S03.E18: Part 18

[paigow]

SEASON FINALE: Immediately airing after Part 17

What is your name?

[djsunyc]

yeah

so

ummm

yeah

[clack]

So : did Cooper and Diane cross into an alternate reality? Or did they travel into the future?

[luna1122]

1 minute ago, djsunyc said:

yeah

so

ummm

yeah

Pretty much sums it up. 

[paigow]

So this episode should have been called Inception ??

Alternate timelines that are actually dreams??

Cooper tells Diane not to follow through the door, but she ends up

in his "reality"? But she was actually Linda?

[minamurray78]

I should've gotten more alcohol for the after-finale time. ???

[djsunyc]

the sex scene between him and diane gave me serious club silencio vibes from mulholland drive.

then he wakes up to a letter of "richard" and "linda".

[Racj82]

I'm waiting for the defense of this season and finale as whole because I'm having a hard time understanding how it could all be defended after this.

[minamurray78]

What about Audrey? And New York? and argghhhhhhh I don't even know what to wrap my head around.

[djsunyc]

1 minute ago, Racj82 said:

I'm waiting for the defense of this season and finale as whole because I'm having a hard time understanding how it could all be defended after this.

folks will either like the whole season or hate it.  it will be polarizing.  but to each his own.  no need to defend it or hate it.  

me - i need to try and make sense of these final two hours b/c i really have no clue at the moment.

but i did enjoy it.

[jamblastx]

When the original series first aired, I was incredibly frustrated by the then series cliffhanger. Over time I grew to appreciate and even come to the conclusion that it wasn't really a cliffhanger but rather, an ending in that moment of time where doppelgänger Cooper won. So for this iteration of the show would I wanted to have a more definitive answer? Sure but those last few seconds were as awesomely creepy as evil Cooper's head smashing into the mirror. Plus an open ending may mean that they will want to do more in the future. 

[Moxie Cat]

Lynch doesn't like explaining anything so I'm not holding my breath.

I liked hour 1 and the sheriff's station. But this hour was SO damn confusing. So Lynch never intends to wrap up Audrey? Or the Briggs daughter? And I heard Chris Isaak was supposed to show up to resolve Chet Desmond? Why was Sarah, um, whatever she was? Billy? All the girls at the Roadhouse? I just can't. 

I liked many parts of this series, but this last hour... Very frustrating.

[Guest]

I loved the end scene -- it scared the shit out of me. 

THAT BEING SAID: I have no idea how to make sense out of any of Ep 18 at this point. Right now, I'm thinking, "How's Annie" made WAY more sense than this. And I still have no idea why Michael Ontkean was replaced. I was braced for a miserable ending for Cooper -- I'm glad I was at least expecting that. 

Regardless, I loved 99.9% of the show. If that's it - then that's it. 

Maybe later I'll post a picture of the damn fine cherry pie I made (my first ever!) to celebrate. 

[Penman61]

When LauraWrappedinPlastic disappeared and Pete came out to go fishing and NOT see her corpse, I fully expected him to see Ronette Pulaski's corpse instead:  Point being, evil is fungible and will find a way.  Maybe you can save Laura at the last minute, but then Ronette will be BOB's victim.  And if you saved Ronette, then someone else...

That didn't happen, but I still think that was part of the point:  Notwithstanding body-swapping, time-line changing, dream inhabiting, whatever, there will still be evil in the world, doing what it's doing.

What "curtain call"?

[clack]

As to the series as a whole, I thought there were manifold flaws in pacing and in coherent storytelling. And though frequently mesmerizing, sometimes it wasn't very entertaining --  a little Dougie went a long way. Too many characters came and went without being especially memorable.

Still, it's the only tv show I've ever seen that I'd rank as an artistic masterpiece.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

What "curtain call"?

The curtains in the Black Lodge, maybe?

And what of Jerry Horne?! How did he wind up in Wyoming?! Audrey?! I know the Evolution of the Arm referenced the Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane. But ... what of it? Was the EotA in charge of her "story?" What he/it "Charlie?" 

5 minutes ago, clack said:

Still, it's the only tv show I've ever seen that I'd rank as an artistic masterpiece.

And for all my complaining, I co-sign this statement. I'm frustrated but better for it. 

[Wamboyil]

So, "What year is this?" is the new "How's Annie?"

