From: jgp@zodmate.Rational.COM (Jim Pellmann)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks,rec.arts.tv
Subject: The Twin Peaks Finale Timeline/Commentary (part 1/5)
Date: 27 Aug 92 21:20:39 GMT
Followup-To: alt.tv.twin-peaks

[Start of File 1 of 5]
<----------------------------------cut here---------------------------------->
On Monday, June 10, 1991, the ABC television network broadcast the last two
episodes of "Twin Peaks," #28 and #29 (or 2021 and 2022 in timeline counting).
In the following weeks, there were hundreds and hundreds of messages posted
about the finale in the alt.tv.twin-peaks newsgroup.

Topics included:

- What happened to Audrey, Pete, and Thomas Eckhardt in the bank vault?
- What happened to Ben Horne?
- How did the head injury mysteriously move between Bobby and Mike?
- What was the meaning of the conjunction of the planets?
- Wasn't a scene repeated from the pilot episode?
- What happened to Leo?
- What was the Log Lady's role in finding the Black Lodge?
- Amusing moments from the pageant.
- Who was speaking through Sarah to Major Briggs?
- What happened to Annie?
- What happened to Cooper?
- What are doppelgangers?
- Weren't there some inconsistencies in the Black Lodge sequence?
- In what way are the Giant and Senor Droolcup "one and the same"?
- What is the significance of the name Glastonberry Grove?
- What was the significance of Laura Palmer's presence in the Black Lodge?
- What is the Black Lodge?
- Did we see the White Lodge?
- What was the configuration of the rooms Cooper went through?
- What happened to Windom Earle?
- What did it all mean?
- Comments by those who hated the finale.
- Comments by those who loved the final.
- What questions were left unanswered?
- What will happen to the characters now?
- What will happen in the "Twin Peaks" movie?
- Why didn't "Twin Peaks" catch on with viewers?

In fact, it was one of the most active newsgroups during June of 1991:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

... we interrupt this newsgroup to bring you the following report:
alt.tv.t-p made it to the top 25 most active newsgroups over the
last 2 weeks... 

         No. of        $ Cost  % of  Cumulative
Rank  Kbytes Articles per Site Total  % of Total  Group (Articles/contributor)
  25  1263.4     826      3.33  0.5%    35.4%     alt.tv.twin-peaks (2.2)
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I saved the most interesting articles (IMHO) and have now grouped them together
by topic and incorporated them into the timeline description of the last two
episodes.  As a whole, it presents a "what happened and what did it mean"
description of the finale.

Why present this now, over a year later?  Several reasons:

- A lot of TP fans do not have access to the alt.tv.twin-peaks newsgroup.
  This gives them a chance (finally) to see what was discussed in that group
  after the finale.
- As the movie prequel "Fire Walk With Me" opens in the United States on
  Friday, August 28, it will refresh your memory and (hopefully) generate
  more interest in the movie.
- The finale discussions touch on many themes and ideas presented throughout
  the TV series--themes that are most likely addressed by Lynch in the movie.  
  
Caveats/warnings/explanations/disclaimers/apologies:

- If you have not seen the final two episodes of the "Twin Peaks" TV series,
  and don't want it spoiled, don't read the rest of this.
- This file is VERY LARGE--over 90 pages (if you print it out), over 5000 
  lines, and over 250K.  It has been split into five files of approximately 
  1000 lines and 50K each.
- Timeline entries are preceded by + marks, e.g.:

  + -- The Miss Twin Peaks pageant, opening dance number.  Pinkle makes his
  +    move on the Log Lady.  Talent competition begins.  Lucy dances.
  + -- Earle as the Log Lady knocks out Bobby.  Lana dances.
  
  (Thanks to Ed Nomura and Ed Hughes for maintaining the timeline.)
- Topics and comments are grouped and preceded by a header, e.g.:
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  *** Cooper At The Mirror
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       
  An index to the headers is given below.
- Entries that reference previous entries have the previous entry preceded
  by > marks, e.g.:
  
    >  I'm hoping that Audrey, Andrew, and Pete ARE dead. 
    >  Just because it wouldn't be a rip-off that way.

    Well, Andrew has to be dead. How could he not be? Pete was standing behind
    Andrew so there is a chance that he could be alive. Audrey was on the other
    side of the rather large (surrounded by steel) vault. I'd bet that she is
    still alive.

- To conserve space in saving these hundreds of messages, I removed all
  header information.  Thus there are no dates, and no names of the original
  authors.  I herewith offer my apologies to those who submitted these
  (mostly) thoughtful, witty, and entertaining articles, which are uncredited
  in this article.
- If several people posted the same question/answer/comment, I only included
  the first one I encountered.  There were many, many duplicates, which I have
  tried to eliminate.  Again, my apologies if you posted a more convincing,
  more insightful, more articulate article and I didn't include it.
- In some cases, where authors discussed several subjects, I have split
  their original article and included the parts in the relevant categories.
- Except for reformatting to fit within 80 columns, I have left the author's
  words alone.  The authors are responsible for all typos, bad grammar,
  poor spelling, and factual mistakes (although I have tried to limit the
  entries with outright mistakes).
- Let me repeat:  I did not write these comments, I have merely catalogued
  them.  Please don't send me mail saying, "How could you possibly say X!?"
  I didn't.  Somebody else did.  Over a year ago.
  
