Chapter 9: Fourth Hour "...Brings Back Some Memories"
009 - A Skeleton Key To Twin Peaks, 2nd Edition
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Acronyms & Common Terms
TP = Twin Peaks (1989-1991)
TPTR = Twin Peaks The Return (2017)
FWWM = Fire Walk With Me (1992)
RRL = The Red Room Dream Layer
TVL = The Version Layer
MPL = Missing Page Layer
TFM = The Fireman’s Mansion
Twin Peaks = The entire franchise
INTRO4
Part 4: Scene 1
(0:00:00-0:01:39) Local (2:54:00-2:55:39) Global Time
1m39s
PN: Intro Credits
A10
A1
Part 4: Scene 2
The Version Layer: Las Vegas, NV
(0:01:39-0:15:34) Local (2:55:39-3:09:34) Global Time
13m55s
PN: White Lodge Plan
In the Silver Mustang Casino, two men in suits and a security guard stare incredulously as Cooper wins jackpot after jackpot. Attendant Jackie is frantically following him with a big bucket. Cut to the Casino Manager, asking Attendant Jackie, “How many jackpots?” She says, “So far, 29 Mega Jackpots.” The Manager looks ill and says, “I’m dead.”
The dirty old lady speaks sweetly to Cooper, patting him on his chest at heart, saying, “Mr. Jackpots, tell me which one.” Cooper points at one with the Red Room fire emblem over it.
She walks to the machine next to that one and turns around to confirm with Cooper. He leans his body to the right, and she finds the suitable machine, pulls the handle, wins, and turns to profusely thank him. Her joy is now reflected by Cooper’s as he smiles back at her, the Goodness growing in the room.
Bill Shaker from Allied Chemicals calls out Dougie’s name and greets Cooper warmly. Bill’s wife, Candy Shaker, is with him. Bill asks, “What are you, taking a walk on the wild side?”
Bill taps Cooper on the chest in a friendly manner and says, “Dougie Jones,” which Cooper repeats, tapping himself on the chest as he repeats Dougie’s name. Bill speaks to Cooper as if he were used to Dougie being slow. He compliments Dougie’s new look but doesn’t share his food when Dougie shows interest in his hot dog. Bill says he hasn’t eaten since home, which catches Cooper’s attention as he repeats the word “Home.” Bill and Candy ask Cooper if he wants to go home. Candy asks him where his home is, and Bill tells him that Dougie lives on Lancelot Court, the house with the red door next to Merlin’s Market, “Not far from here.” Bill says it’s maybe a $6 or $8 cab ride. Cooper walks away, and Bill’s wife asks if he’s okay. Bill tells Cooper, “It was good to see you, Dougie!” As Cooper tries to leave to get a cab, Attendant Jackie warns that he’s going. However, the Pit Boss comes running after him, stopping him and asking him to go with him. The Casino Manager is sitting at his desk looking very worried. Cooper is escorted into the room, and a security guard is standing watch. Cooper sits down and stares at a pyramid of red dice on the man’s desk. The Casino Manager reaches down and lifts a bag onto the table, then asks Cooper if he is going to leave without his winnings and if there is anything they can do to help. Cooper says, “Call For Help,” to which the man replies, “Call who?” The Casino Manager offers a room, a good meal, a drink, and some companionship, asking Cooper to think of them as a “Home away from Home.” The Casino Manager asks where Cooper’s home is, and Cooper says, “Lancelot Court cab ride.” The Casino Manager refuses the cab and asks Cooper his name. Cooper touches his chest and says, “Dougie Jones.” The Casino Manager requests a “Limo for Mr. Jones.” Smithy is coming with the limo. The Casino Manager pushes the bag towards Cooper, and Cooper puts his hands on the bag, mirroring the man. They press closer together before the Casino Manager lets the bag go and stands up. Cooper, continuing to mimic the man’s behavior, also stands up. Both men lean close to each other, one sizing the other up and the other playing what may as well be a game. The Casino Manager says, “But you have to promise me something... you’ll come back and try your luck with us again. Soon. Anytime. Day or night.” Cooper repeats, “Or night,” and as the two men stare, an electronic whirring draws Cooper’s attention to the ceiling camera.
The man sees what Cooper’s looking at and then looks back at him and says menacingly, “That’s right. We’re watching you Mr.….(dubious) Jones.”
Later, Cooper is in the limo, holding the money bag, on his way to Dougie Jones’s home.
Smithy announces they are on Lancelot Court and that he’s looking for the house with the red door. He complains that it’s hard to see the color at night. When Cooper says, “Red,” Smithy says, “That’s black.” They find the house, and when Smithy gets out to open Cooper’s door, Cooper turns to look out the window. Seeing his reflection, he visibly gasps.
Smithy has to coax Cooper out of the car, repeating, “Mr. Jones..…” three times.
