With 10 parts complete, we are just over halfway through The Return. And over the last few weeks, with every answer that Twin Peaks gives, it leaves behind several more questions. In Part 1, I listed over 50 questions that I personally would be looking for answers to. Now that we are through Part 10, I’d like to update the list and answer those questions that we might have answers to now. Hopefully we’ll get to 3rd article at the end of August.
Check out Part 1 of this article if you haven’t already done so.
THE GLASS BOX
In the first three parts, we learn that the Glass Box is important. It’s being carefully watched and videoed. The project is top secret and is being funded by a very wealthy person – at least that is the rumor.
In Part 10, we learn that Mr C is directly connected to the Glass Box. A video still of him talking to a bald man is shown to Albert and Cole by Tammy. The probability of Mr C being behind the glass box is good now.
Some of the questions we have here are:
1. Where was the security guard and why was he not at his station?
2. Who is the rich person running the experiment? Mr C or someone tied to Mr C.
3. What/who is the creature that killed Tracy and Sam? It appears that this is Experiment that we also saw in Part 8.
4. What is special about this glass box – why did Cooper arrive here and not somewhere else? If Mr C is behind this box, then it’s likely that he was attempting to capture Cooper when he leaves the other dimension. OR he is attempting to capture The Experiment or some other being. I’m sure we’ll know soon enough.
ESCAPING THE LODGE
In the first 3 parts, Dale Cooper escapes the other dimension. He meets several familiar faces during these parts – including The Giant (credited as ???????), Laura, Leland, One-Armed Man/Gerard/Mike (we will abbreviate his name to OAM from here on out), and the Evolution of the Arm and the arm’s doppleganger.
The questions that I’m left with include:
1. Who is the woman with no eyes? And what is the room that they were in? We don’t have good answers here but the place that Cooper lands in overlooks a purple sea which looks a lot like the sea surrounding where ??????? and Dido live. I think we may be able to assume that Cooper arrived in that same world.
2. Timeline-wise, this entire encounter takes place at the same time that Tracy and Sam are killed by the creature in the box. What does this mean?
3. Who is “Mother” that American Girl references? I think it’s likely Mother is the Experiment that we see in Part 8.
4. Who is Richard and Linda that the Giant tells Cooper? We know of Richard Horne and we have also heard about a Linda. If they are the Richard and Linda in question, we don’t know yet.
5. What happened to Laura after she whispers into Cooper’s ear? Leland asks Cooper to find Laura – are these connected?
6. On the electrical control panel – what do 15 and 3 mean?
7. Did the doppleganger of the arm stop Cooper from arriving at the same location as Mr C? If so, then does this suggest the doppleganger of the arm and BOB are working together? Mike/OAM continues to appear that he is still opposing BOB and trying to stop him.
DOUGIE
We have learned that Dougie has “had episodes” and has acted strange in the past. His wife specifically asks if he is having one of his episodes again. This also explains to a certain extent why people are sort of normal around Cooper as Dougie. All of this is likely due to the fact that he is manufactured – Dougie was always a bit “off.”
We also know that Dougie drank heavily and gambled and ended up owing people a lot of money. We also know that Dougie was missing for 3 days before he showed up at his house with a bundle of cash.
1. How old is Dougie and when did Dougie appear on the scene? Dougie appears around 1997. According to the Las Vegas PD, there is no mention of him before that year.
2. Did BOB manufacture Dougie? Check out this article for more information.
3. How did Dougie get the ring? The last time we saw the ring was in FWWM when Laura was killed. In The Missing Pieces, the ring is stolen by a nurse from Annie’s hand (not sure if we should treat this as canon or not). I don’t have evidence for this, but I’m beginning to feel that Dougie picked up the ring during his missing 3 days. I believe he was somehow abducted and brought to “The Zone.” Again, as of Part 10, no real evidence for this – just a hunch.
