I do not think I am way off.
Since we're never actually told Coop is in either lodge, we just assume he is when he leaves the red room, which looks exactly like the lodge.
Which makes it seem that the lodge isn't just a place but a state of mind, somewhat like purgatory.
Windom Earle went into the lodge to try to harness it's power. Bob may have let Windom think he had control but waited for the right moment where he could take Windom's soul, knowing he was going after Coop no matter what. Thus getting 2 souls out of the deal.
So I believe Windom had some control of the lodges which is why Coop saw a few images of him.
Also Coop entered the lodge not because of fear but for his love for Annie. I do believe it said love opens the white lodge.At the end of FWWM, we assume it's the white lodge, but we cannot really see much of the room since it's dark, so the floor and curtains may be hidden to us. Plus darkness and strobe lights were present in the end of the series and the end of FWWM.
i like what you said here:
Which makes it seem that the lodge isn't just a place but a state of mind, somewhat like purgatory.
This is conversaton is quite convoluted.
Actually, we see three versions of the red room. first off, the while lodge. at one point after briggs disappered, Hawk tells coop that his people believe in a long standing darkness of in the woods. if one meets the dweller on the threshold(the shadowself(i.e.the doppleganger)), all of which we see in ep29, and are characteristics of the black lodge portrayed on TV and film.
after coops walks through those red cutains in glastonbury, he is in the waiting room. as he has been there before in the dream in ep.2
as for earle, i believe hes being manipulated BOB as a way to eventually take possesion of coop. earle has no power to the black lodge, hes fooled into thinking his does.
And if cooper enters the lodge with love, why is he in the black lodge? not the white one?.
because one must pass through the BL to get to the WL.
in fact, we clearly see the white lodge at the end of FWWN. laura's angel returned and helped her escape bob, even if that meant having to die.
and lastly, the waiting room, the red room, the black lodge, and the white lodge all have stiking similarities furniture, light, floor, curtains, etc.
i think you should watch these parts a few more times. and it not as obvious as one would think.
and remember, this is my interpetation, i speak for no one else.
"Hawk: My people believe that the White Lodge is a place where the spirits
that rule man and nature here reside.
Truman: Local legend. Goes way back.
Hawk: There is also a legend of a place called the Black Lodge... the
shadow-self of the White Lodge. The legend says that every spirit
must pass through there on the way to perfection. There, you will
meet your own shadow-self. My people call it "The Dweller on the
Threshold."
"
So we assume the way to perfection means the way to the white lodge?
I don't think it does. I think it just means that's how you get out of the black lodge and not be trapped.
I stand by my statement that the lodges are moreso a state of mind than an actual physical place, it's what you make it to be.
Unless told by David Lynch (or even Mark Frost) we can only make assumptions of what lodge he is in. I strongly believe Coop entered the White Lodge but Windom's meddling turned the lodges into a chaotic state.
If love is how you get into the white lodge, why is Laura in it at the end of FWWM? What love got her there? I do believe it's the white lodge she is in the white lodge but just wondering the actual way she got there.