Troubling Abstractions
Part 10 - S3e10
Version 1.0

“Troubling Abstractions”
Part 10

The traffic light graphic for this episode was a pale gold.
Some recurring motifs in this episode: hidden wrongs, mirror images and versions

SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE OF TWIN PEAKS | 0

The traffic light graphic of each introduction shows us a recurring color motif in that particular episode. We were immediately shown the pale-gold of the traffic light re-staged into sunlit hills and trees. It’s beautiful, but it feels deceptive. We saw that Miriam’s trailer, too, was wrapped in that pale gold, and in strips of green. It’s similar to the off-putting shades from the previous episode that followed us throughout, beginning with Diane’s phone. It’s a sickly color, and it may become a Motif if it continues to appear.

We saw Richard Horne storming out of his car. It’s Red, Black, and White. These are the curtains and chevrons of the Red Rooms, these are visual clues about Richard’s otherworldly heritage, and form book-ends with Rebekah Del Rio’s costume at the end of the episode. His conversation with Miriam at her door gave us an opportunity to look around her yard: Miriam then revealed to Richard that she’d already written to the police about the accident in Episode 6.
As a refresher: this accident represented a more realistic and grounded re-enactment of The Split in which [The Mother/Red Room Laura] is forced to truly confront the pain of living on while another half of her “dies.” She was forced to witness the agony and grief of [Richard/BOB] destroying an innocent young life. She had only an ordinary man to comfort her, and no soothing suggestions that the child’s soul had gone to a better place – no angels, no fantasy Good Dad Father Figure, no town full of wistful regrets, no competent authorities swooping in to solve a murder, only loss.

What does this mean for Miriam? It places her firmly in the category of being a Living Scapegoat, an American Girl, another iteration of Ronette Pulaski and Red Room Laura Palmer in her isolation: she saw [The Accident/The Split,] she saw WHO did it, and now she must be silenced and sent away before the sin of her knowledge can spread. Richard even lit a Fire (Motif) to destroy the evidence.

Inside Miriam’s Trailer: A lot of the Forest Green/Maroon color combination that Lou Ming noticed so early on. Lots of pink and light/feminine/soft visuals. A few Animals (Motif), such as the pink pig dish scrubber and a few ceramic white rabbits. We saw peonies on her dress, and the bleeding from her head showed us the Losing Your Head motif. Her left hand being “raised” into her own blood may have been an echo of Laura raising her hand in the train car, and Ike raising his injured hand as he was arrested.

Fat Trout Trailer Park | 5

This is a transcript of the Carl's song:
From this valley, they say,
you are leaving…
I will miss your bright eyes,
and sweet smile,
for they say you are taking the sunshine
that will brighten my pathway a while.

Come and sit by my side,
little darling,
do not hasten to bid me adieu.
Just remember, that Red River Valley
[CRASH] “Fuck!”
And the cow...
Let’s point out what we can: The last time we saw these characters, they were participating in a dark mirror image of the Red Rooms kiss, with Becky playing Laura and Steven playing Cooper/The Father Figure. Now, because Becky never gave away the [knowledge/money,] she’s able to see clearly that Steven is the one screaming at her and terrorizing her. There are no supernatural beings here, no demons, not even a subtle effect to his voice to create more fear and tension. Becky is a part of Laura Palmer that no longer needs to lie to herself about what she’s seeing. The use of Blue, Red, and Gold in her outfit are another clue that Becky represents a healthier, more balanced, more integrated version of Laura.
This is only a working theory as I write these essays episode-by-episode. I may change my mind later on.

MITCHUM RESIDENCE | 7

This brief scene is an example of “Find Laura’s” Quantum Entanglement and mirroring motifs at work. We saw Steven (a redhead wearing warm orange-red) assault Becky on their couch over an offense that we can’t see. Now, we see Candy using a Red cloth to swat at a fly that we can’t see, culminating in grabbing a remote and hitting Rodney Mitchum on his couch. Rodney’s scratched face might be a version of Losing Your Head (Motif), with Candy’s disproportionate scream of horror at Rodney’s scratches being an echo of Laura demanding to know BOB's identity only to find her father in his place.

In the background/general scene: lots of symmetry, with a pair of 2 golden rings (Jewelry) (Motif) on the shelves. The room felt washed out, empty, and nearly monochromatic.

DOCTOR’S OFFICE | 9:30

Numerology tidbits: Dougie Jones went missing for 3 days before re-appearing as Cooper!Dougie. Sonny’s birthday party was planned for 6 months. If I recall correctly, we heard some of this before.