4. Is Janey and Sonny Jim real? Have they been manufactured? I’ve gone back and forth on this and we still don’t have an answer but after Part 10, I believe they are real.
DALE COOPER RE-ENTERS THE WORLD
Upon arriving in Vegas, Dale Cooper is not himself. He is slow and doesn’t grasp the very basics of life – like urinating. He must be guided, but still has a love for coffee. In one scene, he sees the OAM show him the golden marble that Dougie left behind. This marble could represent Cooper’s essence that is missing. I hope not because this could mean we have an impaired Cooper for many more parts – or until he gets the marble.
1. How many drinks of coffee will Cooper need to become normal again? (joking…maybe)
2. Or maybe he needs coffee AND PIE in order to become himself again? (joking…maybe)
A new theory, one on which I have been thinking about for about 2 weeks now, is that Cooper was sent back about 10 days when he exited the other world because American Girl’s watch shows that it’s Saturday, the 1st. But much of what we have seen is taking place before this date, and now we know that Truman and company will be at Jack Rabbit Palace on October 1 at 2:53. All of this suggests a mobius strip timeline is at work. It is possible that on October 1 at 2:53 or even October 2 at 2:53, Agent Cooper will finally wake up as the two timelines become in sync.
One note here – I mentioned this several weeks ago, and I belive it should be mentioned again because I keep seeing this. On Facebook I see a lot of people saying/suggesting that Cooper is **inside** Dougie or that they are one in the same. This is NOT accurate. Dougie’s body was removed from the world and Cooper entered it only afterwards. Dougie was dressed completely different than Cooper, and Cooper was wearing his black suit from 25 years ago. They are two separate entities – this is very different than what we saw in Season 1/2 in which BOB possesses Leland.
It doesn’t help that people are calling Cooper Dougie “because the characters call him Dougie.” To help avoid confusion here on TPG, I often refer to this state of Cooper as either straight-up Cooper or “Dougie” in quotes.
DOUGIE AND MR C
At the exact same time, three events are unfolding. Mr C is driving his car and begins to feel sick. Dougie is also sick and both are trying to stop from throwing up – esp Mr C who seems to have a better understanding of what is happening. Meanwhile, Cooper is in that strange room with the electrical panel. And depending upon the timeline, it’s possible this is right after (or the tail-end) of Tracy and Sam being killed.
Since writing the first in this series, I wrote an article about who may have created Dougie. Check out this link for more information.
1. Is the black substance “oil” that we learn about from the original series? And why do people get sick around it?
2. How is Dougie manufactured?
MR C AND BOB
In Part 5, we get the scene that many of us have been looking forward to for a long time and it was absolutely brilliant. The slow fade from Mr C to BOB and back to Mr C was perfect. It confirms that Mr C and BOB are still tied together. But it answers no questions.
Part 8 is even more interesting. After Mr C is shot by Ray, the woodsmen come out of nowhere and perform a ritual dance. In the end, an organ like bubble of BOB’s head rises from the body of Mr C. At this point, I have no idea what that means!
1. Does BOB always possess Mr C? I tend to say no, but I very well could be wrong.
2. If Answer 1 is NO, then how is BOB and Mr C linked together?
3. If Answer 1 is NO, then where is BOB?
4. If Answer 1 is YES, then can he leave Mr C? If yes, then I don’t think he can leave Mr C but perhaps he did when he was shot.
5. If Answer 4 is NO, then who/what killed Ruth Davenport and placed the headless body of a man in her bed? This is still a mystery. In Part 9, we learn that Hastings and Ruth went to the Zone and this is where Ruth was killed.
BILL HASTINGS & THE DEATH OF RUTH DAVENPORT
Be sure to read the first part of this series because I’mt not going to run down all the details. We now know that Ruth and Bill were having an affair and were involved in finding other dimensions. Ruth and Bill end up find “The Zone” where they meet Major Briggs who asks them to bring him some coordinates. They do and Ruth writes them on her hand. They return to The Zone where Ruth is killed and Briggs’ head seems to just disappear. In Part 10 we learn that Bill is going to take Cole, Albert and Tammy to the place where they entered The Zone.
