Third Day Theories: A Recap of the Latest Theories, Analysis and Predictions Generated from Season 3 Part 15, There’s Some Fear In Letting Go

Welcome back, dear reader. Happy endings, and sad endings.  Violent endings, and shocking endings.  And weird drug-induced insanity endings.  Some story lines are being wrapped up, but with only three hours left to go, there’s quite a bit that is still unresolved.  And now they’re starting to dig up age old mysteries that we never really dared hope might be resolved.

Get in the truck. We’ll talk on the way.  Let’s theorize.

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Theory: Diane is a member of Team Doppelganger.

Analysis: So, it was Bad Cooper who sent the “Las Vegas?” text after all. Or so it would seem.

First, let’s address the dates. We are catching up on Bad Cooper’s timeline, so it is not out of sync that his sending and her receiving are happening on the same night.  A lot of people are freaking out on that point, since she got the message several episodes ago.  Date-wise, we’re not out of sync here.

However, screen captures of his phone and her phone show that he sent the text at 9:34 pm and she received it at 7:28pm. 2 hours and 6 minutes before it was sent.  Diane, in eastern SD, could be 1 or 2 time zones back from Bad Cooper, depending on how far towards Twin Peaks he has travelled (yes, of course he’s headed to Twin Peaks, don’t be silly).  So that only makes matters worse.

The boys at The Farm said he would not get cell service out in Western Montana where they were located, so maybe his phone is just way off from being off network a while. That’s a stretch.  Maybe it’s just a simple prop error.  I don’t like relying on that, but it’s less of a stretch.  Maybe he’s texting Chantal and Hutch, not Diane, to see if they have arrived yet, and it’s someone else entirely who texted Diane.

And yes, there’s all this additional speculation about her phone showing upper case letters and some weirdness about how iMessage colors texts from Android phones and what not. I don’t see any of that as relevant.  Bad Cooper manipulates technology magically, all bets are off for that kind of stuff.  But they have been paying very meticulous attention to dates and times on this season, and they know the fans will be all over it.  I can’t believe those bits are accidental.

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Theory: Good Cooper will “wake up” when (you name it) happens.

Analysis: Did we finally see the real, fully integrated, Good Cooper? A lot of people think so, but I have to say that after his initial reaction to the name “Gordon Cole”, as he was crawling around and poking at the socket, that sure seemed like he was back to his “Dougie” state.  Maybe a little bit more engaged than usual.  That said, electricity makes the Lodge go round, so maybe the big shock will zap him back into himself.  We shall see.

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Theory: There are alternate realities at work here.

Analysis: I want to use this section to talk about the Big Ed – Nadine – Norma resolution a little bit. We all want to believe that Big Ed and Norma are finally getting the happy ending they deserve, and I want that too, but I want to throw a little precaution into the mix here.

First of all, at the beginning on these events, when Nadine is walking to Big Ed’s Gas Farm, the cars are driving on the wrong side of the road. See [S3E15] Something’s wrong for screen captures.  This isn’t a reversed image, because Nadine’s eye patch is over her left eye.  So weirdness is afoot.

Sitting at the counter, Big Ed closes his eyes and almost seems to be willing the scene to take a different course. He starts to smile slightly ahead of Norma putting her hand on his shoulder.  Maybe I’m reading a bit too much into that, but that was my gut reaction to what we were shown, and I’ve heard others say the same.  Bickering Peaks podcast even brought up the idea that maybe when he saw his reflection behaving differently, he’s come to some realization that he’s in a dream and can exert control over it.  That might be pushing things a bit.  Walter also mirrors Ed’s comment to Nadine, that Norma will regret this, which stood out as an odd parallel.

Part 15 is a little early to start rolling out happy endings for our nostalgic characters. I’m worried about this one.  It seems just a little bit too good to be true.  I hope I’m wrong.

On a separate note, but from the same scene, Walter says to Norma, “I thought you told me you didn’t have any family?” So is this the Norma of the Secret History book, whose parents died and who has no sister?  Granted, her mother could long since be dead at this point, and maybe Annie too has died in the intervening years.  But still, that bit of dialogue was attention grabbing.

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Theory: There are alternate timelines at work here.

