David Lynch’s 22 Strangest ‘Otherworld’ Characters
8. The Cowboy: Mulholland Drive
You will see me one more time if you do good. You will see me two more times if you do bad. The Cowboy (Lafayette Montgomery), one of Mulholland Drives most iconic characters, is quite clearly an employee of the all-controlling Mr. Roque (much like the Castigliane brothers portrayed by Angelo Badalamenti and Dan Hedaya). Yet he differs from Roques other cronies because of his otherworldly comprehension of what exactly is going on. The eyebrow-less figure reminds other characters, as well as the viewer, that Im driving this buggy and, if you fix your attitude, you can ride along with me, as if he is completely in control of the events that are being shown. He even tells director Adam Kesher that he will see him again either once or twice, depending on his actions (although The Cowboy does appear two more times in the film, it is left up to the viewer to decode whether he is seen once or twice more by Kesher). The Cowboys outfit is never explained (but then again, neither are the often strange appearances of other characters in this list), but he certainly seems to be a controlling force in the story much like The Bum. He is present when Betty/Diane wakes from her sleep near the end of the film, and is indeed the one that rouses her from her slumber and forces the narrative to take its most violent and unexpected shift.