[dosodog]

What The Fuck.

It still sums up every single Twin Peaks story.

Bring on another season!  Because apparently I love nor knowing what the hell just happened. 

At least Lucy gets cellphones finally. 

[Penman61]

Ep 18 Cooper was just off.  He wasn't BadCoop, obviously not Dougie Coop, but he wasn't "I AM the FBI!" and "Damn fine coffee!" Cooper either.  

I wonder if Ep 18 is...a dream, Cooper's dream.  So much dream-logic: going to sleep in one motel, waking up in another; a note left for and by two different people names; two Dianes, looking at each other but doing nothing; FBI Agent Cooper leaving an obviously murdered man in that Odessa house; Laura not knowing who she is, until she does.  

Probably time to look up Gordon's "dream" line that Cooper repeated in this episode.  

Edited September 4, 2017 by Penman61

[Penman61]

13 minutes ago, dosodog said:

At least Lucy gets cellphones finally. 

LOL Let's all agree to just repeat this to anyone who says that finale left too much unanswered.  

[Pete Martell]

40 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

I'm waiting for the defense of this season and finale as whole because I'm having a hard time understanding how it could all be defended after this.

I'm not sure anything has to be defended, necessarily. I'd say it did if this were Head of the Class or Magnum PI, shows that were always by the rules of logic, but Lynch already threw that out the window with the season 2 finale. I guess one could say that they shouldn't have had people saying questions would be answered, but a lot of questions were answered. 

I had mixed feelings about the last hour, as it felt padded, and I didn't really need the Diane/Dale sex scene, even if I guess I understand what it represented ("our" Dale was gone, and Diane was mourning him and making love to him at the same time), as it reminded me of Lost Highway, not Twin Peaks. I liked Lost Highway a lot but I didn't need to see it in what will probably be the final episode of a 25-year experience. 

As much as I did want answers and a definitive ending, I also had an uneasy feeling at getting them, because it's such an alien experience to this show. So in that sense I can see why Lynch chose not to have an ending. I think that he's never seen Twin Peaks as being a show that has a definitive ending. He didn't want Laura's killer to be revealed. He didn't want viewers to see a goodbye beyond Cooper in the Black Lodge. And now we have this - essentially a time loop, probably Laura disappearing and reappearing over and over again.

If this was how Lynch wanted to go, then I wish that he'd made some changes - namely in not having things like the Richard story, or some other stories that never went anywhere, and had wrapped up some of the original cast more, beyond just Nadine/Ed/Norma (I would have liked some type of closure for Audrey - instead I think she was mostly used as a mirror for what happened to Dale and Laura). But I can understand why Lynch did it this way. The Twin Peaks universe is always in the back of his mind. He never leaves it. And he won't let us leave either. 

I also take this to mean there probably won't be a season 4 (and after that finale I'm not sure how many fans would ask for one), and if there ever is one we will wouldn't get an answer.  

10 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

Ep 18 Cooper was just off.  He wasn't BadCoop, obviously not Dougie Coop, but he wasn't "I AM the FBI!" and "Damn fine coffee!" Cooper either.   

I saw someone say he was a mix of good and bad Cooper, which I can see. Shooting the guy in the leg in particular.

[clack]

As bewildering as that final scene was, it had all the intensity and power of a nightmare.

I was expecting a return -- the Return promised in the series title -- Laura reunited with her mother, with her forgotten past, with Twin Peaks, as the soundtrack swells with Laura's theme.

But instead of a return, we got a U-turn. 

[Pete Martell]

I'm such a selfish fanboy because I'm mostly just annoyed I never really got a big Shelly/Bobby scene this season. 

I guess I can just tell myself in the other timeline they stayed together and are happy somewhere, and Becky isn't on drugs and married to a piece of shit. That will be better than a reality where she's likely dead and Shelly is dating a drug lord with magical powers. 

[AlwaysWatching]

Ahh, when Agent Cooper and Diane pulled into the motel, after going through something that turned day to night, they were in an old model car.  AC and Diane had been a bit worried about what would happen when they passed through or by that big electrical tower.  I'm guessing something did happen. The only problem is that a ton of stuff happened and I don't why I'm focusing on just that.  Guess my brain can't handle anymore right now. 