Analysis: While it still seems to have been presented out of sequence, we now know that Hawk’s scene at Glastonbury Grove from Part 1 had to be before the Log Lady died. Many were expecting this to be a scene in the future, occurring after the trip to Jack Rabbit’s Palace.  Then again, maybe the Log Lady’s death scene is also being shown out of sequence.

When Bad Cooper confronts Jeffries, he asks if Jeffries called him 5 days ago. Presumably, that would be referring to the phone call he thought he was having with Jeffries the night before doppelgänger swap day, right after he killed Darya.  Many have commented that seems a little off – but is it?

Now, for one thing, Bad Cooper called Jeffries that night, or at least dialed into some sort of metaphysical party line. So perhaps he is referring to some other phone call that we were not shown, but would be unusual for this season.  Let’s assume he just misspoke a bit there.

As for the days involved, Bad Cooper could just be throwing out an unreliable number. 5 days ago – or 10, you know, whatever.  But could it actually have been only 5 days?  As I previously mentioned, we are catching up on Bad Cooper’s timeline, so don’t let that fool you.  Taking dates from the Reddit post [S3E10] – THE BIG THREAD OF DATES, we have:

• 9/25 Sun – Bad Cooper kills Darya and has phone call with not-Jeffries
• 9/26 Mon – Bad Cooper crashes car and is arrested
• 9/27 Tue – Gordon and team visit Bad Cooper in jail
• 9/28 Wed – Diane visits Bad Cooper in jail; Ray shoots Bad Cooper
• 9/29 Thu – Bad Cooper gets truck from Hutch; Catches up with Ray at The Farm

And from there, presumably, Bad Cooper’s visit with Jeffries is happening on the night of 9/29 then. So actually, it might even only have been 4 days ago, but allowing that maybe some of this sleuthing work from Part 10 was a snitch off, it probably is correct that the phone call was 5 days ago.  Well, there ya go.

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Theory: Sarah Palmer is possessed by (you name it).

Analysis: Let’s start with a tidbit from Part 14. In the German dubbed episode, they credit voice actors independently of physically present actors.  The actress who plays the Experiment / Experiment Model (Erica Eynon) is credited as a voice actor.  She has not been credited as such in any previous episode.  Seemingly, the only place this might have occurred is the lines spoken when Sarah removed her face.  [Source: u/URDVine on r/twinpeaks]  So maybe she’s possessed by the Experiment.

In this episode, when the Jumping Man is briefly shown after the Woodsman throws a switch, he has Sarah Palmer’s face superimposed on his mask. In Part 14, when Sarah took off her face, one of the first images glimpsed was a protrusion that sticks out of that space and looks a lot like the nose of his mask.  A protrusion that the frog-roach from Part 8 also has.  So maybe she’s possessed by the Jumping Man, and/or maybe she is 1956 Girl, with a frog-roach inside her.  There’s also an OG theory that the Jumping Man was the physical manifestation of MIKE, which might mean she’s possessed by MIKE.  I’ve been waiting for MIKE to show up since the Mystery Voice told Bad Cooper he was looking forward to being with BOB again.  Maybe this is it.

Whoever, or whatever, is possessing Sarah, it’s definitely waiting, biding its time. It sits and watches kind of horrible stuff on TV, keeps Sarah well medicated with Bloody Marys, and occasionally tries to sneak in a trip to a local bar when the booze supply runs out.  Could it be waiting for Bad Cooper to show up?  Might the coordinates drop a cross hairs right on top of the spooky ass Palmer house?  It would definitely fit.

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Theory: (You name it) are Richard’s parents.

Analysis: So, we’ve confirmed Audrey Horne is Richard’s mother, and we’re all eagerly expecting Bad Cooper to reveal himself as Richard’s father on their little road trip to Twin Peaks. If this is going to happen, I just hope there’s a better explanation than that he raped her comatose body in the hospital.  Please.  Maybe Richard will find out that he’s a “magic mother fucker” also.  Won’t Red be surprised?

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Theory: Audrey is dead / in a coma / in a mental institution / etc.

Analysis: Charlie points out that Audrey is literally a dweller on the threshold. This is the term Hawk used to describe doppelgängers (your shadow self) in his first lore dump on the Black and White Lodges back in the original series.  A hint that she’s a doppelgänger, tulpa, or some other type of Lodge entity?  Perhaps.