With that business out of the way, please enjoy reliving the finale!
                                   -- Jim Pellmann (jgp@rational.com)
Index to the headers:
--------------------

Line numbers are given for both the position within each of the five files,
and the position if all five files are combined into one file.

                                             File      Total
                                            line #     line #
  File 1:                                   ------     ------
     Pageant                                   225        225
     Conjunction of planets                    319        319
     Log lady/oil                              442        442
     Bobby/Mike injuries                       506        506
     Ben/Doc/Donna                             565        565
     Bank scene                                675        675
  File 2:
     Deja vu                                     4       1057
     Leo                                        88       1141
     Sarah                                     141       1194
     Black Lodge sequence:
          Annie                                299       1352
          Cooper at the mirror                 331       1384
          Doppelgangers                        675       1728
          Giant/Senor Droolcup                 781       1834
          Glastonberry Grove                   845       1898
  File 3:
          Inconsistencies                        1       2114
          Laura Palmer                          97       2210
          Pathetic theories                    227       2340
          Room configuration                   293       2406
          What it all means                    585       2698
          Windom Earle                        1149       3262
  File 4:
     General comments:
          Finale haters                         13       3393
          Finale lovers                        629       4009
  File 5:
          Humor                                  1       4397
          Movie                                175       4571
          Plot developments (potential)        278       4674
          Unanswered questions                 600       4996
          Why TP didn't catch on               711       5107
          A happy ending                       849       5245

==============================================================================

+ 26 Mar (Sunday)   [Episode 2021 - 6/10/91
+                    Part 1 Written by Barry Pullman
+                    Directed by Tim Hunter]
+ 
+   Morning
+    -- Leo reaches for the key and frees Briggs.  L: "Save Shelly"
+    -- Ghostly Earle returns with a new game for Leo.  He's got something
+       in a bag.
+ 
+   1:05 pm (clock on wall)
+    -- Norma, Shelly, and Annie chat about the Miss Twin Peaks pageant.
+       Norma won the first one 20 years ago.
+    -- Ben and Audrey talk about Jack.  He's got some philosophy books
+       from which he hopes to learn how to be good.  Audrey reports that
+       the Packards are using the Twin Peaks Savings and Loan to funnel cash
+       to their Ghostwood project.  Ben hopes to expose this and still wants
+       Audrey to make a speech.
+    -- Andy stares at the petroglyph.  Cooper tells Truman about how he thinks
+       Josie died of fear and a vision of BOB immediately afterwards.  Earle
+       eavesdrops and talks to Leo about getting Miss Twin Peaks.  Leo's teeth
+       are clamped on a string from which a flimsy cage of spiders hang over
+       him.
+    -- Pinkle has the Miss Twin Peaks contestants rehearse a dance.  The mayor,
+       Dick, and Norma discuss criteria, then Lana seduces Dick in a storage
+       room.
+ 
+   1:17 pm (Cooper to Diane)
+    -- Cooper tells Diane he just finished his second meditation.  Annie
+       arrives wanting help with her speech.  The pageant is in 6 hours.
+       They end up in bed.
+    -- Nadine shows slides of her wrestling.  Jacoby has Nadine (with Mike)
+       and Ed (with Norma) discuss their breaking up.  Both proclaim they
+       are getting married.
+    -- Briggs is picked up by Hawk
+    -- Cooper and Truman attempt to question Briggs.  Cooper smells haliperidol
+       on him.  Andy looks at the petroglyph again.
+    -- Andrew, Pete, and Catherine are still wrestling with the box.  Andrew
+       finally shoots it open.  Inside is a key, which Catherine puts in a
+       cake-saver so it is in plain sight.
+    -- Donna demands the truth from uncooperative Will and Eileen
+    -- Andy looks at the petroglyph again.  Cooper figures out from a book
+       that the petroglyph tells of a time when Jupiter and Saturn are in
+       conjunction.  Briggs mutters "protect the queen" and "fear and love
+       open the doors."  Andy knocks the bonsai to the floor.  Truman goes
+       to pick it up and discovers the bug.
+ 
+    7:00 approx (Annie to Cooper, "in 6 hours")
+    -- The Miss Twin Peaks pageant, opening dance number.  Pinkle makes his
+       move on the Log Lady.  Talent competition begins.  Lucy dances.
+    -- Earle as the Log Lady knocks out Bobby.  Lana dances.
+    -- Audrey makes her speech.  Donna demands and gets the truth from Ben.
+       He's her father.
+    -- Annie makes her speech.  Earle watches from the rafters.
+    -- Lucy makes her announcement to Andy and Dick that she wants Andy to
+       be the baby's father.  Andy then goes to look for Cooper.
+    -- Annie is named Miss Twin Peaks.  Lights go out and chaos ensues as
+       Nadine is hit on the head with a sandbag, Cooper sees Earle, and
+       Earle takes Annie.  Power is restored and Andy tells Cooper he's
+       figured out the petroglyph to be a map.