They stand awkwardly in the yard for several seconds, and Smithy offers to wait with Cooper. An owl starts hooting and then flies above the house. Smithy says, “Damn. Those things spook me.” The door opens, and Janey-E calls, “Dougie, is that you?” Looking furious, she walks up to Cooper and slaps him hard across the face, asking him where he’s been and what this is. Smithy, very uncomfortable at this display of domestic violence, tells her he was a guest at the Silver Mustang and was asked to bring him home. Smithy leaves just as Janey-E tells Cooper that Dougie’s been gone three days without a word, hasn’t shown up at work, and has missed Sonny Jim’s birthday. She is utterly disgusted and pushes him inside the house, forcing him to sit downstairs in this dimly lit dining room. Inside, Janey-E asks Cooper what he’s been doing. Why didn’t he call? She asks about the suit and his haircut. She takes the bag, and when she sees the money, she gets very excited that there are thousands and thousands of dollars in it. She asks where he got this, the Silver Mustang. She says, “Don’t tell me you hit the jackpot.” Cooper says, “Mr. Jackpots,” gesturing at the heart level. She says that there is enough here to pay “Them” back. Janey-E’s face floods with relief, and she says this is her life's most beautiful, horrible day. She offers Cooper a sandwich and a piece of Sonny Jim’s chocolate cake they saved for him. She kisses him on the forehead and tells Cooper she is happy he’s home.
This scene establishes the boon that Cooper was granted when he came through that socket. This is not beginner’s luck. This is providence working in favor of the main character in a dream that slipped from the dreamer’s agency of control. This Casino Trial is also a complete Hero’s Journey. Dale Cooper goes from someone lost with a single direction to follow (“Call for Help”), and a single asset (a five-dollar bill) to a man welcomed into his home when he returns with a fortune that solves his family’s problems.
The Silver Mustang Casino management staff are not Cooper’s enemies. These people are trying to do their jobs during a miracle they do not understand, which could tear their world apart. They are the first witnesses to what overwhelms logic and this dream reality's power structure. We also understand how this superpower will work in Cooper’s favor. By expressing his natural giving nature, Cooper is rewarded and then extends those rewards back to his family, friends, and enemies, winning nearly all of them over as allies. The most important thing in this scene is not that Cooper wins a small fortune, but instead that he extends his “luck” to the angry, dirty old lady, who quickly becomes a happy, dirty old lady. That generosity of spirit, giving without even thinking about it, and helping simply because someone asks is Dale Cooper’s best nature, and it will create a wave that manifests protection and opportunities for salvation. Immediately after that charity, Bill Shaker is unlocked as if a reward. This man walks out of the blue with his wife (Candie), to reveal two critical pieces of information for Cooper to move on the next part of this journey.
Cooper’s first two missions in this dream were given to him by Jade, his metaphoric birth mother here.
#1. He can go out now (the same instruction Laura Palmer gave him earlier in this dream
#2. He has to Call For Help
#3. He learns that Call For Help is a game, and playing this game yields money that will save Dougie Jone’s life.
Once these three tasks are completed, Bill Shaker manifests in this dream to reveal Cooper Cooper’s next mission goal:
#4. He has to go “home”
Shaker also reveals how to do this by telling Cooper that Dougie Jones lives on Lancelot Court in the house with the red door. As an added bonus, Shaker directs Cooper to the cab stand outside, which will take him home for only a few dollars.
In the Casino Manager’s office, another facet of Cooper’s pure nature is revealed when the bag of money is pushed at him like a threat, daring him to take it. Cooper leans back until the threat shifts back towards the Casino Manager, who stands and leans menacingly in towards Cooper, who mimics standing and unknowingly leaning in towards the threat, though he seems to do this without the menace of his own. This is who Dale Cooper has always been in his best moments, bravely confronting a threat with benevolence and strength. But, unfortunately, he lacks his normal ingenuity, that brilliance in his mind that brings all facets of his investigations together into flashes of insight that shine lights into the darkest corners of human nature, protecting those cowing in shelter from cruelty and bad luck.
The Casino Manager issues what would be perceived as a threat by anyone with a normally functioning perception, but that is not Dale Cooper. The Eye In The Sky camera has been introduced yet again. I believe there are many watchers of what is taking place in these dream rooms. Each of us, as viewers, is essentially that eye in the sky. The final threat is, “That’s right, we’re watching you, Mister Jones.”
The most significant event on Cooper’s limo ride home occurs when they are parked on Lancelot Court outside the house with the red door. Smithy gets out to open Cooper’s entry, and Cooper looks out the rolled-up window. What he sees makes him gasp, an extraordinary reaction given what we know of his mental and emotional state in this dream. Why does Cooper gasp here? Is it the same reason he groans when Laura whispers her secret in his ear during Part Two? Cooper is not given the hero’s welcome here at first. He’s screamed at and gets his face slapped hard. But he does not fight back. He holds no grudge. The insults and injury pass through him like a freezing wind that dies beyond him. And when that bag of money comes out, Janey-E’s world changes for the better. Like the old, dirty woman in the Silver Mustang casino, money changes everything. Of course, it doesn’t solve the long-term problems, but for poor people, it sure does put a dent in the short-term ones.
