How Twin Peaks Changed My Life Forever

“My dream is to go to that place. You know the one. Where it all began, on a starry night, on a starry night, when it all began…”

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for everything Twin Peaks, including the novellas The Secret History of Twin Peaks and The Final Dossier.

In a way, I grew up with Twin Peaks, even though I didn’t see a single episode until I was 17. It was mentioned in apprehensive tones between my family, as if it was almost too frightening to speak of. The terrifying visage of the Killer BOB’s smile, Agent Cooper’s demise (yes, they told me the ending), the grand tragedy of Laura Palmer, and the search to bring her murderer to justice.

Twin Peaks is eminent. Twin Peaks is a part of our culture. Twin Peaks has affected everything that has come after. Twin Peaks is everywhere.

This is a very emotional post for me. As I write this, so long after my last real article posted on this blog, I am straining to hold back tears. Since I first started doing this blog for the Twin Peaks Freaks community, I have seen unexpected growth in readership, and I thank you all for that. Twin Peaks has been a part of my life, in ways both small and life-changing, since I can remember. It has spawned an amazing community that fought for years to get it returned to television. At last, all our efforts paid off.

The new Twin Peaks, and what may very well be the end of Twin Peaks, might not have been what was expected. It might not have been what you wanted. It was convoluted, it was horrifying, it was beautiful, it was brutal, it was awe-inspiring. It truly took us somewhere both wonderful and strange. Though we were granted some answers, more than anything, we were granted mysteries. Secrets. Clues. We were locked into a never-ending search for a truth that might not exist. So what did it all mean?

It showed us how nothing can ever be the same. Life does change, especially in 25 years. Cooper, Audrey, Bobby. They couldn’t be the same. That’s not how life works. While there are some constants, as we can very much be creatures of habit, the past inevitably gives way to the future, and we might not like where it goes. We may fear change. We may fear its uncertainty. But the journey that we took with our beloved characters marked us. Taught us something. We grew with them.

Nadine showed us how to embrace the future. How to know that change needs to come, and for the better. How to affect that change with enthusiasm and joy for the possibilities.

Ed showed us how stagnation can wither our souls. It prevents growth, keeps is afraid, keeps us holding on to harmful things.

One of my favorite elements of the new Twin Peaks was the story of Nadine, Ed, and Norma. While some might see this part as fan service, I think it was important to balance out the wild surrealism and absurdism of the new series with actual resolutions of old story arcs. It also gave us something warm to hold onto in a cold, indifferent universe, and this is one of the main messages behind Twin Peaks. As vast as the cosmos is, as small as we are in the scheme of things, every individual life does matter. That is why Laura Palmer’s death was so tragic. It wasn’t just the implications of BOB’s existence and the interference of the Lodges with our own worlds: It was the fact that something horrible had happened to a living being.

I took particular interest in this particular scene in Part 13. Big Ed, after witnessing Norma moving on with another man, while he stagnates, holding onto his long-dead relationship with Nadine, sits alone in the gas station. He burns a book of matches, a symbol of destruction, then he sits in silence, for a long while, and watches all the cars passing in the night, not one stopping.

With a previous episode making recent mention of gun shots being heard at Big Ed’s Gas Farm, I felt a dread surge within me, watching this scene. In my head, after the fade to black, the scene that played out was a tragic one. Could Big Ed, in his despair, have taken his own life with a hand gun? Luckily, it was soon revealed that this must not have been the case, because, lo and behold, he and Nadine are free to be together at last! But, what if this happy ending was only afforded to them by the changing of past events by Cooper? What if, when Cooper intercepted Laura in 1989, it caused Big Ed to choose not to kill himself, and, instead, hang on long enough to be united with Norma at long last? In The Final Dossier, we explore how Cooper’s time travel has affected the town of Twin Peaks. To give a major example, Laura is no longer dead, but missing. She disappeared that night, instead of being murdered in the train car. However, where she went, not even would-be savior Cooper knew.

We once asked “Who killed Laura Palmer?” Now we ask, “Who is Laura Palmer?”

Probably the most enigmatic element of the new series is Carrie Page. Is she Laura? Is she Laura from another dimension? Is she another identical cousin of Laura’s? Is she a tulpa of Laura? Is she Jowday’s ultimate nemesis? None of the above?

While just about any theory you could think of is as valid as any other, I can speculate one scenario for you. Consider this: When Cooper intercepts Laura in 1989, this allows the Fireman to whisk her away from Jowday, to hide her, give her a false identity to protect her, until the time was right. When the time comes, Cooper is sent to retrieve her, and take her to the Palmer house, which will jog the memories of her other life. Once she remembers, Carrie and Laura will be one, and she will be able to fulfill her purpose.

Of course, this still leaves plenty of questions. One of the most pressing of these questions is, what is Laura’s purpose? Why is it said that Laura is “the one”? There is much said in the fan community about Laura being the one who will stop Jowday, but there’s not really any evidence to support this in the series. It’s never said in the show that Laura will stop Jowday. It’s never explained what the relationship between Laura and Jowday is. We only know that, after seeing BOB being spat out of Jowday’s mouth, signifying the evil being’s imminent arrival in our dimension, the Fireman levitates and spits out an orb of his own, one which bears Laura’s face.

It seems like even the haunting song “No Stars,” sung by Rebekah Del Rio, warns us against wanting to return to the world of the original Twin Peaks, against looking at the past with rose-colored glasses. Cooper travels back in time to save Laura, and it’s almost a commentary on our wistful nostalgia. If only we could go back to Twin Peaks, bring the show back, we could resolve everything. We wish we could undo the things that went wrong back when the show first aired. Wish it hadn’t been cancelled, wish that Lynch and Frost had been able to use all their ideas, wish Lynch hadn’t departed during the second season, wish a million things about how it all could have been. We wish we could save Laura Palmer, somehow. But nothing stays exactly the way we remember.

When I started writing this blog, the Twin Peaks blogging community wasn’t what it is now. You couldn’t go on YouTube, search “Twin Peaks Who Is Judy?” and get a fan made theory video. I’m not saying the material wasn’t out there at the time. I’m saying it wasn’t as prevalent and accessible as it is today. When I started this blog, it had weight to it. I had the platform to address things I thought deserved attention in the Twin Peaks universe, and to present other with my educated opinion on what it all meant. From the get-go, I had people try to steal my work, to take credit for it, and otherwise downplay my efforts. I asserted myself. I kept doing what I was doing. I kept doing what I loved.

With the return of Twin Peaks, so came a resurgence in its fan base, and a demographic that pop culture sites now needed to accommodate. Mainstream sites like IGN, GameSpot, and WhatCulture all had segments on Twin Peaks. More and more fans found a calling to voice their theories and opinions through articles and videos.

But with the new Twin Peaks answering many of its old and highly-speculated upon questions, while simultaneously forging even more inscrutable mysteries, and enough clever and dedicated bloggers out there to produce endless theories and perhaps get  as near to the abstract truth of things as one can get without being Lynch or Frost, I feel my time has passed. Not just for personal reasons, but because I feel I had a great run and nothing lasts forever, even things as wonderful as Twin Peaks. I’ve said about all I have to say, and there’s enough people out there, working on decoding the infinite mysteries of Twin Peaks, that I don’t feel my silence is anyone’s loss. So, it seems reasonable to say that, with the ostensible conclusion of Twin Peaks comes the conclusion of this blog. The announcement has been a long time coming, and I wasn’t even sure if I should bother making it at this point. But, ultimately, I figure there’s no harm in saying goodbye.

There are pros and cons to division. You can still find my work over at my resurrected blog, The Unfamous Eden H, which I’m just now working on rebuilding. So far the main focus is reviews, but there are a couple of theory articles up now, and I plan to move more into that territory as I add to the page. I do not know yet whether my unfinished Lynch-related work will eventually pop up there, it really depends on chance. But the site will be regularly updated with articles on all manner of pop culture related subjects, so please do give it a look, if that intrigues you.

See you in the trees.

“But there are no, there are no stars. No stars.”

The Future of Garmonblogzia

Hello, dearest readers. I need your advice right now.

The Little White Mask (which is what we were actually supposed to be called), a.k.a. Garmonblogzia, is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. In the wake of the Season 3 finale, I became of the mind that none of these theories mattered. Last season Twin Peaks resembled more of a flow-of-consciousness collection of loosely themed vignettes, rather than a brilliantly calculated supernatural neo noir. There’s nothing wrong with that. And there were moments that showed glimmers of a coherent story arc. But essentially, last season, everything I did became useless. It proved to me that no matter how carefully you follow the clues, things can and will be changed just on a whim, with no prior allusions, even if it makes continuity a nightmare. (They certainly solved their messy continuity problem with time travel, eh?)

