If you have an hour to spare, I recommend this rather long, rather interesting analysis of the finale and the whole series from Entertainment Weekly. There's about a ton of other stuff in here (and I don't mind if someone wants to "hijack" this thread to talk about the rest of it).
But I just want to pick up on one point they account for because it seems so obvious yet so little talked about: Cooper has lost 25 years of his life. Lynch/Frost might not have been overt about it, but - as nicely as Kyle MacLachlan has aged - the evidence is right in front of us. He went into the Lodge a young man and emerged deep into middle age. I can't imagine they didn't want us to consider the heartbreaking side of that.
There's a thread somewhere on this forum about how some parts of The Return are easier to understand if you strip out the supernatural elements. Well, I think that applies here too: If this were a show about a POW who'd been freed after 25 years in captivity, is there any chance we'd ignore the psychological impact of all that lost time?
There's been lots of talk about Cooper's odd behavior in the finale: his hardness and coldness, the recklessness he seems to show in tampering with things that probably shouldn't be tampered with. But almost all the discussion has revolved around supernatural explanations: He seems "off" because he's now "Richard." His tampering is part of a "plan" dictated at least in part by higher powers, even if he's somehow messed it up or gone too far.
And all that is probably still part of it. But I think we might have forgotten to consider Cooper as a human being who would only now be crashing into the reality that 25 years of his life got obliterated behind the red curtain. Someone on another thread just reminded me of the single tear that runs down "Dougie's" face in a scene with Janey-E and Sonny Jim. What would Coop have done with those years? Found a wife to kiss and a kid to play catch with? We'll never know.
I'm not prepared to psychoanalyze Cooper or say exactly which of his actions this accounts for. But he's not a robot or a superhero from Krypton. He's a human who loves pie and coffee and Douglas firs. That's why we love him. I think we'll be missing something if we don't consider the ending in light of what he's lost and can't get back (even through time travel).
Thanks for the link and your thoughts. I agree that your focus on the impact of 25 lost years is a powerful way to interpret the final two episodes and how this all ends for Cooper. I also think the loss is much, much greater than 25 years.
In reading the article, I realized that my interpretation is perhaps an overly simplistic version of EW's. While EW states "Part 18 was a myth retold many times" I believe Part 18 was a myth experienced in potentially infinite ways. I believe ep 18 presents selections from Cooper's infinite quest experiences and that Cooper actually experienced many (hundreds, thousands, ?) of realities while he tried to piece together all the clues and succeed in this quest.
Cooper's behaviors aren't those of "Boy Scout Coop", but those of a man who both lost 25 years of his life AND is experiencing an "infinite" quest that he believes will put things right. He is a man who experiences "time... and time again" and all the damage that accompanies that experience. As you say so well "I think we'll be missing something if we don't consider the ending in light of what he's lost and can't get back (even through time travel)."
In addition to the lost 25 years, the pain and loss of each experience have to take their toll. In one experience, Cooper drives 430 miles with Diane. In another, Cooper engages in sex magick with Diane. In another, Cooper loses Diane to madness as she thinks she is Linda and Cooper is Richard. In another, Cooper finds the clues that lead him to Carrie Page. My belief is that these are all Cooper's experiences - there is no Richard.
I believe the final scenes suggest Cooper has achieved what he intended - to bring Laura to Sarah. However, I do not believe accomplishing that will necessarily have the outcome he hoped for.
Now for syncing... I believe watching episode 18 alone could suggest that Cooper broke what EW refers to as the "loop of eternal recurrence". We are left with Laura's scream blasting the electricity in the house. However, watching the final 7 minutes of 17 and 18 together strongly suggests to me that Cooper and Laura are again taken to the scene in the woods - again ending up in the Red Room where the cycle likely starts again. I have no idea which ending I believe because, whether by coincidence or intention, the combined endings of 17/18 tell me something different than ep 18 alone.
I followed my emotions and gut to believe this interpretation, so it is not as intellectually gratifying or as theoretically "deep" as 99.9% of others out there. I believe that in end our hero has gone from "25 lost years" to an eternity in a hellish world.
I was always of the understanding that although Cooper clearly aged, time worked differently in the waiting room. I doubt he was sitting in that chair for 25 years as we understand it, checking his watch and asking the receptionist how much longer he had to wait and what was taking so long.
I was always of the understanding that although Cooper clearly aged, time worked differently in the waiting room. I doubt he was sitting in that chair for 25 years as we understand it, checking his watch and asking the receptionist how much longer he had to wait and what was taking so long.
It's interesting how assumptions around any single point can lead to different interpretatios.
I've always thought that "the waiting room" should be taken quite literally. We never see Cooper escape from the drape/chevron area into other parts of the black lodge and he is reintroduced to the evolution of the arm as if he hadn't seen the arm in years. He seemingly hadn't eaten or even urinated in a very long time. My assumption is that Cooper was largely trapped in that small area with Mike as his only contact. This is a very horrific interpretation.