So many questions in this storyline:
1. Who killed Ruth? Bill? Bill/BOB? Bill/Some Other Spirit? Sounds like a group of people came in and killed Ruth but didn’t kill Bill. Who? I’m not sure but I don’t think it’s Mr C otherwise he wouldn’t need the coordinates since he would have them. I’m guessing Ray and his people did the deed and Ray memorized the coordinates.
2. How did the male body appear in the room?
3. Where is Ruth’s body?
4. Why kill Ruth? She knew something that she shouldn’t have known perhaps and then Bill was framed for it.
5. If BOB killed Ruth and dropped off Briggs’ body — why? This would alert the FBI/DOD to his presence. Does he have an ulterior motive?
6. If BOB didn’t kill Ruth, who killed her and why?
7. Where has Briggs been for 25 years? (more on that below)
8. Where is Briggs’ head?
9. Why did Mr C kill Hastings’ wife?
THE DEATH OF GARLAND BRIGGS
We now know that Briggs left clues behind to give to Hawk, Bobby and Truman. Betty informs them that Garland told her that one day they would come asking. This proves that Briggs is familiar with the future. It also indicates that he knew that he would not be around. This strongly suggests that he faked his death and then went into hiding, and has been “hibernating” for 25 years. He has come out of hibernation every so often through the years (that’s why his finger prints have appeared).
Here’s my take: In his final days, it appears that he swallowed Dougie’s ring and allowed himself to die or even killed himself. I think it ‘s safe to assume that Garland knew Dougie and knew that he needed to exchange rings with Dougie (owl cave ring for the wedding ring). By doing this, he could swallow the ring and it would help the FBI connect the dots.
1. Did Briggs die in the fire at the station? I believe it’s safe to say that he did not.
2. Did Briggs attempt to save Cooper from the Lodge before his “death?” (We know that Sarah Palmer gave him a message that Cooper was in the lodge at the end of season 2)
3. Assuming he has been alive and Buckhorn SD storyline is on the same timeline, where has he been? Now we know he has been in The Zone for sometime.
4. Who started the fire at the station? Likely Briggs
5. How did the ring get into the body that may belong to Briggs? (see my summary above before the questions)
THE BLUE ROSE
Introduced in FWWM, the Blue Rose has always been a mystery and has already come up in these episodes. Briggs said “BLUE ROSE” while his head floated in outer space. Albert and Cole both discussed the case of Mr C/Cooper as being a blue rose case. It’s always been assumed that the blue rose refers to a case involving the supernatural. There is nothing to tell us differently at this point.
1. What does BLUE ROSE mean? Even though we have never been given a full answer, fan theories appear to be in-line with the idea that Blue Rose cases involve the supernatural or other-worldly events. I think we can put this question to bed for now.
LAURA PALMER
Since my original writing, we have learned some interesting things about Laura – we just don’t know how they go together.
We have seen Laura inside an orb created by ??????? and sent to earth by Dido. Was this 1945 or 1956 or more recent?
Laura also quickly appeared to Gordon Cole within the doorframe of his hotel room. Behind the appearance is Albert who was bringing him news about Diane.
1. What did Laura whisper?
2. Where did she go?
3. Is she dead? Or is she alive?
4. Is Laura represented through another character this time around?
5. Will Cooper find Laura, as Leland asks?
BECKY BURNETT
We saw Becky with her boyfriend Steven several hours ago. We see them again in Part 10 in which Steven is yelling at her — a huge reminder of how Leo treated Shelly. We are still left with lingering questions on how Becky fits in the bigger picture.
