“Agent Cooper… Listen to the sounds.
It is in our house now.
It all cannot be said aloud now.
Remember 4 3 0. Richard and Linda. Two birds with one stone. You are far away.”
—???????
The very first lines in the new Twin Peaks, spoken by a familiar face. But by showing seven question marks next to Carel Struycken’s name, the end credits of Part 1 made one thing clear: this is not “The Giant” as we all know him from the original series.
Thanks to the week-by-week reveal of the upcoming soundtrack‘s track listing on iTunes, we know the title of the new Angelo Badalamenti music that was used during the unnamed character’s wondrous levitation scene in the theater:
“The Fireman”
Considering an alarm went off in his home, setting in motion a (rather unhurried) rescue action, we can assume that “???????” is that “Fireman.” 7 question marks for 7 letters. And in a world where “fire walk with me” is synonymous with evil, a fireman is essential in the fight against it. Like the Dutch actor said in an interview back in September, “I’m important for the development of the story.”
UPDATE: The Fireman confirmed his name in Part 14 which aired on August 13, 2017.
How do you think the fireman fits into the Twin Peaks universe and what’s his relation to the Giant? What do you think he accomplished in Part 8? And how did Dale Cooper end up at the fireman’s place in Part 1? Is it future, or is it past?
Hat tips to Nathan for sharing the song title, and to Brett.
Carel Struycken credited as The Giant in Twin Peaks Episode 8
Carel Struycken credited as ??????? in Twin Peaks Part 1
Fire walk with 
“How do you think the fireman fits into the Twin Peaks universe and what’s his relation to the Giant?”
Very interesting… So are you saying that The Giant is a completely different character to The Fireman? Was “The Giant” an official character name? I don’t remember that being so… Just that Cooper called him a giant and he was from there on knows as The Giant.
David Lynch had no problem crediting him as “The Giant” in Episode 8 but went out of the way to identify him in Parts 1 & 8. But also, this happened…
https://twitter.com/ThatsOurWaldo/status/880242392552673280
I take it to be a matter of a shift in perspective. Before we would only see him from a position that did nothing to disclose the context and meaning of his presence, so it made sense to refer to him as the Giant, a name that in its mythological self-evidence kind of settles the whole question without raising it. If we are now moving towards a clearer picture of what he represents and what his function is, it makes sense to acknowledge for the first time our previous lack of knowledge by referring to him with a signifier stand-in for the unknown.
That’s exactly what I thought about the dual names
He looks at least 25 years older than the giant, and does so in 1945 already. Fireman could be the giants twin-father 🙂
I think the Giant is actually God in Lynch’s universe.
Could be a lower celestial being. Mike said he changed his ways when he “saw the face of God”. Seemed like a much rarer and more special occurrence than would likely be the case if God was regularly manifesting in the Red Room and other places we’ve seen the Giant pop in and out of. He also once told Cooper “this is all I am permitted to say”, implying as other spirit characters sometimes do that there are rules governing even their behavior that have been handed down from a higher authority (God).
I always assumed the male was chaos (father time), and the woman was order (mother nature). They are both the creators of the current universe and defenders of it from the evil left outside in the void.
Added to that the references to elecricity are everywhere which is the giants relm of control (momentum, light, E/M), mass being controlled by the female. The final bit is when the giant sees the nuke go off and he creates light and it descends to the female to give life and substance to it to create Laura (completing the circle of life and time, and ultimately the story of twin peaks).
She smiled as it reminded her of the good old days when they first created the universe togeher and all was good/simple.
So a lot of twin peaks is a metaphor for modern day spirituality and other religions and how they are at constant war between the light/good and dark/evil.
Might end up that way, but I wouldn’t assume that solely based on him being called the “Fireman”. Cooper just called him “the Giant” as a nickname because he was tall, so why wouldn’t the credits back then call him the “The Giant”?
Has the title been removed? I’m reading this now and don’t see the title on iTunes.
https://itun.es/us/rEz0jb
A fireman’s job is to put out fires.
“Got A Light”
Possibly the spirit of Sam Lanterman – who perished a fire in close proximity to the Black Lodge? (per pg. 318 of The Secret History of Twin Peaks) … my take-away from the book is that Sam is somehow tethered to the forest and feeding his information to Margaret through the log…
I believe Sam Lanterman is shown in Fire Walk With Me in the scene above the convenience store. He has a long beard and is dressed in flannel.
Also, checking online, the code 430 for firefighters is a code for “Radioactive condition”. Episode 8, anyone?
Great find Vitor, I believe you’re the first to mention this.
Yeah that’s a great observation. Carrie/Laura was spirited away to around the time of the trinity test. That is why the mother wasn’t in the house yet. When he wondered what year it was that was when the bomb went off and just appeared at the house. I feel that no one pays attention to “We descended from Pure air” in FWWM. And I think that Phillips Gerrard as (the arm ) has bonded with Cooper. (He is the one who says Electricity and the both disappear). Also Cooper is doing something weird with his right arm when he leaves. (Paralleling Bob and him leaving in fwwm evtended scene). Mike was Phillips left (bad intention) arm. He is cooper’s right arm (good intention. Cooper is now a colder human).
I think they’re the same character; we’re just finally learning his name/role.
I want to point out that the guy in Dougie’s office who was helping people commit insurance fraud had a client who set fire to his hotel. Several people died because of it. Coop drew a ladder on the paperwork which I thought looked like a fireman’s ladder. Learning that the Giant may be called the Fireman gives that scene new significance. Of course, I could be seeing connections where there are none.
After all, Mak Takano’s character in season 2 was billed as “Asian Man” for his first few episodes and later as “Jonathan” after his name was revealed.
That’s perfect. He’s gotta be the Fireman, putting out the fires.
The fireman is probably a friend of the Log Lady and her late husband. Struykken is really an amazing actor who delivers this giant/entertainer, and now «fireman god», kind of character. Thanks for the clearing up.
Just my 2 cents here – in The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer there is clearly stated that Margaret’s late husband was…..a fireman (and died when stumbeld upon a root and fell face first into blazing embers)
I think the tall man, fireman is Chaos or father time and the lady is Order or mother nature.
Both are responsible for creating the universe (the sea around their tower, which is also the main control room).
The machinery is the clock of time, and the horn like thing is how energy and life was injected inside of it (i.e. the source of the big bang).
Found one more discrepancy in SECRET HISTORY. The text reads that there are 7 players on the football team when the photo on the opposing page clearly shows 8.