==============================================================================
*** Pageant
==============================================================================

My friends all remarked that Lynch was really going all out on his last episode
when Norma & judges were talking about the pageant (first 15 mins of show) and
a guy walks in front of them carrying a deer?  Did it look peculiarly like
something kind of kinky or do my friends just have very dirty minds?  They all
seemed to notice it right away!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> a guy walks in front of them carrying a deer?  Did it look peculiarly like
> something kind of kinky or do my friends just have very dirty minds?  They all
> seemed to notice it right away!

Me too.

It sure looked to me like the guy was humping away at it.

Gave me a good laugh.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ObFaveMoment from the last two episodes: the Anonymous Worker and his
Lovely Deer.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>* Did it occur to anyone else that Lucy was doing some pretty 
>  fancy stunts (including that split) for a lady who was 
>  pregnant?   

yes! I was thinking  "that kid's going to POP out any time now !!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The beauty pageant scene worked pretty well (boy, that Lucy sure can
dance, but she has a poor sense of prenatal care!).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cooper's acting was certainly better in the mirror segment than it was
after the Miss Twin Peaks Contest and the "Whoops, There Go The Lights
Scene".  I mean his reaction and subsequent acting when he discovered
Annie missing was BAD.  LAME.  I mean there was *no* emotion.  No
heavy breathing.  Nothing.  Especially when he was explaining to Harry
that she was gone.  He had the drama and emotion of a shrub.  Please
don't try to tell me he was overloaded and overwhelmed.  He could have
done a better job than that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Wasn't it a bit late for Audrey to enter the pageant?  The scenes they
showed were great, though... the choreography just slightly off, the dark-
ness just a touch away throughout... I would have liked to see all of the
contestants' talents, instead of just the first couple -- imagine what Nadine
or Audrey would have done!  ;-)  Also : Why only three judges, all of which
had many personal stakes on the outcome?  Wouldn't they have deadlocked?

     Anybody else think that Lana's face looks kinda like a monkey's?
     
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lana's lame excuse for a 7 veils dance deserved to go down in flames.  No
wonder Dick switched his vote to Annie.  Lana should have watched the "Temple
Dance in Praise of Eros" from "History of the World, Part 1"!  :-)  ("He is a
eunuch.  _He_ is a _eunuch_!  He's *DEAD*!")

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Have I missed it or did nobody mention the chessboard image on the floor of
> the stage in the Miss Twin Peaks Pageant?  With Annie looking like a white 
> queen (i.e. Windom's queen)?

Wow Bob Wow.  How about the fact they were all dancing wrapped in
clear plastic (raincoats)?

==============================================================================

+ [Part 2 Written by Mark Frost & Harley Peyton & Robert Engels
+         Directed by David Lynch]
+ 
+   Night
+    -- Lucy and Andy discuss what happened at the pageant
+    -- Cooper, with Truman and Hawk, ponders the petroglyph and "Fire walk 
+       with me."  Pete enters and says the Log Lady stole his truck which had 
+       12 rainbow trout in the bed.  The circle of 12 sycamore trees is where
+       Hawk found the bloody towel and ripped pages - Glastenberry Grove.  The
+       Log Lady arrives with some oil which her husband said is the opening to
+       a gateway.  Cooper determines it to be what Jacoby smelled.  Ronette is
+       brought in and recognizes the smell of that oil from the night Laura
+       died.

==============================================================================
*** Conjunction of planets
==============================================================================

> "On June 15, in the waning twilight about 9:30 P.M., the three brightest
> nighttime objects - the moon, Venus, and Jupiter - will join the planet
> Mars in a rare and striking conjunction.  In case of clouds don't
> worry, for although the moon will be elsewhere by the following evening,
> the conjunction of the three planets actually grows more dense, until on
> the 18th they'll all fit inside a circle less than two degrees wide.
> (Your thumb held at arm's length covers about two degrees of the sky.)"
> Bob Berman, DISCOVER                                             

Hmmmmm.  Does this mean the entrance to the White Lodge will become available
on June 15?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Hmmmmm.  Does this mean the entrance to the White Lodge will become available
> on June 15?

HEY its not just Jupiter and Mars...the entrance to all of NETWORK
TELEVISION itself will be open this TIME!!! David Lynch had better take
advantage of this while he can!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although Jupiter and Saturn are about as far as they can get away from a
conjunction right now, Venus and Mars are headed for a conjunction!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Although Jupiter and Saturn are about as far as they can get away from a 
> conjunction right now, Venus and Mars are headed for a conjunction!

Yes, it's been fun to watch them.  This reminds me that I had tried to
do some research on that poem by Yeats and run into some stuff that
was such a tangent that it didn't seem worth posting.  However there
are a few things that might be interesting.

I believe the text of the poem as posted went something like this:
    When Jupiter and Saturn meet
    What a crop of mummy wheat!