1. What role will Becky play in this story?
2. Who is Becky’s father?
MR C
Just when I think I might be able to grasp Mr C, something happens and I realize I cannot. After Part 10, we now know that he is involved with the Glass Box. We also know that BOB resides within him to some extent. We know that he has friends who can help him out if he gets shot. We know he is quite wealthy – owning a mansion. But we are still left with important questions:
1. What is Mr C’s end-game?
2. Did Mr C know that the real Cooper would come back to the real world? and if so, is he setting up the ultimate trap for Cooper to forever be free from the confines of the lodge?
THE FRUG & THE KIDS
A new category has been added with this part — The Frug and the Kids.
In Part 8, we see a strange frog/bug thing hatch from an egg. We also see two young characters – a boy and a girl. The frug enters the girl’s mouth after she falls asleep while listening to Abe the Woodsman chant over and over on the radio.
Fans have been trying to figure out who the kids are. I’ve put in my two cents here. We’ve also been trying to figure out if the frug is carrying BOB, or Laura or something else entirely.
1. What is the frug?
2. Who are the kids?
3. Why did the frug go into the girl’s mouth?
BOB
Part 8 appears to have been an origin story involving BOB and The Experiment who has vomited up hundreds (if not thousands) of eggs. Out of that vomit comes BOB leaving us several questions:
1. Was BOB created in 1945 by the first atomic bomb explosion?
2. How did BOB get to Washington state?
3. Is the girl BOB’s first host? (I tend to think not.)
4. Years ago, it was mentioned that BOB was from a planet of creamed corm — is there any truth to this?
DIANE
We are introduced to Diane – a feisty and angry former employee of the FBI. Cole convinces her to go to Buckhorn to talk with “Cooper” and it appears that the two had a falling out. However we learned later that Mr C sent Diane a message and Cole and Albert learn that they can’t trust her.
All this leaves us with one big question:
1. Can Diane be trusted?
2. Is this even the “real” Diane?
3. Is she working with Mr C or Jeffries or is Mr C just trolling her?
Misc Questions
Will we talk about Judy this time?
Who is “she” that Cole and Albert talk about at the end of Part 4? DIANE!!!
Will we see Diane? YES!!
How did the ring go from Laura to Dougie? (In The Missing Pieces, Annie had the ring and the nurse stole it from her so we could also ask – how did it go from nurse to Dougie?)
What is the missing piece that Hawk and the others are searching for? Pages from Laura’s Diary
Will Harry S Truman feel better? Unlikely – may have cancer.
Why does “Cooper” not look too happy in the scene of him driving? Is that even “Cooper?”
Can OAM also manufacture people?
Do the red balloons mean anything? We have repeatedly see red balloons throughout the show. In fact in Part 10, Jacoby refers to “red balloons.”
Are Nadine and Ed together? Or is Norma and Ed together? Are any of them together at all?
Is Richard Horne Audrey’s son? Who is the father? Is Richard the Richard that that Giant references? We now know that Richard is the grandson of Sylvia and Ben. This confirms that he is the son of Audrey.
Dr Jacoby has always been an eccentric – but has he really gone off the deep end?
Cooper once told Hawk that if he was lost, he would like for Hawk to find him. Will Hawk find Cooper?
Speaking of Hawk – he was at Glastonbury Grove and may have seen the red drapes – did he see anything else?
PART TITLES
Here are the titles of the first 10 parts of the season:
Part 1: My log has a message for you.
Part 2: The stars turn and a time presents itself.
Part 3: Call for help.
Part 4: …brings back some memories.
Part 5: Case files.
Part 6: Don’t die.
Part 7: There’s a body all right.
Part 8: Gotta light?
Part 9: This is the Chair
Part 10: Laura is the one
Upcoming Parts are:
Part 11: There’s fire where you are going – The first time I saw this title, I immediately thought that it was a warning from the Log Lady. Could it be a warning from Margaret to Hawk and is it connected to Jack Rabbit Palace?
Part 12: Let’s rock. – The title brings up memories of both LMFAP and also the writing on Desmond’s car. I believe we may very well return to the Red Room in this episode.
