Ah, Waldo... I remember seeing TP for the first time and being completely amazed by the Waldo element in the investigation. After the dream and the rocks and bottles scene I should have known, but watching how a mynah became a witness of a federal crime, what he had to say and how he ended told me not that this was no ordinary show (which I already knew of course), but that anything was possible to solve Laura's murder... 

When I think in Waldo himself I can only think what Andy expressed: "Poor Waldo". But I *loved* the Waldo subplot, which leads to the first question:

1) Do you find the inclusion of Waldo in the plot about such an horrible crime ridiculous and unnecessary or yet another great element of the show's quirkiness? Or something else?

2) Mr. Eko in "Lost" says "Don't mistake coincidence with fate" (which BTW, in "Lost" is a great spot-on line). As you know Waldo was owned by Jacques Renault and was a patient of Lydecker, best friend of the OAM... All this was a coincidence or fate?

3) This has always bugged me: Why would a guy like Jacques have a bird in a cabin where he probably goes only from time to time (weekends?)? The bird was dehydrated so he doesn't care about it much, but on the other hand he took it to Lydecker's...

4) And related to question 3, in TP the places where the characters live, the items they have or what they wear say a lot about them; Leo's half-made house, Jacoby's fake fish bowl, the "BEN" sign in Ben's desk,... What tells us Waldo about Jacques?

The first thing I think of when Waldo is mentioned is the blood slowly dripping on the stack of donuts...black feathers strewn about. And then, "Poor Waldo." It's so creepy when we hear the playback on Coop's microcassette recorder..."Hello, Waldooo!...hurting me, hurting me..." Waldo was a FANTASTIC plot in Twin Peaks---added a layer of mystery all its own. What did the bird see? Did it see the killer? A bird as a witness!! BRILLIANT!!!! All those questions would run circles through the mind...I don't think the Waldo/Jacques/OAM/Lydecker domino effect was a coincidence...just a surefire example of 'laying one stone at a time'. When Coop is squeezing anything he can out of Jacques at One Eyed Jack's, and Waldo is mentioned...that just gives me goosebumps. Imagine the terrible things that that bird saw. And, as Gordon pointed out, why would Jacques get a bird...a pet at all, really...when it is going to just be neglected and left to fend for itself? The bringing him to Lydecker is what baffles me---Waldo is a tool to Jacques, only to be used when needed---yet he cared enough to bring the bird in...was he hoping that the bird would talk? Spill all the secrets? Did he think maybe then that he would be off the hook? I'm not sure---there's something deeper under that, I think. Why is Waldo kept at the cabin and not the apartment? Does Waldo (seeing him) make Jacque think of all the terrible things he did? If so, why did he let the bird live? Because once Leo found out about Waldo, BANG! Perhaps Waldo reminds Jacque of himself---caged in a life that he doesn't want but doesn't know how to escape.

Waldo the Bird is dead.

A bird as a sex toy?  That's a new one.  Its not uncommon for owners to bring their pets with them when they travel.  He may have also just wanted to amuse Laura by bringing Waldo around when she visited.  On page 113 in the Secret Diary, she talks about Waldo repeating "show me... show me.. Little girl... little girl..." after a night of sex and drugs with Jaques.  Who knows? Maybe that was erotic to him.

This article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1988755,00.html reminded me of Waldo's story.

Waldo the Bird is an echo of the ghost of Laura.

that is all.

Caw! Caw! The bird theme is interesting in the show. Funny how Coop says, "I don't like birds" and yet he did admire the ducks on the lake. Then of course there are the spying owls and how they are "not what they seem". I wonder if Jacques having the Waldo had anything to do with the owls, just because it is a fellow bird, and owls play a huge part in the story, and like the owls, Waldo observes what happens. My guess though is to agree with a few other posts in that Waldo was just a fetish of Jacques, but he cared enough about the bird to take him to the vet occasionally, so it shows that Jacques has some element in him of caring, if only for his own disturbing enjoyment.

The inclusion of Waldo is quirky and serious at the same time, which is what makes it so interesting and amusing. I think of the part with Doc Hayward saying the grapes "are right on the edge" and asking if there are apples instead which are fresher to feed Waldo, and everyone at the station (except Cooper) doting on Waldo and taking special care with him, and how sad it is when Leo shoots him.

The scene with the blood all over the doughnuts is classic. Through the whole series I crave doughnuts until that point.

I'm not sure if anything is a coincidence in Twin Peaks. Everything is so interwoven, one mystery revealing its connection to another to form one great mystery.

I like the Waldo subplot. But the Lydecker thing really confuses me. Everytime I watch the show with someone else I'm dreading them asking me about that, because I just can't get my head round it.

Cooper's "Waldo the bird is dead" line is amazing. Even though he doesnt like birds...

1) another great element of the show's quirkiness!

2) My theory on that is that Mr Gerard  probably had a best friend. Mike also had a best friend (BOB) and Mikes mind has taken over very much of Gerard som if Gerards friends name really was Lydecker… No, I dont think so. The same names is Mikes hint through Gerard to point out the clues that will lead to the cabins in the forrest.

3) I dont think he meant to leave the bird in the cabin. He took the bird with him from his apartment,  and forgot Waldo in the cabin when he left. He might have been more dizzy than he normaly is.
4) That Jaques is very lonely- he have this talking bird that gives him company?

This would've gone on the nitpicks thread on the old board.  Leo heard Lucy talking about Waldo on his CB radio, but how did he know the bird was in the interrogation room?  Did he stalk unnoticed aroud the sherrif's station that day until he found a window with the blinds open?    Or did he do it at night, and someone left the blinds open so he could see inside?  Would Waldo have lived if Harry and the crew were more vigilant/less careless?  Bumbling idiots...

The TP's sheriff station is not the most secure place in the world, that's for sure... Earle managed to get in and leave a corpse, and what about Milford and his shotgun?