I'm saying that yes, there is Bob in the world of Twin Peaks but he is also a metaphor of people's lack of strength to ignore the temptation. Just like the Tempter and Satan are. And just as God is a metaphor for the Creator of everything and all the goodness there is. They are metaphors because we can't see them concretically. It doesn't take away the possibility that they can exist. 

 Well said,Rami!That was almost what I wanted to say,too.YES,BOB exists in the world of TP.And of course he doesn't exist in our real world.And he's a metaphor of people's lack of strength to ignore the temptation.I can agree with that.

So, you see that Leland transforming into "BOB" when committing his acts of evil is a metaphor for Leland's state of denial / insanity whilst he is behaving that way.  Such cases of multiple personality disorder are well documented and occur often in those who themselves were abused as children, like Leland.

So, you see that Leland transforming into "BOB" when committing his acts of evil is a metaphor for Leland's state of denial / insanity whilst he is behaving that way. 

 Leland's behaviour is a metaphor in OUR world.I said there were many fathers who rape their daughters,and there is no BOB inside them.BOB can be really a representation of the evil that men do,but only here,in our world.These fathers are really insane.And you are right about that they were usually sexually abused as they were children.

But, please understand me the right way,BOB really exists in the world of Twin Peaks,this is some kind of a science fiction or kind of,something like X-files,this is a story about supernatural forces.And it was BOB who made Leland do all the bad stuff he did.You can't deny the existance of BOB.This way the show "Twin Peaks" will become completely different.

When TWIN PEAKS came out (before the X-Files existed) this kind of misconception was not possible, as I said, the fact that the rape and murder by a father of his own daughter was not dissipated by excusing it as the work of evil aliens is what makes TWIN PEAKS a David Lynch project and not just another quirky 90s cult TV show.

We'd better stop here,cause it's useless and we'll only turn this thread to a chat!You can't assure me of Leland raping and killing his daughter consciously,just like I can't assure you of the opposite.We have completely different views of the TP story,and this doesn't mean that you are right,or I am right.There is nothing right or wrong about Twin Peaks.And I think many people will agree with me on this.I enjoy TP this way.(which doesn't mean I believe in spirits)Maybe because I don't believe in spirits,This story just takes me in a world different from ours,that's why I find TWIN PEAKS interesting,unique,fascinating,original and completely different from the other ordinary and quite stylish soap tv serials,and maybe that's why TP will remain as a classic show forever!

Isn't this just a straight forward case of text and subtext? I enjoy the text just as much as you and anyone else here, especially the humorous stuff - however, the subtext, though disturbing, is equally a part of the show and to deny it is to simplify it and reduce it's significance.

So, you see that Leland transforming into "BOB" when committing his acts of evil is a metaphor for Leland's state of denial / insanity whilst he is behaving that way.

Leland's behaviour is a metaphor in OUR world.I said there were many fathers who rape their daughters,and there is no BOB inside them.BOB can be really a representation of the evil that men do,but only here,in our world.These fathers are really insane.And you are right about that they were usually sexually abused as they were children.

But, please understand me the right way,BOB really exists in the world of Twin Peaks,this is some kind of a science fiction or kind of,something like X-files,this is a story about supernatural forces.And it was BOB who made Leland do all the bad stuff he did.You can't deny the existance of BOB.This way the show "Twin Peaks" will become completely different.

Actually I didn't mean it quite like that. I meant that Lynch and Frost tried to say that in our real world those who rape their children aren't always insane persons. They might be lovable persons who just can't help it when they are feeling the temptation. They have a problem grown too big.

Bob isn't just an inhabiting spirit. In the world of Twin Peaks people do have the power to ignore Bob but they are too weak to do it most often. Just like us in the real world. Almost every single day we give in to some kind of temptation (it can be sexual or it can be about food or anything). Bob is just as strong spirit in Twin Peaks as the temptative force is in our world. It's damn strong. 

Bob can be both a metaphor and an inhabiting spirit in the world of Twin Peaks. To those people who can't see him, he is the evil that men do and to those people who can see him, he is the evil that men do but with a face so that some people could recognize the evil energy when they see it and that way it could be possible to try to crush the evil force under the good force again.

That's OK,Rami! I think you gave a quite good explanation! No more to add.I think,too,that those people who are gifted and damned,as well,can see the face of this evil,and those who are not such,don't see it.