E6
Part 4: Scene 3
The Version Layer: Philadelphia, PA
(0:15:34-0:19:40) Local (3:09:34-3:13:40) Global Time
4m6s
PN: Blue Rose Investigation
A man named Bill shows Gordon Cole into the office of someone his superior. Gordon asks where she is, and Bill says she’s in a meeting and will be along in a minute. Gordon asks how Martha is, and Bill says she’s okay. Gordon asks if she ever fixed the thing with Paul. Bill says she did and that Paul is now at the North Pole. Gordon slaps him on the shoulder and says, “Well there you go!” Gordon sits in a chair in front of an executive desk, and Bill leaves the room. Gordon looks around and sees in the chair next to him a dozen roses with one white flower in the middle.
The door in the back of the room opens, and Denise Bryson walks in. Gordon stands up, and they greet each other warmly. Gordon tells her that they’ve found Cooper. Denise grips the chair and seems taken aback, asking where. Gordon tells her that Cooper is in a Federal prison in South Dakota and that they are going out to see him tomorrow. Denise tells Gordon that she heard. Gordon asks how she heard. Denise asks him if he’s taking Agent Preston with him in a conspiratorial tone, intimating lecherous intentions since his profile is beautiful agents barely 30 years old. Gordon says he’s old school and that before she was Denise, he was Dennis, and Gordon was her boss. She was working undercover at the DEA; she was a confused and wild thing sometimes, and he had enough dirt on her to fill the Grand Canyon but never used a spoonful because she was and is a great agent.
Gordon then says that when she became Denise, he told all of her colleagues, “Those clown comics, to fix their hearts or die.” Denise thanks him for his kindness. Gordon responds to the light accusation that Agent Tammy Preston “Has the stuff.” Denise knows but speaks more as a woman than the Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and then remarks about how she loves saying that full name, unabbreviated, that it gives her such a thrill.
Gordon says it is thrilling. Denise remarks on how beautiful Tammy is. Gordon replies, “There’s room at the Federal Bureau of Investigation for more than one beautiful woman.” This flattery works its charm to disarm Denise. First, she says that she usually can’t think like this, having to forgo it to grow, “Balls of steel to do this job.” She then says it’s a bitch, not to mention “The screaming hormones,” which causes Gordon to flinch. Denise says she trusts him and that he’s on the trail of something big. Gordon says, “Big.” Denise asks if Albert will be with him, to which he responds, “Do birds fly?” Denise wishes him good luck. Gordon replies, “Ten-four, good buddy.” They shake hands. As Gordon turns to leave, Bill opens the door for him. Denise fans herself as Gordon walks out.
Why does Denise grill Gordon Cole on his sexual intentions with Tammy Preston? What is the purpose of this moment in the narrative? I view Agent Tammy Preston as the character in this dream that enforces Cooper’s best investigation instincts and skills, divorced from his flaws. Cooper’s romantic entanglements are the primary factor in nearly bungling the investigations up through the aftermath of solving Laura Palmer’s murder. His cycle of saving the girl and then conquering her sexually to enjoy her favors has met a point of exposure and corruption. This is how he became trapped in this dream, pausing to consider saving one or all three women in the Red Room (Laura, Annie, and Caroline) instead of saving himself. In this scene, Cooper weighs his heart to see if he’s moved beyond this superficial and childish behavior. For this investigation to remain pure, this cannot devolve into a sex dream. Tammy Preston has the stuff, which isn’t in how she walks. There is a strong argument to be made that Tammy is an avatar of Cooper in this dream, manifesting the best of Cooper’s honor, integrity, and investigative brilliance into this corrupted layer of the dream.
F5
Part 4: Scene 4
The Version Layer: Twin Peaks, WA
(0:19:40-0:33:28) Local (3:13:40-3:27:28) Global Time
13m48s
PN: Hawk’s Investigation
SN: Something Is Wrong In Twin Peaks
Lucy is on the phone talking about the thermostat, complaining that it doesn’t tell you what’s happening when no one’s here. She says they mostly don’t have prisoners, but they couldn’t see the thermostat even if they did. She said a man was out recently to look at the furnace and that Sheriff Truman wouldn’t answer her questions about what happens when no one’s here.
She says they come in early, and the heat is still on, but what if they came in even earlier? Would the heat still be on then? She then asks if Sheriff Truman is next to a loud stream because he’s breaking up. Finally, she asks if he’s still fishing. She says he’s breaking up again and hopes they can get it sorted out when he returns to the office, but now it’s very uncomfortable. The door opens, and Sheriff Truman walks in, holding his cell phone out as an explanation. Lucy has her back turned and says she has to go because some people are coming in through the front door. When she turns around and sees him, she screams and flies backward onto the floor, fainting. The Sheriff looks un-amused, and Andy rushes to her aid on the floor, crying out, “Lucy! Lucy!” Andy works to revive Lucy, asking if the Sheriff was on his cell phone again. The Sheriff says, “Andy, I’m sorry. We lost connection and I couldn’t stand out in the parking lot all night.” Andy says that he hates cellular phones. Lucy wakes up and asks how that’s possible when he is in the mountains fishing. The Sheriff just tells her to hang up the phone and walks away. Andy consoles her and calls her “Punky” twice.
