Ok - like everyone here, I've been mulling this over in my mind for the past... has it been two weeks? It feels like either 2 minutes or forever.
Anyway, I just read an interview w/ Lynch where he talks about Part 18 (see here) and, when asked about Kyle's portrayal of "Richard" he says:
FRANICH: Do you view “Richard,” Kyle in Part 18, as a different character from the Agent Cooper that we’ve seen previously? Should we consider that a slightly different version of the character?
LYNCH: You should look at that part again, and you could see it in different ways. I’m not gonna talk about it, though.
It's always bothered me that the Cooper that emerges from the lodge in episode 18 does that weird "dial" thing with his hand to manipulate the curtains. It just seemed really odd. Like, how does Coop know how to do this? I think it could be argued he's been in there (possibly a loop) so long he's learned some of the way to navigate things but. . . it seems a lot more like something that an entity familiar with the Lodge would do. Before the rest of this crackpot theory things to consider:
- When we see Coopers doppleganger in S3 he has a very distinctive appearance. Bronzed skin, blackish eyes. Initially I assumed that this was a stylistic choice (in the sense that if he could retcon things, Lynch would make the original doppleganger look the same way). BUT
- When we first see the doppleganger at end of S2 (outside the lodge) he does NOT have dark skin, black eyes, etc. He looks like Coop. It makes you wonder if, over time, the veneer of Coop has faded, and the innate blackness is seeping through. Also, consider that BOB is residing inside of him. That's gotta shade your soul (or whatever dopple's have) another level of black or two over the years. Someone will have to check this, but I feel like, as the S3 progresses (particularly after DoppleCoop gets shot) his skin gets blacker/more ashen/more like the woodsmen. First time I noticed this was in the arm wrestling scene.
Ok - down the rabbit hole: What we're seeing in E18 is another timeline (possibly one in which Laura Palmer never died, but one in which Agent Cooper still went into the Red Room). In E18, when coop walks to the room with the evolution of the arm, it says "Is this the story of the little girl who lived down the lane? Is it?" The first time we see this, it says, "Do you remember your doppleganger?" It DOES NOT say this in Ep 18. This suggests that DoppleCoop never left the lodge 25 years ago. So, where is he?
Maybe the person that walks out of the Lodge and meets Diane, that seems like Dale (but really, doesn't act like the Dale Cooper we all know and love) is actually the DoppleCoop. He's not carrying BOB inside him (maybe), which could account for his behavior not being as. . . gleefully malevolent as we see him at end of end of S2. Still, he's up to no good, has all of Dale's memories, and is pursuing Laura into the alternative reality we see at the end of E18.
This supports his behavior with Diane, and his general ... offness. It also explains why he wants to bring Laura to the place that, uh, is totally, like the WORST place you'd bring Laura Palmer to if you wanted to save her. I mean, really? The Palmer House? That's like bringing a pig to a barbecue shack.
Hawk talks about meeting your "shadow self" in the Lodge and, one could argue, up until now we've never really seen what a doppleganger (outside the lodge) really looks like (at least not one without BOB inside it). Maybe it's like the "Cooper" we see in the season finale - shades of the original, but harder, joyless, darker, more inhuman. It explains a lot of his behavior in that last episode - and, potentially, puts a bit of a brighter view on the last few moments (because maybe it's not Cooper that's being defeated, but his doppleganger).
Rip it to shreds, there are, like, a bazillion holes but this is part of the fun, innit?
I have to admit, during the disturbing sex scene, all I could think of was "Are we witnessing the birth of Mr. C?". After rewatching a couple of times, I feel like that isn't the case....but rather Richard is an amalgam of the various Coopers.
On a side note....some people are bothered that Mr. C does not act like Cooper's doppelgänger at the end of S2. I am not bothered by this. I always thought that BOB was just gleeful to do evil in the body of his new host. I didn't feel he would permanently behave like that much of a psycho. After all, his previous host, Leland acted normal most of the time...he just became a wild man when....ummm....the situation called for it. He was an upstanding man in the community and held a respectable job. As for his darker appearance....maybe he spent a lot of time in Florida in the interim 25 years.
From the moment he woke up until the car scene with Diane, he was 100 % Cooper. This means spending so much time in the lodge did not have any major effects on him.
However this Odessa timeline must be a different story entirely since even lodge didn't affect him like this, or the purple world for that matter. I don't think he is the doppleganger. This is Cooper that we know, but something regarding the way the universe works has been changed and this altered things so much and I think is what caused the changes to him.