This could all be translated as bitterness on my part. I’m not saying it’s not. But that doesn’t negate my point. And many would even argue that last season, more than anything, promoted theorizing and discussion. They also have a point, but I don’t agree. That said, there are still plenty of ideas and things I have to say about Lynch’s works. I still would like to conclude my Mulholland Drive series of articles, and my Inland Empire analysis, as well as the full version of my Lynchverse theory (an abbreviated version can be read here). However, my interests have also strayed. I want to write about media both new and old, television or otherwise: Westworld, Game of Thrones, Venture Bros., Rick and Morty, comic books like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac and the works of Junji Ito, video games like Silent Hill, Death Stranding, The Elder Scrolls, and Bioshock, bands like A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and more. I even, as the mother of a toddler, have an interest in doing reviews of kids’ shows to help out other parents. So, my question to all of you is this:

Would you like to see Garmonblogzia branch out into discussion of non-Lynchian media? Or would you rather it stuck to its theme of “investigating the Lynchian mysteries”? If I stick to this theme, you will see considerably less content added here. I honestly don’t know when my next Lynchian article will come out, and this saddens me, but that’s the way it is. I love this blog and I am deeply proud of the work I have done with it, but times have changed. The focal point of my life has changed. When I started, there weren’t many places online to get Lynchian theories. Now, prominent YouTube channels like The Nerdist and GameSpot Universe have Twin Peaks videos. There are even plenty of channels now dedicated specifically to Twin Peaks. There is an ocean of possibilities.

Another possibility is that I leave this blog as is, and instead resurrect my blog The Unfamous Eden H (which is so embarrassingly outdated that I’m not going to give you a link to it until I’ve fixed it up) and put my new, non-Lynch content there.

What would you all like to see? You are my readers, you will determine the future of this blog. So, let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Please, sound off. In the meantime, let me recommend a couple of YouTube channels to tide you over:

ScreenPrism has some cool Twin Peaks videos and, in general, has a myriad of very smart film and TV analysis videos. Highly recommended.

Wow Lynch Wow! is probably my favorite Lynchian channel. It’s fairly new, and has some very intriguing videos.

Go give these guys a view, a like, and a subscription if you so choose, it’s very worth it, and remember to let me know what you think about the direction this blog should go in.

(^Me watching Twin Peaks Season 3)

“What is Your Name?” – Finale Analysis – Part 2

Written by Eden H. Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return, all episodes. But you really shouldn’t be shocked by that.

The final episode of The Return was met with much controversy, with some heralding it as visionary, and others left feeling angry and cheated. Undoubtedly there were many vagaries and gray areas that people have been pondering ever since. Without further ado, let’s delve into the mysteries lying within Part 18 of Twin Peaks: The Return.

Cooper’s Doppelganger sits in the Black Lodge, stiff, his eyes milky, his body smoldering and engulfed in flames, yet unburnt. He is trapped back in the Lodge and being punished for attempting to avoid returning to the Lodge, as his fate was meant to be by some unknown decree. Meanwhile, MIKE uses electricity to make a copy of Dougie from Cooper.

An important thing to note: The original Dougie was presumably made from the DNA of DoppelCoop, and took on his negative personality traits. However, this version of Dougie was made from the DNA of the Good Dale, and therefore we can conclude that he will be a better father for Sonny Jim and a better husband to Janey-E, who he returns to, as Cooper promised them previously. There is debate in the fan community about whether it really is Dougie who returns to the Joneses, or if it might be the real Cooper, leaving a tulpa in his place. I don’t buy into this theory mostly because I think it would be out-of-character for Cooper to abandon his mission. With all the Doppelgangers and tulpas running around, it can be difficult to keep track of who is who or what, but I think here is a moment where David Lynch was straightforward in giving us a conclusion to the Joneses story.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the Golden Sphere, without going too deep into it as it could fill up several articles of its own. It is interesting to note that both Laura and Dougie are made from golden spheres, though Laura’s is much larger than Dougie’s (But does size really matter?). As Dougie is a tulpa, does this mean Laura is also a tulpa? Does that mean that tulpas can be born the same as ordinary humans? Or does the golden sphere not necessarily denote the creation of a tulpa? Can a being created by one of these spheres also be a human?

As Dougie is embraced by Janey-E and Sonny Jim, the only word he utters in his state of joy is, “Home.” This is a powerful underlying theme of Season 3; returning home. Going back to where it began. And it all began with Laura.

We once again see Cooper leading Laura through the woods, only to hear the sound from Part 1, which heralds Laura’s disappearance. But why? What is this noise? In Part 1, the Fireman plays the sound for Cooper and warns him, “It is in our house now.” This suggests that the sound is caused by whatever is “in our house.” The house could either be the White Lodge, or the Palmer residence. I believe it refers to Judy/Joudy/Jowday being in possession of Sarah Palmer, the house being the Palmer house. If my hunch is correct, this further implies that Judy found Laura, and took her, rather than BOB finding her and murdering her. After Laura vanishes, we hear the same scream from when she vanished within the Black Lodge.

Next, Cooper is back in the Black Lodge, talking to MIKE, which suggests that a time loop is in play here. Has Cooper repeated this mission multiple times? “Is it future, or is it past?” That is the question. MIKE disappears, then reappears, or another version of him appears, in the corner of the room, beckoning to Cooper. They walk through the curtains and meet up again with the Evolution of the Arm, which asks, “Is it the story of the little girl who lived down the lane?” which is a repetition of one of Audrey’s lines, suggesting she has a bigger part in this than is immediately evident. Just what that is remains to be seen. It is also reminiscent of the line from Fire Walk With Me, when the man in the diner asks Agents Desmond and Stanley, “You talking about that little girl that was murdered?”

Cooper does not answer the Arm, and it presses on, “Is it?” We then see the scene of Laura whispering in Cooper’s ear. This might suggest that she is “the little girl who lived down the lane,” but it is not definitive proof. The phrase “little girl” could also be connected to Teresa, Annie, or maybe Audrey. The film The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane is about a young teenager who covers up the murder of her mother and lives by herself in an isolated house, until her landlord’s son discovers her secret and attempts to prey upon her. It contains the Lynchian themes of isolation, small-town mystery, and women in trouble who try to fight their way out. The little girl who lived down the lane could be a blanket statement referring to the women who were sacrifices to the Black Lodge. Audrey’s reference could be coincidental, otherwise she could know something about the Lodge’s rites.

Back in the Black Lodge, Laura vanishes, just like before, and Cooper runs into Leland, who implores him to find Laura. Cooper then walks down the hallway, his hand extended in front of him in a manner stunningly reminiscent of a similar scene in Inland Empire. He seems to be feeling for an exit. He finds one, and leaves the Lodge, emerging in Glastonbury Grove, where Diane is waiting for him. This is the “curtain call” Cooper referred to in the previous episode. He assures her that it is really him, and he asks if it’s really her. This really drives home the frightening fact that you don’t know who you can trust anymore, as there are so many duplicates of people including Doppelgangers, tulpas, and time travel replications. It has been suggested that there is some time-warping here, and this actually happens after the final events of the episode, and is the true ending of Twin Peaks.

It suddenly feels like we’re in another David Lynch movie altogether. Cooper and Diane drive to a desert, and Cooper says he drove 430 miles (although he doesn’t specify the starting point, nor where they ended up). Diane is nervous and repeatedly asks Cooper if he wants to go through with what they’re about to do. Presumably, he told her everything during the car ride, but what we can’t be sure of is what exactly he told her or where he even got the idea from (I’ll get pack to that in a minute, though). He gets out and checks the area, seeming to be feeling the atmosphere for electrical pulses which would be indicative of the presence of a portal. Satisfied, he goes back to the car.

He asks Diane to kiss him, and says, “Once we cross, it could all be different.” After kissing passionately, they begin to drive forward slowly, and electricity begins to pulse and flash, and they go through the portal. Suddenly, it is night. They are driving along the same (more or less) stretch of road. Then, everything goes black. Fade in, exterior of a motel, night. Coop & Diane drive up. He gets out and enters the office, while she waits in the car. Staring out into the desert, Diane sees a duplicate of herself emerge from behind a pillar. Notably, this is another red-haired Diane, not the white-haired tulpa Diane. Could this be Diane’s Doppelganger? Diane seems quite unperturbed. It’s almost as if she knew this would happen. Perhaps because that is not a different Diane, but the same Diane we are following. Let me see if I can put this straight: This is Diane, looking at herself from either earlier or later in the timeline, and she knew this would happen because she has already experienced coming out from behind the pillar and seeing herself in the car. The Fireman very importantly told Cooper, “Remember Richard and Linda.” The word “remember” is important here, as it clearly specifies that this has happened before, and will happen again. Season 3 is one big time loop, everything is recurring and recurring and changing and doubling up on itself. This is most likely why Cooper and Diane know what will happen, they “remember” it from a previous time loop. They “remember” being Richard and Linda.

When Coop exits the office, the other Diane is gone. They then go to a motel and have sex while “My Prayer” by The Platters plays. It is theorized that Cooper and Diane are performing a sex magick ritual, a type of magick often utilized by Jack Parsons and Anton LaVey. In this case, Diane, with her shockingly red hair, would be acting as Cooper’s Scarlet Woman. Some have noted her resemblance to Parsons’s own Scarlet Woman, Marjorie Cameron.

Diane Evans (left) and Marjorie Cameron (right), the Scarlet Women.

The inclusion of the song “My Prayer” adds a tinge of ritual here, and if you’re familiar with my theories on Lynch’s use of sex in film, then you’ll know that Lynchian love scenes have much more than what is on the surface. Obviously apprehensive, Cooper and Diane clearly knew what they were doing and what would happen. They knew they were performing a ritual, and that it would transport them to another world. The implication here is that everything happening in this scene is tied to what the Fireman says in Part 1. He bids Coop to “Remember Richard and Linda” and “430,” as in, remember this event that has technically already happened. This is what you have to go back and do (More confusing time paradox logic here).