There is a fully functional dispatch office in the back of the Sheriff’s station, and we are standing in it. A female officer calls, sitting in the cockpit of displays and blinking lights out official sounding codes. Other officers and detectives are also here, loading Crime Scene tape rolls into a military-style duffel bag. Sheriff Truman asks what’s going on, and Deputy Chad says he booked a guy who blew a .250 on a breathalyzer and couldn’t even find his nose, let alone touch it. The dispatcher says something terrible happened, a boy OD’d at the high school, Little Dennis Craig, and Andy took the case and spoke with the parents. She says, “When the bell rang, he never got up from his desk. Sheriff Truman seems remorseful about Denny Craig’s death and asks where Hawk is. Chad says, “In the conference room.” The Sheriff turns to leave but first greets the Crime Scene officers with their caution tape and official jackets.
The Sheriff opens the door to another hallway where a tall silver-haired man is walking, and the Sheriff calls out to him, “Bobby.” When he turns around, we see that it’s Bobby Briggs. Truman tells Bobby about little Denny Craig OD’ing. Sheriff Truman hasn’t seen the autopsy report but guesses that it’s Chinese designer drugs. He asks if there is anything on Bobby’s surveillance cameras. Bobby says, “Elk, deer, raccoon, squirrel and a bear.” Bobby then says that if they came down from Canada, he would’ve seen that he has every known trail covered.
Bobby interrupts him to say, “I gotta take a leak so bad, my back teeth are floatin’.”
Frank tells him he’ll meet him in the conference room. Back by the entrance, Andy explains to Lucy that cell phones are mobile, that the Sheriff can be moving and even driving while he’s talking, unlike her cellphone. He then tells her that she’s so good at her job in every other way; he just doesn’t understand how this keeps happening “over and...over again.” She says that she doesn’t understand it either. Andy tells her to collect herself that he must see Sheriff Truman. Lucy looks very upset and disheveled as Andy leaves.
Deputy Chad walks into the conference room while Hawk says, “I know she seems like a strange one but her information has always been spot on.” Hawk is talking to Sheriff Frank Truman, who repeats what Hawk tells him the Log Lady said to him about Cooper. Andy walks in, and the Sheriff greets him respectfully. Lucy enters afterward and says that she is feeling a bit better now. The Sheriff doesn’t respond. Chad asks, “I thought that Log Woman was 10-96 and not even allowed in this building.” Lucy responds, “That’s because of a kind of gum.”
Chad looks at her condescendingly and says, “Wow, I’ll chew on that.” Andy looks furious.
Frank tells Chad that’s enough. Andy tells Chad that she gets messages from her log.
Chad says, “Pinocchio’s friend,” with the same condescending tone. Frank tells Chad goodnight, which causes him to scoff and say that he’s going to have a word with his pine cone on his way out. The Sheriff ignores Chad, but Andy looks furious. Bobby Briggs walks into the conference room and is startled to see Laura Palmer’s picture on the table. Laura’s theme starts playing, and he starts crying, saying this brings back some memories. The Sheriff explains that this concerns the Log Lady’s message about Special Agent Dale Cooper. Bobby confirms Cooper was the last to see his father before he died. Hawk is surprised to learn this.
Bobby confirms that his Mom told him that a few days before his dad died, Cooper came by the house to speak with him and then left town. Hawk said that no one had seen or heard from him since. Bobby confirmed that his father died in the fire at his station the next day. The Sheriff asks if he knows what they talked about, and Bobby says he has no idea.
Another Deputy walks in and tells the Sheriff that there’s a man out front who says his name is Wally Brando, which makes Lucy and Andy very excited, and they run from the room. Sheriff Frank confirms that it’s their son. The Deputy tells Frank that Wally said that he wants to pay his respects to him. The Sheriff says, “Oh boy.” As they leave, Bobby is still fighting back the tears, looking at Laura’s picture.
Sheriff Truman walks outside while Lucy and Andy fawn over young Wally Brando in a leather jacket with a flat cap, his first name emblazoned above the chest pocket of his leather jacket. Wally sits on a motorcycle. Andy says they are so excited that Wally came in unannounced.
Frank says it’s good to see him again, and Wally says it’s good to see him, too. Wally reminds him that Harry S Truman is his godfather and that he heard he was ill, so Wally came to pay his respects and pray for his recovery, which he hopes will be swift and painless.
