Subject: Re: plot speculations (spoilers)
From: barb@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Barb Miller)
Date: 1991-07-01, 05:46
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Reply-to: barb@zurich.ai.mit.edu

In article <1991Jul1.033114.16113@casbah.acns.nwu.edu> stvan@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Laurel Smith Stvan) writes:

> >   3) Here's my (latest) attempt to clarify the BL/WL boundaries.  I believe
> >   that "This is the waiting room" does in fact refer to the whole
> >   red-curtained experience, which I agree is experienced differently by each
> >   person who is in it.  I believe that Cooper didi not yet confront  and lose
> >   to his shadow self in that place but only began that confrontation while
> >   brushing his teeth (so he hasn't yet anihilated his soul through imperfect
> >   courage as Hawk warned).  This is the beginning of a battle since up till
> >   now Cooper has not had a one on one confrontation with a Black Lodge force.
> >   This approach also explains why WE couldn't tkae Coopers soul--you can onle
> >   lose it in a battle with you r own dark side; although being _willing_
> >   torisk his soul for Annie is symbolicaly a good move.  This was probably
> >   where he formally took up the battle for his own soul.

I was thinking about this yesterday and it occurred to me too that if
you're meeting your dark side, particularly if you ultimately have to
integrate it, it is perfectly appropriate to see that dark side within
yourself, as Cooper does when he looks into the mirror.  It gave me
pause a little to think of Leland's statement that Laura was strong
and would not let Bob in (I think those are the words), which sounds
as though she never saw Bob in herself, as Cooper is doing.  Given
that the only other person who has seen Bob in the mirror is Leland,
it certainly would appear that, once you see Bob in yourself that way,
you have no choice but to do evil.

But Leland's conscious mind suppressed the Bob in himself.  When Bob
spoke to Cooper through Leland, he said that Leland does not remember
the killing, and would only do so when Bob left him.  Bob may have
been in control precisely because Leland wouldn't allow himself to
face Bob.  Similarly, if Laura, who was clearly feeling compelled to
explore her dark side with the drugs, prostitution, etc., refused to
"allow Bob in", i.e., recognize him as a part of herself, death might
be her only escape from the inner conflict.  She would have had no
spiritual guide to show her how to deal with Bob in any different way
than she sees her father dealing with him.  Cooper, on the other hand,
might have access to other resources which could help him remain
conscious of Bob but not be overcome by him.  For instance, we don't
know what sort of spirit Annie might have brought back with her from
the Red Curtains.  The look that Harry and Doc Hayward exhanged when
Cooper first asked about her could mean "she's alive but she seems
very different, almost not herself", rather than "she's really dead
but we can't tell Cooper that."

So, in a sense, we're all now free to write our own resolutions (or
non-resolutions, if we choose) to the story lines we have been
following.  They've certainly given us plenty of good material to work
with. 

Barb Miller