Lynch & Frost are showing that insanity and evil don't always come as a pair, Leland can be evil (under BOB's influence if you like) or Leland can be totally unaware of his actions and genuinely be suffering from dissociative identity disorder and therefor still love Laura as a decent parent for the most part and suffer massive guilt later once he realizes what he has done.

This subtext is key to the series, in later, safer shows, it would have been made clear that either BOB was the real culprit or that Leland had a disorder, the fact that is left ambiguous is what makes the series great, because there are no easy answers.  It is of interest though that not so long ago MPD* was seriously explained away by demonic possession and I'm sure the authors are aware of this.

* Multiple Personality Disorder 

I think that Rami is right. Twin Peaks must be thought of on two planes: the literal, and the metaphorical. Yes Leland was possessed by BOB in the literal world of Twin Peaks, but metaphorically it seems obvious that Leland gave in to his tempatations. Also I don't think that Lynch wanted Leland to be as innocent as he was represented to be in eps 16 and 17, even in the literal world. I think it was supposed to be more like that Leland wanted to do those things, and BOB gave him the "strength" to commit these deeds.

My 2 cents worth....

I think you guys are all right, at least to your own pre conceptions. The beauty of TP is that it is open to interpretaions being the multi layered masterpeice that it is. Even Lynch's intention is no more valid than the viewers perception. A hallmark of truly great art is often it's ability to provoke multiple readings not only in different people but in the same person in differing stages of there life.

My 2 cents worth....

I think you guys are all right, at least to your own pre conceptions. The beauty of TP is that it is open to interpretaions being the multi layered masterpeice that it is. Even Lynch's intention is no more valid than the viewers perception. A hallmark of truly great art is often it's ability to provoke multiple readings not only in different people but in the same person in differing stages of there life.

YEP!   
 

You know for sure that Leland when he was a child,was RAPED by a man called Robertson,who was a friend of his father?

And...in which episode was this mentioned?Cause I didn't hear anything like that.Leland told Cooper and Harry that when he was a kid,in Pearl Lakes,next to his house there used to be a white house and a gray-haired man,named Robertson,who used to ask little Leland "Do you wanna play with fire little boy?" That was all.I don't understand how you all say it was Leland's fault when he raped and murdered Laura.Leland is not guilty!I really can't understand you,and maybe never will.

I agree with Ivalinda!

Leland is not guilty at all!  

And I also didn't hear anything about a man raping Leland,when he was a child  

Leland knew a man who looked just like Bob. I believe that man, Robertson, didn't really look like that at all. Leland had the same "gift" Laura had. He could see the evil inside a person as another person. Maybe the man's name even wasn't Robertson. Just like Laura couldn't see (or didn't want to see) past the mask and saw the face of Bob when Leland was raping her, Leland saw a face of another man when Mr. "Robertson" was doing those things to him. Leland's real name wasn't Bob and the old neighbour's name wasn't Robertson.

I think it's extremely naive to think that it wasn't Leland's fault at all when he did what he did. First of all, it was Leland who made the decision to let Bob in (to let himself to become a man who doesn't have any self control when he is lusting after someone).

Because Leland had the gift to see the evil energy and will as a person (although he didn't realize it) is not making himself more innocent. It was the force of Bob that basically made Laura be a teenage whore for lots of men and women (even if she wasn't completely "accepted" Bob inside of her). Yet it was she who was doing what she did. She enjoyed it. She enjoyed the presence of Bob. Just as we enjoy when we are feeling that powerful feeling of lust and temptation. But as we are able to ignore and hate those feelings, so did Laura occasionally ignore and hate Bob.

If someone in the real world rapes a child he can't have mercy from the court if he says that he couldn't help himself as the power of lust was too strong. It seems odd to me that some of you are thinking that when few people are able to see that power of lust as a face of a man it makes them more innocent than those people who can't see it. You must remember that in Twin Peaks, no matter how strong Bob is, it's all about a choice. People in Twin Peaks' world can choose what they do and those who are able to see the temptation with a face are able to choose whether or not they follow what the face is saying. It's all about having the choice to say no to things that make the person feel good and at the same time hurt someone else. Leland couldn't resist the feeling and that's what made him do those things. It's the same force for everyone. The same force that is trying to make people obey the joy of giving in to temptation. Some people just are cursed or gifted to see that force as another person (cursed if the face distracts one to recognize the truth and a gift to those who are able to take the knowledge as an advantage). Of course it's very much harder for those to resist, who have been years under pressure of another human being who has given in to the force and who have  the "ability" see the face of temptation that is distracting one's sense of what really is happening.