I've been trying to formulate theories around Audrey's story and how it ties into the main plot involving Cooper / Richard, Laura / Carrie, and Bob. So far, I'm hitting alot of dead ends, but I've noticed a few things about the various significant names.
First, as alluded to in the thread title, we have an abundance of Christian references in the names of the characters around Billy and Chuck - Mary, Angela (Angel), Tina (Christ ina), and Paul.
We know all about the angels Laura sees when she dies in FWWM. Andy sees these same angels in his vision, along with the number 6 pole that's cut to three times when he's shown it, implying 666.
The other significant Mary that I've noticed upon rewatching is the one mentioned in episode 8 (and this scene portrays another love triangle with a man at the centre, like with the various versions of the Billy story). In this case, the Mary reference seems to be foreshadowing the impregnation of the young girl by the frog moth. I don't know if there's more signifcance beyond that.
The other thing I want to point out is that there are tons of Billys and Charlies / Chucks throughout the season, but two that maybe people have missed are females: Richard threatens to rape a Charlotte (so, Charlie) shortly after bribing Chad (another Charlie) in the Roadhouse the first time we see him. The second Charlie that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else is Carrie - short for Caroline, masculine of Carl and Charles (and of course we have Carl in the trailer park, so I don't think this is a coincidence).
We therefore end the season with "Richard" driving "Carrie" (Charles / Chuck / Charlie) after we've seen several episodes where Audrey (whose son is named Richard) has spoken to Charlie, about a Chuck and a Billy, and where several scenes in the Roadhouse (which appears to be a play on words - literally a road house, a place to go and travel to a different world) have alluded to this same story.
I think the car / driving / stolen car theme is significant too, in the sense that the vehicles act as a metaphor for bodies being driven by different characters or souls, ie Diane's Tulpa takes her body, Cooper's body is used by Dougie and the doppelganger, etc.
I could keep going on about this but don't want to write too much in a single post. I really just wanted to spark conversation on these topics and see what others were thinking.
Tina is also short for Martina, as Martina Weymouth, bass player for Tom Tom Club and formerly Talking Heads. I wouldn't read too much into the names; they're commonplace.
You can't throw a rock round here without hitting a Tina, Paul, Charlie, Billy or Angela. They don't like it much, though and tend to throw them back.
Of course, it could be Martina, there's no proof that it is or isn't. But Angela, Mary & Tina? That's too much of a coincidence to not think it was intended as Christina (in my opinion obviously.) Having said that, a quick Google tells me Martina is a reference to Mars, the God of War, so a case could perhaps be made for that depending on what / who you think Tina represents in the Billy story.
And on the contrary, I think we definitely should be looking at the significance of names, especially in a Lynch project. For example, he's used Alice both in this series and in Lost Highway, seemingly as a pointed reference to Alice in Wonderland. And the dialogue in the Roadhouse / Audrey scenes (and indeed elsewhere in the show) quite unnaturally emphasises various names - just look at the strange way the one girl pauses when asked what her mother's name is before answering "... Tina," and the way the music turns sinister at this point.
We know from Mulholland Drive that Lynch leaves clues to be followed, and indeed in Mulholland Drive a major part of that is names - why has this person now taken the name of this other person?
Just look at how many Bills, Billys, Williams there are; how many variants on Charles (Carl, Charlotte, Charlie, Chuck, Carrie).
In one scene early in the series, Carl is driven by a Bill, accompanied by (I think) a Mike who interestingly wants a lift into town so he can pick up a woman called Linda's mail from the post office. So, Billy, Charlie, Mike & Linda all mentioned within a minute of each other.
What it adds up to I really don't know as yet, but I think it would be wrong to wave it away as insignificant.
Just look at how many Bills, Billys, Williams there are; how many variants on Charles (Carl, Charlotte, Charlie, Chuck, Carrie).
Maybe Lynch is referring to these guys:
Just kidding! 😉
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I think calling Carrie and Carl Charlie is a big stretch. Sure you can make a case for it but it's a stretch. The series has always used double games, Mike and MIKE. Bobby and BOB. Now Richard and RICHARD (Yes I'm all caps-ing Dales final incarnation, I believe this RICHARD to be a lodge spirit.) Every time Billy is mentioned it's assumed it's all about the same Billy whose mother is Tina.
Sherilyn Fenn would love the Christian/Angels analogy of her story line. Her religious fervor is pretty intense looking at her Instagram. Lol.
That is an interesting way to wrap the Audrey story into the Richard/Carrie story. I'm not sure if it was what Lynch/Frost intended, but I do think they like to lay out patterns and let the viewers make whatever they feel from them.
(In one thread, I described the Judy symbol on the playing card as a bit of a Rorshach test, and one forum member said the whole show makes sense as an ink blot test. THAT is something I think Lynch would like for his viewers.)
Regarding Christianity, I grew up being a serious bible beater with bible lessons every day... I've forgotten a lot, but still, I think anything really obvious would have stood out to me, and aside from 666 and a horse representing death, I couldn't decipher Christian symbols.
I did, however, think about the final scene as Christ dying on the cross. According to the sex magick interpretation, by which Cooper brings Judy into this world and destroys her, he sacrifices himself. In the gospels, Jesus rises three days later and then comes the glory down the line. I've thought about about the light's out/Carrie-scream being the death of the show (and self sacrifice of Cooper) being Black Friday. And then what's Easter Sunday? It's all of us fans reveling in the show, continually bringing it back to life as we rewatch and discuss for years to come. That's just my personal thought--not a Lynch/Frost intention.
I DO think that Lynch/Frost set out to write this like a sacred text that can have a cariety of interpretations, with evidence backing them all up. So keep on looking for those patterns and sharing them! Cuz so far, the only connection between the names "Richard" and "Dale Cooper" I could come up with was inspired by TPTR's use of 50s music: "Dick Dale."
Fire walk with