Recall: Communication issues are a fundamental structure in the Twin Peaks Dreamscape. They are related to the Bad Transformer – we were introduced to both concepts at the same time, in the morgue attendant mishearing a question and apologizing for that BT as the lights flickered over Laura Palmer’s corpse. Gordon Cole is our anthropomorphic BT, and he mishears things in almost every scene he’s ever appeared in. Communication issues are an abstraction of Laura Palmer’s shattered psyche as a whole, each piece struggling to communicate with other pieces to form a coherent self-image and worldview.

In this scene, the doctor invited Cooper!Dougie to sit down, and C!D only responded by mirroring his tapping. This is an example of these communication issues at work, and a great illustration of the fact that C!D is operating on a level comparable to a very small child.

MITCHUM RESIDENCE | 12

There’s a lot to look at in this single shot. A quick breakdown of the news segment itself: Finally, Bradley Mitchum concludes “our Mr. Jones was actually… Mr. Jones.”
It's not just a spot of comedic relief. This line reflects something Laura Palmer must realize and accept if she wants to heal: the father that loved her during the day is the same man that abused and terrorized her at night. We saw this epiphany reflected in an earlier episode, when Sonny Jim was able to recognize that his dad was still his dad even with the lights off.

THE JONES’ | 15

This episode is littered with sweets and desserts! (Food Motif) Here we saw Cooper!Dougie eating a sickeningly rich piece of chocolate cake. We will see Lucy with a giant pile of donuts before her, and Johnny Horne seated near a plate of cookies and some kind of milkshake or smoothie.
To paraphrase: “there’s only one sexual position in Twin Peaks.”
We saw in the Primal Scene of Laura's bedroom that Laura was beneath BOB when she discovered who he really was. This recurring position of the woman being on top and in control might be an attempt at reversing this damage and reclaiming the body. We can answer this question by considering whether these scenes have a positive context. Cut to a Red blanket, fade to black.

DR. AMP’S SHOW | 18

Dr. Amp has been one of the most puzzling characters in this interpretation. Let’s review some things that we’ve seen and observed already, as well as this scene now: Hopefully, more evidence in one direction or another will come to light as we continue working.
We also got a quick shot of Nadine’s drape store. She's achieved one of her biggest dreams! It has Golden lettering. It has an address of 112 – this becomes 4.

THE JONES’ | 20

In this brief scene we can see that Janey-E’s mood and treatment of Dougie is much more pleasant. We also saw that she was wearing Golden jewerly with a Ring Motif and a heart.

THE WOODS / TWIN PEAKS SHERIFF’S STATION | 22

Jerry was still lost in the woods, with no cell phone signal. “YOU CAN’T FOOL ME! I’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE!” This probably references the cyclical nature of the Twin Peaks Dream that has been repeating and distorting itself for 25 years.

In the police station: lots of emphasis was placed on it being “a beautiful day.” This brings us back to Lynch’s statement about the beauty of a bruise/cut and the power of names – or, in other words, context. To a bystander in this room, it would indeed seem like a beautiful day with some fresh air, and nothing more. It is only through “names,” context, that we the audience understand that the act of stepping outside on a beautiful day is really a mask for something sinister.

Lucy and Andy’s “stopped clock” moment will be referenced in the penultimate episode, and it is another symptom of Laura Palmer’s mind being frozen in time by trauma.

THE HORNES’ | 25

The Hornes seem to live in a gated community, but whoever is handling security is doing a terrible job.

We then saw Johnny living his own timeless “stopped clock” moment. We saw that the address for the Hornes’ is 7318 – becomes 1. I cannot recall if we were allowed to see this detail before.
Inside:

DUNCAN TODD’S OFFICE | 28

A few of the white lilies from the previous scene made their way into a vase here. This is another example of the subtle and brilliant dreamlike weaving of scene and imagery that is threaded through “The Return.”

THE SILVER MUSTANG | 30

A brief shot of the hotel restaurant. Is there anyone that doesn't think Albert x Constance would make a great couple? Their combined sarcasm could level a building.

In the casino, the men were standing on the “star” portion of the “stars and particles” casino carpet.
Throughout this scene, Candy made odd tracing motions over her own heart. “If we fire [Candy], she’s got no place to go,” said Bradley. This leads us to compare and contrast Dougie Jones and Candy: they both suffer from cognitive impairments, but their employers have come to an understanding about it. Candy seems to be severely impaired most of the time, while Dougie has been said to experience “episodes.” Candy retains employment out of pity and the knowledge that nobody else would hire her, Dougie is competent most of the time and would not have such a struggle. Candy has an unknown past, Dougie was said to have been in a car accident. Candy’s role in the dreamscape so far seems to be existing as one of a trinity, Dougie’s role is to be the adulterous, corrupt Bad Father Figure that is eventually replaced by Good Father Figure Dale Cooper – Cooper!Dougie’s role, in between these times, is to sponge up negativity so that healing can begin, like draining an infection, and then release it through the electric socket.