Wally tells Frank that it’s an honor to see him again, that his heart is always here with him and, “These fine people, my parents,” who he loves so dearly. Frank thanks him. Wally says that he also came back to let his parents know about something that has been a matter of grave concern to them, that he has decided to let them do what they wish with his childhood bedroom, that they want to build a study because they are, “Such sweet people.” Lucy says how sweet that message is and asks Wally where he’s been. Wally says, “My family...my friend. I’ve crisscrossed this great land of ours countless times. I hold the map of it here, in my heart, next to the joyful memories of the carefree days I spent as a young boy here in your beautiful town of Twin Peaks. From Alexandria, Virginia to Stockton, California, I think about Lewis and his friend Clark, the first Caucasians to see this part of the world. Their footsteps have been the highways and byways of my days on the road. My shadow is always with me. Sometimes ahead. Sometimes behind. Sometimes to the left. Sometimes to the right. Except on cloudy days or at night.” The Sheriff inhales and says, “Yes, well...Wally, it’s great to see you again...and, may the road rise up to meet your wheels.” Wally holds his fist up to his heart and says, “That’s a lovely turn of phrase. Thank you. My dharma is the road. Your dharma...” he gestures outward. Truman nods at him and walks away, a slight and incredulous shake of his face, while Andy and Lucy beam at their only child.
This thermostat scene is a metaphysical investigation of what lies beyond the edges of our perception. The question being investigated here is, “Who controls this machine?” There are not just two points of communication happening here. There are three because the viewer is also a party to this conversation. Two participants and a viewer explore the nature of transience in fiction: Does something exist when no attention is paid to it? It does exist when no attention is paid; what force maintains the thing’s function without the observer? Will the machine operate without being directly controlled?
It’s a revealing moment when Sheriff Truman empathizes with little dead Denny Craig. I like to compare how the police reacted to Laura’s death in The Pilot to how Sheriff Truman reacts to a dead high schooler here. There is empathy, but also clearly something perceived as an everyday tragedy now. Laura Palmer’s death was anything but a typical disaster, measured by the reactions of the community of Twin Peaks in the wake of her murder.
Bobby Briggs corrects Sheriff Truman saying that they’ve been monitoring every trail. Bobby corrects him by saying, “Every known trail.” And the Sheriff confirms. Unknown unknowns are the elements of dreams and nightmares. There is enormous significance to the traditional theme playing in the background of this scene. This music is rarely used in The Return. The pain of losing Laura Palmer is infused into this music, and it bleeds out into this scene, dramatically altering how the viewer experiences Bobby Briggs’s pain. In this emotional moment, like Bill Shaker was unlocked, a new clue tumbles out of Bobby Brigg’s mouth that his dead father was the last person to see Cooper alive, just before Major Briggs died. Ever sensitive for clues, Hawk seizes on this like the animal of his nickname.
Lucy’s struggle with technology is more than what it appears on the surface. She is a character struggling with communicating in this world, precisely what Cooper (as Dougie Jones) is struggling with in this dream. What Cooper experiences in Las Vegas will pop out in the emotional outbursts of other characters in other places in this dream.
Wally Brando’s appearance here is benevolent. His entire presence opens up the scope of the world with positive and adventurous energy. He also gives the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department their moral mission: their commitment to upholding their community. Dharma is an old term applied to more than one Eastern religion. Social duty is the most common interpretation of Dharma’s definition in the West, upholding the natural and social order by obeying laws of righteousness. I also believe that, like Bill Shaker, Wally Brando was unlocked in this dream by asking the right questions about directions and having faith that things are operating according to some plan, which is precisely what Lucy was asking at the beginning of this scene. Wally Brando represents the adventurousness and curiosity of The Dreamer, and may he ride on forever between these layers of Cooper’s dream.
A11
Part 4: Scene 5
The Version Layer: Las Vegas, NV
(0:33:28-0:41:40) Local (3:27:28-3:35:40) Global Time
8m12s
PN: White Lodge Plan
A black bird caws, flying over the Jones home. Dougie sits on his bed, in full pajamas, making a sour face at an awful mustard-colored suit. He is holding his crotch; something is wrong.
Philip Gerard walks around RRL, feeling for something. Cooper looks around Dougie Jones’s bedroom and sees a red chair in the corner. He stands up, and the Red Room Layer starts to bleed into the Version Layer. Cooper sees Philip, who says, “You see me don’t you? You were tricked” Philip pulls the golden seed from his pocket and holds it up to show Cooper. He puts it back in his pocket and says, “Now one of you must die.” Cooper resumes holding his crotch, a pained look on his face. The Red Room disappears as Janey-E complains that he isn’t even dressed. When she sees he has to pee, she asks what is with him and, seeing him holding his crotch, guides him to the bathroom as she says, “Listen, Mr. Dream Weaver, you go potty, and then let’s get you dressed fast. You’re worse than Sonny Jim!”
Cooper stands at the toilet, unsure of what to do, but obviously relieved when he starts urinating. When he comes out, he sees himself in the mirror. He leans into the mirror and raises his hand to touch its surface, lost in deep thought.
