Troubling Abstractions
S3e6
Version 1.0

“Troubling Abstractions”
Episode 6

I started adding approximate time stamps to most scene changes.

LUCKY SEVEN INSURANCE | 0

We started this episode in the same place that the last one ended, only night has fallen and everyone’s gone home. The scene is lit in golden lights, and we will see that gold/yellow are a strongly recurring visual in this episode.
Cooper!Dougie was pulling on his left sleeve, giving him a one-armed appearance.

The same security guard from before approached him and reminded him that he asked him to leave 30 (3) minutes ago before, asking him his name twice. So, right away we have hints of gold, the number three, the number two/repeating lines, and one-armed men.

THE JONES’ | 4:45

These scenes are flooded with gold. The first thing that Cooper!Dougie and Janey-E did when they got inside was eat sandwiches, so food appeared again here. Looking at the table, we had the stack of case files, a wooden pear, and a lamp shaped like a nuclear explosion.

SONNY’S ROOM

Sonny’s room was equally in gold/yellow. The drawings on the walls caught my attention immediately; ambiguous scribbles to the left, a colorful blue-green rocket shop with a mysterious dark figure inside on the right. I also noticed three light switches, all of them switched off. The “cowboy light” here was interesting. I do recall “cowboy lights” appearing in other places in the series, such as Gordon Cole’s desk in “FWWM.” Sonny’s pajamas had cars all over them. He was drenched in blue, with blue bed sheets, a blue book, and blue drawings on the wall. This leads us to the first instance of two recurring themes in this episode:
Here:
1. Blue Laura is abstracted through Sonny.
2. Flashing Lights are no longer a symbol of confusion and disorientation, but about the truth of the situation: the man in Blue Laura’s bedroom is still her father, even when the lights are turned off.

This conversation was interrupted when Janey-E found proof of Dougie Jones’ infidelity in the mail.

THE JONES’ | 9:15

This same motif was repeated here, with Janey-E taking the role of Blue Laura and Jade taking the role of Red Laura, and the motif/Primal Scene of ringing phones was transformed from a moment of helpless terror to empowering rage. The number six appeared here as well: Janey-E sets her meeting with the loansharks for 12:30 (1 + 2 + 3 + 0 = 6). Finally, Cooper!Dougie acted as a passive healing force by transforming Janey-E’s frustration and scorn into patience and compassion.

TRAFFIC LIGHT

We aren’t entirely sure what traffic lights mean in Twin Peaks yet. In this scene, the green light went to yellow, went to red - but as soon as the light turned red, we heard the “tearing diary pages” sound that built in intensity before fading to. . .

THE RED ROOM/THE JONES’ | 13

We returned to the Jones’ to find Cooper!Dougie staring blankly at his unmarked case files. Another motif we should be tracking is fireplaces. Cooper!Dougie stared into the fireplace and saw MIKE there. As we saw C!D appear “armless” in the beginning of the episode, the same One-Armed Man appeared here.
MIKE told him to “wake up” twice and “don’t die” three times.
Two people need to be “woken up” by Cooper: Red Room Laura and Dead Laura. This is a connection and a shared meaning with Two Birds, One Stone.
Three people “don’t die:” RR Laura, Dead Laura, and Carrie Page/United Laura. Their reunion will shatter the dreamscape with the knowledge that Laura Palmer didn’t die.

The motion that MIKE made here recalls several things: It is after this reminder of his mission that Cooper!Dougie returns to his case files with purpose.

THE JONES’ | 14:44

Another motif that I will need to add is sparkles. In this scene, sparkles have a positive, healing connotation, but later in the episode we will see a reversal of this. But for now: sparkles are what show Cooper!Dougie to draw strange, repetitive symbols on the case files. The first covers a late-night/early morning burglary that we haven’t heard of, but he didn’t draw the complete set of symbols on this case. He moved on to a second set of files. To be specific, these are the files describing the arson that was being covered up as an “accident.”
(Recall from the previous episode that this particular case file is an abstraction of a very young Laura Palmer’s attempt to understand her abuse as an accident, not an intentional act.)

The symbols themselves resembled a ladder, a street light, and stairs that climb to nowhere. The first stairs simply drop off like a cliff, the second connect directly to an ominous, scribbled black orb. This is a map of Laura Palmer’s deepest dreamscapes that we will see later – a more detailed description of this will come with Version 2 of Troubling Abstractions.

ALBERT’S DRIVE/MAX VON’S BAR PHILADELPHIA, PA | 19:15

Laura Palmer was “murdered” in late February. It’s plausible that it was 34 degrees and raining on that night, and this imprinted on her dreamscape here.