There had been mentions of things in the past and in the future.  Maybe when they went into the motel, after having been changed once again on the road, they, to me, were obviously a different AC and Diane. I think that Diane knew something because she was hiding AC face with her hands when they were having sex.  Maybe she was realizing that they had not ended up the loving couple they would have and could have been if they hadn't had to pass through another "change". I don't know what it's called.  Diane also saw herself standing outside the front of the motel.  She had become aware.

Again, I'm seriously just guessing, maybe Diane knew she was now Linda and Agent Cooper was Richard.  She couldn't take it, so she left. She left not as Diane, but as Linda. 

Agent Cooper awakes, doesn't realize he is someone new, and gets into a much later model car than they drove into the motel. It was even parked in a different place, I think. 

From Gordon's exposition we find out about a "Judy".  AC (Richard) drives down the road and eyes a Judy restaurant.   He does some crazy stuff, but gets the address of the other waitress who I guess he assumes will be Laura Palmer...ahh, just from how he got the info...Judy's???  Oh boy am I going out on a ledge here.  But, all of this leads to this possibly being Laura Palmer, and Agent Cooper is going to finally get her home. She might not remember right away, but Ole Coop is convinced she will remember.

The one thing that Agent Dale Cooper doesn't know, doesn't remember at this time or simply doesn't care, is that "time" can be a mind-blowing experience.  He's doing everything perfectly, right up to his last thought..."What year is it?" This also awakens Laura and the whole terrifying nightmare comes back to her.  I think this is a very Twilight Zone kind of ending. Scary as hell to me.  I could be totally wrong about every bit of it and I wouldn't mind.  Just staring at the screen after they show Laura whispering in Agent Cooper's ear and him looking scared as hell and realizing that this poor, kind, and just man who wanted to solve a evil murder of a young woman, is most likely going to end up bouncing around in time and good and evil realities for who knows how long. That's the mystery of Twin Peaks. Until David Lynch decides if he want's give us more.  I'm in!

Also, I was very happy they made sure we saw the new manufactured Doug E. get back to his family.

Good stuff with Lucy killing evil Coop!

Freddie had a purpose. Yes!

So much other stuff, but I think I've typed a bit too much.  Time to read what all of you say.  I know I'll need help.   Loved this whole 18 episode series. Thanks Showtime and David Lynch.

[jamblastx]

There were certainly some odd timeline situations before and after the sex scene.  They pull into the motel in a mid 60's Ford parked in front of their room in a one story motel.  Yet when he leaves, it is in a late model Lincoln Town Car, parked across the parking lot of a now two story hotel

[Moxie Cat]

14 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

 

Ep 18 Cooper was just off.  He wasn't BadCoop, obviously not Dougie Coop, but he wasn't "I AM the FBI!" and "Damn fine coffee!" Cooper either.  

 

I totally thought the same thing. His eyes during the sex scene looked like Evil Coop's eyes to me. And during the diner sequence, there was way too much Evil Coop there. Wouldn't Original Coop have been chatting with Texas Laura in the car?

You have a great theory that the closing sequence was "we live inside a dream" and now I can try to figure out how the Giant's words of 430 and Richard and Linda fit. I'm pretty sure that the motel was one story when they checked in and two stories when they left, too. Total dream stuff. 

I kind of wish the show had ended when Coop came out of the grove, although it was nice to see Sheryl Lee finally get some screen time. (And on that note - why didn't we see Ray Wise more? Even Ed wound up with more scenes than Leland!)

So was Sarah the evil "mother" creature? And according to Cole, was that Judy? No wonder Jeffries didn't want to talk about her!

[Racj82]

14 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:

I'm not sure anything has to be defended, necessarily. I'd say it did if this were Head of the Class or Magnum PI, shows that were always by the rules of logic, but Lynch already threw that out the window with the season 2 finale. I guess one could say that they shouldn't have had people saying questions would be answered, but a lot of questions were answered. 

I had mixed feelings about the last hour, as it felt padded, and I didn't really need the Diane/Dale sex scene, even if I guess I understand what it represented ("our" Dale was gone, and Diane was mourning him and making love to him at the same time), as it reminded me of Lost Highway, not Twin Peaks. I liked Lost Highway a lot but I didn't need to see it in what will probably be the final episode of a 25-year experience. 

