Not that I am really one to give much credit to directorial intent (at all), but it might be interesting to add to this conversation that Lynch, in his interview on FWWM in Lynch on Lynch explains that Cooper isn't really possessed in the same way that Leland was, and that he's been replaced with the "bad" Dale.  This is all paraphrased, mind you, but it does seem to support what number dude is saying.

In terms of what info we can take as canon or not, I defer to others.

This is from project red room: The Art of Posession

"The third type of possession is through the Black Lodge. We see this type of possession in the final episode of the series. Cooper enters the Lodge and meets up with his doppelganger, or shadow-self. The good Cooper is left behind, trapped in the Lodge while BOB exits using the doppelganger as his vessel."

But, Evenreven, I must say I like your version much better

Geoffr, I've read that too, but I don't think the two approaches are mutually exclusive. I think Cooper is much more aware of his new-found dark side than Leland was. I tend to like the theory that the boy in FWWM is a representation of Leland while the jumping man in Philip's vision is a representation of Dale. The boy's mask significantly has no eye holes while the jumping man's mask does have them, suggesting that maybe Cooper can see his dark self while Leland can not.

I believe that's why Cooper smashes the mirror. He can - for a fleeting moment - see what he's become. Leland could never see that completely until just before he died. Cooper, on the other hand, wants to destroy the reflection of his bad side even if it's useless. To me, if the mirror-smasher is the real Dale or the Doppelganger is a red herring. They're both aspects of Dale, and he probably needs to go back to the Lodge for a second shot, maybe with Briggs or something to restore the integrity of his soul (if it's possible at all).

Even if Lynch feels that they're completely different entities, there is no real answer in either episode 29 or in FWWM, no matter what he intended at the time. Annie's statement isn't clear-cut at all, and the one clear indication is in a cut or unfilmed part of the script. I prefer to think he kept it deliberately ambiguous. And I think he was right to do so. If that part had stayed in the film, I would have complained and we wouldn't have had this nice discussion about the nice ambiguity of Twin Peaks.

If HBO had picked it up for Season 3, maybe Nadine would've invented the first completely silent vibrator!!!

I wish that the tension between Audrey and Ben after Cooper rescued her from One-Eyed-Jack's had been developed further. There's that great, creepy scene with her, Ben and Coop...and from that point on she basically does a 180 and is doting on her father while he goes through the Civil War stuff.

* Donna and James, while on his bike, get mowed down by Leo in his truck. (This eliminates the Evelyn subplot.)

* Little Nickey pushes Dick Tremayne into a woodchipper

* Ed doesn't call 911 when Nadine ODs, and buries her in his backyard, telling no one.

* Pete blows up Josie in a boat on a fishing trip, as a revenge for his brother in law's murder.

Hank and Ernie carrying on a steamy love affair behind their wives backs

Senor Droolcup takes Audrey's cherry, in a verrrrrrry slow sex scene, while actually drooling into a cup (filled with warm milk) & sporadically giving the thumbs-up sign. Audrey wears her saddle shoes, smokes & does her "dreamy" dance, while on her knees, taking S.D. from behind.  Ben comes in & kills the world's slowest room service waiter with his omnipresent carrot.  Audrey moans: "Daddy, how could you?! I almost came!" Ben replies with: "Audrey, how many times have I told you, NEVER have sex with the staff?!"

Senor Droolcup takes Audrey's cherry, in a verrrrrrry slow sex scene, while actually drooling into a cup (filled with warm milk) & sporadically giving the thumbs-up sign. Audrey wears her saddle shoes, smokes & does her "dreamy" dance, while on her knees, taking S.D. from behind.  Ben comes in & kills the world's slowest room service waiter with his omnipresent carrot.  Audrey moans: "Daddy, how could you?! I almost came!" Ben replies with: "Audrey, how many times have I told you, NEVER have sex with the staff?!"

I wish the Harlem Globetrotters would have come to town like they always did on Scooby-Doo.

OSF, if you'd have really liked to see that, then you have officially reached Dirty Old Man status this birthday.

Yeah, I don't get the point of not going by things from "non Lynch episodes". There are only six Lynch directed episodes and five scripts that Lynch is credited on (he worked on the script for episode 1, but not episode 9, and is not credited for co-writing the last episode, even though he seems to have almost completely rewritten it); if we only go by what Lynch made, very little of the show is canon.

 That's right, man! I have to say, I really like this series, completely, including season 2.

Let's say that the thing I could live without is the Evelyn segment

I could have lived without seeing all the tarantulas crawling round above Leo.  Still have to hide/fast forward/skip that scene.  If it had been snakes or lizards or frogs np but it genuinly made me scream.

I ALWAYS wanted to see what made evil dopp Laura stop screaming in the end and where she went AND I once had a very strong (but GREAT) dream, like a lucid dream about this and in the end it was (good) Maddy who calmed down and shut her up.  She just walked into the room until she saw her, Laura comes screaming at her then Maddy just stared at her and eventually says "are you quite done?" and gave HER the evil smile then scared her off and I woke up like "OMG what a scene!!" showing who was the more evil cousin and it wasn't Laura. (I kinow that doesn't sound like it makes sense but that's what happened in the dream!  Honestly!)  That and Cooper walked the wrong way two or three times and I was reading the thoughts in his head.  I could literally hear Kyle's voice inside my head, narrating, like "ok, so if I just go this way, no that way, there's Venus, I just saw the Giant, where's Laura?"   and he was going on like this for a while.  I wrote that whole dream on my blog somewhere it was fascinating but if they could bring to life as an extra scene then wow!  I remember in 1991 thinking I'd have liked to see Josie come "back" for the final episode and be in the lodge too.  Maybe just walking around like Leland was, or spooking Coop and Harry.  I didn't like Laura's face in the coffee cup either.  I think that's kind of creepy.  I didn't mind so much until she starts blinking. It's funny. I think I'm the only person I know who is freaked out by Laura when everyone else is freaked out by BOB.  He just always made me laugh.  He genuinly looked too funny to be scary to me.  Maybe to see in the White Lodge at the very end and any good spirits helping in there would've been cool. 

Oh! and I wish I could've seen the Emergency services pull Audrey, Pete and Andrew out of the bank, though I kind of assume Andrew and Pete would be dead.  Would Pete REALLY be lucky enough to survive two disasters?  (First the fire and then this?!)  The Log Lady should have been in the Black Lodge too.  It makes sense to me. And maybe to show her husband the firefighter.

OSF, if you'd have really liked to see that, then you have officially reached Dirty Old Man status this birthday.

What I would have liked to see?  

ABC, on the strength of the pilot, ordering a single 24-episode season (or two 13-episode seasons) and tell Lynch & Frost up-front that they have just this much time to tell the story they want to tell (and that the killer must be revealed, to the audience, anyway).  

Sure, it would mean fewer episodes than what we got, but they'd have been much stronger overall and had a more defined story arc, without the frustrating meandering that takes over for the latter half of the 2nd season.