The name of the bar is almost certainly a reference to the character of Max Von in “Sunset Boulevard.” We will see this movie referenced again when it’s time for Dale Cooper to be shocked back to awareness. It’s another instance of the ”Mulholland Drive” References that we’ve been tracking; “Sunset Boulevard” was both directly referenced and heavily influential on that film.
As for Max Von, he was an accomplished film director and the ex-husband of the film’s antagonist Norma Desmond. After they divorced, she reduced him to her hapless personal servant. Norma was unable to accept that her fame was gone, and Max Von became the enabler of her delusions by writing faked letters from adoring fans and admirers. The shape of the bar’s logo reflected this character as well. It was an old-fashioned bullhorn, the kind that a director would have used many decades ago.

Back to “Twin Peaks”:
Recall that Diane was never seen or heard during the first two seasons of this show. As soon as she said “hello,” her first spoken line ever, there was a cut to felled logs. Lumber is an abstraction, it’s the material that new dreamscapes are made of.
This cut is a reflection of the fact that this version of Diane is new, perhaps one of the first new things to appear in the dreamscape in a very long time.

We will make a note of this and see if there are connections between Diane and other characters that generate new information by existing: Tammy Preston and Carrie Page.

TWIN PEAKS, WA | 20

I mentioned previously that the “sparkles” motif would be inverted from a positive, guiding motif to a negative, dissociating one. That’s what happens here, as “sparkle” becomes a code word for drugs. These events – positive sparkle and negative sparkle – are not simultaneous: Cooper!Dougie looked over his case files at night while Richard is meeting Red during the day, and both cities are in the same time zone.

The bullet holes and damage behind Red and his gang recall the holes motif – the truth that is missing from Laura Palmer’s consciousness. It is fitting that these holes would appear behind these purveyors of dissociation and escape.

Red said that the sparkle can move down from “Canada.” This is an abstraction of this negative re-labeling of the sparkle motif. It was a positive symbol from the higher, more “northern” parts of her mind now dragged to the lower, “southern,” negative parts.

Red said “I like it” to refer to Twin Peaks and the film “The King and I.” I don’t know what the connection is, but it should be noted. His threat to “saw [Richard’s] head open” is another sighting of Losing Your Head.

The coin-flipping sequence has a few things to note. The coin is silver and has a denomination of ten cents. The high pitched whistling sound that it made while it was spinning in the air – it might be a sound associated with Transformed!Jeffries but I’m not sure. Its unexplained appearance in Richard’s mouth, then again out of his hand, is an example of the “magic” motif that will dovetail into the next few scenes.

Is there a connection between the child Magician and Red?

A dime is worth ten cents. Ten is the number of a complete and healed Laura. The no-win condition “heads I win, tails you lose” could be a statement that both sides of her broken psyche are equally unhealthy.

Until now?

RICHARD’S TRUCK / FAT TROUT TRAILER PARK | 27

The imagery of weaving power lines is prominent here. As I wrote above, these may be another iteration of wavelengths - Laura Palmer’s brainwaves. Their earliest appearance is towards the end of “Fire Walk With Me” as Laura reeled down the street in disorientation and terror.

This truck will reappear later in the background when Janey-E goes to meet the loan sharks. This is an example of the dreamlike weaving between background and foreground that David Lynch incorporates throughout “The Return.”

The conversation between Carl and Mickey about Linda is the second iteration of the number six in this episode. It took six months for the government to help Linda. Let’s look at other parts of this conversation:

THE RR DINER / TRUCK COLLISION | 30

A closer look at the conversation between Miriam and Heidi shows us more of the “magic” motif that weaves throughout Episode 6, as well as the number 2. The motif of one thing splitting into two appears here as well; two cupcakes sharing the same name, two slices sharing the same name, Laura is both alive in the Red Rooms and dead in the cemetery. She also took two coffees on the way out. Of course the food motif was here as well.

The Split may have appeared here again, if you watch closely. A mother in RED chased her son in BLUE, both with the train car bars on their shirts. They passed a blonde and brunette (→ Laura and Ronette/Ignorant and Knowing Scapegoats) on a bench, as if highlighting them for us. Remember what Lou Ming wrote about the slot machines and signs in the Silver Mustang – background details can be just as important as foreground ones.
This death is the third and final iteration of the number six, and seems to be re-staging of the end of “Fire Walk With Me.” The boy’s head trauma reminds us of this splitting as well. The camera’s movement up the #6 Power Pole suggests that some kind of energy or charge from this event surged up it and traveled through the power lines to spread through the rest of Laura Palmer’s dreamscape.