Richard talking of seeing his mother’s picture of Cooper made it sound like he grew up with her, in her house. Ben said he grew up without a father, not that he grew up without parents entirely.  These points would at least seem to nullify the idea that she’s been in a coma ever since the bank vault explosion.  Something still could have happened to her more recently, of course.

On Reddit, u/Coop_the_Poop_Scoop (yeah, I know) has an interesting theory that Audrey is dead and trapped in wood, either at the Great Northern or in the table at the Roadhouse. See [S3E15] I think I know where Audrey is… for details. One basis of the theory is that Richard said the picture “belonged” to his mother, past tense, and then when Bad Cooper asked “Who is your mother?” in the present tense, it caused Richard to pause before answering.  That is pretty interesting.

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Theory: (You name it) is Judy.

Analysis: Philip Jeffries knows who Judy is, he even has her number. Bad Cooper has already met her, without realizing it.  Or did Jeffries mean Good Cooper met her?  Let’s take a look at some of the front runner candidates.

One theory is that Judy is Major Briggs. This stemming from Lynch’s known obsession with The Wizard Of Oz: Judy => Judy Garland => Garland Briggs.  Jeffries said Bad Cooper had already “met” Judy, similar to how the Mystery Voice said he “met” Garland Briggs.  Changing the gender on Judy would certainly be a big twist, and perhaps the inclusion of Bosomy Woman, played by a man (fix your hearts or die), is even supposed to be a hint for us.  However, the Missing Pieces established a few facts about Judy, namely that she is a young lady in 1987 who lived in Seattle, that fly in the face of this theory.  Unless this is yet another retcon origin story.  Let’s assume Lynch put the Missing Pieces out there as canon (or as close as you can get on this show) and move on to other candidates.

Of course, the deeply immersed fans will know that circa FWWM, when the character was created, Judy was planned to be Josie Packard’s twin sister. There was even talk of additional spin-off movies that would center on Seattle with her character.  If any of that remains intact, the only remote possibility within the characters we’ve been presented so far is Naido.  The fact that she is now manifest in reality and being positioned for a role in the final conflict, does kind of support this potential.  She’s also oriental, of course, and has her identity somewhat obscured.  Bad Cooper hasn’t met her (that we know of), but Good Cooper did.  “We’re not gonna talk about Judy”, and Naido can’t talk.  There’s also a monkey at the very end of FWWM that utters Judy’s name, and now Naido is making monkey sounds in the jail cell.  Hmm.  This is an interesting possibility.

People desperately looking for Laura Palmer to pop up somewhere have mentioned her as a possibility. Again though, this would necessarily involve some serious contortions of what was presented in FWWM and even the original series.  I’d put this idea below Major Briggs even.  Though there has been a theory proposed that Judy could be a doppelgänger version of Laura, making a third Laura if you include Maddy (see my article on Themes of Three in the Third Season of Twin Peaks).

Bosomy Woman, who Bad Cooper just met at the door to Jeffries, has been proposed as a candidate, but that seems pretty devoid of any impact. Of course, Bad Cooper could have met any number of Twin Peaks female characters on his way out of town.  Maybe it’s Audrey, or Annie, or Donna even.  But again, that takes a little rewriting of what we think we know, or blatant ignoring what the Missing Pieces established.

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Speed Round:

