Twin Peaks: The Return: 10 Most Wonderful & Strange Theories Examined
Two birds with one stone.
No exaggeration, now that we have reached the halfway point in Mark Frost and David Lynch’s nightmarishly ambitious Twin Peaks revival, we feel like our heads are pounding almost as intensely as those of the victims who perished at the hands of the skull-crushing woodsman in the last episode.
That’s because we seem to be getting more questions than answers, as the slow-motion murder mystery continues to unravel its web of circuitous intrigue, leaving viewers with a number of missing pieces inside their box for the world’s most difficult jigsaw puzzle.
Fortunately though, the internet is a breeding ground for wild theories, insightful interpretations and absurd speculation from fans of the show who stealthily access their wood-framed pop-up computer monitors just like Sheriff Frank Truman to dissect every episode immediately after it has aired each week.
By chance, over the course of the past two weeks we have been granted the opportunity to sit back with a damn fine cup of coffee and take stock of the most wonderful and strange things witnessed in season three of the groundbreaking series thus far.
So grab your golden shovels and join us, as we dig through all of the main theories in circulation ahead of the final ten episodes.
10. Dougie Jones (“Original” Cooper) And The Gun-Slinging Statue
Some might call this coincidence, but at the exact same moment that Dale Cooper/Dougie Jones became obsessed with the cowboy statue outside the Lucky 7 insurance offices, we became obsessed with the cowboy statue outside the Lucky 7 insurance offices.
Feeling immediately captivated by the scene, we watched on with a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes as Cooper struggled to turn the cuff of the sleeve on his oversized green blazer into the shape of a pistol, in a desperate attempt to mimic the sculpture’s stance.
As part of Entertainment Weekly’s recap, they theorised that the visual of the bronzed cowboy, pointing his gun towards the office building, suggested that whatever the figure represented was in conflict with whatever the office building represented.
Many fans, however, believe that the statue serves a simpler purpose as a signifier of Cooper’s former life as an FBI Special Agent, but this connection might actually run a little deeper, considering that Cooper’s favourite film is Warner Bros.' 1959 The FBI Story (at least according to his autobiography).
Growing up, Cooper described the movie poster for this film as his “most important personal item”, and we can’t help but notice that the image of James Stewart as “Chip” Hardesty is strikingly similar to that of the gun-slinging lawman situated on the courtyard of the Lucky 7 offices.