As much as I did want answers and a definitive ending, I also had an uneasy feeling at getting them, because it's such an alien experience to this show. So in that sense I can see why Lynch chose not to have an ending. I think that he's never seen Twin Peaks as being a show that has a definitive ending. He didn't want Laura's killer to be revealed. He didn't want viewers to see a goodbye beyond Cooper in the Black Lodge. And now we have this - essentially a time loop, probably Laura disappearing and reappearing over and over again.

If this was how Lynch wanted to go, then I wish that he'd made some changes - namely in not having things like the Richard story, or some other stories that never went anywhere, and had wrapped up some of the original cast more, beyond just Nadine/Ed/Norma (I would have liked some type of closure for Audrey - instead I think she was mostly used as a mirror for what happened to Dale and Laura). But I can understand why Lynch did it this way. The Twin Peaks universe is always in the back of his mind. He never leaves it. And he won't let us leave either. 

I also take this to mean there probably won't be a season 4 (and after that finale I'm not sure how many fans would ask for one), and if there ever is one we will wouldn't get an answer.  

I saw someone say he was a mix of good and bad Cooper, which I can see. Shooting the guy in the leg in particular.

Nope. It doesn't have to be defended. Nothing in entertainment does. I've personally been bewildered by the huge amount of acclaim this season has gotten and this finale just doubled down on me trying to figure out how this was in any way great. Great moments for sure. Visually stunning absolutely. But, as a tv show overall I'm just left scratching my head. I almost wish it ended on episode 17. I was on high. I truly thought that was a great episode. And then this episode happened. This revival is just going to have to be one of those things I'm in the minority on. I gave it all time I could to come together but it just didn't work for me.

[Guest]

14 minutes ago, Moxie Cat said:

35 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

 

Ep 18 Cooper was just off.  He wasn't BadCoop, obviously not Dougie Coop, but he wasn't "I AM the FBI!" and "Damn fine coffee!" Cooper either.  

 

I totally thought the same thing. His eyes during the sex scene looked like Evil Coop's eyes to me. And during the diner sequence, there was way too much Evil Coop there. Wouldn't Original Coop have been chatting with Texas Laura in the car?

When Cooper said, "It's ok, I'm with the FBI" at the diner, I said to my friends, "OMG, it's Mr C!" His deadpan delivery of that line couldn't have been any more different than the Agent Cooper who walked out of the hospital days before. But then it turned out that he wasn't Mr C, * I guess *. 

The song Diane and Cooper had sex to was the same song used in Ep 8 when Gotta Light? Guy went on his killing spree/repetitive poetry reading at the radio station. 

Edited September 4, 2017 by Guest
Corrected Cooper's quote

[Pete Martell]

5 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Nope. It doesn't have to be defended. Nothing in entertainment does. I've personally been bewildered by the huge amount of acclaim this season has gotten and this finale just doubled down on me trying to figure out how this was in any way great. Great moments for sure. Visually stunning absolutely. But, as a tv show overall I'm just left scratching my head. I almost wish it ended on episode 17. I was on high. I truly thought that was a great episode. And then this episode happened. This revival is just going to have to be one of those things I'm in the minority on. I gave it all time I could to come together but it just didn't work for me.

I wouldn't say you're in the minority - I've seen a very divisive reaction all the way through, and I imagine after the finale the scales will tip more toward people hating the season and feeling used or betrayed. I should say I respect you for not really caring for a lot of the revival but still sticking it out and explaining why, rather than some actual professional critics I've seen who ragequit and then proceeded to badmouth fans for daring to want to talk to them about the merits of the show. 

I don't know how I feel. I do think that episode 17 may have been a better ending, overall. Maybe extended with the Cooper/Laura scenes in Odessa and going to Sarah's house. 

[Penman61]

19 minutes ago, Racj82 said:

Nope. It doesn't have to be defended. Nothing in entertainment does. I've personally been bewildered by the huge amount of acclaim this season has gotten and this finale just doubled down on me trying to figure out how this was in any way great. Great moments for sure. Visually stunning absolutely. But, as a tv show overall I'm just left scratching my head. I almost wish it ended on episode 17. I was on high. I truly thought that was a great episode. And then this episode happened. This revival is just going to have to be one of those things I'm in the minority on. I gave it all time I could to come together but it just didn't work for me.