But the question is: is this a positive re-staging, a negative one, or neither? Let’s look again at the two recurring events in this episode: 1. Blue Laura did nothing different, but Red Laura may have learned something. Without the billowing red curtains or TV screen to separate her from herself, Red Laura was made to experience the full pain and trauma of her “other half.” Perhaps this was allowed to happen because both Lauras knew the truth by this point in the episode.
2. The end of “FWWM” was a positive motif for Laura. She’d finally escaped from reality to a place where Leland/BOB couldn’t harm her anymore, and she was cry-laughing with joy. Here, this motif is sharply made negative, with the horror and grief of a dying child made uncensored, unseperated, and unabstracted.

There’s also the fact that the other two instances of the number six in this episode were positive events. Even Cooper’s role as a perfect guardian angel and father figure, born from wish fulfillment and dissociation, was “reduced” to the more mundane, realistic, and healthier choice of an ordinary, kind old man.

SO, as tragic and horrifying as this scene is, it doesn’t seem impossible that this touch of reality was a positive sign for Laura Palmer’s healing and growth. Both sides of her know the truth now, and neither can hide from the pain and grief it caused.

LAS VEGAS, NV | 35

A red square faded into the center of Todd’s laptop, wordlessly triggering him to grab the black-dotted envelope containing orders to murder Dougie Jones and Lorraine, though he never opened the envelope for himself. The black book and cigar next to the envelope may have been a call to the bungled assassination scene in ”Mulholland Drive.” The same red square was highlighted on the other side of his screen, dotting the “I” of a ThinkPad logo. His tie recalled the starry field that Naido fell into.

The red square may be a dovetail image of the boy’s blood on the asphalt – was this the surge that went through the #6 Power Pole? The golden/orange floor lamp with three slots behind it might be an abstraction of the boy’s golden soul that Laura hopes to gain – a golden soul where all three Lauras are present and aligned.

RANCHO ROSA | 36

Lou Ming wrote that “119!” was related to a reflective shot in ”Mulholland Drive” in which a police car is reflected backwards in the same way. The coin-like object on her necklace is a dovetail of the coin flip scene that we saw earlier.
My thoughts on this woman’s backwards speech are of mirrors. In the original show’s run, mirrors were used to signal BOB’s possession of Leland and Cooper respectively. Are RED beings of dissociation and escape, such as this woman wearing red and surrounded by red, also living on the other side of the mirror?

I noticed the BLACK label on her bottle of liquor, as well as the fact that she said 119 two times. The scenes with Candy in the Silver Mustang security room and Becky’s choice to take drugs showed us that directly sequential shots/events can tell us about causation. Did the Addict Mom’s shout somehow cause the plate to be the correct one?

THE MOTEL | 38

We saw Ike rolling dice and recording the results. Unlike Todd, he’s not afraid to open the envelope.

I noticed that the reflection in the mirror was a little odd. There was a strange and ominous black object behind him, not too unlike the red balloon that we just saw with Junkie Mom. It also showed us that there was a second landline phone next to the bed behind him. I haven’t been in a hotel/motel in a while, but I don’t think that’s normal. There was a bit of Losing Your Head in where/how he stabbed the photos.
The two phone lines might be a negative mirror of the single golden phone that Janey-E used to stand her ground against the loan sharks.

LUCKY SEVEN INSURANCE 39

The last time we saw Cooper!Dougie in the elevator, it was an expression of negativity and illness related to Becky’s drug habits. Here, he was only grinning deliriously as the elevator doors open and shut in front of him, then on him. Was this elevator trip also “caused” by Ike’s stabbing the photos?
He said “quit clowning around,” and this may be a clue. David Lynch famously referred to depression as a “Suffocating Rubber Clown Suit of Negativity.” Looks can be deceiving. Cooper!Dougie’s standing in an elevator, serenely smiling as the doors open and shut on him repeatedly, may be a negative expression indeed.

Cooper!Dougie had his own coffee this time, changing the arrangement from eight coffees to seven. Remember, seven is a positive, healing number, the number of the truth coming free from Laura Palmer’s subconscious. Cooper has always had the same/similar goal, so it’s fitting that it’s his hand that causes this change.

A clownish but true sentence: we can even see the basics of Laura Palmer’s psyche and her journey in the potted plants here. The blinds created a bars motif, this time caging Anthony in his office. He was also wearing a red tie. As the only person at the firm who knew the truth about the “accident,” he’s filling the role of Red Room Laura.

