I never thought it was Windom Earle, it makes no sense since his soul was basically destroyed by Bob after he tried to run things in The Black Lodge. I always thought it was either The Arm, or Bob and now I'm thinking it's The Arm since he seems to be more of a help to Cooper.
I too disagree that Earle was speaking to Briggs through Sarah. I mean, whatever one writer (Peyton) may have originally intended isn't necessarily "true," and there might not even be one "true" explanation. Neverthless, Earle was weak and eviscerated...
Anybody else in the lodge--Laura, Leland, Annie, MIKE, an Arm--seems more likely to me to have been speaking through Sarah.
I had the same take away as you too. I assumed and still assume it was the arm (good or bad version).
Not sure if you all have seen this, but Lynch must have....
Sarah Palmer's possession is a new occurrence. She just killed someone without it even being a big deal to her. The trucker was being an absolute dick to her but there have been many men in Twin Peaks who have been much worse and she didn't kill them!
They just casually changed her into to a horror film murderer after having been such a complex character.
Interesting points, TCIL. I shared your reaction, initially, re: the seeming reduction of Sarah's complexity into a genre trope... but I'm no longer convinced that she can't be both complex and bound up with the genre games Lynch and Frost like to play. In fact, I'm coming around to the idea that this actually gives her pride of place, alongside Leland and Laura, as the central characters in the whole arc of the three seasons and FWWM.
Reactions like the one we shared remind me of the rather heated controversy generated by the "reveal" of Leland as Laura's killer and his subsequent exit from the show ... One camp was appalled that Lynch and Frost attempted to humanize a child molester (e.g., via the multi-generational cycle of abuse implied by his account of his first encounter with "Bob," the pathos of his suicide and Cooper's "last rites," etc.). ... the other, iirc, was dismayed that the answer to the "Who killed Laura Palmer" conceit was so straightforward or mundane.
I've always thought that the relationship between Bob and Leland neither exonerated Leland from his wrongdoing nor reduced the complexity of Leland's character (not least after Ray Wise's virtuoso performance throughout the original series, FWWM, and The Missing Pieces)...
... I'm hopeful/cautiously optimistic that Sarah will figure prominently in the rest of the series and that Lynch/Frost will sustain the complexity of her character while exploring her new supernatural prominence.
But I certainly agree that they seem to be straying dangerously close to reducing two of the most complex and fascinating female characters in TV... to shopworn paper dolls representing tired--nay, ancient-- cliches/archetypes for the redemptive power of female love and the madwoman's wrath.
Sarah Palmer's possession is a new occurrence. She just killed someone without it even being a big deal to her. The trucker was being an absolute dick to her but there have been many men in Twin Peaks who have been much worse and she didn't kill them!
They just casually changed her into to a horror film murderer after having been such a complex character.
Think about the setting she walked into. Scenes like that don't typically end well for the woman involved or show them in the grandest of light e.g., lead to: the woman verbally standing her ground only to be molested or later sexually assaulted in the bathroom or parking lot, the woman pulls a gun and . . ., or a different less repulsive man intervenes to save the day, etc. I found it oddly satisfying within the context of season three: Sarah violently killed a much larger man without using a weapon or her hands (just the ol' BL magic). How often have we seen a woman being violent towards a man? Also, for me at least, it makes her character even more complex. It forces me to relate this Sarah to the Sarah in seasons one and two and consider a whole host (pun not intended?) of new questions (as well as my perception of her).
How often have we seen a woman being violent towards a man?
Never, in a Lynch film, IIRC. Unless you count self-defense (always unsuccessful, iirc).
No, wait. There's Nadine Hurley's super-strength wrestling...
In a serious, physically dominating way? Never.
Which makes Sarah's metamorphosis all the more intriguing/compelling, IMO.
Not convinced she's possessed. BOB never displayed any superhuman strength or magic parlour tricks whilst possessing Leland.
I actually saw this as something else. Something new that we've not seen before.
Not convinced she's possessed. BOB never displayed any superhuman strength or magic parlour tricks whilst possessing Leland.
I actually saw this as something else. Something new that we've not seen before.
A mutation perhaps?
