Thought after FWWM... (spoileralertspoileralertspoileralert...) 

Was Laura only so wasted on drugs that she thinks that Bobby killed mike in the woods in FWWM? For me it made me think like she was somehow enjoying to confuse Bobby on that situation by assuring him that it was Mike, his best friend he killed. Could that have been a hint of dark side of laura or influence of BOBs presence in her? She sure was wasted too, but still. dont know. Any thoughts?

I just watched FWWM for the first time in a year last night and was hard at thought about that too. I wanted to make a post about this scene also, but pertaining to the drug delivery itself. Was Jaques trying to kill Bobby? And it would make sense that the deputy from the trailer park would have a hand with something like that due to his attitude with Desmond. Anyway, back to the killing Mike thing, it's really beyond me, and is still considered an intentional ambiguity by me.

The movie and the diary gave the impression that Bobby killed two men in two distinct shootings.  The incident described in her diary is completely different from the one depicted in the film.

I reckon it's partly true that she thought Deputy Cliff was Mike...but it's probably just Lynch doing what he does best...disorientating us...(Or maybe it's a cross between the two Mike's...Cliff is both blonde, and has facial hair...)

Yeah, this scene has always been a confusing one, and personally, not one of my favorites, because it makes Bobby go from the hoodlum teenager in the show to a murderer.

Either way, I've always wondered, was it a sting operation, or did Cliff really deal drugs on the side? 

As I said in an old thread we had about this what puzzles me about that scene is not that Laura thinks Cliff is Mike, the girl is after all really high, but that Bobby considers it for a moment... Bobby doesn't look drugged or drunk and obviously he knows Mike really well, how could he think that?

Good point, Gordon! Never thought of that one so I can´t think of anything clever to say about it...

Anyways. About the "Bobby you killed Mike thing". Well, to me there is an obvious link to the relationship between the spirits -Bob and Mike. Not Lauras boyfriend and his mate.
Now, I never really got the point about this dualism. But I still think that this is what is hinted at here.

I don´t have FWWM here with me, so I don´t know what happened to Laura prior this scene? It could be important.

I´m thinking that maybe Mike was that last bit of hope that could have saved Laura, but Laura thinks that BOB killed him and therefore she´s given up. I mean, this is her way of telling us that there´s no more hope for her.

Ditte 

Yeah, this scene has always been a confusing one, and personally, not one of my favorites, because it makes Bobby go from the hoodlum teenager in the show to a murderer.

Either way, I've always wondered, was it a sting operation, or did Cliff really deal drugs on the side? 

I think you are on to something, Ditte, the connection, at least artistically and metaphorically speaking of BOB and Mike and Bobby and Mike Nelson...

Now, Bopper and Mr. Bonehead Boyfriend are not human counterparts, symbols or dopplegangers of any kind of BOB and Mike, but the lines about them in FWWM can be read with a double meaning, the literal one and another one in reference to the relationship with Laura and the inhabiting spirits...

"Mike is the real man", "Don't tell Mike, this is between you and me", "I wonder if Mike could write a poem", "Bobby, you killed Mike", etc.

Bobby gives that big sniff just before he snaps out of it, though, so I think it's a matter of her drug hallucination -- if we can call it that for now -- being a little contagious for a moment.

Could that have been a hint of dark side of laura or influence of BOBs presence in her?

As I said in an old thread we had about this what puzzles me about that scene is not that Laura thinks Cliff is Mike, the girl is after all really high, but that Bobby considers it for a moment... Bobby doesn't look drugged or drunk and obviously he knows Mike really well, how could he think that?

Exactly Gordon. Though Bobby was getting high too, a bit at least. But you got my point: was it Laura who got him thinking that, seriously? And to go further, to me it seemed like Laura was somehow enjoying of Bobbys cunfusion shed made.

Yeap, He didnt look as a bit wasted that Laura was, but a little in coke, in smoke, after killing someone... that could make you a bit paranoid, wouldnt it? 

Sure it can be just drugs making Laura say that, but I cant get rid of thought of her enjoying the moment.

I dont know if there's any deeper meaning in the whole you killed mike -scene. Just cause of drugs.... (and alcohol on side) neeeeh, I dont think so BOB1 ;)

Anyways. About the "Bobby you killed Mike thing". Well, to me there is an obvious link to the relationship between the spirits -Bob and Mike. Not Lauras boyfriend and his mate.
Now, I never really got the point about this dualism. But I still think that this is what is hinted at here.

I don´t have FWWM here with me, so I don´t know what happened to Laura prior this scene? It could be important.

I´m thinking that maybe Mike was that last bit of hope that could have saved Laura, but Laura thinks that BOB killed him and therefore she´s given up. I mean, this is her way of telling us that there´s no more hope for her.

Ditte 

 Now that is the best theory I've heard regarding the You-killed-Mike-scene. Great Ditte!

I always thought Bobby's confusion was there to show how manipulative Laura could be. Similar to when she calms Bobby down outside the highschool, when he asks her where she's been. One smile from Laura and he goes from being angry and suspicious to a lovestruck teenager.