Diane is understandably upset while she and Coop are having sex, and covers her face. This is because she remembers the trauma she suffered at the hands of his Doppelganger and is trying not to think about it, but the darkness seeps in, anyway. In the morning, she is gone, and Cooper finds only a note, which reads the following:

“Dear Richard, when you read this, I’ll be gone. Please don’t try to find me. I don’t recognize you anymore. Whatever it was we had together is over. -Linda.”

The implication here is the following: Coop and Diane used sex magick to open a portal to a parallel world, in which versions of them exist, named Richard and Linda. By entering this other world, they have actually merged with their other selves, hence the loss of memory. Lack of recognition is a recurring element in The Return, as well as David Lynch’s other works, most notably Lost Highway where the Mystery Man asks point blank of the protagonist, “What the fuck is your name?” The Return shares many elements with Lost Highway which are worth exploring, but we don’t really have time to get into here. Just take note of the fact that both Lost Highway and The Return have shown us characters having sex in the desert and then switching with parallel versions of themselves. Loss of memory and the inability to recognize familiar people could point to characters merging with these other versions of themselves, causing them to become confused by memories of other lives in other realities. Linda doesn’t recognize Richard anymore because he’s not just Richard anymore, he’s also Cooper, and she’s now also Diane. Even “Richard” seems confused, probably by all these conflicting memories circulating in his mind. People who travel between dimensions, when not Lodge spirits, seem very confused. Just think of Philip Jeffries’ confusion when he appeared in Cole’s office.

[Note: To avoid further confusion, I will continue to call this version of Cooper “Cooper,” rather than Richard. According to the theory I just posited, both are technically accurate, so… let’s just go with that.]

Cooper leaves the hotel, which is different from before, and drives to Odessa, Texas, where he stops at a cafe called Judy’s. Inside, he asks the waitress is there’s “another waitress” who works there. The waitress says there is, but it’s “her third day off,” implying that she’s been missing for three days. Cooper then gets into a fight with three aggressive men with guns, and dispatches them by kicking one in the groin and shooting one in the foot. His behavior here is a bit confusing, as it’s hard to imagine Agent Cooper being so violent. However, he shows kindness to the waitress that is characteristic of Cooper, leading some to posit that this “Richard” version of Coop is a fusion of Agent Cooper and Mr. C. If true, this further suggests that all versions of Cooper are merging, perhaps including ones we’ve never heard of before, like Richard.

Cooper then goes to visit the other waitress at her address (provided by the waitress at the diner). In front of the house is an electrical pole with the number 6 on it, just like the one at the Fat Trout Trailer Park, suggesting a sort of tie between dimensions. Perhaps this is the other world’s version of the Fat Trout Trailer Park? Or, could one use a portal at Fat Trout to get here? There are some odd objects in the front yard as well, including what looks like a noose and a small bronze orb. When Coop knocks at the door, it is answered by Carrie Page, who looks just like the older Laura Palmer we saw in the Black Lodge. Coop says he’s with the FBI and Carrie asks “Did you find him?” It’s never explained who she might be looking for, a lover, a family member, a friend… However, it’s very clear that she’s in some serious trouble, as, when she invites Cooper in, there’s the corpse of a man dead of a gunshot to the head sitting in her chair. She says she has no idea who Laura Palmer is, but seems to agree that her parents are named Sarah and Leland (though this is open to interpretation). Coop tells her he wants to take her to her mother’s house, which was her house, “at one time.” This reminds us of Ronette Pulaski/American Girl in an earlier episode warning Cooper, “My mother is coming.” This strengthens the idea that the “mother” is Judy, who is possessing Sarah Palmer. In any case, Carrie agrees to go with Coop because she’s “got to get out of Dodge anyway.”

Carrie Page’s name is very interesting, because it seems to be tied to the third still-missing page of Laura Palmer’s diary. In a sense, Carrie Page is “the missing page.” The identity of the dead man in the chair is up in the air. Carrie also mentioned to Cooper, “Somebody like you comes around, and I tell him to fuck off.” What does that mean? Who has been coming around? FBI agents? Have other parallel Cooper’s been showing up looking for her, from other dimensions? Or is someone else trying to hunt her down for unknown reasons? Have they been sending hitmen after her? Perhaps she told the man in the chair “to fuck off,” in a sense. It is worth noting that the dead man seems to have a mass on his stomach, which could be a BOB-tumor emerging, suggesting that the man was the host of this world’s BOB, meaning that BOB is potentially defeated in both Coop’s world and Richard’s.

Here’s where things get very, very, very confusing. Very. Coop and Carrie drive to this world’s version of the Palmer house, only to be met by a woman neither of them recognize, played by the woman who owns the house in real life. She doesn’t know who Sarah Palmer is, and says the house was previously owned by a Mrs. Chalfont, and that her name is Alice Tremond. There are a couple of things to note here. Firstly, the name Alice is also used in Lost Highway for the parallel dimension version of Renee. The name is, in both cases, a reference to Alice in Wonderland, a story in which a girl named Alice travels to another, fantastical world, and has trouble holding onto who she is. The names further reinforce the importance of interdimensional travel, as the Tremonds/Chalfonts are heavily involved in characters traveling from their worlds into the Black Lodge. They give Laura the painting that makes her dream of the Black Lodge, they own the trailer under which Chet Desmond finds the Owl Ring before disappearing, and Donna speaks with them in what seems to be an alternate dimension version of a house she visits while working for Meals on Wheels. In short, the Tremonds/Chalfonts are proficient dimensional travelers, which is important here. Portals seem to be near whenever the Chalfonts and Tremonds are.

After chatting with Alice, Cooper and Carrie turn away and walk back towards the street. Cooper suddenly seems disturbed, and asks, “What year is this?” More of the confusion from traveling between dimensions, as this is highly reminiscent of Philip Jeffries in Fire Walk With Me, asking, “May? 1989?” Then, we heard Sarah Palmer’s distorted voice calling for Laura from the house they just left. Carrie turns and looks, and, in that moment, it seems that all of Laura’s memories come flooding into her, and she screams in horror at the revelation. All of the lights in the house go off, and fade to black.

Now, what does this mean? Did Cooper succeed? Did he fail? Is Judy defeated? Is everyone a tulpa? Electricity is of course an important part of the Twin Peaks mythos, and the fact that the electricity shorts out the moment Carrie screams is significant. It implies a loss of power to the Lodge spirits. However, even inferring this leaves us with many questions. What is this dimension, exactly? Is it an alternate timeline? Is it a dimension created to trap Laura? Is it our world? An illusion? None of the above? The episode ends with Laura (or Carrie?) whispering in Cooper’s ear in the Black Lodge, and we still can’t hear what she said.

I think this finale was purposefully constructed to be confusing and inconclusive, to keep the mystery alive, and encourage us to believe that the spirit of Twin Peaks will never really end. I think Lynch and Frost want us to continue theorizing, and, especially in Lynch’s case, believe that what’s important is not definitive answers, but what the show means to us as viewers, as we are taking the journey with the characters, and experiencing their trials, their joys, their failures and victories, loves and heartbreaks, with them. Done right, film and television can change peoples’ lives, and I believe that this was Lynch’s true goal for The Return, and the finale in particular. I don’t know what my conclusive belief is about the ending. I have my clues, my leads, my theories, and here they are for you, to help guide you, should you want them to, to your own conclusions. This has been an incredible journey we have all taken, and, in our various ways, we have all been changed by it. Here’s to keeping the mystery alive.

UPDATE: Tech Issues and Radio Silence

My apologies, dear readers, for my recent drop off into the unknown. I recently had a drink spilled on my writing computer, rendering it all but useless. I have been working tirelessly to have it repaired, and while it is occasionally usable, it still often has bugs that prohibit typing. A USB mouse and keyboard have proven useful (that is how I am writing to you now), though even these do not work on some days when my laptop is on the fritz. This limits my time to write to whenever my laptop happens to be functional (which is rare). I want to thank you all for your patience and continuing readership, and I promise I will get new articles out, including my Finale Analysis, which may also incorporate analysis of The Final Dossier, as soon as I can.

Thank you again, and be safe.

“The Past Dictates the Future” Finale Analysis – Part One

Written by Eden H. Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return.

The two-part finale for Twin Peaks: The Return left many fans reeling, whether thrilled or dismayed. It’s taken a long time to process it, but now that I think I have some solid theories to present to you, let’s not waste any more time, and jump right into my analysis of Part 17, with a separate article analyzing Part 18 to come.

The episode begins where we left off with Gordon, Tammy, and Albert after the disappearance of the Diane Tulpa. Gordon has a moment of exposition so that he can retcon the ending of Season 2. He talks about Judy, who’s actually Jowday, and Phillip Jeffries’ involvement with her, or it. This leads to some seeming inconsistencies with the way Judy is referenced in Fire Walk With Me and The Missing Pieces, where we are strongly led to believe that Judy is a human woman. A way of explaining this away is that Jowday was an inhabiting spirit, which called itself “Judy” while it was possessing a female body.

Gordon also mentions that Phillip Jeffries “doesn’t really exist anymore, at least not in the normal sense.” Of course we know that Phillip Jeffries is inside some kind of machine now. I think this has something to do with the altered timeline, which has all but erased Jeffries from existence. That’s why Albert and Gordon barely remember him, and why Jeffries will later mention something about Gordon remembering “the unofficial version.” I believe this indicates that Gordon is, to an extent, aware of the altered timeline. The “official version” of the timeline is the one we see in the show: “The unofficial version” is the one we saw in Fire Walk With Me, which is being erased.