    The sword's a cross, thereon He died;
    On breast of Mars the goddess sighed.

Supposedly Yeats felt that his two children represented two
fundamentally different temperaments, one essentially pagan and the
other (to his mind) Christian.  The first stanza refers to his son
Michael, whom Yeats describes in a letter about this poem as "born
free among the most cultivated, out of tradition, out of rule".  His
daughter Anne is the Venus-Mars, "Christian" personality, which he
describes as "democratic".  He goes on to contrast the two by saying
that the son is always thinking about life and the daughter about
death.

So much for Yeats' view of his children's personalities.  As far as
the poem goes, a very interesting link between the first stanza and
the second is that Great Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn were used
as markers for the new World-Ages (when the sun rises in a different
sign of the zodiac at the vernal equinox, which happens about every
2,000 years as a result of the precession of the earth's rotation).
In fact, a great conjunction of these two planets in Pisces is thought
to have been the Star of Bethlehem in 6 b.c., ushering in the Age of
Pisces, dominated by Christianity, one of whose central symbols is the
fish.

I don't think it's too far out to use the mummy wheat (wheat found in
Egyptian sarcophagi and still viable after thousands of years) as a
symbol of Jesus (something from the world of death coming back to
life--I think of the Easter carol "Now the green blade riseth"), which
would lead from the first stanza directly into the second, but I
imagine that Windom Earle uses it to mean something like a spirit or
symbol from an earlier world-age coming back from being buried.  Now
wheat would seem like a much more peaceful, beneficial product than
fire, which would be a closer characterization of what's coming, so
probably he was being ironic.

The Mars-Venus conjunction as a Christian temperament?  I'm not sure I
buy this from Yeats, but I suppose a case could be made for it.  The
character in Twin Peaks who seems to have had the closest similarity
to Mars' temper outbursts is Leo Johnson, and Shelly would definitely
make a good Venus.  Alternatively, if Windom Earle sees himself as
Mars (he is definitely picking a fight with Cooper) he is trying to
align himself with a queen, who would then be his Venus.  Mars never
did to Venus what Windom Earle is planning to do to his queen though.

Enough of that. I just thought some people might find it interesting
information.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Coop sure knew alot about the planets, etc. So why didnt he recognize
the symbols for them right off the bat. We did!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>   When Cooper says something like "we have to look at the ephemeris"
>the close-up show that follows is that of some Mickey Mouse planetary
>drawing instead of the real ephemeris: a table of numbers.  I though
>that was silly.

Yah. That was dumb.  But an actual ephemeris is not very visually interesting
for tv.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How long does it take for Jupiter and Saturn to align?
By my calculations: 20 - 25 years. (Coincidence?)

When will Coop see Laura again?
20 - 25 years.

When did W.E. get the boot from the Black Lodge project?
20-25 years ago.

Now, I think we have a cycle here.  Every 20-25 years a good cop goes into
the Black Lodge and comes out as a bad guy.  Happened with WE, happening with
CooP.  Since WE was working on the BL before Coop met him, Coop will probably
get a partner soon after marrying Annie.  Train the partner, have the partner
fall in love with Annie, kill annie ...

==============================================================================
*** Log lady/oil
==============================================================================

Someone earlier asked how Coop could know that the Log Lady would show up in
HST's office "in one minute." I also thought that this was peculiar.  Why does
he say "one minute," not "a minute" (which is the common colloquialism).
Furthermore, notice that when the LL knocks at the door, Coop pointedly looks
at his watch, as if to confirm the time that the LL showed up.  ???  (An aside:
is there anyone besides Coop who calls the LL by her real name?  I thought it
was somewhat humorous in the way that Hawk announced the LL: "It's the Log
Lady" (I think that's a correct quote.) The way he said it made it sound like
he was "announcing" someone of title: "It's the Duke of Nottingham." Oh, well,
*I* thought it was funny.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If the Log Ladys husband knew about the oil, did he know about the Lodge 
itself?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> If the Log Ladys husband knew about the oil, did he know about the Lodge
> itself?

I think he did...maybe that's one reason he was encased in the Log (perhaps 
by BoB)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey, what WAS the point about the oil?  Coop didn't have it with him when he
went to the Lodge, so even that part about it being a "gateway" was a
throwaway...?!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the bright circle in Glastonbury Circle was around a pool of
that oil.  When Cooper looked into it, before he entered the Red Room, 
he said, "An opening to a gateway...", the same as what the Log Lady 
said about the jar of oil.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A friend pointed out that the oil was quite valuable.  Coop and Harry
were trying to verify where WE and Annie were.  Log Lady brings the
oil, tying it to the gateway.  Next, Ronda ties the smell of the oil to
Leland/Bob.  Finally, Hawk ties Leland/Bob/Laura/Ronda to the circle
of trees - end of use for the oil.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The burnt engine oil is puzzling. If it is really engine oil, then what does
that imply?  Did the black lodge begin with a car crash, a ufo crash?
 
If it is not engine oil but just something that smells and looks like it,
could it be brimstone?  Traditionally hell and devils smell of sulfer and
brimstone.  Is that smell similar to the smell of burnt engine oil?

