This is the kind of finale that one has to stew on a while.
At any rate, here are my initial thoughts: I was literally speechless for a bit after the credits rolled. Part 17 and a little bit of part 18 was probably the finale that many were anticipating and it was indeed a brilliant hour+ of television. More than I expected to receive from Lynch. Cooper directing Laura away from the events that would ultimately lead to her murder was incredibly powerful and emotional. Thinking about how one simple gesture, couple with the annihilation of Bob, had changed her and (T)he past, present and future was stunning to watch. Seeing Josie, Pete, Catherine...wow.
WTF Lynch and Frost seriously? Ah, but then Laura was forcibly removed from somewhere again . . . and then Sarah groaning in agony graced? the screen, and she began stabbing Laura's picture . . . A nuanced twist I wasn't expecting. Now we're talkin'.
Or, so I thought. The last half of part 18 was an anti-climactic mind f*ck. Sort of like an abstracted epilogue that served the opposite of its intended purpose: it splintered the answers that I thought I had received in part 17 into a myriad of new questions. Sarah isn't the only one stuck in a loop. In the final scene, when Coop asks, "what year is this," Sarah shouts, "Laura," and "Carrie" begins to scream, I immediately started thinking about Sartre. Specifically, a theatrical production of "No Exit" that I had attended in Chicago 15 years ago. If you ask me, Mr C got the better end of the cosmic deal (excluding the whole good-Dougie thing).
Rodney Mitchum: "One for the grandkids."
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Your thoughts reflect many of my own.
Cooper clearly made a choice (I'm not sure if that was to save Laura, destroy Judy, something else?). Jeffries used the infinity symbol to show Cooper where Judy is and told him "you can go in now." I believe we saw glimpses into the price Cooper is paying, or paid, for doing so.
I'm not sure what to feel or think about the final scene.
I will say that I'm very grateful for that scream! For me, that scream dispels notions that the entire series was a dream/delusion and suggests Cooper may eventually succeed.
The "LAURA!" you hear is an echo from the past ( slowed down of original lowering the pitch ) of Sarah worriedly calling for Laura in the house.
Your thoughts reflect many of my own.
Cooper clearly made a choice (I'm not sure if that was to save Laura, destroy Judy, something else?). Jeffries used the infinity symbol to show Cooper where Judy is and told him "you can go in now." I believe we saw glimpses into the price Cooper is paying, or paid, for doing so.
I'm not sure what to feel or think about the final scene.
I will say that I'm very grateful for that scream! For me, that scream dispels notions that the entire series was a dream/delusion and suggests Cooper may eventually succeed.
Can't have enough of Sheryl Lee's screams. She's the undisputed queen. It did put a stamp of real(ity)ness of that scene. Sarah calling out to her awakened something inside her. It was chilling. Her life was already in shambles. I wonder what she thinks of it now?
Coop, confused as ever, trying to figure out how it all went wrong was also an indication, I agree, that he was going to reattempt his idyllic envisaged ending to it all. A loop, as I alluded to in my OP, that is probably fraught with hellish consequences for him (and how many others)? Mr C got off easy by comparison.
And what of the irony of good-Dougie's happy ending? At least "someone" resembling the old Coop is out there somewhere in one of the many possible worlds.
Good luck in your quest, Agent Cooper, you're gonna need it. Judy is up for the chess match and can more than hold her own.
The "LAURA!" you hear is an echo from the past ( slowed down of original lowering the pitch ) of Sarah worriedly calling for Laura in the house.
That is what it sounded like to me as well.
Fire walk with