Hi everyone

 Long time fan of TP and this board - I got the entire boxset for Christmas and am really enjoying revisiting the best thing ever been on TV!

I just rewatched FWWM and am puzzled by one thing (well, others too, but can't find reference to this one anywhere ). Why does Laura turn into BOB when she is reflected in the mirror during the murder scene? I can't find any explanation for this and it is eating my brain lol!

Nice to be here!

Hey Parklife,

 Welcome to the board!

My interpretation of is that Laura had been fighting possession by Bob for a very long time and that she (in some way) chose to die to prevent it from completely happening. Thus when Laura was dying BOB started to win out and overtake her.

(We had seen earlier when Laura deposits her diary with Harold Smith and her teeth turn yellow and her eyes strange she apparently becomes possessed by Bob but just for a moment).

 In her death Laura goes to the Lodge but by dying she prevents BOB from having another vessel. 

"watch out for my cousin.."

"watch out for my cousin.."

To me, Laura's differing reactions from episode 8 and FWWM, when she is in the train car, are logical. In the one from episode 8 she had Mike's ring. Jacoby mentioned that she was at peace before she died, having decided to allow herself to be killed. This first time Cooper was not present to tell her not to take the ring during the dream of the red room. She took it and things became quite clear BOB being real and Leland being the host. I believe that the dream also tried to tell her of a life after death and her soul's survival. She is triumphant, despite her pain, the night of her murder because she won. BOB could not have her.

However, in FWWM Cooper's presence is new. By telling her not to take the ring she became afraid and listened to his advice. This is why Mike was so upset. Without the ring she was confused and unprotected.  However, she didn't listen to Coop's advice in the end, knowing BOB was real, and decided to chance wearing the ring. Laura would still be unsure if she had done the right thing, especially in the red room with the man who told her not to take the ring by her side. However, when the Angel appeared her joy was returned and she knew she had done the right thing.

I don't remember a mirror having been mentioned being found in the train car. It could have been new to the 2nd time Laura escaped BOB.

But why did Cooper tell her not to take the ring? Is it because he knew BOB would kill her if she was protected by the ring/Mike? It could be the good Cooper telling her this after being trapped in the lodge so he had knowledge about the forthcoming murder of Laura. But he must also have known that if she listened to him, BOB would most likely enter her.

 Another possibility: it was the evil Cooper telling her not to take the ring. Since he was controlled by BOB, he wouldn't want Mike to have her.

I'm interested to hear other views about this. Just watching FWWM now so maybe some more things will become clear.

   It couldn't have been the bad Dale that gave Laura the advice not to take the ring because his eyes are clear and his speech is also. Also in the script it seems obvious that it is the good Dale.

Why did he give Laura the wrong advice? My personal stance is to save Annie. Her last name, Blackburn, was well conceived because it was for her that the fire ended up destroying him. He had already lost one woman he loved, Caroline, and he would not risk that happening again. Consider the fact that he was willing to give his soul over to Windom, for whatever nefarious purpose Windom had planned, in order to save Annie and it makes sense that he would be willing to do anything else for the same purpose. This time it was with an act of evil: telling Laura not to take the ring.

WOW BOB Wow.

 Didn't think my first post would have such a reaction! FWIW, the theory about Laura potentially being possessed by BOB makes total sense to me now. What I can't get my head around though, is the possibility that Cooper could have anything other than good intentions in asking laura not to take the ring. I agree with Garlandbozia's last comment about it being the good Dale in the Lodge.

 Hmm need to think some more about this one......

The full script can be found here:

 http://www.lynchnet.com/fwwm/fwwmscript.html

I do believe that the Jeffries we see in Cole’s office does think that the Dale he points at is the one possessed by BOB and the one that will tell Laura not to take the ring. This goes into a longer theory (some of which is under the Judy thread) that Jeffries comes from the time directly following the finale. The convenience store scene takes place then too. The Jumping Man is the representation of Dale possessed and this is why his image pops up when Jeffries points at Dale. When BOB claps his hand the Jumping Man becomes dormant and Pierre, the representation of Leland’s possessed state, comes back to life, signalling that time has reversed. When he followed Mike and BOB inside the Black Lodge he discovered Cooper, knew in the outside world he was BOB’s new host and possibly also learned about the plot of telling Laura not to take the ring. Unaware of the change of time, Jeffries sought out Cole to try to warn him. When Jeffries points at Dale he believes that it is the future Dale.

