This remains the thing that perhaps bothers me the most, because I can't seem to land on an interpretation that quite feels right. Diane and Cooper kissing in the Sheriff's station felt so off to me that I think I may have actually booed the first time I saw it. You ask when they fell in love - I am still prone to resist the idea that they ever did.
But, let's say they did. I think the timeline would have to go something like this: Mr. C rapes Diane, and then takes her to the convenience store/Dutchman's (she basically tells us this). He creates the tulpa of Diane we know and love. The rest of Diane he traps in a Lodge created shell that cannot see nor really speak (Naido).
(And, I just decided I am going to bring in that theory about the creation of a tulpa taking something away from the individual that we have been talking about recently, and maybe I'll be ready to endorse that depending on how this line of thought I am writing/thinking works out.)
So, OK, tulpa Diane gets Diane's rage, and her trauma. Perhaps also in there is that aspect of herself that led her to reject Cooper's advances back in the 80s. They kissed once, but she thought it was unprofessional and so on. There was something there, which Mr. C took advantage of before he raped her. She says the kiss felt wrong, indicating that this wasn't the Cooper she had known.
If those aspects were shorn from Diane with the creation of her tulpa, what are we left with? A Diane that is fundamentally Cooper's assistant, and who does care for him deeply, even if the relationship has been more platonic than erotic. Perhaps this explains her behavior, and the kiss in the station is a way of Cooper showing her it is him and not Mr. C (?)
So, why trap this Diane in Naido? Maybe the source of a tulpa has to remain alive in order for the tulpa to exist, or something like that? I don't know, but we could certainly see why Mr. C would want to keep her away from a position where she could help Cooper.
Did he put her in the "mansion room"/mauve zone/eraserhead spaceship, or was it someone else? Why was the American Girl there after the switch was flipped? Was she Ronette Pulaski, or maybe something like Ronette's Carrie Page?
I don't think that Cooper knew Naido was Diane during that scene in ep3. Perhaps he doesn't in the station, either, but just recognizes Naido from that encounter. It is when they touch that the cage breaks and she becomes Diane. (So, a touch from the one who cast the spell breaks the spell, or something like that?)
I take it we cut to the red room and get that imagery to represent the fracturing of this illusion/Diane's release from what was a Lodge-created prison.
I hope I made it clear that this isn't a worked out view I had in advance - I have been working it out as I wrote this. So, thanks for pushing me towards doing so.
Ooh, and maybe the terrible sex is an attempt to recombine Diane with the aspect of herself she lost when the tulpa was made?
Now this is something interesting to think about! What say the rest of you?
Yes, I was thinking like you!
Given Coops history with women, him kissing Diane makes perfect sense IMO. Coop always fell for “women in trouble”. He also always got “physical rewards” from the women he saved (or tried to save).
Looking back at at TOS Coop got physical with Caroline (strongly indicated), Annie, but held back at Audrey. (only because McLachlan refused to follow that storyline)
In the limited event series, Coop again gets physical rewards from the women he saves.
Janey-E (bedsheet encounters), the old woman from the Silver Mustang casino (gives him a kiss on the cheek at the restaurant).
So saving Diane is another completion for Coop that is swiftly rewarded.
Characters being introduced without much or any followup didn't bother me.
I liked the tulpa Diane character, but did not care for the "real" Diane somehow having a romantic past with Cooper. Maybe an excuse is that changing the timeline changed their past but that's not very satisfying. I saw someone's idea somewhere that it isn't the real Diane, but an illusion caused by Judy, but that doesn't sit right with me.
The idea that the actual person has to be alive for a tulpa to exist makes sense. I wondered at times if American Girl was the real Audrey.
Anyways, as for loose ends, I'd like to know:
Why was Briggs at 16 crime sites over the years?
Why was Ruth Davenport killed right away but not Bill Hastings? Why did they ask him for his wife's name? Why were Ruth's head and Briggs' body left in her apartment for the authorities to find? How did Briggs get Dougie's wedding ring?
Why Mr. C's incredibly convoluted assassination attempts on Dougie?
There are so may loose ends that the idea that much of season 3 was a "dream" of Cooper's and he was still stuck in the lodge seems to make sense (but only if you don't think too hard).
It's almost comical how little of the narrative makes sense. But I'm not complaining! I'll happily watch and rewatch this season for the rest of my life.
My biggest loose end quandary is all the new people he introduced to us and then seemingly abandoned. This also goes for all the familiar characters that were reintroduced into our lives and then dropped.
I have many other "curiosities" like the glass box and everything in Buckhorn, etc, etc, etc. But the abandonment of the people is what really boils my chocolate bunny.
I share some frustration about the volume of new characters who are introduced but barely explored, but I think I know why they did this.
Lynch has said that he never wanted to reveal Laura’s killer b/c solving that mystery killed the golden goose. Therefore, im order to ensure that there are always further side avenues and characters to explore if the series returns again, they intentionally created far mor characters and side plots than could ever be addressed.
The unspoken goal is to NEVER completely tie up the story. This violates traditional storytelling and audience expectations but is actually more true to life with dangling strands. Unresolved mysteries frustrate us but also simultaneously fascinate us and stay stuck in our heads for years.
This remains the thing that perhaps bothers me the most, because I can't seem to land on an interpretation that quite feels right. Diane and Cooper kissing in the Sheriff's station felt so off to me that I think I may have actually booed the first time I saw it. You ask when they fell in love - I am still prone to resist the idea that they ever did.
I think we should trust our collective gut on this one: the Cooper/Diane romance is just too clunky to be trusted. Especially when you consider how expertly the rest of the series dealt with complicated relationships, including unrequited and long-smoldering feelings of love, there's something fishy here.
It might be that Cooper is able to remember that he loved someone, but he's unable to remember who. Consider: when Laura and Cooper speak in E2, there's definite signs that Cooper's acuity has regressed. For example, his objection to believing he's talking with the real Laura is almost comical when you stop to think about it. "But Laura Palmer is dead." Yes, Cooper, but the ONLY time Laura's spoken with you is when she's dead! And you had that conversation IN THIS VERY ROOM. And it was actually RIGHT ABOUT NOW (25 years later) that the conversation took place!
I think Cooper's romantic affection for Diane is a result of this mnemonic decay. And if Diane is indeed a manifestation of the Arm (my view), then she is only too happy to feed his fantasy.
This makes me think of another almost-comical error on Cooper's part: in E17, he asks Red Room Diane, "is it really you?" That's a question that even an inveterate liar can answer honestly! Yes, it's really me, the liar. You don't know I'm the liar, and I'm OK with that. Compare this to the question he asks in FWWM: "Who are you?" That's the question that a discerning practitioner of dream yoga would pose. (In fact, in "The Missing Pieces," he is savvy enough not to answer the the Arm when it asks, "Do you know who I am?" This gives him the opportunity to observe the Arm as it identifies/explains itself, so he can guage its trustworthiness and tailor his questions accordingly.)
Fire walk with