==============================================================================

+    -- Earle takes Annie to the circle of trees and beyond the red curtains
+    -- Nadine is 35 again.  She wants to know who Mike is, why Norma is there,
+       and where her drape runners are.

==============================================================================
*** Bobby/Mike injuries
==============================================================================

Some have pointed out that the fact that Bobby is shown to not have any
apparent head injury (in the way of disorientation, bandages, etc.) after the
Miss TP contest and the fact that Mike does have such symptoms (and makes the
comment about running into a tree) suggests a great plot inconsistency.  Well,
it could be the case that BOTH Bobby and Mike were hit by WE's log, but we were
only shown Bobby being hit, and that Bobby's injury was not sufficient to
result in disorientation or require bandaging.  I know, it's a lot of ifs, but
it (or something similar) *could* be the case.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A friend pointed out that Bobby has a good deal--he gets hit on the head
and Mike winds up with the wound.  (Remember the Nadine scene?  Mike is
clocked and Bobby is later A-OK in the diner....)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bobby sure made a quick recovery, seeing how he was clobbered with that log.
Not even a bandaid.  Wonder if his personality has changed?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bobby got clobbered by the ersatz Log, and _Mike_ had the head wound and said
he got hit by "a tree", and Bobby was mooning over Shelly with no wounds at
all?   I am confused.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Let me use this bandwidth to clear up two VERY annoying misconceptions
on the net.  I assumed by now everyone should have figured these out.  I
will tell you two things.  They will be true.  Go home and check your tapes.
Then I will give you your damn ring back.

1)  Bobby's comment was in reference to the LOG, not the LOG LADY/WE.  WE
    just picked a hunk o' firewood, which looked nothing like her husband.
    His comment makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER in the other context.  NONE.

2)  Bobby got hit on the head.  WHAMMO.  Mike got hit on the head, too.  WHAMMO.
    Bobby did not require a bandage (subdural hemotoma?), Mike did.  Bobby's
    head injury did not channel to mike, nor did Mike selflessly trade heads
    with Bobby.  GIVE IT UP, PEOPLE.  How do I know this? Because Mike did not
    get hit until AFTER Nadine was sapped with the sandbag, by his own omission.
    And that was HIS head on his shoulders.  MIKE'S.  NOT BOBBY'S.  NOT.

    Read this.  Understand it.  Do not err on these points again, or a small
    dwarf will be sent to your house to violate your sister.  Backwards.

   -- Ben apologizes to Eileen.  Donna cries for Will to be her father.
      Slyvia walks in and Will belts Ben, who hits his head on the fireplace.
      
==============================================================================

+    -- Ben apologizes to Eileen.  Donna cries for Will to be her father.
+       Slyvia walks in and Will belts Ben, who hits his head on the fireplace.

==============================================================================
*** Ben/Doc/Donna
==============================================================================

Nobody has mentioned the scene where Ben and Dr. Hayward confront each other.
Ben gets his head rammed into the fireplace almost like Maddie got her head
rammed into the picture of Missoula and almost like Cooper rammed his head
into the mirror.

I think Cooper is not the only one possessed by Bob.  I think Donna's desire
to be like Laura is going to be filled beyond her wildest nightmares.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>   Did Doc kill Ben, or merely injure him?

I hadn't thought he killed him.  Isn't the wound on Ben's forehead in
the same place as Cooper's when he smashes his head into the mirror.
(In fact, the Doc and Ben scene reminded me of the Leland and Maddy
scene, in this one respect.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This show is not at all as bloody as most network fare, it's just
that we *look* at the characters and the emotions. When the cop
shows have people shooting each other a gazillion times with machine
guns, running each other over with cars, throwing each other from
the tops of 20+ story buildings, etc., etc., it's so easy to watch
and forget. That's just normal automated killing, nice and tidy.
But when we ram a head into a mirror or glass or brick wall, then
examine the regret or evil-glee of the agressor, and not cut away 
quickly to the getaway car, it hurts. You get to *see* the truth 
of it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben Horne. Dead? Giving his last twitches before his soul leaves his
  body? Why the BOB music as Hayward kills him? And then Hayward's at
  the hotel?
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I don't think Ben can possibly be dead. If he was, Hayward would be in jail
not taking care of Coop at his bedside. I didn't realize there was any BOB
music, but I'll take your word for it. Perhaps part of the reason why people
feel it was out of character for the good doctor is that he was possessed by
BOB when he did it, or maybe it was some kind of psychic backlash of bad vibes
coming from the showdown in the Black Lodge. My prediction is that since Ben
has tried to be good and it just didn't work out, he'll go back to being bad.
I hope I'm wrong. I like Ben as a good guy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The plotline with Donna and Ben was the worst.  Donna just seems to whine all
the time.  Nobody cares about her anymore.  This seemed to be invented just to
give these characters something to do.  What was the point?  And having Dr. H
get so mad?  For a sec, we all thought BOB had possessed him!  No way.. Doc H
cant have it in him.  And him at Great Northern so suddenly?  Nope, sorry, not
buying it..