Then comes a big reveal: The “two birds with one stone” line was actually said by Cooper 25 years ago to Gordon. He told Gordon that if he disappeared like Jeffries and Desmond, to do everything possible to find him. He said he was “trying to kill two birds with one stone.” This could mean Cooper was trying to take out both BOB and Jowday. This retcon calls into question just how much of the past events Agent Cooper has actually been in control of. It’s heavily implied that his entry into the Black Lodge was anticipated, and made part of his plan with Briggs and Cole. For unknown reasons, it was kept secret from Albert. However, Gordon says that he isn’t sure if the plan is unfolding properly, as he expected to hear from the real Cooper by now. I believe the setback to the plan was the unanticipated creation of Dougie by DoppelCoop, which hindered Cooper.

We return to the jail, where Naido and the drunk have finally fallen asleep, so Chad is able to execute his escape. Now, much has been made of the drunk and his potential connections to Chad, Billy, and Naido, and why he disappears later. I honestly don’t think we have enough information to go on with him. There’s a decent possibility that he’s Billy, but he may also just be a weird character put in by Lynch for his odd humor. Sort of like the sweeping scene, but a character instead. Admittedly, however, it is odd that, when the drunk wakes up, Chad is discouraged from his escape attempt, and, later, when the drunk passes out but everyone else is awake, Chad continues his escape attempt. Also, judging by his weird sores and injuries, he may be addicted to the Sparkle drug. It’s also very curious why he isn’t in a hospital…

Meanwhile, Jerry turns up naked in Wyoming. This could just be for comedic effect, but the first thing it made me think was that he had been struck by lightning, which can sometimes knock the clothes off of people. Now, you may point out that, if it was lightning, there would have been obvious signs, and it would have been mentioned. I think there were no signs because it wasn’t literal lightning, but a spiritual lightning. In Native American lore, lightning represents a spiritual awakening, usually granted by a thunder bird. You can read more about the connection between the thunder birds and Twin Peaks here. Perhaps Jerry had an epiphany?

DoppelCoop’s coordinates take him to Jack Rabbit’s Palace. He approaches the pool of liquid gold next to the lone sycamore and time begins to skip as the portal opens. DoppelCoop makes it into the White Lodge, but Briggs has laid a trap for him. This is probably part of the plan he put together with Cooper 25 years ago. DoppelCoop is caught in a machine, and, instead of making it to the Palmer house like he planned, the Fireman sends DoppelCoop to the Sheriff’s Station, for the final confrontation. We see many of the dome-shaped machines working in a room, as DoppelCoop is transported away.

As he arrives, Naido sits bolt upright. When Andy and Lucy see him, they assume he’s Agent Cooper and are excited, until Andy remembers his vision from his meeting with the Fireman, in which he’s leading Lucy down the hallway. However, he doesn’t seem to know what to make of this. But once Agent Cooper refuses coffee, I think that clues Andy in that something’s wrong. He runs to get Hawk and tell him. Meanwhile, Chad is executing his big escape in the jail. Naido wakes up the drunk, who begins tearing the tube out of his nose angrily. Andy enters the jail, looking for Hawk, and gets held up by Chad, only to be rescued by Freddy. Upstairs, Lucy gets a call from Agent Cooper, and figures out how cell phones work.

This ongoing gag about Lucy and cell phones, I think, is a joke about Twin Peaks, both the show and the town, being perpetually stuck in the 1950s. It’s also a little play on the existence of Doppelgangers, and a person being in two places at once.

Anyway, Lucy turns bad ass and guns down DoppelCoop, which is what Andy’s vision was foretelling. The real Cooper, via phone call, warns Frank Truman not to touch the body, while Andy brings the occupants of the jail cell, Naido, James, and Freddie, but notably not the drunk, into the Sheriff’s office. He was probably previously instructed to do so by the Fireman.  Then, three Woodsmen show up and begin trying to resurrect DoppelCoop. I believe that the blood they rub on his face is actually a representation of Garmonbozia (remember, it was represented as blood during the ending of Fire Walk With Me). This should revitalize him, but it doesn’t work. Instead, just as the real Cooper arrives, the BOB tumor erupts from DoppelCoop’s stomach and attacks Cooper. Freddy steps forward and challenges BOB, narrowly defeating him, fulfilling his destiny.

One of the most commonly raised complaints about Part 17 is the showdown between Freddie and the BOB tumor. Fans complained that it was ridiculous and mindless — too easy for the big showdown with BOB himself. This uncharacteristic anticlimax led fans to wonder if Lynch was making a joke, perhaps about superhero franchises, where problems are often solved by punching things. An interesting theory says that, had the series continued in the 90’s, Nadine, who had super strength at the time, would have been to one to punch BOB out. Once her story arc was altered, Freddie was supposedly created to fill the void.

But why is Freddie, the chosen warrior of the White Lodge, from England? It’s so seemingly out of the blue. However, I think there’s a reasonable explanation.

In the past, the Black Lodge has made good work of removing the agents of the White Lodge. They took Agents Jeffries, Desmond, Stanley, and even Cooper. They killed Bill Hastings when he started to talk. They took the real Diane and replaced her with a Tulpa agent. They killed Laura Palmer. They even took Audrey, who was a close friend of Agent Cooper’s and may have had a larger role to play. They possessed Sarah Palmer. They killed Major Briggs. The White Lodge needed to find agents that the Black Lodge wouldn’t see coming. They used Andy and Lucy, two of the last people who might be perceived of as a threat to the Black Lodge. They may have brought Laura Palmer back from the dead. So someone far from Twin Peaks, who the Black Lodge couldn’t get to and corrupt, was an ideal candidate.

Cooper puts the ring on his Doppelganger’s finger, and its body disappears. Cooper asks Frank for his old room key, saying that Major Briggs told him that “Sheriff Truman would have it.” This strengthens the idea that Briggs had some ability to time travel through his dealings with the White Lodge. As the FBI arrive, Cooper notices Naido, and his face becomes interposed over the following events. This is because Cooper, has dreamed all of this before. In effect, he already watched himself do all these things, that’s how he knows what will happen. The interposed face is the dreaming Cooper watching all of this happen.

Next is a moment that almost seems like exposition, but it’s all very confusing exposition. Bobby arrives, as do Albert, Gordon, and Tammy, and Cooper launches into a speech. He explains that Garland Briggs “was well-aware of what is going on today.”  He then says, “Now, there are some things that will change. The past dictates the future.” This is a fairly clear indication that Cooper intends to alter the timeline, or knows that someone else will. Naido runs over to Cooper and touches hands with him, and the curse placed on her by the Black Lodge burns away, with much black smoke. The facade cracks, revealing Diane, who has candy-red hair. It would seem that, after attacking her and taking her to the Black Lodge, DoppelCoop trapped Diane in the form of Naido, who could not communicate, and was disguised so Cooper couldn’t recognize her, then made a Tulpa to take her place in the outside world.

People have drawn a connection between Diane and Jack Parsons’s second wife, Marjorie Cameron, who also had neon red hair. Parsons believed that Marjorie was an “elemental” created by a ritual he’d performed, who was destined to help him with his magic.

Cooper and Diane kiss passionately, and the interposed image of Coop’s face disappears, suggesting this is where his dream ended. However, the face reappears a moment later. Coop asks Diane if she remembers everything, and she says she does. To me, this implies that she is also part of Cooper’s plan. Time starts glitching, as if it is stuck in one moment. With much distortion, the Cooper face says, “We live inside a dream.” The “regular” Cooper says to everyone that he hopes he sees them again, then stresses, “every one of you.” This suggests that he knows some of these characters do not exist in other timelines.

Then, everything fades to black. Coop and Gordon call out to each other, almost as if asking, “Are you ready?” because they next move is together, along with Diane. They walk through the darkness and enter what seems to be a basement, filled with machines, like James saw a few episodes ago. However, it’s all very dreamlike as this basement seems to be made up of various other environments. It’s reminiscent of the basement BOB appeared in in the original series, as well as the one James saw, and includes the door to Coop’s old room at the Great Northern. We also hear the hum that Ben and Beverly have been hearing, which apparently indicates the nearness of another dimension. Some have suggested that this is the basement of the Great Northern, and the old key was repurposed for a door down there once the switch was made to key cards.

Cooper’s face fades out, for good this time. We see many doors down here, which to me suggests different dimensions are accessible from here. Coop enters one door and tells Gordon and Diane not to follow him. He looks back and them and says, “I’ll see you at the curtain call,” a reference to his meeting with Diane at the portal of the Black Lodge, the “curtain call” obviously referring to the red curtains in the waiting room. It also has a more meta interpretation, as the curtain call can also indicate the part of a stage production, after the play when the curtains go down, and the actors come out to take a bow. I noticed also that the black paint near the door he enters is speckled with white and looks remarkably similar to the background when we see him falling through non-existence.

Cooper meets up with MIKE, who recites the Fire Walk With Me poem, which causes electricity to flash. They are transported to The Dutchman’s to visit Phillip Jeffries. We see the Jumping Man leave down the stairway, which may suggest some collusion between he and Jeffries.