Cut to Janey-E pulling up Dougie’s pants, telling him he’s lost weight. He is swimming in Dougie Jones’s clothes. She remarks that the jacket looks two sizes too big. She tells him to do his tie, that she can never get that right, and she’s going downstairs to finish breakfast.
She calls Sonny Jim to get going on her way downstairs. Sonny Jim walks out, and he and Cooper stare at each other. Cooper touches his navel as he looks at Sonny Jim. Sonny Jim smiles, and Cooper smiles back. Sonny Jim flashes him a thumbs-up sign, and Cooper reciprocates awkwardly while turning around in the opposite direction. In the kitchen, Janey-E cooks breakfast while Dave Brubeck’s “Take Five” starts playing. Cooper walks in with the oversized clothes on and his tie draped over his head. Sonny Jim is eating a big plate of pancakes, and when he looks up to see Cooper, he starts chuckling. Cooper saunters over to the table, still standing, and looks down at Sonny Jim. Still smiling, Sonny Jim gets up to help Cooper sit down, patting the chair. Cooper pats the chair, and Sonny Jim takes his hand and guides him to the seat. Janey-E is oblivious to all this as she sets a plate of pancakes in front of Cooper. Sonny Jim, seeing Cooper, is unaware of what to do with them and pours syrup on his pancakes, which causes Cooper to lean in. Cooper sees the fork, picks it up, and begins to cut up the pancakes, bringing a bite to his mouth. He is obviously happy with the taste.
Janey-E sets a cup in front of Cooper and says, “Here’s your coffee.” Something joyous happens in Cooper’s mind as he stares incredulously at the coffee cup, which reads, “I am Dougie’s Coffee.” He repeats, “Coffee!” He takes a drink, chokes, gags, and then spits it all over the floor.” Janey-E turns around and shouts his name. He looks at her maniacally and says, with a burnt mouth, “Coffee!” But it sounds more like, “Hahffay!”
This scene confirms that Cooper is still connected to the Red Room, though he no longer manifests physically. Philip Gerard feels around for something invisible to him but knows is there. And he finds Cooper eventually. Once they connect, Gerard tries to help Cooper, but his attempts are frustratingly inept. Nevertheless, he is still an ally working in Cooper’s best interests. Indeed, Gerard reveals the Golden Seed to Cooper as proof of his deception. Cooper may not understand this seed now, but it’s what he’ll ask Philip Gerrard for later in this narrative. Note that Janey-E calls Cooper “Mr. Dreamweaver.” She answers the question that Gordon Cole will ask several episodes from now, “Who is the dreamer?” It’s Dale Cooper who gestures to his own navel when looking at Sonny Jim. Recall that the first strange lady in the purple room also gestured to Cooper’s navel when he was in the Power Station. This is the second time Cooper's smile has broken out in this dream, the first being when he smiled back at the old, dirty lady when she responded with joy and gratitude at Cooper’s generosity. Coffee is an incorruptible element of goodness in Dale Cooper’s mind. Not even Mr. C can impact Cooper’s positive association with coffee. Later, Mr. C refuses coffee, which marks him as different from Cooper in front of his friends.
E7
Part 4: Scene 6
The Version Layer: Buckhorn, SD
(0:41:40-0:54:19) Local (3:35:40-3:48:19) Global Time
12m39s
PN: Blue Rose Task Force
SN: Black Lodge Plan
The coroner rushes excitedly into the room, and Detective Briscoe follows her.
She tells him they got a hit off the prints from the male John Doe, but the name was blocked by the military, which everyone seems to confirm is damn peculiar. Gordon, Albert, and Tammy exit the regional airport and are greeted by two black-suited, sunglass-wearing FBI agents.
They get into a dark limo and start driving. Gordon remarks that they aren’t anywhere near Mt. Rushmore. Albert passes him a photo of the monument. Gordon says, “There they are Albert, faces of stone.” Albert looks at him with both affection and disapproval. Gordon looks up at Tammy and motions at her to Albert, who tells him that she gets car sick. Gordon says, “Albert, we’re in South Dakota. Cossacks are in Russia.” Albert loses his patience and shouts, “Car sick!” The agent driving nearly wrecks, slowing the car down, and asks if they need him to pull over. Preston encourages him to ignore them and keep going while shielding her eyes from the light. Gordon says, “Up on the wrong side of bed this morning, Albert.”
Cut to the prison gate opening. The black car pulls up between two prison buses, and Albert, Cole, and Preston get out and walk into the prison. Cut to inside the prison.
Gordon is asking the Warden and his man what they’ve got. They tell him they picked him up when his car ran off the road. The man continues telling them that he had been throwing up some kind of poison, to which Albert says that he must have eaten locally. Both men give Albert a questioning glance. The man says they are analyzing it in the lab. He says that exposure to it sent the highway patrolman to the hospital. Gordon just says, “Huh.” Now they are examining what was found in his trunk: cocaine, a machine gun, and a dog leg. Albert says, “What, no cheese and crackers?” Cole says, “Apologies in advance for Albert.” They light up a microfilm machine with Cooper’s information:
Address 6147 Bend Dr. Harrisburg, PA
Date: 9/22
Employer Address: 1000 Appleton St. Philadelphia, PA
Suspect in Multiple Crimes
DOB: 8/15/1973
Social: 520-722-406
He says, “That’s your man, right?” Cole says, “Holy jumping George.”