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Why, and how, did Ben suddenly change when his wife came barging in
to his scene with the Haywards?  Before he sounded troubled, but at least
honest -- genuinely trying to do the right thing but going about it in the
most wrong way.  Afterwards his voice lost all its conviction; he sounded
merely wimpy and afraid, giving Doc Hayward the righteousness with which to
deck him.  But then why the spooky music and the bowtie twitching?  Was Ben
harboring another spirit all along (the OAM's pointing to him in 10/8)?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it just a coincidence that Audrey dies just after we find
out that Donna is another daughter of Ben?  Sounds good to me.
In the forthcoming Twin Peaks movie Donna will get to do neat
stuff that Audrey used to do. She will stop being such a wimp.  
She's been on a roll since James left.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Isn't there a temporal continuity problem?  Ben gets killed
the night of or the early morning after the Miss Twin Peakls contest.
His wife is a witness to this.  Yet Audrey is chaining herself to the mast
in defense of the Pine Weasel the morning after, supposedly ignorant of her 
father's fate.  (This I didn't like since I like the character of Ben and
ALSO wanted to know what scared him int he episode previous!  But I have
to admit it took me by complete surprise!)

==============================================================================

+    -- Andrew switches the mystery key with another he has for a safety
+       deposit box
+    -- Cooper and Truman find Pete's truck.  They head into the woods.
+       Cooper goes alone, with Truman following, and sees an owl and the
+       sycamore trees.  He enters the curtains into the red room.  The
+       little man from another place is there.  Another man sings, then
+       disappears.
+    -- Andy comes looking for Truman
+ 
+ 27 Mar (Monday)
+ 
+   Morning
+    -- 10 hours later, Truman and Andy are still waiting for Cooper
+ 
+   7:25 am (Andrew's watch)
+    -- Audrey practices civil disobedience and chains herself to the bank 
+       vault.  Andrew and Pete arrive and open the safety deposit box to 
+       discover a bomb that goes off.  Eckhardt's note: Got you, Andrew, 
+       Love, Thomas.

==============================================================================
*** Bank scene
==============================================================================

Is there any meaning to be attached to the bank guard's jubilant exclamation of
"It's a boy, it's a boy..."?  Who was he talking to?  Who had the baby (if this
is what "It's a boy" means here)?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Eckhart is not wearing glasses, nor visibly carrying any.  The glasses
that go flying are not his; if they were, Lynch would have at least shown them
somewhere during the sequence.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nobody has commented on the joke on Audrey; she didn't chain the bank door
shut, which would normally be the whole point of this sort of disobedience
(disrupt the normal flow of things).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The vault looks like this:

              ====== - Audrey - ======
                       /
           XX        / path taken by Dell et al
           XX      /
    !             /
    !   XX  ____/
    !   XX    /
    !       /   XX
    !     / XX
    !    !
    !   \!/
    +----------------------------------

Audrey watches them walk back, then closes the door again mostly.
When Dell is called back out, Andrew quickly opens the door;
Dell couldn't have gotten much further than where Audrey is.
We get a shot of the inside of the box: the note says,

    Got you, Andrew
        Love,
        Thomas

We get a reaction shot of Andrew and Pete (Andrew scared, Pete puzzled),
then a shot of an explosion in the box, coming outwards; reaction
shot of Andrew & Pete brightly lit fade to white; outside the bank,
two windows and the door blow out with a lot of smoke, but the near
window frame is relatively intact afterwards; Dell's glasses fly
through the air.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can't wait for the movie, though I'll miss Jack Nance. I can't believe Lynch
would have killed off someone who's such a favorite of his.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Lynch intends to make a movie without Audrey and Pete?....no no no

Somehow I can't imagine Lynch unemploying Jack Nance...!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can we assume that Audrey, Pete and Andrew are dead. 
How sad! Now we will never know how the fish got into the coffee pot.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's too bad Pete and Audrey bought the farm, but I think Andrew got precisely
what he deserved.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Just a thought:
       If Audrey & Co. are toast and since the quaint old man never called
the police or the Gazette, that makes for an odd picture...How would an
investigator explain the fact that Ben Horne's daughter had been chained
to the gate of the vault before the explosion?  It's the stuff Enquirer
articles are made of. . .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm hoping that Audrey, Andrew, and Pete ARE dead. 
  Just because it wouldn't be a rip-off that way.
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>  I'm hoping that Audrey, Andrew, and Pete ARE dead. 
>  Just because it wouldn't be a rip-off that way.

Well, Andrew has to be dead. How could he not be? Pete was standing behind
Andrew so there is a chance that he could be alive. Audrey was on the other
side of the rather large (surrounded by steel) vault. I'd bet that she is
still alive.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very surprised about Audrey being in the bank during the explosion.  However, I
guess she can afford to have her character (possibly) killed off.  She
certainly has gained enough publicity from TP!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was anyone else very annoyed by the scene with the old man at the bank..
walking.. very.. slowly.. to.. wherever.. it..  was.. he.. was.. going?  ARGH!
Especially since Coop was in the Lodge at the same time..