Cooper gives Jeffries the date of Laura Palmer’s murder, and MIKE begins shaking his head. Perhaps he is sad, thinking of what happened, or perhaps he sees the folly of what Cooper is trying to do. Jeffries says he’ll find the date for them, and says, “It’s slippery in here.” The way he says it makes it clear that the two statements are connected, but what does the latter mean? I think it means that time is “slippery,” that it often glitches and is hard to keep hold of. He tells Cooper to say hi to Gordon, who will apparently “remember the unofficial version.” Read this as: “He will have residual memories of me from the erased timeline.”

Jeffries begins to spout some confusing dialog here.

“This is where you’ll find Judy. There may be someone. Did you… ask me this?”

I’ll get back to that in the next article, though. Bear with me. He then shows them the Owl Cave insignia, which turns into an eight, then an infinity symbol, with a small dot traveling along it. This suggests an infinite loop, that Cooper has done this before. After the dot moves along the lemniscate for a moment, there’s a mechanical clank and it stops, as Jeffries finds the right time for Cooper. He says, “You can go in now,” mirroring when, in the Lodge, MIKE tells him, “You can go out now.” He then implores Cooper to remember, probably, to remember the alternate timeline, which holds some pertinent information. MIKE, who has been shaking his head all this time, says, “Electricity.” Right on queue, electricity crackles and time jumps as the energy is produced to transport Cooper back to the night Laura was murdered.

We see events replay. Laura leaving with James to the woods, then James leaving her. This time, Cooper is watching. He was all along. Laura even sees him, and screams. After James leaves and Laura is alone in the woods, Cooper appears to her. She recognizes him from her dreams, and takes his hand. Her body, wrapped in plastic, disappears from the shore. He tells her, “We’re going home,” suggesting that he plans on taking her back to her house.

We cut to the Palmer house in what seems to be the 25 years later time period, and Sarah Palmer, who’s been possessed by Jowday all along, grabs the iconic photo of Laura, and, wailing the whole time, attempts to destroy it with a broken liquor bottle. Time skips, and no matter how many times she tries to stab the photo, she can’t damage it. In short, Jowday wants Laura dead, but cannot harm her. Laura is protected.

However, as Cooper is leading Laura by the hand through the woods, periodically checking to make sure she’s still there, we hear the sounds that the Fireman played for Cooper at the beginning of Part 1, and Laura vanishes. We hear Laura’s death scream, and Cooper looks despondent. Jowday couldn’t kill Laura, so she took her.

But, where is Laura now? Will Coop see Gordon and Diane again? What was Phillip Jeffries talking about? Find out in the thrilling conclusion, when I analyze Part 18 of Twin Peaks: The Return!

…On the Differing Opinions of the Finale…

Written by Eden H. Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

I’ve had a lot of requests for my review/analysis of the finale of The Return, and I promise you, it is coming, but there’s one thing I think I need to address before delving into such tempestuous waters.

The finale for The Return has been one of the most divisive ever, just as, if not more, controversial than the original cliffhanger for Twin Peaks‘ original run. I have my opinions. Everyone else has theirs. But no matter what your opinion is, I have a message for you. We need to stop fighting amongst ourselves, and be more understanding with those of differing opinions. Of course there will always be arguments and disagreements, but one thing that needs to end is this animosity between those who thought the finale was brilliant, and those who thought it had a lot of problems.

There’s a misconception about those who didn’t like the finale, that they need to “learn Lynch” (which is a condescending and elitist statement), and they just “didn’t get it.” Perhaps there are some this is true for, sure. Twin Peaks fans come from a varied bag. But overall, I see complaints coming from all walks of life, all kinds of fans, those who just loved Twin Peaks and those who are well-versed in film and Lynch’s other works. I want to make a statement now:

It is not one or the other. If you disliked the finale, it doesn’t mean you wanted a cliche Hollywood fairytale ending. Not everything your favorite director does is brilliant, nor are you compelled to love it regardless. I love Darren Aronofsky, but I didn’t enjoy The Wrestler or Noah. And you know, I absolutely love David Lynch’s work, but I have little interest in Wild At Heart. And that’s fine.

And if you liked the finale, that doesn’t mean you are just kissing ass. It doesn’t mean that you’ll eat whatever garbage you’re given “just because it’s Lynch.” Everyone is satisfied by different art. If you weren’t invested in seeing something conclusive, then the finale was an enjoyable trip into the bizarre, and groundbreaking television. It definitely was groundbreaking.

And guess what? It’s fine to be somewhere in the middle. I think I’ve enjoyed the analysis over the finale as much as watching it. I love to see peoples’ brains working, whether it’s an attempt to make sense of the story, or you’re analyzing what made it so revolutionary. It’s fine to be either or and neither. What’s not fine is being a rude and condescending to people who have a different opinion. Twin Peaks speaks to many different people on many different levels. It’s art, it’s soap opera, it’s intellectual, it’s campy. And the two-part finale ran the gamut of emotions and genres. It was overwhelming, to say the least. And it’s OK to hate it, and it’s OK to love it, and it’s OK to still be indecisive. Just be understanding with your fellow Peaks Freaks, please.

All right. Now that that’s out of the way, I will be beginning work on my analysis of the finale. Thank you for being patient with me, it’s been quite a ride and I needed some time to recover. I’d like to get your opinions on how I should approach this analysis, if I should do a scene-by-scene breakdown, or go through all the arcs and and give an analytical overview? Or something else? Let me know what you’d like to see. Comment below.

And for some shameless self-promotion, I now have a paying gig over at Vocal, so you can check out my articles here. I have articles on Twin Peaks, video games, and television, with many more articles coming, so go and follow me there if you want to see even more content from me! In the meantime, I’ll see you again in 25 years. Meanwhile…

…I’ll be trying to sort through all the emotions the finale brought up in me.

Too Dreamy: The Truth Behind the Disappearance of Audrey Horne

Written by Eden. H Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return Parts 1 – 16.

“Which will it be, Charlie? Hmm? Which one would you be? Charlie, help me. It’s like Ghostwood here.”

The absence and subsequent appearance of Audrey Horne has left many fans confused, angry, and saddened. However, what at first may have seemed just like a melodramatic plot shoehorned in for no good reason has turned out to be far more intriguing and possibly integral to the story line. Theories abound as to the truth behind her condition, either that she is in a coma, a mental hospital, is a tulpa, or that she is “the dreamer,” or something else. However, I believe I already know the answer, or at least most of it. First, let’s examine the clues in the case of the disappearance of Ms Audrey Horne.

First off, there’s the way that everyone talks about her, in that they don’t. So far, only Richard and Doc Hayward have even mentioned Audrey. Not even Ben, when he meets with Frank Truman to discuss Richard, says anything about Audrey. He only says regretfully that Richard “never had a father.” While this implies that Audrey has been around for some of her son’s upbringing, it makes it even stranger that she no longer is. This is one strike against the coma theory. But, if she was with Richard for a time, where did she go, and why did she leave?

So, Richard is one of the only people to mention Audrey, and what does he say about her, exactly?

RICHARD: I recognized you back at the farm. You’re FBI.

MR. C: How do you figure that?

RICHARD: ‘Cause I seen your picture in your fancy FBI suit.

MR. C: Don’t come any closer. 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.

So, depending on whether or not you believe Audrey is still in a coma after 25 years, what likely happened was this: Richard, looking for clues as to his father’s identity, was going through some of his mother’s old things. He found the picture of Cooper, and brought it either to Audrey or Ben, who must have told him Cooper’s name. We can try to derive some info out of Richard’s phrasing, “my mom had it,” but, in truth, it’s fairly vague. The past-tense is only indicative of her having the photo in the past, and he is probably using past-tense to refer to the fact that he found it with her old belongings, which says nothing about the condition of Audrey herself.

What about Doc Hayward? He mentions her when questioned about his last encounter with “Agent Cooper.”

“I thought at the time he might have been looking in on Audrey Horne.
That terrible business at the bank, and… She was in a coma.”

While this is arguably as vague as Richard’s wording, I would say this gives us a much more clear cut idea. “She was in a coma” implies that she is no longer in a coma. If she was still in the coma, Doc would probably have used language more like, “She fell into that coma,” or “She entered a coma.”

If Audrey were present, wouldn’t Ben mention her to Frank? Better yet, wouldn’t Frank have gone to see Audrey? Wouldn’t Sylvia have called Audrey when Richard assaulted her? All this leaves us with one conclusion: Audrey is gone. And since no one is really making a fuss about it, she has probably been gone a long time. The only question is, how long? I’ll admit that the theory of her being in a coma is thematically congruent, and could even potentially tie in with the real Cooper’s story line. However, there are enough plot holes that this could be argued against. And, though we are in the television world where anything is possible, in reality, people rarely stay in comas for such a long time.

Next, let’s look at what we do know about Audrey’s current state. The many unfamiliar names thrown at us in her first scene is daunting, but I think it we cut away a lot of the extraneous elements and focus on what we do know, some interesting things will come to light. It has been noted that there are no establishing shots for Audrey’s location. It would seem that she’s cut off from the rest of Twin Peaks. However, we pretty much know that Billy and Tina are people in the real world, even if Charlie’s phone call to Tina might have been faked (It probably was). Someone looking for Billy enters the Double R, and a girl at the Roadhouse says that her mother’s name is Tina. So this is another strike against the coma theory.