They leave the room. The FBI team sits down in a dark control room.
Gordon announces, “Ladies and gentleman, I am going to speak now to Special Agent Dale Cooper.” Warden Murphy leaves.
Cole hits the button, and a screen starts rising. We see Mr. C in prison gear, sitting behind a glass wall. When he sees Cole, he gives him the thumbs-up sign. Mr. C says, in a slow drawl, “It’s yrev very good to see you again, old friend.” Cole says, “It’s very, very good to see you again old friend.” Mr. C says, “I haven’t seen you in a long, long time.” Cole says, “No you haven’t. This is true.” Mr. C says, “Gordon, I’ve really, really missed spending time together.”
Gordon says, “Yes, Coop. I, too, have missed our good times together. Where have you been all these years?” Mr. C says, “Gordon, I’ve been working undercover all these years, primarily with our colleague Phillip Jeffries.” Gordon questions the name. Mr. C asks to be debriefed by Gordon about this work, says he will tell him the whole story, all its twists, and turns, and he was going to do so, that he was on his way to present it to him. “I was a little bit behind schedule when my car veered over across the road and I had my accident.” Gordon says, “Yes, Coop. This is how and why we found you.” Mr. C repeats his request to be debriefed and notes being behind schedule and his car veering over. Mr. C says, “I’ve left messages,” and then looks at Albert and his eyes go black. Gordon says, “What messages are those, Coop?”
Mr. C leans toward Albert, some kind of dark communication passing through the air. Then, still staring at Albert, he says, “Messages, so Phillip knows it’s safe.” Albert breaks the gaze and looks down to the floor. Gordon, noticing this awkward exchange, looks at Albert, and Albert gives him a sideways glance, a barely perceptible look that seems to say, “Don’t ask here.” Mr. C asks when Gordon is going to get him out of here. Gordon says, “Coop, these fine fellows have sufficient cause to hold you for now.” Mr. C says, “Of course, I will be exonerated in law courts.” Gordon says, “Very good, Coop. And rest assured that we are working to bring you back home for our talks.” Mr. C. says, “I’ve never really left home, Gordon.” Gordon nods, looking through Mr. C, and says, “See you soon, old friend.” They both show each other the thumbs-up sign, and Gordon pushes the button to release the screen, which descends over a fake smiling and thumbs-up flashing Mr. C. All three agents look at each other, clearly disturbed.
The agents walk back down the prison hall with Warden Murphy and his man. The man says that they can hold him for two more days without filing any charges. Gordon says he assumes they haven’t given him his phone call. Warden Murphy says, “No, we haven’t.” Gordon suggests they give him his “Private phone call,” and he expects to hear all about it. Outside, the three agents debrief, and the entire image is now tinted blue. Tammy says he wasn’t going to Philadelphia; he was headed West, noting that a few people who’ve come in contact with him have gotten physically ill. She looks at Albert with concern and asks if he’s feeling alright.
Albert says he’s okay. She asks about Phillip Jeffries, and Albert says he’s a former FBI Agent. She seems taken aback, like they’ve been hiding something from her. Gordon scans Tammy with a device and accuses her of wearing a wire. She is gobsmacked and tells him that he told her to wear a wire. He says, “Right. Go wait in the restaurant.” She is upset. Both men watch her walk away, and Albert says, “I’m feeling better now.”
Both men get close together, and Gordon turns the squelch up very high on his hearing device. Gordon says, “Albert, your reaction in prison to Cooper, I’ve not seen this before. Is there something you’d like to tell me?” Albert hesitates, then says, “Well, since you asked, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am about this, I authorized Phillip to give Cooper some information.” Gordon looks worried and says, “Cooper and Phillip? What the hell? Phillip Jeffries has been off the radar for years….” Albert interrupts and says, “This was years ago, Gordon. He called me.” Gordon says, “He did, did he?” Albert says, “I know. I thought Cooper was in trouble. At least that’s what Phillip said. ‘Urgent,’ he said. Cooper needed this information urgently.” Gordon asks, “Did you talk to Cooper?” Albert says, “No.” Gordon asked what information they wanted. Albert says, “I told Phillip who our man was in Columbia and a week later that man was killed.” There is a spiraling and ominous noise that grows in the background.
Gordon says, “Albert. Albert. Albert.” They stare into each other’s eyes for a long time.