Assuming that time moved faster (and not actually slower), and that he gets to wander around meeting with Phillip Jeffries, channeling with Gordon Cole, playing checkers with the Woodsmen, etc., makes for an entirely different interpretation. Heck, three squares a day and tea with Phillip Jeffries sounds better than my current day-to-day.
I was always of the understanding that although Cooper clearly aged, time worked differently in the waiting room. I doubt he was sitting in that chair for 25 years as we understand it, checking his watch and asking the receptionist how much longer he had to wait and what was taking so long.
It's interesting how assumptions around any single point can lead to different interpretatios.
I've always thought that "the waiting room" should be taken quite literally. We never see Cooper escape from the drape/chevron area into other parts of the black lodge and he is reintroduced to the evolution of the arm as if he hadn't seen the arm in years. He seemingly hadn't eaten or even urinated in a very long time. My assumption is that Cooper was largely trapped in that small area with Mike as his only contact. This is a very horrific interpretation.
Assuming that time moved faster (and not actually slower), and that he gets to wander around meeting with Phillip Jeffries, channeling with Gordon Cole, playing checkers with the Woodsmen, etc., makes for an entirely different interpretation. Heck, three squares a day and tea with Phillip Jeffries sounds better than my current day-to-day.
I bet Jeffries makes a mean cup of tea....considering he's a tea kettle and all.
I was always of the understanding that although Cooper clearly aged, time worked differently in the waiting room. I doubt he was sitting in that chair for 25 years as we understand it, checking his watch and asking the receptionist how much longer he had to wait and what was taking so long.
It's interesting how assumptions around any single point can lead to different interpretatios.
I've always thought that "the waiting room" should be taken quite literally. We never see Cooper escape from the drape/chevron area into other parts of the black lodge and he is reintroduced to the evolution of the arm as if he hadn't seen the arm in years. He seemingly hadn't eaten or even urinated in a very long time. My assumption is that Cooper was largely trapped in that small area with Mike as his only contact. This is a very horrific interpretation.
Assuming that time moved faster (and not actually slower), and that he gets to wander around meeting with Phillip Jeffries, channeling with Gordon Cole, playing checkers with the Woodsmen, etc., makes for an entirely different interpretation. Heck, three squares a day and tea with Phillip Jeffries sounds better than my current day-to-day.
I bet Jeffries makes a mean cup of tea....considering he's a tea kettle and all.
Heehee! That's my favorite.
Cooper sure hit the ground running when he finally woke up from being Dougie. His "I am the FBI." quote was classic. I recognize the fact that he sacrificed a big chunk of life to dedicate himself to this case, and to his job. He didn't seem to regret it while he was sure of himself. Once he read Diane's letter, I think maybe the realization hit him about the 25 lost years, and some sadness set in. This may have taken him a little off his game. I honestly think his story needs to continue because there are so many aspects to this lodge existence and his actual return to multiple realities. It's a very complex experience that created an extremely deep character. More Cooper! More Cooper!
Cooper sure hit the ground running when he finally woke up from being Dougie. His "I am the FBI." quote was classic. I recognize the fact that he sacrificed a big chunk of life to dedicate himself to this case, and to his job. He didn't seem to regret it while he was sure of himself. Once he read Diane's letter, I think maybe the realization hit him about the 25 lost years, and some sadness set in. This may have taken him a little off his game. I honestly think his story needs to continue because there are so many aspects to this lodge existence and his actual return to multiple realities. It's a very complex experience that created an extremely deep character. More Cooper! More Cooper!
In the whole return of Agent Coop the beloved in episode 17, part of that was his FBI persona and his persona for the Twin Peaks crowd--his family. You might considered that he brought that for them. Once he's back in lodge land, he reverted a bit to the taciturn, somewhat more affectless Cooper that we saw in the Red Room scenes. It's weird to us because we've never seen that side of him outside of the Red Room. So we associate it with Mr. C. But Mr. C is far, far more sociopathic.
I agree with you. I don't like to think of Cooper as incorporating the Mister C characteristics. I prefer to appreciate the impact that these events had on him as a human being. There is no way I'd be emerging from that experience without being changed for good. When things don't go as planned, he may be wondering what was it all for.
Thank you for these thoughts. Before the season 3 started, I expected Cooper's return to be more tragic to him. I like the idea that the New Coop experiences the weight of it.
When our Cooper finally awakes he seems extremely positive, and with the kind of personality he had 25 years ago. Almost as he was given some kind of artificial boost, or part of the truth was still kept from him.
For example, when phoning the sheriff station, he was saying "tell Harry to put the coffee on!" or something, so he is not all-knowing.
A continuation:
When Cooper asks "what year it is?" it's not so much that the specific year was off, but he is hit with the sudden realization that much more time has passed than he thought?
Against this idea: addressing Bobby and talking about his father, it didn't seem likely that Cooper was unaware of time's passage. Also, I hope I don't remember this wrong, but the New Coop seemed quite confident in using the remote car key (did those exist in 1990?).
Fire walk with