New poster here- needed to be able to join in the conversation!
In any case, I just want to point out that the term "The Dreamer" is a very common Eastern Spiritual concept. It is one that posits that all of creation, all of what we think is reality, is actually more like what we would call a "dream." Accordingly, true "Reality" is in fact: formless, eternal, unborn; a unified state of pure Being. Call it the pure energy that underlies all physical form if you will.
The Dreamer then is unborn and eternal, but dreams an infinitely complex, but divided and fragmented story. Those fragments all seem to have their own will and separate story that plays out. Those fragments would be us; unaware that we are in fact all part of one unified being.
So Monica's message, to me, was more along the lines of pushing for awareness of a truth. I think this aspect of dream/nightmare has played out in quite a few scenes throughout the season. But more that, in the way Lynch/Frost and playing with it, what we call dreams and reality are not so separated at all.
I was watching some clips of FWWM earlier and it struck me that the scene where you see a close up of jumping man's mouth - look at the teeth. Very similar to those of the Cheshire Cat grin inside Sarah's head.
Just a thought!
I found the whole scene very thought provoking. I went from worrying about Sarah being a victim when she was walking alone in the dark, to seeing her reveal what lies inside her and using it to take down "that guy we've all run into more than we'd like to admit." It was gruesome, it was unexpected, and it really made a statement. I went from thinking of it as evil, to considering that perhaps it is a way Sarah is protected from the horror that has become her life. She cooperates with it and protects it from being fully revealed. The way she goes back and forth between herself and the other makes me think she's still in there, and allowing this "man-eating carnivore" to emerge when it's appropriate. She warned the guy. He shouldn't have called her a cunt.
I found the whole scene very thought provoking. I went from worrying about Sarah being a victim when she was walking alone in the dark, to seeing her reveal what lies inside her and using it to take down "that guy we've all run into more than we'd like to admit." It was gruesome, it was unexpected, and it really made a statement. I went from thinking of it as evil, to considering that perhaps it is a way Sarah is protected from the horror that has become her life. She cooperates with it and protects it from being fully revealed. The way she goes back and forth between herself and the other makes me think she's still in there, and allowing this "man-eating carnivore" to emerge when it's appropriate. She warned the guy. He shouldn't have called her a cunt.
And he shouldn't have acted like a cunt 😀
Seriously though, really interesting take on it, it hadn't occurred to me that she carries this "thing" in her in a symbiotic relationship kind of way. One protects the other.
Good call.
Yep, a definite catch, Buttercup.
Maybe Sarah is a force for good and has a bodyguard.
It reminds me of the Judeo/Christian view of angels. Popular trends show them as cute little girly things but in reality they were big scary guys who could level whole cities without breaking a sweat. God's enforcers.
Maybe this thing is a portable version.
Yep, a definite catch, Buttercup.
Maybe Sarah is a force for good and has a bodyguard.
It reminds me of the Judeo/Christian view of angels. Popular trends show them as cute little girly things but in reality they were big scary guys who could level whole cities without breaking a sweat. God's enforcers.
Maybe this thing is a portable version.
I agree. It occurred to me when I was talking to my mother about gargoyles. They are grotesque and vicious looking sitting on the tops of churches. Their purpose is benign, to protect the architecture by diverting rainwater, but I see them differently. I see them as more of spiritual protectors that threaten those who do show proper respect to the religious purpose of the structure. If they weren't supposed to intimidate, they would be the cute little angels. I just searched the origin of the word and surprise - the word "Gargoyle" originates from the old French word "Gargouille" meaning "throat". Hmmm.
One more thing, I've always been huge on Alice in Wonderland. That cheshire cat smile made me thing about how the cat's presence evaporates and reappears. I've been very intrigued by this scene.
He behaved badly towards her but in effect all he did was say a few swear words to her. Murdering him was an extreme reaction. I don't see her as a force for good when she acted this way.
He behaved badly towards her but in effect all he did was say a few swear words to her. Murdering him was an extreme reaction. I don't see her as a force for good when she acted this way.
"I'l rip your little dyke titties off"
Even before he said that I had him down as a rapist.
Fire walk with