• In the Secret History, Big Ed has a brother. Named Billy. (Probably too old to be this season’s Billy, but you never know.)
• The film Good Cooper was watching that had the mention of “Gordon Cole” was Sunset Boulevard. This is known to be the source that Lynch derived his character’s name from.
• This is a late breaking thought of my own, but did Red maybe cause all that chaos outside the RR Diner after he left (the gunshot and puking zombie girl)?
• Speaking of Red, some podcast (sorry, I didn’t write this one down) brought up the idea that he talked about hands, and now we have Freddie with a magic green hand. Maybe this is who he is being set up to oppose, not Bad Cooper.
• In Part 14, the one Roadhouse girl asking the other “what’s your mom’s name?” was a bit reminiscent of Hastings being asked “what is your wife’s name?” when they were attacked in the Zone. Don’t ask me if there’s any deeper meaning to that though.
• Jules from the Counter Esperanto podcast, guesting on Twin Peaks Unwrapped, had an excellent theory that Naido either has Good Cooper’s memories (like Bones getting the download from Spock before he died), or at least is the key to restoring them for him, and that’s why she is back in play and why people want to kill her.
• There were a lot of fade-to-black transitions in this episode. Enough that it stood out as unusual.
• The character Bosomy Woman, the one who spoke backwards and unlocked the motel door #8 for Bad Cooper, shows up standing in the motel background, when the final scene switches after all of the credits have rolled. Creepy.
• That motel is confirmed to be the same one from FWWM, where Leland was going to meet Teresa and her two friends, which surprisingly to him turned out to include Laura. This was the Red Diamond City Motel in Deer Meadow, though this is likely a dark mirror version of that location.
• Mark Frost was the hiker in the woods. He’s credited as the same character, Cyril Pons, from his original series cameo.
• Here is a transcript of the gibberish Steven was spewing before he (hopefully) killed himself: [S3E15] Does anyone have a transcript of…
• A lot of folks are theorizing that Steven killed Becky, and that’s why he is so distraught.
• There are some interesting similarities between Big Ed and Cooper. Both sacrificed themselves for a woman in their lives, both have been stuck for 25 years as a result (well, OK, a little longer for Ed), and both are (hopefully) finally achieving their freedom. [Source: u/duckrabbit11 on r/twinpeaks]
• Chantal is getting itchy for some torture. Don’t look for her to just walk in and kill Dougie (yes, I assume that’s her second target). That will probably buy him enough time to get out of it somehow.
• One of the stairways Bad Cooper is lead up is the one from Gordon’s vision, complete with floral wallpaper and scorch mark on the wall. The same one from Laura’s picture from Mrs. Tremond. [Source: Chopping Wood Inside podcast]
• The numbers Jeffries gave Bad Cooper for Judy appear to be coordinates again. They appear to start with 48^o (degrees), which would be in the ballpark for Twin Peaks. Of course.
• The room where Jeffries is located is the same as the room American Girl was sitting in, from Part 3. See [S3E15] It looks like the room in episode 3. So is he actually in the Mauve Zone? Is that what “The Dutchman’s” is?
• While everyone is having good fun saying that Jeffries was turned into a tea kettle, be aware that the base of that device is the same diving bell / transformer shape that was on top of the purple power station (where Nadio threw the switch) and in the Black & White Lounge with the Fireman (which sounded an alarm to the Trinity test). I would say this further points to Jeffries being in the Mauve Zone.
• No one but me will get this, but Bad Cooper’s exit via phone connection reminded me so much of the 90’s TV show Vr.5.
• There was a glitch, similar to the one seen when Bad Cooper shot Phyllis Hastings, when Mr. Todd was shot by Chantal.
• Oh, James. Hitting on a married woman right in front of her gorilla of a husband? Not cool.
• Chuck, Renee’s husband who pounded on James and then was pounded upon himself by Freddie, could potentially be the Chuck mentioned by Audrey and Charlie in their first scene. The one who told Audrey that Tina was the last to see Billy, but who Charlie thinks is unreliable because he stole Billy’s truck the week prior.
• Why ZZ Top? See http://blog.kexp.org/2017/08/20/the-music-of-twin-peaks-the-return-the-veils-and-zz-top/ (an audio interview with music director Dean Hurley). [Source: u/sahand_n9 on r/twinpeaks]
• Charlyne Yi, the girl crawling around on the Roadhouse floor, is credited as Ruby. That’s also the name of the character she voices on Steven Universe.
• Several have now performed side-by-side comparisons of the scene of Good Cooper, from eating cake to electrocuting himself, to the scene of Ruby at the Roadhouse, from getting booted out of her booth to her scream (I credit HardFlame Eudy on the “Twin Peaks (2017)” FB group with the first instance I saw). There’s some interesting coincidences, but what does it mean?
• At the end of this episode, it was dedicated to Margaret Lanterman. First time it’s been dedicated to a character instead of an actor. Part 1 was dedicated to the actress Catherine Coulson.

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As always, please reply below with your own comments and corrections, or give me your own well thought out theory. You can catch me on various Facebook groups, such as “Twin Peaks (2017)” or our own “25 Years Later” page, on the Reddit r/twinpeaks forum, or email me at catnapspirit@gmail.com.  See ya next week.