YOUR READING ASSIGNMENT
Limited access to this copyrighted material is by explicit permission of the author and only available for this free cost during the active running of this course in 2024. The final version will be available in book format shortly after the conclusion of this course.
Class Agenda Week 1: “The Dream Begins…Again”
Twin Peaks: The Return opens with a fractured, layered narrative that immediately challenges the vie’ expectations. JB Minton argues that the events of The Return primarily occur within the dreaming mind of Dale Cooper, a mind at war with itself.
Key themes to keep in mind throughout Part One:
The Nature of Reality & Dreaming – Is what we see "real" or a construct of Cooper’s mind?
Isolation & Fragmentation – From Cooper in the Red Room to the lonely figures of Jacoby and Sam, characters labor alone and disconnected.
Power Struggles of the Mind & Soul – The battle between Cooper’s higher self (represented by The Fireman) and his darker impulses (embodied in Mr. C).
The Viewer’s Role – Are we passive watchers or participants in Cooper’s struggle?
Scene-By-Scene Discussion & Critical Questions
1. The Red Room (Opening Scene & Credits)
📍 Key Idea: Cooper as the Dreamer, Framing & Agency
Minton suggests Fire Walk With Me is not a prequel but a projection of Cooper’s dreaming mind, attempting to understand Laura Palmer’s suffering.
The repeated image of Laura’s face in frames (her hand gesture and the high school trophy case photo) suggests a constructed reality.
Discussion Questions:
What does Minton mean when he calls the Red Room a “prison” for Cooper?
If Cooper is dreaming, is Laura real in this space, or just a memory?
What does the imagery of the spinning Red Room signify? What does it mean to be caught “like a fly in a spider’s web”?
🔹 Challenging Statement: “Laura Palmer never has agency in Twin Peaks. She is always viewed within a frame—whether literal or figurative.”
Do you agree or disagree? How does this impact the meaning of Twin Peaks as a whole?
2. The Fireman’s Study (Scene 2)
📍 Key Idea: The Fireman as the Guide of Cooper’s Higher Mind
Minton argues this scene represents Cooper’s frontal cortex—the part of the brain responsible for reason, morality, and higher thought.
The Fireman gives Cooper cryptic instructions: “430,” “Richard and Linda,” and “Two birds, one stone.”
Discussion Questions:
Is the Fireman's world his escape if the Red Room is Cooper’s prison?
What does it mean that Cooper responds, “I understand”? Does he?
Is The Fireman’s cryptic message meant for Cooper—or us as viewers?
🔹 Challenging Statement: “The Return is the story of one man’s prefrontal cortex going to war with his amygdala.”
If we read the show as a psychological battle within Cooper’s mind, how does that change our interpretation of the plot?
3. Dr. Jacoby’s Isolation (Scene 3)
📍 Key Idea: The Shovels & Self-Imposed Isolation
Dr. Jacoby, now “Dr. Amp,” lives alone, ordering gold-painted shovels.
Minton suggests Jacoby’s solitary work foreshadows a more significant theme of self-imposed isolation in The Return.
Discussion Questions:
Why does Jacoby reject help, just as Sam in New York labors alone?
Why does Lynch focus on mundane actions (Jacoby receiving a delivery) rather than explaining his motivations?
What might the golden shovels symbolize?
🔹 Challenging Statement: “Dr. Amp’s paranoia and conspiracy theories mirror the way audiences approach Twin Peaks—always searching for hidden meaning.”
Is Lynch critiquing obsessive analysis, or is he encouraging it?
4. The Glass Box in New York (Scenes 4 & 6)
📍 Key Idea: The Screen as a Portal & Surveillance of the Dream
Sam and Tracey watch an empty glass box, waiting for something to appear. The scene mirrors us, the audience, watching the screen.
The experiment creature kills them when they become distracted by physical desire.
Discussion Questions:
What is the purpose of the glass box? Who is funding it?
If Cooper is ejected into the box in Part Two, does that mean the box is a filtration device for dream travelers?
Why does the Experiment attack Sam and Tracey? Is it punishment for distraction or something else?
🔹 Challenging Statement: “The Glass Box represents the audience’s obsession with watching and waiting for meaning in Twin Peaks.”
Do you agree? Does Lynch critique the way we consume entertainment?
5. Mr. C’s Introduction (Scene 6)
📍 Key Idea: The Corrupting Influence of Cooper’s Shadow
Mr. C, Cooper’s doppelgänger, is introduced as a brutal, calculating figure, seemingly immune to harm.
Minton suggests that this version of Cooper represents the amygdala—the fear-driven, primal part of the brain.
Discussion Questions:
Why is Mr. C so effortlessly powerful in this world? What does that say about Cooper’s psyche?
Otis’s shack vs. The Fireman’s study—are these two halves of Cooper’s mind?
Does the absence of BOB’s face change how we interpret Mr. C?
🔹 Challenging Statement: “Mr. C is not evil because of BOB. He is evil because he is an untethered version of Cooper, free from morality.”
Does this fit with what we saw of Cooper in the original series?
6. Hawk’s Investigation & The Log Lady’s Call (Scenes 8 & 10)
📍 Key Idea: The Moral Core of Cooper’s Mind Still Fighting
The Log Lady tells Hawk he must find what’s missing, linking it to his Native heritage.
Minton reads Hawk, Lucy, and Andy as the memory shepherds of Cooper’s best self.
Discussion Questions:
Why is the Log Lady the first voice of guidance? What does she represent?
What does “It has to do with your heritage” mean?
If Hawk, Andy, and Lucy represent Cooper’s moral center, what does it say about the state of his mind?
🔹 Challenging Statement: “The Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department is a stand-in for the viewer. They are trying to solve the mystery of Cooper’s absence just like we are.”
How does this impact the way we experience the show?
Closing Reflection: What is the Role of the Viewer?
Minton asks us to consider whether we, as viewers, are more than passive observers.
Are we watching Dale Cooper’s struggle or implicated in it?
The Return is a meditation on fate, memory, and the fragility of the self.
🔹 Final Thought Exercise:
Imagine Twin Peaks is Dale Cooper’s mind, and we are inside it. How would that change your viewing experience?
Support This Community With A Paid Subscription and Share Your Thoughts On Twin Peaks With Other Good People. Every Comment Gets a Response.
AI DISCLAIMER: This podcast was produced using Google’s NotebookLM, but I put a lot of work into the prompting, and I think it has accomplished a great job of the goal I asked it to perform.
Share this post