I guessed it was Briggs' way to alert the FBI to look out for Janey-E and Dougie Jones.  Somehow he found the ring, and reasoning he'd not be alive to deliver it in person, swallowed it in the hope that when his body would eventually be found, they'd get word of the findings and act accordingly.  Didn't really work too well but there you go.

That's pretty good. Maybe so.

I thought we might hear more about the good Major last night from Diane but no such luck.

But the more I think of it, the more I doubt Mr C had anything to do with the killing of Ruth and Major Briggs. If he did, he would have gotten the coordinates sooner. He could have gotten them from the headless corps. So it's pretty clear, I think, that Mr C wasn't there when Ruth and Major Briggs were killed.

But on the other hand, if Mr C did plant it there, it could be the reason for his "Las Vegas?" text to Diane. Hoping that indeed the ring would lead the FBI to Vegas, and that things had developed much quicker than they did.

SamXTherapy, I agree with your explanation. Brigg's plan did work to the extent that, because of the ring, Cole sent the Vegas FBI team to find Dougie and Janie E, which ultimately takes them to the hospital, where Bushnell can give them the message written down by Cooper for Cole. Voila!

Yeah, the whole ring-in-the-belly thing was probably one of the weaker plot elements (unless there's some big reveal for it done in the last two episodes, but I find that unlikely at this point. Then again, I didn't cotton on to the fact that Diane was a tulpa, so.... )

Speaking of Major Briggs... was it ever explicitly explained why his head detached from his body? When Hastings was explaining it, it sounded as though he and Ruth gave Briggs the coordinates, and then his head popped-off and floated away (later to be seen by Cooper). I couldn't tell if, with the coordinates, he'd reached some state of nirvana and willingly let himself come apart, or if perhaps the Woodsmen had something to do with it? After all, Ruth was most certainly savagely murdered.

Posted by: SamXTherapy

I guessed it was Briggs' way to alert the FBI to look out for Janey-E and Dougie Jones.  Somehow he found the ring, and reasoning he'd not be alive to deliver it in person, swallowed it in the hope that when his body would eventually be found, they'd get word of the findings and act accordingly.  Didn't really work too well but there you go.

Did Briggs even know about Dougie? Maybe so, as some kind of lodge spirit who has been watching things, he may be aware of badcoop plotting and scheming. But even Mike didn't seem fully aware until it was too late and Agent Cooper was "tricked". 

Still, Dougie was in Las Vegas and Briggs body was in Buckhorn SD. It looked to me like Briggs had encountered Hastings and Ruth by chance when those two followed some coordinates she had researched. Briggs took advantage of their presence at that place by asking them to return later with some other coordinates. After this, It's a mess of confusion. But it has always struck me that some other lodge entities get involved, putting heads and bodies in different places for inexplicable reasons.

The only other explanation is that badcoop made that ring and put it in Briggs. But why? It doesn't seem like he would want to sabotage his plan to kill Dougie/Coop by drawing FBI attention. Whatever he's really up to, it is clear that Agent Cooper stands in badcoop's way and things would go better for badcoop without having to deal with the good one.