Gordon Cole's wording ("...then something happened to briggs") strongly suggests that the plan was made before disappearance of Briggs. How about that?
I took this to be referring to the circumstances of Briggs' death i.e. they were very suspicious, rather than talking about his disappearence.
The way its phrased suggests this happened at the same time something happened to Cooper, which is about right, and The Secret History does suggest Cooper's doppleganger visited Briggs after it left the Black Lodge. There seems to be a lot implied and yet remaining unclear about the immediate events following the season two finale, and hopefully The Final Dossier will put a bit more meat on the bones.
I think maybe we are making a bigger problem of this than it really is. It is important to remember that Briggs was in the TP area for years before the Laura Palmer murder or Cooper's arrival. He was there under the rubric of a typical government assignment, but he was also investigating other phenomena, which he believed related to Blue Rose issues and, eventually, more broadly to the Judy business. I believe TP was selected because unexplained events in the region suggested high levels of what we refer to as "lodge activity."
In other words, although the Dale Cooper we meet in Season 1 doesn't seem highly knowledgeable about Briggs activities, he wasn't walking into a vacuum either. I think we can assume Cole filled him in on a plan at any point, and it isn't necessary to know exactly when or how. One of the biggest surprises of Season 3 is how much Cole knew. In the first 2 seasons, Cole appeared bewildered by these strange happenings, yet now we know he was well aware and not even afraid to face down a portal.
On a fishing trip with Cooper in Season 2, Briggs asks Cooper if he ever heard of the White Lodge. Amazingly, Cooper says no but he has to take a leak before Briggs can explain. Then when Cooper returns, Briggs has disappeared. Cooper never pressed Briggs later for info, and I believe he already knew more than he cared to admit. Or perhaps knew it in some subconscious way, as if learned via another Cooper identify. It was just unbelievable to me at the time, and now, that the call of nature was so powerful that he couldn't wait a minute to hear more about the mysterious White Lodge.
Or from another angle, it could be that Lynch re-wrote both characters for S 3 -- Cole from a somewhat buffoony agent to a savvy FBI leader carrying a lot of secrets, and Cooper from sweet smart loveable guy to someone more aware and knowledgeable about what he had stepped into when he first went to TP.
I think Jocelyn's explanation is as good as any but I agree with me old mate Myn0k that the scene was a badly done, rushed exposition, which Lynch generally doesn't do. As far as I can remember, the only other one was - hey, guess what? - the scene with Albert and Tammy, again regarding the whole Tulpa/Blue Rose thing.
If anything, the two scenes look like a very knowing, ironic wink to the viewers, a "Yep, I don't do exposition so eat this" sort of thing.
As for how much the characters know or don't know about any given situation, I think it's fair to say Lynch and Frost don't tell us everything.
I've posted this a couple of times, so apologies for the repetition, but I think it's a mistake to assume the Giant's statements are clues. They could be reminders of things Cooper's already done. This would explain why he says "I understand" so readily. I mean, as clues they would be pretty cryptic. And keep in mind that the Giant precedes all this by saying "Remember."
I think there are plausible reasons the Giant might want to remind Cooper of some key bulletpoints in his quest so far. One thought is that they're sort of a trail of breadcrumbs that he can use to remember how he got here (to the Odessa Universe?) and find his way back. As in, "Remember you traveled 430 miles to get here, so that's how far you need to go to get out." As reminders, they could also be keys to where he messed something up - so he understands what he did wrong and can try to correct it. Either way, the Giant could basically be saying, "Hey, if you're wondering what happened and what to do next, these are the points you need to think about."
I've also been thinking about that thing Cooper apparently told Cole: "If I disappear like the others, do everything you can to find me. I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone." I'm kind of thinking that getting trapped in the Lodge for 25 years wasn't the disappearance he anticipated - that may have been an unplanned detour caused by the pesky issue with Annie and Earle. I think he was expecting to disappear in the course of what we saw in Part 18 but was delayed from that mission for a quarter-century.
I could be totally, 100% wrong (well, that could be the start of any sentence about this show), but I kind of think that could be a way back in if they decide to make a Season 4. Maybe this time Coop wouldn't be the hero - maybe he'd be the one who needs saving. I'd like to watch a season that's at least partly about the Blue Rose Task Force investigating what happened to Cooper (this time), which would conveniently give us some of those answers too. Hey, dare to dream. 😉
If there was a blue rose task force emphasis in the next season it would sadly not include Albert, and also sadly would include Tammy
I've posted this a couple of times, so apologies for the repetition, but I think it's a mistake to assume the Giant's statements are clues. They could be reminders of things Cooper's already done. This would explain why he says "I understand" so readily. I mean, as clues they would be pretty cryptic. And keep in mind that the Giant precedes all this by saying "Remember."