The spiraling noise ends, and Gordon leans his head back and says, “This business that we witnessed today with Cooper, I don’t like it.” Albert says, “No,” shaking his head. Gordon says, “Something’s wrong.” Albert says, “Yes.” Gordon says, “Could be the accident, but I don’t think so.” Albert says, “No,” and shifts position on the concrete, the scrape ringing in Gordon’s earpiece. Gordon recoils in pain and says, “Albert, that sound you just made of your feet on the concrete, is like a knife in my brain.” Albert roars, “I’m sorry, Gordon.” Gordon recoils in pain again and says, “Albert, this thing is turned up to the max. Please.” Albert whispers, “I’m sorry, Gordon.” Gordon says, “I don’t think he greeted me properly, if you take my meaning.” Albert says, “No, he didn’t.” Gordon says, “Something is very wrong.” Albert says, “Yes.” Gordon says, “Albert, I hate to admit this, but I don’t understand this situation at all.” Albert says, “No.” Gordon asks, “Do you understand this situation, Albert?” Albert looks away, sighs, and says, “Blue Rose.” Gordon says, “It doesn’t get any bluer.” Gordon says, “Albert, before we do anything else, we need one certain person to take a look at Cooper.” Albert says, “I’m right with you.” Gordon asks, “Do you still know where she lives?” Albert says, “I know where she drinks.”
Using microfiche to investigate this situation, we realize how far behind the Blue Rose Task Force is. Here, they have a missing Federal Agent who has been gone for nearly three decades. He was arrested after crashing at high speed with guns, drugs, and a dog leg in the car, along with a toxic substance that nearly killed two Highway Patrolmen. And when they get in front of what Dale Cooper has become as Mr. C, we witness a programmed testimony of friendship and loyalty that is as false as the voice coming out of this creature’s mouth. We even get a mimicry of affection with the awkward thumb up and smile of a first-grader who can’t figure out how their teeth work in photos. Mr. C is programming his alibi into these characters, manipulating memory, time, and perception. The most important things Mr. C says here are revelations to us.
Mr. C cares about Jeffries because Jeffries is the corrupted machine manipulating memories. Creating and maintaining creative control over what is happening in this dream is critical. Second, Mr. C makes a comment about never leaving home. This confession demonstrates that Cooper had never woken up from the initial spell cast on him when he entered Glastonbury Grove in Episode 29 of Season 2. Cooper is stuck, and this revelation to Gordon Cole unlocks something in Cole’s ability to detect the operations at the edges of his dream layer. It could also account for the shift to blue in the debriefing scene.
Mr. C has developed an extensive surveillance network in this layer of Cooper’s dream. But I believe that Gordon Cole, as a character here in this dream, has the technology to scan characters and situations inside any layer of the dream to determine the presence of corruption. He does this to Albert when he learns of a potential moral indiscretion. The tinting of the image blue here associates this conversation in the mind of The Dreamer with the Blue Rose case, further justified by Cole and Albert outright saying this during this scene. Again, David Lynch has shown us what striking insight looks like; it’s a mesmerizing experience every time, a visual statement of the same caliber as Major Briggs’s head floating in space saying the words Blue Rose. This scene hosts Albert and Cole's first mention of Phillip Jeffries in The Return. It’s interesting to note here that Jeffries (or someone impersonating him) influenced Albert to expose the Blue Rose Task Force’s “Man in South America.” This man was murdered by, we assume, Mr. C, who then went on to build a billion-dollar crime empire and amass inexhaustible resources in this dream layer. Mr. C executes a plan to divorce Cooper from his golden seed so he, as Double, can take control after the dreamer wakes up, an incredibly effective metaphor explaining how madness and serial murder may begin in the mind of the socially deranged.
Gordon Cole can detect and measure corruption in the people and the environment around him. The level of sensitivity under communications of high and loud Intensity would break the average person. However, Gordon Cole is not the average person. He is The Dreamer’s awareness of the present moment.
G2
Part 4: Scene 7
The Version Layer: Twin Peaks, WA
(0:54:19-0:55:14) Local (3:48:19-3:49:14) Global Time
55s
PN: Road House Band On Stage
Au Revoir Simon is on stage, playing “Lark.”
In this song, these young women sing about something being broken and crossing a line. But, they also sing about wanting to be in a safer place. This is a song about an awareness of being inside a dangerous moment filled with possibility. It’s also about finding a place of safety in the eye of the storm. This is a song to be sung at the ending of the beginning of a quest. This music is to be played when life changes so rapidly and violently that it is impossible to make any sense of why these terrible things are happening at all.
CREDITS4
Part 4: Scene 8
(0:55:14-0:56:57) Local (3:49:14-3:50:57) Global Time
1m43s
PN: Exit Credits
Music
1. “Take Five,” Written by Paul Desmond and Performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
2. “Lark,” Written and Performed by Heather D’Angelo, Erika Forster, and Annie Hart
Questions For Conversation
Why does Cooper gasp when he sees his reflection in the car window?
What does “It’s hard to see the color at night" mean to you?
Why does Denise grill Gordon on his sexual intentions with Agent Preston?
Tammy gets motion sickness. is this significant?
Thank you... Question: Will there be a PDF at the end of the season (for the subsrcribers)?