Subject: Cooper was given the solution on a silver platter. (was Re: Major glaring diary discrepancy? (and some MAJOR dissatisfaction))
From: bskendig@der.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig)
Date: 1990-12-05, 16:54
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

In article <1990Dec5.032408.9241@cbnewsk.att.com> pab1@cbnewsk.att.com (paul.a.bouchard) writes:
> >In article <4491@idunno.Princeton.EDU>, bskendig@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig) writes:
>> >> ...  The whole
>> >> resolution to the case rested not on the deductive abilities of an FBI
>> >> agent, but instead on when he would remember one fact from one dream.
> >
> >I disagree!  First of all, Cooper NEVER relied solely on his "deductive
> >abilities".  Luck, intuition, and spirituality play as large a part in
> >the "solution" of the crime as his his ability to reason does.

In the first season, he very perceptively learned a _lot_ about the
town and the people in it -- but he never even suspected Leland, much
less bothered to make any inquiries into where Leland was on the night
of the murder.  Up until the most recent episode in the second season,
Cooper was meandering aimlessly, not doing deductive diddly, until he
found Laura's real diary and decided that Ben Horne was the killer.
Finally he decided that Ben wasn't the killer -- but even then he was
as clueless as ever to the actual identity of Laura's murderer,
despite all he had already established.

The bit about bringing Leland and Ben and Leo and company all into the
Roadhouse was _very_ contrived -- Lynch needed a way to reveal the
murderer to Cooper, and that was the easiest, most simpleton way.

My point is: sure, he used his deductive abilities, his luck, his
intuition, and his spirituality.  But his deductions led him nowhere,
and his intuition could only work with the facts which were revealed
to him.  If he had not remembered the dream right there and then, the
case would not have been resolved last weekend.  If the Powers that Be
had decided never to case Cooper to remember his dream, he might never
have caught on to the fact that Leland was doing it; he had no reason
to suspect Leland of anything.  (Now, maybe if Albert had gotten the
time of the murder correct, it might have given him sufficient cause
for suspicion, but what can you expect from a forensics expert who
gathered a team, flew cross-country from DC to Seattle, and performed
a full autopsy on a waterlogged body all between midnight and
morning?)

> >Remembering what Laura Palmer had told him in his dream did not provide the 
> >evidence he needed to arrest Leland, just the evidence he needed to lure
> >Leland/BOB to the police station.  It was the raging of BABBLING BOB
> >that provided the "legal" evidence Truman and Cooper needed to make an 
> >arrest.  In any case, the information Cooper takes from his dreams is
> >helpful only as a guide.  

They only analyzed Leland's blood after they had him in the jail cell,
I seem to remember (how did they manage that, anyway?).  If Leland had
been forced into the cell and then stood there confused and asked
politely to be let out, he probably could have brought a handsome
lawsuit against the police department.


"Gee -- we haven't done anything about gum, yet!"
"Let's bring back the giant!  Yeah, yeah!  The old man!"
"Major Briggs -- let's throw him in there, too!"
"Let's give Cooper back his ring!  Oh, we didn't reveal the owls to him
  yet?  Well, no time!  Give 'im back the ring!"

Grr.  And I spent _weeks_ painstakingly analyzing about _twenty hours_
worth of episodes, all for THIS?

Go back and do it the right way.

     << Brian >>

| Brian S. Kendig      \ Macintosh |   Engineering,   | bskendig             |
| Computer Engineering |\ Thought  |  USS Enterprise  | @phoenix.Princeton.EDU
| Princeton University |_\ Police  | -= NCC-1701-D =- | @PUCC.BITNET         |
"It's not that I don't have the work to *do* -- I don't do the work I *have*."