I hearted this even though I'm not sure I agree with it 100%, but it's a well-stated corrective.  Lynch's unusual artistic modus operandi (reliance on intuitive and subconscious states of mind and connections made therein) is going to yield unique miraculous things--but there's no reason it won't also just plain miss. (Sometimes a teakettle is just a teakettle.)  Hits and misses both happened with The Return.

A critic I respect was doing a binge re-watch of 1-16 leading up to tonight, and he tweeted he was catching stylistic/thematic connections he had missed in weekly viewing.  I certainly don't mind giving Lynch the benefit of a rewatch (although I made it through Inland Empire only once), if only to get something like a handle on this world's metaphysics.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Penman61

[Penman61]

Also, not telling us more about Audrey is fucking unforgivable.  Especially since we had ~78 minutes minutes of dark lost highway footage tonight...

Edited September 4, 2017 by Penman61

[Aerobicidal]

Now that the season is over, I feel like I need to watch it all again. There were many moments I loved, one moment I hated (the Michael Cera scene), and a whole lot in-between.

I'm struck by how many episodes reminded me of A History of Violence, and even though Cronenberg's weirdest moments are way less weird than Lynch's average ones, I'm tempted to rewatch a bunch of movies by both directors.

My main thought, though, is that I'm grateful to Showtime/funders/producers--everyone who contributed to letting all eighteen hours of this be shown on TV. We need more artistic risks, experimental texts, stuff that makes us think.

Whether this season is remembered as a bizarre afterthought or an important moment in intellectual history (and I have no idea whether either is likely), it consistent did things that other American TV shows, movies, etc., wouldn't even try to try, and I think that's cool.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Aerobicidal

[luna1122]

i feel wrung out. Like I've been thru a trauma for which there's no resolution or end.

 

I feel like our last glimpse of Audrey: 'what? WHAT??'

[jsbt]

Whoa.

From the highest high to the darkest dark. That topped Mulholland Drive's swerve for me, in terms of my emotional investment.

I do think once Cooper made the choice to cross over he went wrong - along with a lot of other things. He was much more akin to the Bad Dale there. And much more confused. Like episode 29 he has an original sin, a fatal flaw; he tries to do too much, save what can't be saved. Or maybe he fucked something else up. I dunno! The Fireman did give him all that.

I do hope there is more, but if that's that I can live with that. The town of Twin Peaks is probably fine (somewhere). From top to bottom it was a hell of a piece of cinema. Wow.

Incidentally: I wouldn't be surprised if the public statements from Showtime claiming it's done mean there is a Season 4 and they've been trying to throw people off the scent about this finale. I don't believe they'd leave Audrey as is - I believe she was to have filmed a bit more.

Edited September 4, 2017 by jsbt

[minamurray78]

I'm also wondering what about the key to Cooper's room in the Great Northern which he asked for? And also the Diane... double? doppelganger? tulpa? what do we call it a this point? that Diane (while sitting in the car) saw standing outside the motel as cooper was getting a key...

And anyway, if Laura was never killed or her body never bound up at that river bank, that... just rewrites every event in Twin Peaks, right? oh my god I can't think about all this right now.

[JustCrazy]

Fuck you, David Lynch, and the sorry ass horse you rode in on. ?   Will there be another season? ?

Edited September 4, 2017 by JustCrazy

[scottiB]

Who Is Judy?!?! :)

Loved everything about this series. Everything.  

Kyle Maclachlan was superlatives throughout. 

At the end, it's all about Laura. 

[Penman61]

Wasn't OdessaLaura's name "Carrie PAGE"?

Then wasn't Cooper searching for a missing PAGE in order to solve the mystery of Laura Palmer?

I AM the FBI!

[Racj82]

43 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

I hearted this even though I'm not sure I agree with it 100%, but it's a well-stated corrective.  Lynch's unusual artistic modus operandi (reliance on intuitive and subconscious states of mind and connections made therein) is going to yield unique miraculous things--but there's no reason it won't also just plain miss. (Sometimes a teakettle is just a teakettle.)  Hits and misses both happened with The Return.

A critic I respect was doing a binge re-watch of 1-16 leading up to tonight, and he tweeted he was catching stylistic/thematic connections he had missed in weekly viewing.  I certainly don't mind giving Lynch the benefit of a rewatch (although I made it through Inland Empire only once), if only to get something like a handle on this world's metaphysics.