The first scene is very confusing, but in Part 13, we are actually given a bombshell, hidden in plain sight: After saying she doesn’t feel like herself, Audrey mentions, “It’s like Ghostwood here.”

Let that sink in for a minute. It’s a confusing line, and one you might have missed. But it’s the most important thing we’ve heard from her so far. Because later, in Part 15, when DoppelCoop goes with the Woodsman to see Philip Jeffries, where do we see them? Walking through a hallway that fades in and out with the woods.

This other dimension overlaps the woods around Twin Peaks, a.k.a., the Ghostwood Forest. This is probably what Jerry was seeing when he was high and freaking out in the woods. It seemed like a Dugpa was even trying to possess his leg (what is it with Dugpas and limbs, by the way?). Why would Audrey say that it was like Ghostwood where she was? Because she IS IN the Ghostwood, but in another dimension. So, what does this say about the rest of the story?

Let’s make a rough outline of events. After the bank explosion, Audrey falls into a coma. Whilst in the coma, she is visited by Mr. C masquerading as Cooper, who rapes her while she is unconscious. When she wakes up from the coma, she discovers she is pregnant. She may suspect Jack Wheeler as the father, but perhaps DNA testing proves this wrong. Audrey raises Richard for some of his boyhood, but, one day…

She vanishes.

Now, here is the gap. And within the gap, there is a truth which must be revealed, and when it is, I’m sure it will play a large role in the finale. I have speculations, but no answers. That said, here is my best guess, as a literary student and as a fan, at what happened to Audrey: Mr. C returns for her. He kidnaps Audrey and seals her in the Black Lodge. He puts Charlie, a lesser spirit, in charge of her. His job is to keep her compliant and confused, so she won’t suspect what’s going on, or try escaping, or cause trouble for the other Lodge dwellers. To do so, Charlie creates a fantasy world for her, where they live in a nice, large house, and she can go anywhere she wants — Charlie just has to dream it up for her. Charlie becomes infatuated with the beautiful Audrey, and casts himself as her husband. He plays music for her so she can dance for him. Either Charlie or Mr. C also bring other prisoners to this dimension, one of which is Billy, whom Audrey begins to have an affair with. Charlie allows it because it keeps Audrey distracted. All this keeps Audrey confused, but it only works for so long. Audrey eventually begins to break through the fantasy. When she goes to the Roadhouse to look for Billy, she starts to realize it is all a dream, so Charlie creates a scene, a bar fight, to frighten Audrey, so she asks to be taken back. She ends up in a white room with a mirror. I believe this is the “blank slate” of this dream dimension: This is what it looks like before Charlie projects scenes and places onto it.

There is also a darker possibility. Audrey’s “I don’t know who I am” speech is reminiscent of Tulpa Diane’s right before she tries to shoot Albert and Tammy. This has led to the theory that Audrey is also a tulpa, which suggests that our Audrey is elsewhere, and, as her fate seems to eerily mirror Diane’s, it’s probable that she was murdered. That leaves the question: If the Audrey we’re seeing is a tulpa, what was she manufactured for? All the tulpas we’ve seen so far have a purpose. What could Audrey’s be?

However she ended up there, and whether this is the “real” Audrey or not, there is no doubt in my mind that she is trapped in the Black Lodge, a dimension overlapping the Ghostwood. Perhaps Mr. C took her, or maybe she even went in looking for Cooper and got trapped. Whatever the case may be, I think by focusing on what we do know, and setting aside everything else until later, when things become clearer, we will have a better shot at deciphering the many remaining mysteries of Twin Peaks: The Return.

The Dark Truth Behind Candie Revealed

Written by Eden H. Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return parts 1 – 11.

A lot of questions have been asked about Candie, one of the three Vegas girls (along with Mandie and Sandie) who accompanies the Mitchum brothers. Actress Amy Shiels has her own explanation for why Candie acts the way she does, and it’s a valid idea. But I think there might be a much more significant secret behind the innocuous-seeming girl, and I may have uncovered it when I noticed something hiding in plain sight.

Candie, as I mentioned before, is played by Amy Shiels, who voiced Agent “T.P.” Tammy Preston for The Secret History of Twin Peaks audiobook. As we know, it’s not Shiels, but Chrysta Bell who plays Agent Preston in the show. Why would Lynch replace Shiels, just to have her play an entirely different character? Could this be another clue for the existence of alternate timelines in The Return? Could he maybe have just changed his mind about who worked best for the role? Nonsense, I say! These other possibilities are just red herrings disguising the deep, dark truth: Amy Shiels is still playing Agent Preston, but we just haven’t realized it yet.

Many fans have had mixed feelings about Chrysta Bell’s portrayal of Agent Preston, citing her stylistic acting as unrealistic and distracting (although, in my honest opinion, this fits right in with Lynch’s surreal film noir style). There could, however, be an in-universe explanation for Tammy’s odd behavior: She’s not Agent Preston at all, she’s a decoy.

My theory: Agent Preston, played by Amy Shiels, has gone deep undercover to take down a drug network, which starts in Canada, goes through Twin Peaks, to Vegas, where the Mitchum brothers help distribute it, through Buckhorn, and ends in New York. In order for her to penetrate the network, she had to pose as a down-on-her-luck girl looking for work in the Mitchum Brothers’ casino, and become their trusted companion, all the while acting like a “dumb blonde” so that no suspicion is put upon her. However, what if someone noticed that Agent Preston coincidentally went missing at the exact same time that “Candie” showed up? That’s why they needed a decoy. (Who would notice this, you ask? Shut up, I say. Go along with it.)

Enter Chrysta Bell, a lower-level FBI agent and friend of the real Agent Preston. She’s not the best agent, and she’s a bit of an oddball, but she’s clever, and trustworthy. So Cole arranges for her to temporarily take Preston’s place while they infiltrate the drug network. In the meantime, Cole, sensing promise in Tammy, decides to take her under his wing and help her learn the ropes. Of course, he does this by taking her on the most dangerous case yet. This is sort of like tossing someone into the ocean so they can learn to swim, which is a flawless, time-tested method of teaching.

So, where do I think all this is going? Well, clearly, it’s not a coincidence that Agent Preston should happen to be where Agent Cooper shows up. I think it’s obvious that she’s going to recognize him, and try to get him back to Cole. In the process, however, she will blow her cover to the Mitchum brothers, who will attempt to kill both her and Cooper for betraying them, forcing Cooper to wake from his stupor and rescue them both. Slapping on a pair of shades and grabbing a gun, he will say, “Let’s rock,” and take down the Mitchum Brothers, action hero style. He will then convince Agent Preston to return to Twin Peaks with him, to bring the story back around full circle.

Meanwhile, it will turn out that Cole’s hunch about Chrysta Bell was actually him sensing that she was, in fact, a human manufactured by the White Lodge, who is destined to finally kill BOB. So they go to Twin Peaks, where they run into Cooper and Preston and the whole truth is revealed. Before departing this realm, Chrysta Bell will give Cole the dossier that comprises The Secret History of Twin Peaks, and tells him that “Tammy will know what to do with this.” She will then return to the White Lodge, just before the final showdown ensues: Janey-E, Audrey Horne (in her one and only appearance in this season), and Diane all fight for the love of Agent Cooper, who is too busy spending time with his true love, which is the coffee at the Double R Diner.

(Editor’s note: It has been called to my attention that Amy Shiels voiced literally all the women in The Secret History of Twin Peaks audiobook, with the exception of Agent T. P., who was voiced by Annie Wersching. The fact that I remember differently is clearly evidence of an alternate timeline.)

Whew. So, I think I may have taken one or two liberties there, but overall I think my theory is pretty solid and explains everything about Candie and Tammy. What do you think about these characters? What do you think will happen in the remaining episodes? Also, how did you enjoy my first ever parody article? Leave a comment below.

 

(Edit: Yes, this was in fact a joke. I really hope you didn’t read through that whole thing taking it seriously.)

Drink Full and Descend: The Secrets Revealed in Part 8 and What They Mean

Written by Eden H. Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return Parts 1 – 8.

Since the airing of Part 8, the episode has proved to be the most divisive one yet among fans, with some citing it as the most revolutionary thing to air on network television, with others dismissing it as arbitrary nonsense. For those looking to delve deeper into the mysteries and coded messages of this episode, you’ve come to the right place. Let’s take this journey together, and see if we can’t make some sense of things.

The episode begins where the last episode left off, with Doppelganger Cooper riding in the car with Ray Monroe driving. They dispose of a police tracking device, DoppelCoop lies and says that Darya is waiting for them, tells Ray they should go to a place called “The Farm,” and they drive off the highway to a secluded area. DoppelCoop gets out a pistol with the intention of killing Ray, but Warden Murphy, who had the pistol placed in the glove compartment as part of their deal, has double crossed him, removing the firing pin from DoppelCoop’s gun. Ray pulls out a gun of his own and shoots DoppelCoop, who falls to the ground, fatally wounded. A fog appears, and out of the darkness emerges the soot-covered woodmen we’ve seen in the South Dakota murder mystery. Some begin dancing in a manner reminiscent of the Jumping Man from Fire Walk With Me and some begin pawing at DoppelCoop, digging through his guts and smearing his face with blood. They eventually pull a tumor with BOB’s face on it out of DoppelCoop’s stomach. It’s pretty safe to say this represents BOB himself, the “inhabiting spirit,” living like a parasite within his host. I don’t think he’s a literal tumor inside his vessels, but this is how it manifests to the terrified Ray, who watches, paralyzed with fear. Eventually he summons the strength to run to his car and drive off. The fog disperses.