I think there are plausible reasons the Giant might want to remind Cooper of some key bulletpoints in his quest so far. One thought is that they're sort of a trail of breadcrumbs that he can use to remember how he got here (to the Odessa Universe?) and find his way back. As in, "Remember you traveled 430 miles to get here, so that's how far you need to go to get out." As reminders, they could also be keys to where he messed something up - so he understands what he did wrong and can try to correct it. Either way, the Giant could basically be saying, "Hey, if you're wondering what happened and what to do next, these are the points you need to think about."
I've also been thinking about that thing Cooper apparently told Cole: "If I disappear like the others, do everything you can to find me. I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone." I'm kind of thinking that getting trapped in the Lodge for 25 years wasn't the disappearance he anticipated - that may have been an unplanned detour caused by the pesky issue with Annie and Earle. I think he was expecting to disappear in the course of what we saw in Part 18 but was delayed from that mission for a quarter-century.
I could be totally, 100% wrong (well, that could be the start of any sentence about this show), but I kind of think that could be a way back in if they decide to make a Season 4. Maybe this time Coop wouldn't be the hero - maybe he'd be the one who needs saving. I'd like to watch a season that's at least partly about the Blue Rose Task Force investigating what happened to Cooper (this time), which would conveniently give us some of those answers too. Hey, dare to dream. 😉
The idea that the Giant scene with Cooper comes after everything else is interesting, but I think there's one major flaw in it: Cooper drives 430 miles because the Giant told him "430." Cooper wonders about the letter from Linda to Richard because he'd been told those names by the Giant. I know that linear time is almost irrelevant when talking about the Lodges, but it would be a bit rich of the Giant to chastise Cooper for going down a path that he himself set him on.
I like your theory and I appreciate the creativity but so far I don't agree. I thought the reason he didn't remember Richard & Linda when he read the note was because of the change that had taken place when Cooper & Diane crossed over 430. He states that they will not be the same after they cross and this is why he is confused. He is no longer the Cooper that left the Red Room, Good Dale, but hybrid Coop. So I assumed that this was why he didn't remember the Fireman advice.
One of the biggest surprises of Season 3 is how much Cole knew. In the first 2 seasons, Cole appeared bewildered by these strange happenings, yet now we know he was well aware and not even afraid to face down a portal.
Exactly! In first 2 seasons nobody knew anything, yet they made a plan to screw with Judy 🙂
Cole, Cooper and Briggs make a plan (against Judy) that must be very complicated, Cooper goes missing, Briggs goes missing then after so many years Cooper shows up in a prison telling that he needs to be debriefed by Cole, but Cole, puzzled by what he's seen, goes looking for Diane instead, for a better assessment. A very nice and neat technique indeed. No wonder FBI couldn't make progress in blue rose cases for all these years.
My interpretation of the scene is that Dale and Diane do what the Giant as told them to do. They go 430 miles from Twin Peaks/Black Lodge. Once they get there Dale says things might be different when they cross over. This is the reason why he doesn't understand the Richard and Linda letter because although he feels different and acts different he still believes he is Dale Cooper. He doesn't think he is called Richard even though he is. Because he has changed personality is the reason he doesn't understand the Richard and Linda letter. However, he still can recall what his mission is which is to kill 2 birds with one stone i.e. save Laura and kill Judy which he does at the end.
Phillip Jeffries, who doesn't really exist anymore, at least not in the normal sense, told me a long time ago he was onto this entity, and he disappeared.
Anyone thought about this one ? We see Phillip Jeffries that enter FBI quater as a human. And he dissapear. So when Cole got knowledge about Jeffries, who is he now ? And well, Jeffries don't speak about it to Cole, he say it to Coop about Judy.
Cole, Cooper and Briggs make a plan (against Judy) that must be very complicated, Cooper goes missing, Briggs goes missing then after so many years Cooper shows up in a prison telling that he needs to be debriefed by Cole, but Cole, puzzled by what he's seen, goes looking for Diane instead, for a better assessment. A very nice and neat technique indeed. No wonder FBI couldn't make progress in blue rose cases for all these years.
This plan is a bullshit. If it is a plan that Coop is missing for 25 years in Black Lodge, Cole shouldn't be suprised that he is gone. And Coop said to him that he need to find him if he gone. Well ? 25 years later, they didn't find him. And they meet in Sheriff Station to do nothing. Again, where is a logic ? Cole need to find Coop, and yes he found him in Sheriff Station to say "Coop ! " "Gordon !" and whole world dissapear in darkness...
I kind of dismissed someone on here earlier this year when they suggested Lynch hated the creation of the Annie character. Not sure the source of this notion, but after seeing this show play out, I am left questioning that even the finale seems to erase any history of that character. I have been forced to reconsider that this was Lynch's intent with the long game between Coop, Gordon, and Briggs.
Fire walk with