Wondering where people are standing with regard to Philip Gerard at this point. In particular, how he throws the ring into the train car in FWWM, while Cooper appears to Laura to tell her not to take the ring; in light of the events of The Return. I don't think we've really gotten into this on here (unless I missed it).
Impetus for my questioning is this: https://25yearslatersite.com/2018/06/29/dont-take-the-ring-laura-looking-at-the-fates-of-both-laura-palmer-agent-cooper/
I think I mentioned it in a different thread briefly, but yeah - I really don't get where Philip Gerard stands in all this. His position in TOS made sense, but he seems a lot more ambiguous in FWWM - not so anti-BoB at the end, more just wanting his share of garmonbozia. He seems to be a figure of good in The Return, but I find it suspicious that he is partnered with The Man From Another Place, or rather the evolution of the arm. Philip's arm. "One and the same"?
Also, when he appears to Coop near the end of Part 17, would you take his rendition of the Fire Walk With Me chant as quite malevolent in tone? At the least it has the feeling of old words being used to reveal a new truth - whatever that truth may be...
BOB, I want all my garmonbozia
So, yeah, you are hitting on the ambiguities I have been thinking about. He definitely seems helpful, at least, in The Return, but to what end? The scene where he combines with the Arm in FWWM to say "BOB, I want all my garmonbozia" has always stuck with me. Is it perhaps his desire for the same that is guiding him in S3?
Also, what happened to shoe salesman Gerard? Is there just one Gerard, who moves in an out of the Lodge, or are there two (one in the Lodge and one in the world)?
In FWWM, he knows what's up, yelling at Leland at the intersection, and ultimately throwing the ring into the train car. But, that is *before* the original series, and the first time we meet him there he is medicated and has no idea about BOB or being MIKE. What happened between Laura's death and then?
What happened with him after he helped to solve Laura's murder? Did he just head to the Lodge? Are we dealing with just one guy, who has now embraced who he is (no more chemicals)? Why the chemicals in the first place?
I don't know if the chant struck me as malevolent in tone in Part 17. It was definitely novel because he was simply saying it without the Lodge reverse speak things going on. Although, I guess he did before, too, huh? Just in a totally different context. Like he was mentioning it there, and using it here, or something like that. I had the impression it was involved in the doing of magic.
But, OK, lots of questions. The one about the ring strikes as central to coming up with an interpretation. Cooper tells Laura not to take it; Gerard provides her with it. How can we fit this together with their relationship in S3?
Are we dealing with just one guy, who has now embraced who he is (no more chemicals)? Why the chemicals in the first place?
Can we considering that Gerard was suffering of multiple personality disorder outside the Lodge ?
And the IV medication ( Haloperidol) was probably to keep control over MIKE.
There's the possibility that Gerard isn't inhabited by Mike, in the same way that Leiland was by BoB, but maybe is Mike's doppleganger. The chemicals hold his true personality at bay, but why suddenly take them after Laura's death? I wonder if, when he threw the ring into the train car, he intended Laura to slip it onto Leiland's finger in the struggle. Instead, she made a very different decision. Maybe Mike felt guilty and self-medicated to forget. A little bit like Laura. And as we know, it doesn't ultimately work.
Maybe it should have been "don't wear the ring", instead of take.
Are we dealing with just one guy, who has now embraced who he is (no more chemicals)? Why the chemicals in the first place?
Can we considering that Gerard was suffering of multiple personality disorder outside the Lodge ?
And the IV medication ( Haloperidol) was probably to keep control over MIKE.
Sure, but it still seems odd to me that he was not medicated at the time of Laura's murder, but then was shortly thereafter. Did he do it to himself? And then, he is in the Red Room and so on, and we never again see Gerard the shoe salesman. It has me thinking that perhaps it was someone else who injected him with haloperidol initially (?) It definitely seems that one personality recedes as the other comes to the fore.
There's the possibility that Gerard isn't inhabited by Mike, in the same way that Leiland was by BoB, but maybe is Mike's doppleganger. The chemicals hold his true personality at bay, but why suddenly take them after Laura's death? I wonder if, when he threw the ring into the train car, he intended Laura to slip it onto Leiland's finger in the struggle. Instead, she made a very different decision. Maybe Mike felt guilty and self-medicated to forget. A little bit like Laura. And as we know, it doesn't ultimately work.
Maybe it should have been "don't wear the ring", instead of take.
This is something I have thought about. If it is the doppelganger logic, or something like that, then perhaps only one could be out of the Lodge at a time. But I don't really see this holding up. I agree it does not seem to be like a BOB possession. This seems to be what MIKE looks like consistently. I lean toward thinking he is just one body, though, as opposed to a doppelganger thing. It is interesting that we never see a doppelganger of him in the Lodge, though we do see one of the Arm. What's up with that?
I'm not sure about the notion that the idea was for Laura to put the ring on Leland. Would this be to suppose, somehow, that Leland would die in the train car? I suppose we could play with the idea of it dispelling BOB or something, but if that were the plan, you'd think she'd get some sign in a dream or something...
Gerard was always an ambivalent personality. He took part enthusiastically, then he saw the face of god and was reborn, then demands all his garmonbozia, then he takes chemicals to forget, and on and on.
His confrontation of Leland and Laura could be interpreted in different ways. Was he trying to intervene? Was he flying into a rage at not getting what he wants?
Mike almost seems like a junkie trying to kick, but still has that d-bag friend who's always getting wet.
Oh, here's an interesting fan theory. I kinda like this train of logic....
Takes no account of S3 and is thus irrelevant to my question
(Good enough, in its own right, if S3 didn't exist...)
Well the whole bit about Mike being bent on disrupting Bob kinda falls in line. Explains tossing the ring (as per the theory in video), and then explains why Mike would be helpful to Coop. If the idea was to thwart Bob, or more specifically prevent Bob from possessing Laura, it's something to consider. Maybe S3 has to be manually input.
But, OK, lots of questions. The one about the ring strikes as central to coming up with an interpretation. Cooper tells Laura not to take it; Gerard provides her with it. How can we fit this together with their relationship in S3?
relevant
Yeah, sorry. Didn't mean to be dismissive. I may need to watch this again and think a bit more about what I think is and is not on the right track. Thanks for sharing it.
Fire walk with