I don't think the stories could all be neatly wrapped up... There's such a range of viewers' perception about individual clips, that by the time you add up all the differences, it'll be hard to believe we all watched the same programme!
Even when things seem to be explained, once you think about it, more questions just appear. Maybe they'll actually manage an 'ending' where the folks who want things wrapped up & characters 'back' are happy - and those of us who don't want things settled in stone know that there's still a whole load of explanations for what has happened.
I see that kinda happening now already (mostly on Reddit) with the Big Ed/Norma scene. I found a purity and joy in it, but some people feel it's too good to be true. Even if Nadine does change her mind and Ed goes back to her (which I don't find likely), the purity of that scene remains for me a perfect antithesis to all the horror.
I agree with most of the things you pointed out, Bad! I sometimes get frustrated in forums because people seem to expect too damn much and enjoy the story too damn little.
2) I really hope that we don't get a miraculous return of Dale Cooper delivering "Dale Cooper circa 1991" lines with similarly ingenuous zeal, enthusiasm, etc. This, IMO, would cheapen each of the "Dales" Kyle has since played. I don't want the original Dale, nor do I need him now-- I need a compelling resolution (or, a mysterious lack of resolution) to Dougie's story.
I think, like many others have said here, we'll get Cooper back, but he's going to be changed. 25 years in the lodge and possibly gaining consciousness of Mr. C's acts will definitely not leave 1991 Cooper untouched, thus not cheapening the character.
In fact, I think if we can expect any sort of resolution it would be based on the arm's (or was it MIKE?) line, "Now one of you must die.". Cooper comes back, but only one Cooper should stay in our realm. I'd also like to point out Jeffrie's observation that Mr. C is Cooper, also. He might be his shadowself, but Cooper nonetheless...
4) God forbid we get an "it was a dream all along" or a "still in a coma" or a "she's playing a role in..." explanation for Audrey and Charlie. Truly, with all the anguish spilled on this forum re: Audrey... maybe now is the time to let go of "Audrey Horne" as such.... That said, a rape Mr. C didn't seem able to recall during Part 15 seems, IMO, rather callously heavy handed....
Yes. I don't think whatever explanation for Audrey's storyline is actually going to be something so cliché or something other than the simplest version (she's actually married to Charlie and the whole tale about Billy is true). I feel that their need to make it extremely ambiguous and keep us wondering is just a way to make people butt their heads over this, when we have so many other, and seemingly more important developments, particularly in the mysterious/mystic realm. Audrey's not 17 anymore, let's let that old version of her rest. I believe, however, the rape story could still be true (but it does seem to be getting more and more unlikely). Just because Mr. C said nothing, it doesn't mean he didn't do it. He said "let's talk in the car", so he had something to say to Richard, maybe? Who knows? I doubt this is really crucial, seems like a soap-opera reference to far fetched "who's the father?" storylines.
Re. 5) I really think the Roadhouse is a real place, but the whole of Twin Peaks to me feels out-of-time-y, is-it-future-or-is-it-past, etc. The clothes people wear, their behaviour, The mystic atmosphere of the town. So it makes sense that the Roadhouse feels like a magnified lens has been put over this particular sensation we get from the town.
I fully agree with all the rest. Re. Margaret, YES! Re. the Mysticism surrounding the Palmer family, also YES, I'd be happy for them to get a lighter ending but at the same time would hate if it was all explained. I also like what you said about possible reincarnations, as I feel it's something much wider than that, like cycles repeating themselves all over generations, and not a linear thing, like Margaret dies and immediately the girl crawling around the floor is her (that doesn't even make sense from a reincarnation point of view, anyway.)
11) All of the talk of coordinates should not lead us to assume that "the convenience store" exists in a particular place. Kudos to those who recognized the mystification at work in the absence, circa Part 8, of a second story to the convenience store, as well as the dissonance of (presumably) Douglas Fir trees (or sycamores? I'm no botanist....) behind the Part 15 "convenience store" given its putative provenance in the New Mexico desert...