I'm glad you understand what I was saying overall. It wasn't a complete miss for me but this return was a example of the parts being better than the whole if I ever saw one. 

It's also rough with so much to watch out there. Taking 18 episodes to get somewhere and I'm still not sure where there is while having so much i just do not care about makes this a rough thing to be favorable towards. I'm all for subverting expectations and doing what you want with your art. I could never take that away from anyone but that's where my props for this revival ends. He did it his way all the way to the end. Awesome for him. Can't say I liked it that much. I had more fun and got more out of watching Power on Starz this season. 

[Ms Lark]

1 hour ago, clack said:

But instead of a return, we got a U-turn. 

I liked last week's ep since it seemed to actually be a return to Twin Peaks. This week, we took a U-turn back to Stupidville. There's another 2 hours (total of 16.5) out of 18 I'll never get back.

1 hour ago, Pete Martell said:

I didn't really need the Diane/Dale sex scene

Oh, gawd, that was awful and unwatchable. If Diane was such a big thing to him, what was all that with Annie back in season 2? WTF, I don't care. I'm not going to put another brain cell's work on figuring out yet another two scoops of crap from David Lynch's addled mind.

So, why did I continue to watch? Because it's Twin Peaks, something I loved in its first season and tolerated in the second. I kept hoping it would get better and it did, for one whole episode (16). Done. Don't come back. You can't go home again.

[Pete Martell]

15 minutes ago, Ms Lark said:

Oh, gawd, that was awful and unwatchable. If Diane was such a big thing to him, what was all that with Annie back in season 2? WTF, I don't care. I'm not going to put another brain cell's work on figuring out yet another two scoops of crap from David Lynch's addled mind.

It's interesting you bring Annie up as that relationship always bothered me for similar reasons to what we got with Diane in the hotel room - it was mostly about what Cooper wanted, with the woman somewhat of an object. Even the sex scene with Annie and Dale always felt wrong to me (albeit much more low-key than what we got here). 

I think that Diane was pretty much all object/desire/nostalgia for him, and this got worse when they went through the power lines. 

Laura Dern's acting was superb, as always, but I wish they had left the sex scene itself offcamera and just let us fill in the blanks ourselves. 

[Penman61]

10 minutes ago, Pete Martell said:

Laura Dern's acting was superb, as always, but I wish they had left the sex scene itself offcamera and just let us fill in the blanks ourselves. 

I see why you say this, but I also think it was meant to be important to see Cooper(or whatever Coop that was)'s weird expressionless reaction + Diane(or whatever Diane that was) intense looking-away reaction + covering Coop's face with her hands.  

Also, The Return showed us back in E1 (when the youngsters are watching glass cube) that sex calls up forces from other worlds, right?  

Anyway, the scene itself went on too long for me.  I was antsy to return to endless shots of night highway driving and nobody talking to each other...

Edited September 4, 2017 by Penman61

[Pete Martell]

41 minutes ago, Penman61 said:

Anyway, the scene itself went on too long for me.  I was antsy to return to endless shots of night highway driving and nobody talking to each other...

The night driving scenes almost verged on self-parody, although there were also so many they were numbing and frightening in how common they became. I think the most frightening was bad Coop as the power lines were crackling when he drove in.

At least bad Coop remained foolish to the end, with no real plan, getting blown away by Lucy (!). If there was a villain - and ultimately I think the real 'villains' for Lynch in the narrative were nostalgia, time, and self-doubt - it was Cooper trying to reset time to help Laura and heal his own sense of failure. This did more damage than even the bad Cooper or Mother ever could.

[Cheezwiz]

So I've decided I'm not going to analyze. For me, mentally the series ended with Episode 17, and Episode 18 was some sort of weird fucked-up dream epilogue.

Furious that they did not give us any more info on Audrey's fate. I wasn't expecting things to be tied up neatly with a bow, but this was indeed unforgivable.

Something happened in episode 17 in the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Station: The point at which we see the ghostly image of Dale Cooper's shocked visage faintly superimposed over the action taking place on screen. I kept expecting the image to fade out, but it held onscreen for a very long time. In my opinion, this is where reality ended, and the rest became indecipherable dream-stuff.