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Was anyone else very annoyed by the scene with the old man at the bank..
> walking.. very.. slowly.. to.. wherever.. it..  was.. he.. was.. going?  ARGH!
> Especially since Coop was in the Lodge at the same time..

Annoyed?  Hell no.  Classic, I mean *CLASSIC* Lynch.  It was
hilarious.  I also felt sad, in some ways, for older people.

Did you notice the close-up shot of the woman bank teller who was
sleeping?  Did it remind you of a scene in "Eraserhead?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The scene with the banker toddling back and forth between Audrey, the
water cooler and the sleeping (dead?) clerk was incredible.  Will go
into television history.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I loved the scenes with the old banker.  They were EXCRUCIATING to watch,
especially with the story in the WL/BL developing.  The fact that Lynch
used it before made it even more painful, because you knew it would take
_forever_.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought that the scene with the bank manager was about the only
redeeming feature of the whole two hours.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Loved Dell the bank manager.  There's nothing like a dead stop to make you
appreciate breakneck speeds.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why does Lynch let Senor Droolcup and the bank teller walk so
s-l-o--w-l-y?  I think Lynch noticed the same thing that Kubrick 
discovered in 2001.  You can control an audience with 
speed.  Fast speed a la Star Wars gets you there, but so does
slow speed. Remember Kubrick's slow, stately space ship to 
Jupitar.  Lynch's version of that slow space ship
are these old, senile men in crucial situations.  Of course,
when it doesn't work, it irritates us.  Senor Droolcup, last September, 
did not work me, but I liked the bank teller.  I was on the floor
laughing.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Was no one else struck by the 
similarity bewteen the bank manager, walking with such trouble to give Audrey
a cup of water, and Senor Droolcup, taking forever to bring Coop his Joe?
Marx said, all great figures in history appear twice: the first time as 
tragedy, the second as farce.  Here the order is reversed (leaving aside the
question of greatness)!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Speaking of Wild at Heart, I noticed last night that the hotel manager
in New Orleans is Del the banker in the TP finale!! Same thick black
glasses, suit and hilarious body language.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

>Speaking of Wild at Heart, I noticed last night that the hotel manager
>in New Orleans is Del the banker in the TP finale!! Same thick black
>glasses, suit and hilarious body language.

Yep, the only difference was that in Wild at Heart, he had a four-legged
cain.  I think I liked him better without it (in TP).  The way Lynch had
him walk was just hilarious.  Sometimes I wonder if Lynch has something
against old people; he always portrays them in such a comical fashion.

Also, didn't anyone notice that the full-screen shots of fire that were
interspersed thoughout the Black Lodge sequence were taken from Wild
at Heart as well?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I was watching my video tape of the final episode yesterday w/ the
possibility in mind that Catherine planted the bomb.  I watched her
place the key in the cake saver for "safe keeping."  Later when
Andrew went to switch keys, I noticed that the key and key tag were
arranged differently.  This seemed to indicate to me that catherine
had already taken the key and later returned it.

  The note w/ the bomb seemed to smack of Eckhardt though...

  Plot by Catherine or continuity error? - You decide!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How about this.. Catherine planted the bomb in the safety deposit box because
she was getting sick of Andrews taking over.  Only she didnt think that Pete
would be there.. or maybe she didnt care..

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, Catherine planted the bomd...the question is, what did Catherine take 
out of the deposit box before she planted the bomb ???

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How could anyone think that Catherine blew up her own brother?  Yes, she
doesn't _trust_ him, but sure as rain in Oregon it was Eckhardt who planted the
"Got you" surprise for Andrew.  After attacking the box with a rolling pin and
a pistol, I enjoyed his comeuppance, until realizing its full significance!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Someone (i forgot which post--sorry!) suggested that catherine got to
the safety deposit box first and placed the bomb.  This seems possible:
the note was addressed to Andrew.  However, the original Chinease
puzzle box was given to Catherine.  How could Eckhardt have known that
ANDREW would be the one to finally solve the puzzle.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Why couldn't
> Eckhart have just left the box/bomb setup around "in case of his death"?

With a note that said "Got you, Andrew" -- addressed to a person he didn't even
know was alive until about a half hour before his own death?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> That bomb could have been planted years ago, when Eckhart and Andrew
> first got mad at each other.  