And also, a big yes to item 11 on your list. If anything, the important thing about the coordinates is that they point to Twin Peaks and its surroundings. It doesn't really matter if the store is permanently there (it probably isn't, as we saw it fade away), if it has a second story or if there are other entrances to other dimensions (there are, as we've seen with Cole and Freddie), the thing is Twin Peaks (obviously, this is why we're here after all) is where it's happening again, 25 years later.
Your general point is well taken: enjoy the mysteries. Makes perfect sense.
In devil's advocate mode, my sense is that people are most satisfied when some mysteries are at least partly clarified, some are fully clarified, and some are in no way clarified.
BUT! we each have DIFFERENT mysteries which we focus on. So the mystery that itches my brain with a desperate need for resolution is not the one you burn for. Which is why some will be inevitably disappointed when the season ends, and others will be satisfied.
In the end, the show is very much a metaphor for life. Our lives don't usually begin and end in tidy bows, and that's okay. Further, the MYSTERY of how we came to exist is impossible to resolve. No one can prove definitively whether there's a creator/god who set this realm in motion, or not. And discovering the answer to that question would in fact rob life of some meaning b/c there'd be nothing deeper to wonder about.
This is a bit on a tangent but it's related to loose ends and dreams.
Dreams are THE focal point of Twin Peaks in a way, along with making dreams come true, ie, manifesting in the real.
There's a good reason, a logical reason, that Janey-E's dreams come true and then go blooey when Dougiecoop starts to wake up. Her dream was not a shared one. A great contrast to Norma and Ed, whose dream probably will come true and stay true.
It probably also explains Diane's hate for Janey-E. Janey can't see what's real because her dreams blind her. Diane would certainly despise that.
didn't kyle maclahlan say that the ending is not going to be abstract and open?
Its not about abstract vs linear narrative ending. That doesn't really matter. A link is still missing so the experience of watching twin peaks doesnt end up feeling blurry/vague. The end game must be related to Laura Palmer (and i think this story will be both abstract and linear). it is her image that is haunting the series in every episode's opening credits, it is her who seems to be sent to earth by senorita dido inside a golden bubble (could this be the same golden bubble we see in the opening credits floating among the twin peaks mountain?) , "it is laura" the log lady insists on saying, it is laura's image the fireman shows to Andy when explaining past, present and future events, it is jack nance that we haven't seen yet (i can't imagine the series finishing without a reference to him) the man who found laura's body, it is laura's boyfriend james hanging out with a man who is going to "fulfill his destiny" and, of course, we haven't seen laura's spirit in the red room since ep.1 (perhaps the most incomplete character story so far) who btw says "i am dead yet i live".
didn't kyle maclahlan say that the ending is not going to be abstract and open?
Not sure if he said that or not.
I do know that he said "everything will make sense."
Of course, that all depends on how people interpret things. One of the things I've become fascinated by on this forum is how we will all watch the same episode, yet come away with 10 different interpretations of what happened in it.
So... given that, and the fact that MacLachlan has not only read the entire script, but filmed several scenes from it, and no doubt conversed with Lync & Frost about it, his understanding of everything may be higher than everyone else's will be come September 3rd.
W'ell just have to see.
didn't kyle maclahlan say that the ending is not going to be abstract and open?
Not sure if he said that or not.
I do know that he said "everything will make sense."
Of course, that all depends on how people interpret things. One of the things I've become fascinated by on this forum is how we will all watch the same episode, yet come away with 10 different interpretations of what happened in it.
So... given that, and the fact that MacLachlan has not only read the entire script, but filmed several scenes from it, and no doubt conversed with Lync & Frost about it, his understanding of everything may be higher than everyone else's will be come September 3rd.
W'ell just have to see.
Of course, "sense" may be in the eyes of the beholder. An an example, well....pretty much everything, at the moment. /-;
We could summarize this as saying: "I"m hoping most things remain a mystery".