Agree with everyone else that the Cooper in 18 seemed to be some sort of Good Coop/Bad Coop hybrid. He had the same deadened deliberate speaking voice as bad Coop. I didn't understand the suddenly passionate relationship with Diane, and the sex scene was excruciatingly long. At first I wondered if it was a way for Diane to expunge the memory of Bad Coop's brutal assault on her, but since nothing that followed made any sense,  I'm not even going to theorize.

Final episode for me was a total bust, but I'm grateful that I had the experience of watching this show every week. There's never been anything like it. I've looked forward to coming here and reading everyone's thoughts each week as much as I've anticipated the show itself. Your thoughts have enriched my viewing experience! Thanks all!

Edited September 4, 2017 by Cheezwiz

[TDT]

On 8/31/2017 at 11:40 PM, paigow said:

What is your name?

My name? it's "Whatthehelldidijustwatch??"

Felt just like"Laura" in that final shot myself...

[loki567]

My personal reaction from the finale? "Yep, about what I expected." I was just kind of numb by the end of it.

IMO, unsatisfying on the whole. A lot of good individual moments and David Lynch is still one the best visual directors on the planet but character is vital to narrative. That as much as people want to point to the various Lynchian moments, Cooper, Audrey, and the other Twin Peaks residents were just as important to the love of the original series and Lynch put up as many barricades between them and the audience as possible. 

At the end, what were we left with except a bunch of pretty pictures that ultimately didn't mean much. 

[Affogato]

5 hours ago, Pete Martell said:

It's interesting you bring Annie up as that relationship always bothered me for similar reasons to what we got with Diane in the hotel room - it was mostly about what Cooper wanted, with the woman somewhat of an object. Even the sex scene with Annie and Dale always felt wrong to me (albeit much more low-key than what we got here). 

I think that Diane was pretty much all object/desire/nostalgia for him, and this got worse when they went through the power lines. 

Laura Dern's acting was superb, as always, but I wish they had left the sex scene itself offcamera and just let us fill in the blanks ourselves. 

I think we were meant to see the difference between that scene and dougie' sex scene.  When she sees herself leaving? She stays to figure out if she can stay? 

[Affogato]

I saw someone on the subway this morning who looked like Duncan Todd. Black baseball hat, black shirt, almost a members only jacket. Probably going to a job in the service industry. Also a Sontaran who had let himself go to hell.  

Its the morning after. 

Ill need to wach again, later today before I can form a coherent response  

I get involved in small parts of this show and then in the next part and it all seems episodic. Episode 17 was the end of the world as we know it  

I'm  pretty clear the Audrey we watched live in the new world, which isn't our world because Cooper and 'Laura' drove by the RR diner. I think the roadhouse is a gateway but not sure it is important  

No one here has mentioned the dead man in faux Laura's house. Violence is still with them. 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, jsbt said:

do think once Cooper made the choice to cross over he went wrong

I read a few posts suggesting Cooper made the choice to cross over. Does anyone know at what point in the episode that happened? Was it at mile 4-3-0? If so, I thought that was the Giant's admonition to Cooper in the Lodge? Meaning, those were his instructions to make it happen. 

I think Diane/Linda covered Cooper/Richard's face because she knew that it wasn't Dale she was having sex with. 

Would still love to know what happened to Billy.

[Moxie Cat]

Isn't the Double R diner 24 hours? I swear that was mentioned, either by Norma's partner or signs. And yet it was closed when Coop and Texas Laura drove past. I'm still with the theory that the last sequence was a dream. Another detail that didn't match with real life: a diner that had a huge expanse of empty space in the middle.

Maybe the use of Chalfont/Tremond was to show that the Lodge(s) were controlling this experience for Cooper. Maybe there's no place for Cooper in the real world anymore.

I was intrigued by the idea that the Lodge was helping Cooper help Laura avoid her fate. Loved the use of the pilot to show she (possibly) hadn't died. But correct me if I'm wrong, but I think when she was ripped away from him, that concept ended. I don't think we can assume Laura didn't die.

5 minutes ago, Giant Misfit said:

Does anyone know at what point in the episode that happened? Was it at mile 4-3-0?

I think he said it was exactly 430 miles away. I guess from Twin Peaks, but in what direction?