I still don't buy it.  The box was given to Catherine, and was given by
Eckhardt's secretary (or whatever she was to him).  This woman had no idea
Andrew was still alive, either; and nobody had a motive for killing Catherine
(well, nobody in THAT group, anyway).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think you are right about Catherine letting him get the key.  It is also
possible that the uxorious Pete didn't catch him by accident, but was put on
watch by Catherine to make sure that if it wasn't a trap, he would protect her
interests. If it was a trap, then she was rid of both of them, giving her sole
ownership of the Mill and the development.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Regarding Audrey and Pete:  Audrey was some distance away from the
blast which took place in a very large room.  Furthermore, the bomb
appeared to be simple explosive and not a pipe bomb or something more
deadly.  The blast was undoubtedly channeled by the shape of the safety
deposit box so that Packard got it full force in the head.  That would
have absorbed a lot of the energy and Pete off to the right was
probably well shielded by the door of the box.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Marge Simpson would say, "HmmmmmmmmmmMM!" Somebody's glasses blew out the
door of the bank, or out a window.  If they were the old banker's glasses it
must have been some blast, since he was nowhere near the bomb.  If they were
Andrew's, they would have had to blow around a corner, out the vault door, and
then outside, again making it quite some blast.  I doubt Andrew's bulk would be
effective at shielding something like that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I predict that Audrey and Pete recover from their injuries, but due to
the intensity of the blast, they HAVE TO TALK LIKE THIS SO THEY CAN HEAR
THEMSELVES JUST LIKE GORDON COLE DOES!!  Audrey will then become a sucessful
lecturer on ecology, since she won't need a PA system to be heard.  Pete 
will become President, due to a nostalgic craze for Ronald Reagan's can't-
hear-you-the-the-helicopter's-too-damn-loud pres conferences.

Or else they're grilled meat patties (with head wounds, of course).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pete dead?  Audrey dead? - Audrey first.  In the spirit
of "keeping up with the Palmers", the Horne's have started a filial
life-taking ritual.  Pete?  He was one of the nicer guys on the cast,
though I could never figure out how he could handle Catherine's dealing,
and helping out the Bookhouse boys at the same time.  While he was supposed
to come off as clueless, he consistently showed that he was on top of things,
esp. with Josie.  So, what's the deal? I can only think that should some later
revitalization of TP come about that both Jack Nance and Ms. Fenn
want their contracts open.  Too bad as I liked both characters!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since bank vaults often have time locks, just as the Black Lodge does,
maybe the events at the bank  parallel events at the Lodge.
Here is one mapping from the characters at the bank to characters
in the Black Lodge:

 A. Packard ------- W. Earle
 P. Martell ------- D. Cooper
 A. Horne   ------- A. Blackburn   (hmmm, why is Black in her name?)
 Old Man    ------- SDC

So assuming that corresponding individuals suffered the same fates,
we can assume Andrew bought it, Pete is in pretty bad shape,
and Audrey is pretty much okay.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There will never be an answer to what happened with the 
bank explosion, but if there were, it could easily run 
like the cliffhanger resolutions in the old matinee 
serials (such as Republic Pictures "Zombies of the 
Stratosphere"), in which a sure-death calamity (like 
a car going over a cliff, the driver unconscious) is 
revealed in the next episode to be only part of what 
happened (driver actually wakes at the last second, 
throws himself clear). 
 
For example, episode 3001 could open with Pete's & 
Andrew's faces being briefly lit by a flashbulb 
attached (for some reason) to the bomb, before they 
turn and dash out, pausing to free Audrey with the 
bolt-cutters Pete had brought in case there was something 
hard to open inside the safe-deposit box. Cut to those 
three, along with the whole bank staff, exiting the building 
and running away across the parking lot. Medium shot 
as all stop, sheltering from the coming blast in the 
lee of an armored truck. Audrey asks, "Is everybody
okay?"

The group answers with murmured affirmatives. Dell 
says "I just wish I hadn't left my other glasses 
on the windowsill by the artificial rubber tree."
 
Then the bank blows up. 
 
Would this be a narrative cheat? Sure, but it would
also be a clever homage to the Golden Age of American
Film.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Remember what Annie Wilkes did in "Misery" when she found out the
sequel to her movie caused a "cheat."  (i.e., a plausible ending
where a flashbulb goes off and every one has enough timeto
escape from the bank.  If Lynch indeed ever does this, he should
stay out of places where it snows!)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I seem to recall some talk awhile back that Sherrilyn Fenn was
planning on leaving Twin Peaks to do some film work.  I thought the case
was that they were going to write her out in a way that would allow her to
come back at a later point.  Perhaps this was how it was going to be done -
with her in a coma or somesuch (perhaps swaddled from head to toe in
bandages) after the bank incident.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It occured to me that perhaps Audrey and Pete bit the dust for a
purpose.  Why would the writers build up the Audrey/Coop storyline at
the beginning of the Peaks saga if not to have Audrey save Coop from the
Black Lodge (not to mention its terrible black joe)?

Why would the writers build up Pete's storyline after months of
obscurity and turn him into a chess guru if not to have him help Audrey
and Coop figure out a way out of the Black Lodge?

I guess what I'm hoping for is an end to the incredibly boring Annie
character.  Coop deserves someone with a brain and street smarts like
Audrey.  To hell with the age difference; it's not like he's old enough
to be drinking decaffeinated coffee.

==============================================================================
<----------------------------------cut here---------------------------------->
[End of File 1 of 5]
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I lived in my head mostly."                | Jim Pellmann (jgp@rational.com)
"That's not a bad neighborhood."            | RATIONAL
"There were some pretty strange neighbors." | Santa Clara, California
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks