It was in this ending that the One-Armed Man recited the infamous Fire Walk With Me poem, which wound up becoming an important part of the shows mythology. Originally the One-Armed Man was simply meant to half a brief walk-on role, as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the old Fugitive TV series where Dr Richard Kimble was framed for the murder of his wife with a similarly disabled man. This One-Armed Man, too, was named Gerard. As it happens, David Lynch was reportedly so impressed by the performance of Al Strobel in the role of Gerard/MIKE especially his recital of the poem in that filmed-for-Europe movie ending he decided to make the character integral to the series mythology and give Strobel a recurring role, much in the same way he did with BOB. From there, the One-Armed Man became almost as integral a part to the supernatural side of Twin Peaks as BOB and The Man From Another Place, with it implied that the rather short resident of the Red Room is somehow an embodiment of Gerard's missing limb he has stated I am the arm on numerous occasions in his signature backwards-then-forwards fashion. Gerard/MIKE wound up being so important in the overarching story of Twin peaks Strobel returned for Fire Walk With Me.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
