This is a burning question for most of us. I wanted to get this down while it's in my mind, having just watched parts 17 and 18 again.
"Is it future or is it past?" MIKE seems to ask this every time Cooper attempts to save Laura.
When Cooper leaves the Red Room, Diane is there waiting for him. The car that they are in is not a modern car, but I believe is the same car Cooper had when he drove into Twin Peaks.
When Diane and Cooper pass through the alternate dimension, which takes them to Odessa, Texas. The motel is not modern (2015-2017) either- the interior looks that of the late 80's. Even in Odessa, Texas (with all due respect,) the motel room would have at least been updated somewhat more to represent something of the 2000's. Even the telephone is a rotary, which certainly would have been replaced since 1989.
The next morning, Cooper knows that the motel isn't the same, and for a moment recognizes the car is different, but fails to recognize that it's 1989, not (our) present day.
Cooper says in part 17, "the past dictates the future." But does it?
In the street outside of "Laura's" house, Cooper somewhat stumbles, questioning "is this future or is this past?", realizing this can't be 1989, and realizes his mistake that this dimension hasn't worked to save Laura. Carrie screams.
I believe at this point, Cooper returns to the Red Room. Overlaid with the credits, we see Laura (or someone who "feels she knows Laura") whispering in Cooper's ear....
Just a theory I have, albeit incomplete.
I don't agree with the idea the past doesn't dictate the future but it's an interesting idea that the final shot means they went back to the Red Room. Till now I just looked on it as a nice farewell shot.
Oh, further info. That's a mid 60's ford Cooper is driving 430 miles. When Cooper comes into Twin peaks in the pilot he's driving a late 80's Ford LTD. Standard cop/gov't vehicle. In the modern era the feds drive a Town Car. Him purposefully getting a mid 60's Ford falcon type car, another common cop car of the 60's, makes me think he was going back to the 60's at mile 430. Or maybe Coop just loves Fords.
I just felt the "What year is this?" question running through my mind had to be at least somewhat resolved and at least somewhat explained. It's been driving me nuts.
I just felt the "What year is this?" question running through my mind had to be at least somewhat resolved and at least somewhat explained. It's been driving me nuts.
It's funny, that hasn't bothered me much. Mostly because as the last word I know it's tremendously important but I also know Lynch would leave that as the biggest mystery. But the obvious answer is Cooper was expecting to be in a different time frame. But why and what was he intending to do there? Which leads to Season 4, or a movie I think. No way of knowing till that comes.
I think he's stuck in a loop in the Black Lodge. He thinks he can't leave unless he saves Laura, but Judy will always stop him. I think Laura is whispering that he can't leave until he saves himself.
Has anyone figured out the vintage of the car Cooper leaves the motel in? It looks like it could be 1989-ish to me, but I'm no car expert, and obviously a difference of one or two years may be one of the only clues in the sequence; or maybe they tried to deny us any clues by offering no obvious signs of the times. I see few clues at the diner, and in case anyone is wondering, the newspaper the old lady is reading is made-up as far as I can tell. (Yes, I am so obsessed that I looked into that.)
There is a 2014 Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot as he backs out of the parking spot. These came out in late 2013.
There is a 2014 Jeep Cherokee in the parking lot as he backs out of the parking spot. These came out in late 2013.
Oh, good catch. I didn't even look at the other cars.
"Year" in the question may not be used in the traditional sense. Determining 1989, 2008, 2014, etc. may not be the point.
But the obvious answer is Cooper was expecting to be in a different time frame.
Totally reasonable possibility, but I didn't take it that way. My take was that he expected to be in the present day, but since nothing looks like he expected it to, he thinks he must've landed in the wrong year - or, actually, HOPES he has. That would at least explain why things aren't working out, and maybe it'll still be possible to get to the right year. But if this IS the right year, that's much worse, because it means his plan didn't work like it was supposed to and might've even screwed things up terribly.
So when he asks what year it is, I feel like he's just voicing a desperate hope: Please tell me it's some other year and I haven't just wrecked what used to be reality.
I freely admit I've been heavily influenced on this by Back To The Future II, where Marty tries to go "home" to 1985 only to land in some wretched hellscape. He hopes and prays that he's in the wrong year and that's why everything's gone to shit - but it turns out repercussions from changing the past have wrecked the present and that's the reality that greeted him when he returned.
Has anyone figured out the vintage of the car Cooper leaves the motel in? It looks like it could be 1989-ish to me, but I'm no car expert, and obviously a difference of one or two years may be one of the only clues in the sequence; or maybe they tried to deny us any clues by offering no obvious signs of the times. I see few clues at the diner, and in case anyone is wondering, the newspaper the old lady is reading is made-up as far as I can tell. (Yes, I am so obsessed that I looked into that.)
The car Cooper leaves the Motel in is a Town Car, 2003-2011 model, which is new enough to still be used in modern day. Another Ford. It's actually very similar to the car Mr. C gets from Jack and that Gordon, Albert and Tammy are driven to the SD prison in. I'm not sure it has significance. It may. It may just be what Lynch used as the generic government vehicle for Season 3.
Sorry, may not matter at this point, I meant in my original post "but fails to recognize that it's (our) present day, not 1989."
Any reason you are reposting this and changing the title to the topic I posted hours ago here?
You can see my take on the subject here
http://welcometotwinpeaks.com/discuss/twin-peaks-part-17-part-18/what-year-is-this-3/
It wasn't on purpose I made a mistake in the beginning of this topic so I created a new one, but didn't know I couldn't delete this first. Hope that makes sense
Fire walk with