Ray leaves a voicemail for Philip Jeffries (or who he thinks is Philip Jeffries). His speech is slurred with fear, and I had a hard time understanding, so I took the trouble of transcribing it for anyone who might need help.

“Philip? It’s Ray. Uh… I think he’s dead. But, he’s found some kind of help, so, I’m not a hundred percent. And I, and I, uh… I saw something in Cooper. It may be the key to what this is all about. …Yeah, I told him where I’m going, so if he comes after me, I’ll get him there.”

We then cut to the Roadhouse, where an Emcee introduces “The” Nine Inch Nails (I’ve been a fan of them for over ten years and I’ve never heard them referred to as “THE” Nine Inch Nails, so I’m wondering if this was a mistake by the Emcee). The lyrics are from a song written back in 2016 for their album Not The Actual Events,  so it’s possible it was written for The Return, as Reznor’s involvement had been announced by then. I love his performance here, because it seems animalistic and reminds me of the Jumping Man a little bit.

As with all of the band performances so far in the show, the lyrics seem to relate to occurrences in the episode. Here they are, for reference:

You dig in places till your fingers bleed
Spread the infection, where you spill your seed
I can’t remember what she came here for
I can’t remember much of anything anymore

She’s gone, she’s gone, she’s gone away
She’s gone, she’s gone, she’s gone away
Away
Away

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

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

-Nine Inch Nails, “She’s Gone Away”

I’ll get back to these lyrics as the episode unfolds, but we’ll say for now that this is a dead on description of the relationship between Laura and BOB. Returning to the episode, we see the supposedly dead DoppelCoop suddenly sit up and open his eyes. What could this mean? DoppelCoop and BOB are now separated. Presumably, the woodsmen took him back to the Black Lodge (We’ll see later that they seem to be handlers for BOB). A few episodes back, MIKE told Cooper, “You’ve been tricked. Now one of you must die.” Does this count as a death? Does this mean we’ll see the promised return of Agent Cooper next episode? Will he finally wake up from his Dougie-induced stupor? We can only guess for now. Unfortunately, the episode cuts before we can find out more. Fortunately, we get a lot of back story in what remains of the episode. It’s just a matter of deciphering it, using knowledge gained from The Secret History of Twin Peaks, and a bit of educated guesswork.

July 16th, 1945. White Sands, New Mexico. 5:29 AM (MWT).

The Atomic Bomb goes off during its first test. Destroying the environment and murdering countless human beings, the A-Bomb is one of the greatest evils that men do. We travel inside the blast, going down to the atomic level and witnessing the explosion of atoms and particles. Space itself it torn open, and we see…

…a convenience store.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is the famous convenience store we’ve been hearing about. It was mentioned by MIKE in the original series, and then we saw the Dugpas meeting above it in Fire Walk With Me. Now we see the exterior of it, through the newly torn rift in the dimensions. It’s teeming with the woodsmen. This tells us two things: 1) They are probably the same as the three woodsmen from Fire Walk With Me, and 2) They are probably Dugpas. Time distorts and lights flash as they move in, out, and around the convenience store.

We then see the Experiment, the monster from inside the glass box, floating in empty space. She vomits out a strand of what looks like creamed corn, inside which are little eggs and the tumor with BOB’s face. This seems to lend credence to the theory that the monster is BABALON, the “Mother of Abominations” which Jack Parsons wrote about. In The Secret History of Twin Peaks, Jack Parsons speaks to Douglas Milford, and mentions White Sands, Nevada, and how the Atomic Bomb tests made the area perfect for a ritual he plans to do, in which, at the behest of the Goddess BABALON, an Elemental Spirit will be summoned. Parsons calls this Ritual “The Working,” and planned to open up a “second” gate out in the desert. Where the first gate is, we aren’t told, but this Elemental could very well be BOB.

The creamed corn travels through the atomic blast and the tumor becomes a gold sphere, like the kind that emerged from Dougie. This object is directly linked with the creation of beings by the Black and White Lodges. We then overlook the same purple ocean which Cooper saw in Part 3. In the middle of it is a tall rock, atop which is a palace. We close up on a narrow window and look through it, into the palace. Inside we see a scene reminiscent of a hotel from the 1930s, which may be the same room we see the Giant and Cooper talking in at the beginning of Part 1, as we see the same gramophone sitting next to the sofa. There’s also another strange bell device, like the kind Naido threw the switch on before throwing herself into space in Part 3. A glamorously dressed woman named Senorita Dido sits on a couch, swaying to some music.

Quick aside on the correlations with the mythical character Dido: After being robbed of her inheritance by her brother, Dido fled to the land of King Iarbas, and asked that he grant her land to live on. He agreed to give her the amount of land that she could encircle with a piece of oxhide. So Dido cut the oxhide into fine strips, and surrounded a nearby mountain with it. There, she founded what would become the prosperous city of Carthage. So, here we can see some minor similarities, in that they both live in palatial buildings atop mountains. It’s not much, but it’s there.

The bell-device starts buzzing, and the Giant emerges from behind it. He examines it, checking the gauges on the side, and then pressed a button on it, which causes it to stop buzzing. I think of this along the lines of a phone, and the Giant basically just said, “I’ll take it in the other room.” He leaves the sitting room, goes up some stairs, and enters a theater which looks to be the same as Club Silencio (it’s the same shooting location, I believe). If you’re a fan of the Lynchverse theory, this should send chills down your spine. There’s another bell device in here. On the screen, the Giant witnesses the atomic blast, the  convenience store, and the Experiment expelling BOB. In response, he levitates and expels some golden lights from his mouth as Senorita Dido enters the room and watches on awe. A gold orb containing the soul of Laura Palmer floats down to her, and she kisses it and sends it on its way to Earth. This is a pretty clear sign that Laura was created in some way by the White Lodge in order to oppose BOB. She may have been destined to die all along, in order to enter the White Lodge and help stop him. Now, I don’t think Laura was “manufactured” like Dougie, but, rather, seeded. Laura was a real person who was born and lived and died, whereas Dougie probably sprang forth fully-formed, and disintegrated rather than dying normally as a human.

Now, back to the New Mexico desert. It’s 11 years after the atomic blast. One of the eggs released by the Experiment is now hatching. From it emerges a strange creature that is a fusion of a locust and a frog. It begins to make its way through the desert. This bug is, most likely, an embryonic BOB, searching for his first host. One resourceful Redditor made the connection between the creature and this legend from Chinook mythology, which lines up with much of the Twin Peaks mythos.

Meanwhile, two teens are walking home from a date.

Now, I want to address this once and for all. Despite popular theories, this cannot be Sarah and Leland Palmer, nor Margaret Lanterman, as Leland and Margaret are said to have been born, raised, and died in Twin Peaks. Leland’s whole family is from Washington state. All I can find out about Sarah’s background is that she went to college in Washington state, where she met Leland. There’s no reason for any of them to be in New Mexico at this time, and it makes even less sense that BOB would be possessing either Sarah or Margaret. It is far more likely that these are the Robertsons, who, when Leland Palmer is a child, have a summer house at Pearl Lake, and transfer the inhabiting spirit to him.

Anyway…

The girl finds a penny on the ground and gets excited because she says it’s good luck. We’ve seen quite a few coins of significance this season, and I can only guess what it could mean, if anything. It’s possibly all a coincidence. It’s worth noting, however, that the girl rubs her thumb over the image of Lincoln, and the actor who plays the main Woodsman, Robert Broski, specializes in Abraham Lincoln impersonations.

Robert Broski, a.k.a. the Woodsman, as Abraham Lincoln.

Elsewhere in the same area, the Woodsman from the South Dakota jail cell drifts down from pure air. More appear, and they stop two cars on the highway, the sound of crackling electricity following them. What happened to the people in the first car, we don’t see. They approach the second car, and the Woodsman, unlit cigarette hanging from his lips, asks the couple, “Got a light?” This is similar to the phrase “Fire, walk with me,” as both are requests for fire. He repeats this question a few times, and time seems to slow down for the people in the car as the woman screams. Her slowed-down shriek of horror is similar to Maddy’s screams as she is being attacked by BOB in Season 2, suggesting that time distortions follow the Dugpas.

The man in the car seems hypnotized by the Woodsman, unable to move or stop from staring at him, until he manages to break the spell, and, wisely, drives out of there before the woodsmen can surround the car. They seemingly escape unscathed, as the woodsmen continue into town to fulfill their purpose. They take over a radio station, killing the only two occupants. The way the Woodsman kills the pair is similar to the old style of electric execution chairs. He grabs the top of their skull and an electric charge goes into their brain, causing it to bleed. He finishes by crushing their skulls. The Woodsman takes over the radio booth, and recites a spell over their air waves.

“This is the water

And this is the well

Drink full and descend

The horse is the white of the eyes

And dark within.”

