Troubling Abstractions
Part 9 - S3e9
Version 1.0

“Troubling Abstractions”
Part 9

After the absolute doozy that is Episode 8, everything should be crystal-clear and easy to interpret from now on, right? ... right…? Some recurring motifs in this episode: silver, hand gestures

A DIRT ROAD | 0

This episode begins with Mr. C walking on a straight dirt road – no Brainwave Motif this time – through a windbreak of what are probably eucalyptus trees. Remember that trees are abstractions of Laura’s neurons. The woods are abstractions for the deeper parts of her consciousness. We will have to keep an eye open for windbreak structures like this in the future, and see if they have their own meaning.
There’s bits of Red too; Mr. C is covered in (his own) blood, and he snatches a red bandanna off a fencepost.

ON A PLANE | 2

Here we get a better view of the private plane’s exterior:

• Remember that mirrored numbers and callsigns are a ”Mulholland Drive” Reference.
• When flipped to the correct orientation, the callsign is: N450GD
• When converted through numerology, we get: (1 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 0 + 7 + 4), becoming 7.
• 6 windows that resemble the Holes motif - giving us a total of 12, becoming 3.

Below the plane, we see Brainwaves in the river below. Its unity is only briefly split into two, and it’s the first iteration of the Water theme that’s woven into this episode.
Inside: Gordon Cole is watching intently out of one of the round windows. The light from outside is a bit overpowering, making it into a white hole – there may be a link to the white ceiling hole the Mauve Zone Palace.
There’s more Blue here, possibly to contrast the scenes with Mr. C. Tammy and Diane are both wearing blue, and the blanket covering Albert is blue. Also noting: Diane’s animal print coat, and the bizarre references to animals later in this episode.
Gordon answers a phone call summoning him to Buckhorn.
He told us to write down the name of Lieutenant [Cynthia] K N O X.

ON A FARM? | 3:30

We return to Mr. C. The split in the river under the plane became the split dirt road curving around a curiously-placed tree. The white barn to our right may be a re-staging of the white shed behind the boy in Episode 8.

• In 8: the scene was at night, the shed was smaller and further in the background, its light was on, and it was to our left.
• Here: the scene is day, the barn is much larger and closer to us, its lights are off, and it’s to our right.

We saw Z in the door here – seems to be a stable?
Hutch and Chantal were also wearing Blue. Are they intended to be a mirror image of the F.B.I and associates on the private plane?
Chantal was wearing silver necklaces, one with a Coin shape, and a jacket with a prominent 1 on it. She retrieved the first-aid kid from the black van.

ON A PRIVATE PLANE | 4:45

Going Home has potential to be a motif: Cooper!Dougie needed help Going Home. Mr. C says he “never really left home.” Diane desperately wants to Go Home.
She’s finished 2 drinks, with Gordon Cole offering to get her another.
Her phone (an odd shade of yellow-green) doesn’t work – the screen only says BLOCKED on a Red banner. I think there’s something to the order of events here: Diane finds out that her phone is useless, Diane sighs in exasperation and curses Albert, Tammy immediately gets a call on a Black phone and is able to answer it with no problems.

Regardless: the phone call in question is Warden Murphy warning Gordon Cole that Mr. C “escaped.” This is followed by a hard cut to:

THE FARM | 6:45

We were immediately shown the farm’s true owners, dead, while Mr. C and Chantal walked by without comment. The door to the farmhouse had Green trim.

Note for chronology: it’s at this point that Mr. C sends the AROUND THE DINNER TABLE text message, though Diane cannot receive it while she is on the plane.

He called Duncan Todd to ask after the murder of Dougie Jones. Todd was also wearing Blue, the Red dot on his laptop was oddly prominent (as it has been,) and he had something like bubbles, holes, or diamonds on his tie. Given the aquatic themes in this episode, I am inclined to think that it’s bubbles.

Mr. C told Hutch and Chantal that they had 2 days to kill Warden Murphy. He then tells them that they’ll be doing a “double-header” in Vegas; this is another incidence of 2, a Losing Your Head Motif, and a sign that he does not trust Duncan Todd to finish the job. This in turn suggests to us that he expected Warden Murphy to break their agreement and call somebody, thus having him killed was always part of the plan.

Hutch tells Chantal to kiss Mr. C, a “wet one,” but Mr. C takes a “rain check” on sex. These are more instances of this episode’s aquatic themes. Still tracking Food motifs: she gave him a bag of Cheetos for the road. They have two dayas to kill Warden Murphy. “Double-header” in Vegas. Hutch tells Chantal to kiss him – a “wet one,” but they take a “rain check” on sex. So water/aquatics are a theme here. She gives Mr. C a bag of Cheetos. Everyone’s wearing blue also.

LAS VEGAS PD | 10

Mr. C’s hot pink cell phone was immediately re-staged into Janey-E’s pink outfit here. We last saw her several episodes ago: she was acting as a healing force for Laura Palmer by reversing negative symbols and confronting them instead of following the script. She may be an iteration of Ignorant Dead Laura that has been allowed to glimpse the truth. We will see if these ideas continue to hold.

“It’s about insurance.” With the Jailing Bars behind the four of them, Bushnell argued that the killing was related to the insurance industry - about not getting a desired result and holding grudges. D. Fusco argued that “[people killing each other] is usually about money, pure and simple.” Can we decode their arguments?

• They are discussing the attempted contract murder of Good Dad Cooper by Bad Dad Mr. C
• Bushnell Mullins last appeared in Episode 6. There, he also played the role of an Ignorant character being made aware of the truth, albeit in a heavily abstracted way; he learned that the “fire” was not an accident, it was deliberate arson and fraud. We’re not sure what insurance symbolizes.
  
• We’re not sure of the role of the three Detectives play, but we know that Money/Gold/Jackpots are a re-abstraction of the truth about Leland Palmer.
• The detectives don’t seem to take Bushnell seriously. This clearly angers him and he clenches his fist.

If we can figure out what role the detectives are playing, I suspect that a lot of ideas will come together here. More notes on the room itself:

• The slatted curtains behind the detectives are oddly reminiscent of the Red Rooms.
• The off yellow-brown-green color may be related to Diane’s cell phone.
• The painting inside the room with the detectives is a cowboy on a pale mule – NOT a horse! – under a cloudy sky. Nearby, the head of a chestnut horse was mounted and seemed to be bursting from the wall.
• The painting in the waiting room with Janey-E and Cooper!Dougie is reminiscient of the Evolution of the Arm.

Detective T suggested that Dougie Jones’ identity was a result of the Witness Protection Program. There’s something to this, but I can’t quite articulate what it is yet.
He then says that his tail-light repairs cost 239$ - this becomes 5. Detective D said it “must be a beauty.” This dovetails into Cooper!Dougie’s vision of the American flag with “America the Beautiful” playing softly in the background, the red tail-light restaged as a woman’s bright red heels.
This is also a ”Wizard of Oz” Reference, of course.

The 9-11 on the police van outside was normal, lacking the mirrored callsign ”Mulholland Drive” Reference. We must not only notice when themes and ideas keep re-appearing, we must also try to notice their absence.