I have to admit, during the disturbing sex scene, all I could think of was "Are we witnessing the birth of Mr. C?". After rewatching a couple of times, I feel like that isn't the case....but rather Richard is an amalgam of the various Coopers.
On a side note....some people are bothered that Mr. C does not act like Cooper's doppelgänger at the end of S2. I am not bothered by this. I always thought that BOB was just gleeful to do evil in the body of his new host. I didn't feel he would permanently behave like that much of a psycho. After all, his previous host, Leland acted normal most of the time...he just became a wild man when....ummm....the situation called for it. He was an upstanding man in the community and held a respectable job. As for his darker appearance....maybe he spent a lot of time in Florida in the interim 25 years.
MIKE described Bob as: "He is Bob, Eager for fun. He wears a smile, everybody run."
This entity no matter what the circumstance is, was always having fun by causing destruction to other beings. But this... Very, very different. A very bitter, jaded, heavy persona. Don't know the reason but, it somehow fits perfectly. Kyle did a perfect perfect job on this portrayal.
This makes me think about how he blatantly shows his FBI badge like a moron.
Ok - like everyone here, I've been mulling this over in my mind for the past... has it been two weeks? It feels like either 2 minutes or forever.
Anyway, I just read an interview w/ Lynch where he talks about Part 18 (see here) and, when asked about Kyle's portrayal of "Richard" he says:
FRANICH: Do you view “Richard,” Kyle in Part 18, as a different character from the Agent Cooper that we’ve seen previously? Should we consider that a slightly different version of the character?
LYNCH: You should look at that part again, and you could see it in different ways. I’m not gonna talk about it, though.
That's it. Right there:
"... you could see it in different ways. I'm not gonna talk about it, though."
;-o
- /< /\ /> -
From the moment he woke up until the car scene with Diane, he was 100 % Cooper. This means spending so much time in the lodge did not have any major effects on him.
However this Odessa timeline must be a different story entirely since even lodge didn't affect him like this, or the purple world for that matter. I don't think he is the doppleganger. This is Cooper that we know, but something regarding the way the universe works has been changed and this altered things so much and I think is what caused the changes to him.
This is kinda how I view it. He's either in an alternate universe and merging with an alternate Cooper or changing Laura's fate caused the Twin Peaks universe to change along with everyone inside it.
Hi Miach,Ok - like everyone here, I've been mulling this over in my mind for the past... has it been two weeks? It feels like either 2 minutes or forever.
Anyway, I just read an interview w/ Lynch where he talks about Part 18 (see here) and, when asked about Kyle's portrayal of "Richard" he says:
FRANICH: Do you view “Richard,” Kyle in Part 18, as a different character from the Agent Cooper that we’ve seen previously? Should we consider that a slightly different version of the character?
LYNCH: You should look at that part again, and you could see it in different ways. I’m not gonna talk about it, though.
That's it. Right there:
"... you could see it in different ways. I'm not gonna talk about it, though."
;-o
- /< /\ /> -
Translation: it's open to interpretation. I have my own but, "what is yours?" Is more interesting to me. ?
I have to admit, during the disturbing sex scene, all I could think of was "Are we witnessing the birth of Mr. C?". After rewatching a couple of times, I feel like that isn't the case....but rather Richard is an amalgam of the various Coopers.
On a side note....some people are bothered that Mr. C does not act like Cooper's doppelgänger at the end of S2. I am not bothered by this. I always thought that BOB was just gleeful to do evil in the body of his new host. I didn't feel he would permanently behave like that much of a psycho. After all, his previous host, Leland acted normal most of the time...he just became a wild man when....ummm....the situation called for it. He was an upstanding man in the community and held a respectable job. As for his darker appearance....maybe he spent a lot of time in Florida in the interim 25 years.
MIKE described Bob as: "He is Bob, Eager for fun. He wears a smile, everybody run."
This entity no matter what the circumstance is, was always having fun by causing destruction to other beings. But this... Very, very different. A very bitter, jaded, heavy persona. Don't know the reason but, it somehow fits perfectly. Kyle did a perfect perfect job on this portrayal.
Yeah, I think KM's performance in season 3 worked pretty well in concert with the season 2 ender.
When Cooper says "I need to brush my teeth," it sounds a lot like Mr. C. That was the doppelganger itself talking. "How's Annie?" was BOB, the original party animal.
Fire walk with