 Actually most girls are like that, not just Laura ;)

I'm reluctant to think that the shooting has anything to do with Laura's imagining of Mike/Gerard being destroyed by BOB.  Unless I am forgetting something, I don't think Gerard is ever referred to as Mike in the dialog of the film, so that connection seems to be pretty non-present.  Yes, you might argue that we can carry that info over from the series... but well, I don't think that was what Lynch would have intended.  I know I'm broaching the intentionality paradox to say that, but knowing the man as we do, it seems more likely to me that the answer is simpler and contained within the film itself.  Thus, I tend to think that it's just Laura's attempt to manipulate and derrive pleasure from the confusion and negative emotions the suggestion causes.

You pretty much have to see the entire series to gain any kind of understanding of the movie, so I don't see why we suddenly can't apply information in the show to the movie.

First, I don't think that's true at all.  In fact, knowing about the series beforehand can really screw with your piecing the movie together because of all the inconsistencies.

Second, the inconsistencies and other things about how the movie was filmed surely go to show that Lynch was very uninterested in making it jive with or rely on the series.  Therefore, I tend to think that things not mentioned in the movie probably weren't at the forefront in his mind when filming.  Again, this is not to say that Lynch's intentions are the be-all and end-all of how we can or should interpret the movie.  As I said, I am simply reluctant to do so for this reason.

Third, "WE" can do anything "WE" want.  *I* was simly stating my thoughts.  Your mileage may vary.

The diary entry that Donna reads to Agent Cooper in the series touches on BOB alluding to MIKE's existence to Laura.  It's possible that Laura might've inferred that the man from the angry confrontation on the road with her father was indeed MIKE because he possessed such horrible information.  She seems uncertain if she knows him there because they haven't actually physically met.  She only knows of him.  Laura is in many ways the detective of the movie who deduces conclusions from cryptic past events.  She connects the strange ring with Teresa's blackmail attempt and subsequent murder, her father's increasingly menacing behavior, and MIKE's warning.

I really think the drug deal scene in the woods is terrific, one of Lee's best scenes of many.  Her laughter is so hysterical and insane and she and Bobby are acting so inappropriately for this clandestine exchange by night.  It seems like something of a reversal of the scene in the series wherein Donna and James conceal the locket, only here instead of the young couple uniting, the sequence marks the end of Laura's and Bobby's relationship.

any linking between Bobby/ Mike (Nelson) and BOB/MIKE is veery weak to me, except for a simple word game (but without deeper meanings)

so theories showing ome parallel here are not my piece of cake I'm afraid

in this scene I can see a totally drugged girl and a young dude who is in a state of shock after killing a man, probably influenced by some psychoactive sunstance, too, plus definitely influenced by the girl who is much much stronger a personality than him (so fools him easily, on purpose or because of being high)

nothing else...

a scene in La Strada really reminds me of this scene.

The scene with Laura and her father in the car is similar to the drug transaction scene.  Laura is uncertain if she's met MIKE before and even Leland seems confounded by her statement.   The series had so much in the way of doubling and the movie has characters wearing two faces.  The mistrust of what's apparently seen is felt. 

I was wondering about the same issue yesterday, but think I understood what was going on, thanks to a powerful reply of Geoff in the topic "The Ring" (which paved the way and helped me to connect some dots):

"Both BOB and MIKE have a relationship with personal artifacts from their victims.  MIKE used Teresa's ring, BOB used Laura's half-heart necklace.  I would venture to say that in the convenience store scene, MIKE is gloating about his relationship to Teresa Banks as though it were a marriage.  Mrs. Tremond's grandson tells both of them to "fell a victim," and I think they both had in mind Teresa and Laura, respectively.  When BOB kills Teresa, I think it angers MIKE (and possibly other lodge spirits) because she was supposed to be MIKE's victim or future host or whatever.  This comes from the "You stole the corn... I had it canned... over the store" line during the traffic jam scene.

I think the Banks murder is what happened to cause a figurative rift between MIKE and BOB, perhaps leading MIKE to see "the face of God," and literally divide into the Gerard-entity and Little MIKE, the representation of "the arm," or MIKE's link to BOB and the killing partnership they had."

The green "owl" ring somehow connects the wearer to MIKE.

I firmly believe that after Teresa Banks death Deputy Cliff Howard stole the ring. After all, this is obviously the only reason Chet Desmond returns to the trailer park with the intention of searching Deputy Cliff's trailer (Irony, he doesn't seem to find the ring but the ring finds him).

I'm also convinced that Deputy Cliff tried the ring and put it on his finger - thus making a connection with MIKE (the extent of the connection remaining unknown).

Now Laura has already "access" to the spirits of the Lodge. I'm certain she has never met Deputy Cliff Howard but instantly and empathically recognizes him as "MIKE".

That's it - from my point of view.

Where it really gets complicated is THIS: Deputy Cliff draws his gun.

Was he actually trying to kill Bobby (who was there with a witness he would have had to shoot, too)? Kill the reliable Twin Peaks High School drug messenger? Where is the logic in that?

OR

Was he (MIKE) trying to kill Laura to get even with BOB? Or was he trying to kill her (because she wanted to die) to prevent BOB from posessing her?

And then Laura's reaction: Was she laughing or was she hysterical, now that Bobby Briggs had taken her chance to get killed and end her suffering?

Im maybe not looking hard enough but I just thought it was a case of Laura being to wasted to know either way...all these arguments do bear weight though, interesting theories