The number that Duncan Todd said to Anthony was an approximation. Here we are told the number 30,447,000$. This becomes 9.
After Anthony told the lie he was sent to tell, Candy started making that odd wavelengths/frequency motion with her hands. She last did this in Part 5 as the casino manager was being beaten and unceremoniously evicted.
We must also note repetition, such as Anthony saying “you have an enemy in Douglas Jones” 2 times.

Before we move on, let’s sum up the two fire cases that we’ve seen so far, to avoid confusion:

THE F.B.I HOTEL ROOM | 40

We discovered that Gordon Cole is in room 1123, becoming 7. In the hallway, two golden lamps framed a desolate painting; no river, just a single green tree in a field.
A quick study of Gordon’s drawing:
  • The arm is probably The Arm/LMFAP. The black dot on the cuff is an echo of the Evolution Of The Arm; it’s the black splotch on the Doppelganger, the blight of diseased corn-fertility and insect-like The Thing You Don't Ever Want To Know About.
  • The creature it's reaching towards is spotted and resembles an elk or deer. Perhaps these dots are also a symbol of the black-corn blight, and its horns resemble the dendrite-trees of the woods. This being could be a reference to Maddie Losing Her Head (Motif) in the painting as she’s murdered by BOB. Lou Ming wrote that The Arm may be an abstraction of Laura Palmer's illness "reaching into" her reality, causing all the hallucinations and confusion that we saw in "FWWM." The odd focus on this drawing of The Arm, followed so soon by an unexplained vision of Laura "reaching into" Gordon's reality may be the closest thing we're going to get to an explanation of that function. The scene itself is Laura coming to Donna begging for re-assurance of their friendship, and was preceded by Albert knocking 5 times.

    From Albert, we learn two things: Diane received the AROUND THE DINNER TABLE text at 11:13 (6), and she responded with “they have Hastings. He’s going to take them to the site.”
    Finally, Tammy knocked 4 times. She brought with her a single still photo from the New York penthouse, proving that Mr. C was involved with the facility.

    THE GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL | 43

    It is worth noting that is one of many instances where we never hear the Phone Ring (Motif), we simply arrive to find a character in mid conversation.
    If Sylvia is linked to Sarah, this demand for money (→ the truth) could be an abstraction of her agonized cry of “WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THIS HOUSE?”

    MARGARET’S LODGE | 45

    A transcript of Margaret’s speech:
    “Hawk… Hawk… Electricity is humming. You hear it, in the mountains and rivers. You see it dance among the seas and stars, and glowing around the moon. But in these days… the glow is dying. What will be in the darkness that remains? The Truman brothers are both true men. They are your brothers. And the others, the good ones, who have been with you… now the circle is almost complete. Watch and listen to the dream of time. And space. It all comes out now, flowing like a river. That which is, and is not. Hawk. Laura is the One.”

    This has been touched on a few times:

    THE ROADHOUSE | 46

    The opening shot is not of the bar itself, but a half-moon - soon covered by dark clouds.
    This episode’s musical act is Rebekah Del Rio, dressed in the chevrons of the Red Room and performing “No Stars.” These lyrics are courtesy of Genius.com.

    As mentioned above: stars represent quantum possibilities being systemically wiped out, tunneling the Twin Peaks Dreamscape to a singular co-ordinate in which Laura Palmer has no choice but to re-unify and face the truth, in that order. No stars = no more self-delusions and lies, no more Twin Peaks fantasy, no more light, only the darkness and whatever remains in it.

    My dream is to go
    To that place
    You know the one
    Where it all began
    On a starry night
    On a starry night
    When it all began
    You said hold me
    Hold me, hold me
    Don't be afraid
    Don’t be afraid
    We're with the stars

    I saw them in your eyes
    En tus palabras
    Y en tus besos, tus besos
    Debajo de una noche
    Na llena de estrellas
    Under the starry night
    Long ago
    But now it's a dream

    Yo vi, en tus ojos
    Yo vi, las estrellas
    Pero ya no hay, ya no hay
    Estrellas
    Pero ya no hay, ya no hay
    Estrellas

    No stars
    No stars
    Ya no hay estrellas
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars

    Ya no hay estrellas

    No stars
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars
    No stars

    No stars...