MULLINS’ OFFICE

The camera angle showed us the “childish scribbles” in a little more detail: two ominous black orbs connected to each other, and what looks like a tall, long-limbed figure.
If Anthony is acting as Red Room Laura in this scene, Mullins must be Blue Laura. He has no idea that the “accident” was an intentional fire, but by the end of this scene he will understand it, just as the other Blue Laura characters in this episode have done over and over again.

As Mullins flipped through the papers and tried to make sense of them, Cooper!Dougie stared at him and the golden photo of Mullins’ glory days – some would call them his golden days. He didn’t understand Cooper!Dougie’s message until C!D did a slow blink, a small recurring motif in this season. This somehow led Mullins to the truth: the “fire” in Laura Palmer’s life was not an innocent accident. “This is disturbing” indeed.

This assignment of Cooper sitting across the desk may mean that this scene is a Meeting of the Minds. The statement “I want you to keep this information to yourself” may be a re-staging and re-statement of The Fireman’s “it cannot be said aloud now.”

THE PLAYGROUND | 45

As I said before, the image of the front of Richard’s truck reappeared here behind Janey-E.
Her statement “[Dougie did this] without my knowledge” further supports the idea that Janey-E is filling the role of Blue Laura in this episode.

The 25,000 dollars in her purse can be reduced to 7. When she said “this is my first, last, and only offer,” this added the number 1 to the occasion. Money, seven, and one are all abstractions of the same general idea – money is the hidden truth re-phrased as something desirable and positive so that the "characters" in Laura's psyche can handle it, the number of stories on the elevator that Philip Jeffries took to free the same hidden truth, and the number of Lauras that will remain after the truth is free and she is healed.
Janey-E’s statement of “living in a dark, dark age” is a call to the Log Lady’s speech. “What will be in the darkness that remains?”

LORRAINE’S OFFICE | 53

This scene may be a re-staging of Laura and Leland’s Primal Scene, and/or a re-staging of Theresa Bank’s murder. Remember that Lou Ming wrote that cars are abstractions of bodies, and drivers are abstractions of consciousness.
The execution through violent stabbing recalled Theresa Bank’s death. I found it interesting that three people died, but only one body/murder was actually shown to us.

SOMEWHERE IN THE WOODS, WA | 49

As the head of the power pole rolled into view as reflected on the windshield, there was a sound like the “Diary Tearing”... yet this was disguised as the sound of tires rolling over nature. This was a clever trick, but I don’t know what it means.

TWIN PEAKS SHERIFF’S STATION 50

We’re still following a silver coin as before, but this time it’s an Indian Head coin rather than a conventional dime. This coin lead Hawk to a hole in the wall, and the subsequent truths hiding under it. Perhaps the “tearing” noise in the previous scene is dovetailed into the physical, tangible papers found here that it represents.

Now we have another Doris appearance to track:

THE ROADHOUSE / CLOSING SCENE

To recap: this episode could be about both halves of Laura Palmer beginning to communicate with each other. Blue Laura (as Janey-E) learned about the sexual habits of her father (Dougie) that Red Laura (as Jade) already knew about. Red Laura (as the grieving mother) was forced to look at Blue Laura (as her son) and the suffering they both endured, without the comfort of a TV screen or otherworldly mythologies to muffle it.

This instance of the Roadhouse started with a typical eye-level view of the building from the outside. The lighting was also fairly neutral, with the bars motif appearing on both women. This band is Sharon Von Etten, performing the song “Tarifa.”
The lyrics are below courtesy of Genius.com, with some lines emphasized and notes added by me.

Hit the ground,
The yard, I found something
I could taste your mouth (“FWWM” reference)
Shut the door (in the wall painting?)
Now in the sun tanning (with no access to the dissociative wall painting, both Lauras are "in the sun" "in the light of day" etc.)

You were so just
Looking across the sky

Can't remember
I can't recall, no
I can't remember anything at all

We skipped the sunrise
Looking across the grass
Said he wanted
And not that I'm every
It's the same, I could mean you were right (”it” meaning “us", "we’re the same person")

Everyone else
Hasn't a chance, don't
Fail me now
Open arms, rest (could be a reference to the figure in Episode 8)

Let's run under
Cursing myself at night

Slow it was 7
I wish it was 7 all night

Tell me when
Tell me when is this over?

Chewed you out
Chew me out when I'm stupid

I don't wanna

Everyone else pales
Send in the owl (in the original series it was heavily implied that BOB could rest in the body of an owl when no human hosts are available)
Tell me I'm not a child (unhealed trauma survivors are said to be “stuck” at the age of the trauma – by healing, Laura Palmer can stop being forever 17. This age disparity will come up again in the finale.)

You summon
Forget about everyone else

Fall away somehow
To figure it out (Naido had to “fall away” into the stars)