This repeats several times, and let me come back to it in a moment. As he repeats the words, people listening to the broadcast collapse. Whether they die or simply fall unconscious, I can’t say. The girl from the date earlier, who is now home sitting in bed, goes to turn off the radio, but, seemingly hypnotized, just goes to sleep, allowing the flying frog to come in through her window and crawl down her throat, presumably to grow into the BOB-tumor inside of her. This is the story of how BOB came to our plain of existence in this era. This was the purpose the woodsmen needed to fulfill. They came to the desert to make sure BOB found a host, and, now that he has, they depart, for the time being. These creatures seem to be BOB’s caretakers in some way, as they were there when he found his first host, and they appeared when his last host died (or… nearly died). Do they answer to a higher power? Are they looking out for BOB due to the orders of the mother monster? Perhaps…

Now, let’s analyze some lyrics, which, as a music geek, I love to do. We’ll start with the spell the Woodsman recites. “The water” may be the inhabiting spirit, and “the well” probably means the source of the spirit, the Experiment we saw expelling the eggs from her mouth. The Woodsman gives the command to the host to swallow the frog-bug whole, so that it can take her over, and she can descend into darkness. The horse reference is harder to connect, and some theorize it has to do with the drugging of Sarah Palmer, as she is the one who saw the white horse in the original series. I am more wont to connect it to the white horse being death. The horse is white, like the pale eyes of the Doppelgangers, and it is a representation of death, so it is dark like oblivion. This part of the spell could be causing the death/unconsciousness of the non-host listeners.

Now, to the NIN song. This part, I don’t think is necessary, but fun to analyze. The act of digging in places “’til your fingers bleed” sounds a lot like hardcore drug addict behavior, which may tie in to Laura’s drug problem. The infecting and seed spilling is all about Leland and BOB’s attempt to jump from his body to Laura’s. And, of course, Laura’s gone away… or maybe the host is the one he’s talking about disappearing as BOB takes over? The mouth opening part is a nice foreshadow of the girl swallowing the frog-bug. “[T]he skin turns black” is a fairly good description of the monochrome woodsmen. The question ate the end, “are you still here?” I think is actually DoppelCoop wondering if BOB is still with him. And that’s a question we’ll all have on our minds until July 9th.

Well, that about sums up my analysis. What an episode that was! If you have any questions about something I missed, please post in the comments below!

Two Birds With One Stone: What is the Importance of Richard and Linda? (UPDATED)

Written by Eden H. Roquelaire for Twin Peaks Freaks.

Disclaimer: Contains spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return episodes 1 – 7.

In Twin Peaks: The Return – Part 5, we were introduced to a particularly despicable new character, who assaults and threatens a woman, is involved in shady dealings with a corrupt police officer, and, perhaps most devious of all, smokes in a non-smoking area. Many fans were shocked and dismayed to see this character credited as Richard Horne, the potential offspring of fan favorite Audrey. But is he really? What is the importance of Richard in the new series? Why does the Giant mention his name to Cooper?

The first question we have, of course, is, just how is Richard Horne related to the Hornes that we know? Let’s examine all the possibilities.

If he’s not a cousin, related to some branch of the Horne family we’ve never seen before, then he must be the son of either Ben, Jerry, Johnny, or Audrey. Johnny is perhaps the least likely candidate, though not out of the question, as his mental condition complicates social interactions. Richard could always be a bastard son of either Ben or Jerry, as both are well-known philanderers, or Jerry could have had a child with a wife or girlfriend (Maybe Heba?) Of course, Ben and Sylvia could have had another child, but considering the state of their marriage, especially after the debacle at the Haywards’, I’d say this is even less likely than Johnny being the father.

The most probable situation is that Audrey is Richard’s mother, which leaves the question of paternity. The fact that Richard has his mother’s name implies an absent father. Audrey did have sex with Jack Wheeler before he departed for South America, but I find it hard to believe that she wouldn’t tell Jack he was a father, or that he wouldn’t come back for him. Jack seemed like an honorable enough guy, I doubt he’d abandon his child. Something could, of course, have happened to Jack, preventing him from ever returning. But there’s no way Jack was Audrey’s only suitor. Could Bobby be the father? He and Audrey did have some flirtatious moments in season 2. But, as bad as Bobby has been in the past, he seems to have turned over a new leaf, and I don’t think Bobby would be absent from his son’s life. It could also be someone we’ve never heard of, who Audrey met in the aftermath of season 2. But there’s one final, disturbing possibility.

Sherilyn Fenn in a Twin Peaks photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly.

In Part 7 of The Return, Doc Hayward mentions that, after the events of the season 2 finale, he saw Cooper’s Doppelganger leaving the ICU. When questioned about why Cooper would be in the ICU, Doc says that he thought Cooper was visiting Audrey, who was in a coma after the bank explosion. Could it be that Cooper’s Doppelganger impregnated Audrey while she was comatose? The possibility is horrifying, but makes a lot of sense.

Before I continue, I want to address the idea that Cooper was actually visiting Annie, to steal back the Owl Ring, or try to kill her, and the mention of Audrey is just to throw us off. To me, this just doesn’t stand up to closer examination. Why mention Audrey, and not Annie? They had already talked about how Annie was with Cooper the night they both entered the Black Lodge, so why wouldn’t Doc think Cooper might be visiting Annie? I’m not saying that Doppelcoop didn’t want to get the ring back ( he obviously does get it, since Dougie has it later,) but, firstly, it’s no longer with Annie, it’s with one of the nurses, and secondly, mentioning Audrey then makes no sense. Why would Lynch and Frost bring her up for the first time in the new series if she was just a red herring? I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to mention her here and now. I think if he had been visiting Annie, it would have been a time to be direct. And if he had been trying to kill Annie, I think Doc also would have mentioned something about it, either that Annie was dead, or that there was trouble in the ICU immediately after, or something else. SOMETHING. No. I think Lynch and Frost mentioned Audrey because she is important here, and they want us to think about her.

I think, especially in the scheme of the narrative, it makes the most sense for Richard to be the spawn of Cooper’s Doppelganger. It fits. It would explain Richard’s tendency for evil actions (although many characters are evil, without such an excuse), the fact that he has his mother’s surname, and why the Giant mentions him to Cooper in the first scene of the first episode. He is clearly important. All this would make sense if he was Cooper’s son. But, the Giant also says it is important to remember someone named Linda, who is mentioned in Part 6 of The Return. What does she have to do with Cooper and Richard?

For the sake of thoroughness, I want to throw out the idea that Richard is from a previously unseen branch of the Horne family, and Linda could be his mother. Someone has also suggested that Linda is actually Audrey in hiding, and that she was crippled after the bank explosion, hence why she needs a wheel chair. As of now, I don’t have a lot of evidence to support that theory, so let’s move on.

My theory is that Richard and Linda are both the children of Cooper. They are the “two birds,” and Cooper is the “one stone.” Richard is the son of Audrey and Cooper’s Doppelganger, conceived when Audrey was in a coma after the bank explosion. Linda is the daughter of the Good Dale and Annie, conceived before they entered the Lodge at the end of season 2. I think Linda is also a soldier who was crippled in combat, explaining how she could be so young and need a wheel chair, and government assistance. That is also why Carl Rod says “F***ing war” while he and Mickey are talking about Linda, which otherwise is a non sequitor. It also falls in line with the later revelation that Frank Truman’s son was a soldier who committed suicide. He and Linda may have even known each other, both being soldiers from the Twin Peaks area.

Some have suggested that Linda is the result of Doppelcooper’s sexual assault on Diane, but it doesn’t make sense that she would end up in Deer Meadow when Diane lives in Philadelphia. It would be an odd coincidence, even if the child was given up for adoption. I think it’s far more likely that Annie is the mother, and this could possibly be a situation reminiscent of Clive Barker’s novel The Great and Secret Show, in which two opposing entities, one “good,” the other “evil,” sire offspring to battle each other. Incidentally, this novel has a lot of common themes with Twin Peaks: Small towns with many secrets, and lots of supernatural occurrences happening beneath it all. The sequel, Everville, even takes place in the Pacific Northwest.

If all this is true, I think that Richard and Linda will be instrumental to the conclusion of the show. This would nicely bring things full circle, taking us back to that first scene between Cooper and the Giant. I cannot predict what will happen, but I think it will call for an emotional and profound conclusion, with Cooper facing the dark half of himself and having to reconcile with it.

UPDATE (08/04/2017)

It seems undeniable at this point that Audrey is Richard’s mother, and it’s probably only a matter of time before we get in-show confirmation. The only thing left to really prove is that DoppelCoop could be Richard’s father. Some fans have resisted the idea, finding it harder to believe that Richard is the spawn of DoppelCoop raping a comatose Audrey, rather than him just being the result of her fling with Jack Wheeler, or another man she might have met in the interim, which is, of course, still plausible. These fans ask the question, “Isn’t it much more likely that DoppelCoop went to reclaim the Owl Ring, rather than to sexually assault Audrey for some reason?”

Let me start by saying: I think he did both. It’s obvious he reclaimed the Owl Ring, but that doesn’t negate him visiting Audrey. Especially since many of us seem to be forgetting the most crucial element to DoppelCoop’s character: He is the Shadow Self of Dale Cooper, containing all his darkest, innermost thoughts and desires. It brings to mind the tagline, “In a town like Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.” Not even Dale Cooper. He probably had libidinous thoughts about Miss Horne, which is probably why DoppelCoop targeted her. Perhaps it was even part of DoppelCoop’s endgame to procreate, and Richard Horne may prove to be a bigger player than we might think.

What are your thoughts on this theory? Where do you think Richard Horne’s character will go from here? What do you think this means for Audrey’s role in The Return? Comment below!