set him up. If so, how? And what's the whole purpose of this anyway?
7. Why has the Man From Another Place evolved into a squelch of flesh on a crackling tree?
Michael J Anderson's falling out with David Lynch is public knowledge. Apparently a dispute over money descended into the unprintable, so he wasn't going to return. But ummm, all the same... why a squelch of flesh on a crackling tree?
8. Was that bit in space really in space?
Major Briggs's experience with UFOs and Project Blue Book made a relatively fleeting appearance in Twin Peaks, but UFOlogy and its possible connection to the Lodge spirits is a central part of Frost's The Secret History of Twin Peaks novel.
Was Cooper really in actual Outer Space? What was that room about? Another Waiting Room where one chants out between two worlds? And why did that woman who helped Coop back to the real world look so much like Ronette Pulaski?
9. What's the missing piece that Hawk is looking for?
Hawk, Andy and Lucy are looking through the old Laura Palmer files for something "missing" that should help Cooper, according to the Log Lady. But what? "Diane, I'm holding in my hand a small box of chocolate bunnies," said Coop back in the pilot. But the missing bunny (scoffed by Lucy at some point in the last 25 years) is not that missing thing. What is it, how does it tie in to Hawk's Nez Perce heritage, and how will it help?
10. What is Dr Jacoby doing in the woods?
Unsurprisingly, Jacoby got struck off after all that Laura Palmer stuff. But what's he doing in the woods living by himself, spray painting those shovels gold?
11. Who's booking the bands at The Roadhouse?
Chromatics, The Cactus Blossoms and Au Revoir Simone so far. We bet Julee Cruise gets a go back on the mic before the season ends too. We're loving the musical outros and want the Roadhouse booker sorting our next DS Festival.
Twin Peaks: The Return is available on Sky On Demand
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