 I don’t know if there is any way for a host to escape possession by BOB other than death. I think this may have been why Dale was the only one we witnessed in the Lodge during the finale who was alive yet had a doppelganger. Once someone lets BOB inside they are doomed, not to sound too melodramatic. I doubt that Dale would come to Twin Peaks without the murder of Laura Palmer, or more specifically Ronette crossing the border. BOB wanted Laura not Dale. There would be no deal with him. He would not be willing to trade Laura for Dale. To me BOB seems to want to corrupt those who are innocent. It took 5 years of tormenting Laura to finally have a chance to possess her and even then she thwarted him. When it came to Dale Cooper it took about 2 months. Laura was BOB’s obsession both the series and FWWM demonstrated this.

Speaking of Annie, I also forgot to mention that the “How’s Annie?” a reference to Annie’s welfare, figures into the theory that Dale was willing to trade Annie’s safety for Laura’s and BOB influenced Dale this way.

 As to Dale willing to trade Laura for Annie, and his motives not being pure, I think it makes sense by the fact that Dale was willing to sell his own soul for Ms. Blackburn. Selling a soul is never good and is an act of evil in itself. Particularly disturbing is the fact that Dale knew that Windom wanted to use access to the Black Lodge for some evil purpose, potentially to destroy all the good in the world. Yet he was willing to offer his soul for the safety of Annie regardless of the safety of everyone else. This is potentially another reason why he would not allow Truman to enter the Lodge with him. Harry, being a sheriff, would have the concern of everyone’s safety in mind. He would not place Annie’s safety before this, no matter how close he was to Dale. Consider that Dale had already lost Caroline, a fact that the events in the Black Lodge reminded him of several times. He would likely want to prevent that from happening again even at the expense of his soul or Laura’s.

Conveniently, if Laura was possessed and the past changed also, Dale would have no memory of telling Laura the wrong advice. It never would have happened.

I think that Dale knew exactly what Windom would do. In the original script I believe there is some dialogue between Dale and Windom that hints as much, Windom explaining he wants to be King of the Black Lodge and he needs an innocent soul to do it. Dale Cooper is completely aware of the evil that Windom can do. This is the man that killed the love of Cooper’s life,  a woman Earle claimed he still loved and had promised to love, cherish and honour unto death. Dale’s actions are also incredibly foolish. What makes Dale so sure that Windom will keep his word once Dale has been destroyed? Villians seldom do.

Cooper’s selling of his soul indicates his belief in himself. He did not turn to any higher power inside the Lodge or out and instead chose to rely on himself. This is also a major element to his downfall. While other characters, mostly female, turned to their faith in God for salvation Cooper lacked this pure faith.

My thoughts on the final scene with Mike/MFAP and Cooper go something like this. This scene occurs chronologically for Dale after Laura’s ascension. After she has gone, he goes through the Lodge once more and finds Mike/MFAP who asks him if it is the future or the past. From the fact of the ring being missing and being with someone else, Annie this time, Dale discerns it is the future. The plot to get Laura possessed and not himself, and in the process save Annie, has failed. Dale knows he must seek another exit. He asks where he is and how he can leave, to which Mike/MFAP says “You are here and there is no place to go... BUT HOME!” and begins to laugh.

The act of evil of telling Laura not to take the ring destroyed the Good Dale. There was no more completely pure Dale Cooper left.  This was as good as any willing invitation. He was returned to his BOB possessed body back at the Great Northern. This is why the scene of Mike/MFAP and Dale is soon followed by Hayward and Truman finding Dale laughing on the bathroom floor. He is laughing at the smashed mirror. In my opinion, BOB only smashed the mirror because he thought that his little plot would work. Why would BOB get a new host only to kill him or make him look crazy by smashing a mirror? Simple. He really didn’t want Dale as much as he wanted Laura and he thought that if Dale told her not to take the ring it would all work out. Laura would become possessed, the future would change and the senseless act of violence, bashing the head against the mirror, would be erased. It didn’t.