Well said, Kdawg. I'm certainly guilty of ranting and raving, glad for those for whom this offers some added value and grateful for those who take my musings as what is, admittedly, so much self indulgence and opt instead for more fertile threads elsewhere. To the latter, I say "Carry on, fellow forum folk."
didn't kyle maclahlan say that the ending is not going to be abstract and open?
OH dear! I hadn't heard that. *quietly fastens metaphorical seatbelt*
Its not about abstract vs linear narrative ending. That doesn't really matter. A link is still missing so the experience of watching twin peaks doesnt end up feeling blurry/vague. The end game must be related to Laura Palmer (and i think this story will be both abstract and linear). it is her image that is haunting the series in every episode's opening credits, it is her who seems to be sent to earth by senorita dido inside a golden bubble (could this be the same golden bubble we see in the opening credits floating among the twin peaks mountain?) , "it is laura" the log lady insists on saying, it is laura's image the fireman shows to Andy when explaining past, present and future events, it is jack nance that we haven't seen yet (i can't imagine the series finishing without a reference to him) the man who found laura's body, it is laura's boyfriend james hanging out with a man who is going to "fulfill his destiny" and, of course, we haven't seen laura's spirit in the red room since ep.1 (perhaps the most incomplete character story so far) who btw says "i am dead yet i live".
Fascinating comments. Couldn't agree more re: Laura's spirit and the late Jack Nance! He certainly deserves an end-credits dedication, what with his involvement with Lynch from his feature-length debut so many years ago.
Hey, btw, thank you all for such outspoken, enthusiastic and insightful responses-- and for bearing with my unfiltered post-episode/late-night ranty-raviness. I'm delighted that many of us share some measure of my "preserve the mystery" impulse and very much intrigued by the ideas you have all floated about how this might come to pass.
I'm eager to respond to many of these in more detail but out of town at the moment and more tied up than I'd like...
I'm actually even more eager to return to the thread in the "off-topic" forum where folks have been positing higher-order or more abstract "themes" or "topics" The Return appears to have engaged or implied.. I'm sure we'll have a great deal to talk about there for weeks and months to come.
Now, to survive waiting another week...
This is a bit on a tangent but it's related to loose ends and dreams.
Dreams are THE focal point of Twin Peaks in a way, along with making dreams come true, ie, manifesting in the real.
There's a good reason, a logical reason, that Janey-E's dreams come true and then go blooey when Dougiecoop starts to wake up. Her dream was not a shared one. A great contrast to Norma and Ed, whose dream probably will come true and stay true.
It probably also explains Diane's hate for Janey-E. Janey can't see what's real because her dreams blind her. Diane would certainly despise that.
I like the way you think. Nicely put.
Hey, btw, thank you all for such outspoken, enthusiastic and insightful responses-- and for bearing with my unfiltered post-episode/late-night ranty-raviness. I'm delighted that many of us share some measure of my "preserve the mystery" impulse and very much intrigued by the ideas you have all floated about how this might come to pass.
I'm eager to respond to many of these in more detail but out of town at the moment and more tied up than I'd like...
I'm actually even more eager to return to the thread in the "off-topic" forum where folks have been positing higher-order or more abstract "themes" or "topics" The Return appears to have engaged or implied.. I'm sure we'll have a great deal to talk about there for weeks and months to come.
Now, to survive waiting another week...
I need to find that forum 🙂 thanks
I want ALL the answers. I don't NEED them; I WANT them.
I'm not quoting Mr. C to sound cool. I relate very much to that quote. I'm usually an intensely curious person, and when I get attached to some hobby, in this case TP, I want to learn all about it. I'm spending so much time reading and pondering recaps that I think I'm missing at least half the discussions on this forum.
But, do I NEED all the answers to be ultimately satisfied by The Return? No. I've been enjoying the ride, playing the game according to its rules (there goes Mr. C again), getting annoyed and delighted and frustrated. When the series is over, I think I'll still be annoyed and delighted and frustrated, and I'm looking forward to endless new conversations here about the answers we weren't given, which is a gift in itself.
Fire walk with