Any variation of "its all a dream" is lazy and simplistic. And honestly would that satisfy anyone? Plus there is no "evidience" in the world of Lynch

Posted by: Nick Fugazzy

Any variation of "its all a dream" is lazy and simplistic. And honestly would that satisfy anyone? Plus there is no "evidience" in the world of Lynch

So do you think that about Lynch's other works(Mulholland Drive is a dream/delusion and Lost Highway is all in the protagonist's mind as a delusion)?  Mulholland Drive was actually supposed to be a Twin Peaks spin-off about Audrey. It's totally fine to have your own interpretation, but instead of negating other people's theories and calling it "lazy" without any substance to your comment, try to provide a more intelligible response in an effort to participate in an intellectual debate.  I perceive comments like yours as lazy because it is poorly articulated devoid of any specific examples. I don't think anyone's interpretation of TP is "lazy," however, these comments such as "nah, that's fan fiction" or "no you are way off," is not really going to being taken seriously by people due to its lack of substance. Just trying to help you out. If you want to participate in an actual debate, try to be respectful to other people's interpretations, and when giving your own opinion, try to back it up with something other than insults. Also, critical thinking courses help too!  

@Nick Fugazzy I do not mean that facetiously, by the way. Before I got my PhD, I did not present my arguments with substantial reasoning either, but after several years of defending the shit out of my dissertation, it is kind of just beaten into your head.  So again, it's just kind advice.

Posted by: Assaf Sommer

I have a theory, and I believe I may have found "empirical" evidence to support it. First, I need to explain where I come from: I first was disappointed (and fascinated) by both parts of the finale. I never really liked the idea of Freddie's who seemed 'manufactured' to me, and not in par with the level and theme  of the original series, Mulholland Drive, etc. I only felt I understood and appreciate Lynch when the supernatural was part of some protagonist's subconscious. The idea of the Bob orb flying in the room in front of everyone, later to be destroyed by a superhero, doesn't sit well in this perspective. Therefore, things in the show are only real when they are not real (i.e.- supernatural events get their meaning from being part of someone's imagination, but are not reality). The only way to understand what is real is to realize, as Coop and Gordon say, that this is a dream. Who's dream is it?

I now believe that it is Audrey's dream; that she is clinically depressed, and going through electroshock treatments (proof coming up), and much like in Mulholland Drive, she created a dreamworld. I believe that the character of Dale Cooper from the original series is not real: He possesses much of MD Betty's over-the-top naïveté, purity, and optimism. Richard was the real agent who came to investigate Laura's murder. Audrey fell in love with him and helped him to solve the murder, and became invested in Laura's fate. Richard's character is much more 'realistic' and imperfect as we can see in the diner scene. He probably broke Audrey's heart to be with Linda, who became Dianne in Audrey's mind. Audrey's son was named after agent Richard, and is either his son, or Charlie's son. In Audrey's subconscious Richard is split in two: the good in him became Dale Cooper, and the bad - Mr. C.  Electricity, which was what allowed moving from one world to another, or different states in Audrey's mind. Something about the electrical sounds, and references in those moments prompted me to search in Google: "electroshock treatment 430", and I came up with an article about a woman suffering for years from clinical depression, who had undergone more electroshock treatments than anyone in history. The number of treatments was 430. The closer we get to this number the more Audrey is pulled from her condition and then elements of reality are revealed, first and foremost, Richard and Linda.  Here's the link:

https://www.healthyplace.com/depression/articles/woman-sets-record-for-shock-treatment/

 

I was excited to find this. Would love to know what you guys think!

 

I love this!  I don't find the dream theory boring at all.  Makes a lot of sense to me! Explains the electricity. I started thinking Audrey was the dreamer when I was rewatching season 1 episode 3 and the man from another place says, where I'm from there's always music in the air, and starts dancing to the same song Audrey always dances to (the song she says is too dreamy). Still lot to think about, but I feel this is the right direction. 

I like the theory and I think it's as good as any other. I wouldn't call it based on any sort of evidence though, "empirical or otherwise.

The subject of electroshock is interesting to me with regard to Audrey.

Watching the scenes with teakettle Jeffries, the clicks followed by the hum noise sounds like an older type ECT machine, before they added the beeping to the more modern ones. Electric chair noise is a lot like that too. She may not have been being shocked in that scene, but her mind fills it in to give it more realism, a familiar sound to visuals that are alien.

Brad Dourif, a Lynch favorite actor, was also in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That movie woke people up to the horror of ECT during the scene they administered it to Jack Nicholson.

Cooper was told to remember 430. Due to succinylcholine sedation, more current is needed than before, due to increased resistance to seizure inducement. Modern machines now go up to 460 volts, so her "dosage" of electricity could be set at 430 to induce seizures. Still can't get the significance of 2:53 yet, working on that one.

Remember how people around the town got shaky hands at certain times?

While I may or may not be fully into this theory, there is a lot coincidence here, so it's worth exploring. Lynch created a virtual Winchester House with hallways that lead nowhere, staircases that lead to walls, etc. But I have found every rabbit hole this show has sent me down, from Thelema and Jack Parsons/Aleister Crowley/L Ron Hubbard, tulpas, dugpas, to terrible therapeutics like ECT, my mind has been expanded, that was probably the intent of his work, and I love David Lynch for it.

@tommyhawk

"Thelema and Jack Parsons/Aleister Crowley/L Ron Hubbard" 

These I have got to hear more about.