The Twin Peaks season 3 finale seemed to provoke one reaction from its viewers more than any other: "What the hell just happened?"This being Twin Peaks, of course, no one is really too sure, but David Lynch and Mark Frost certainly delivered 18 episodes of a TV show that dared to be different from anything else that's on our screens right now. As viewers, Twin Peaks forced us to ask endless questions, and most of them were never answered. Surprisingly, Twin Peaks did manage to give answers to some of the questions that have been lingering since the show originally aired, and there were also some big reveals along the way. We've attempted to round them all up for you below. However, this is Twin Peaks, so everything is, of course, open to your own interpretation.
Multiple Coopers
The question of what exactly happened to Dale Cooper was answered pretty early on in the season, though the exact nature of what went on isn't exactly clear. We know that after Cooper was possessed by Evil Bob and went into the Black Lodge, an evil doppelganger appeared. Evil Cooper escaped, while the real Cooper remained trapped in the Lodge. Meanwhile, Dougie Jones was also created by Evil Cooper, and made a life for himself with his wife and son. Dougie wasn't doing so well in life - he was cheating on his wife, down on his financial luck, and generally a sleazeball. But when he and the real Cooper switched places, Dougie Jones ceased to exist within the realms of the Lodge, leaving everyone to assume that the brain-damaged Cooper was actually Dougie. It took Cooper electrocuting himself to make him finally wake up properly and realize exactly who he was, where he was, and why he was there.
Who is Special Agent Dale Cooper? In his own words, "I am the FBI." Twin Peaks fans cheered, but Cooper's journey was far from over. Firstly, there was the evil Cooper to destroy, which eventually happened in episode 17, then there was the Jones family to sort; they got their happy ending and all seemed well. As for Agent Cooper... well, thanks to the finale, no one's really quite sure where he is or what he's doing, least of all, Copper himself.
Diane is a Real Person!
Throughout all of Twin Peaks seasons 1 and 2, Cooper talked endlessly to his secretary, Diane, via his dictaphone. This led many to assume that Diane was the machine, since we never saw a real person assuming that role; either that, or she was a figment of Cooper's imagination. Either way, we assumed we'd never see a person on screen, and we didn't, until season 3. Played by Laura Dern (who else?), 'Diane' was a chain-smoking, whiskey-drinking, ultra sophisticated woman with a predilection for saying "f**k you." Only, as we later discovered, Diane wasn't Diane at all, but merely another tulpa (that's Twin Peaks speak for doppelganger), created by evil Cooper. Albert had guessed this, though, and his quick thinking meant he managed to shoot her just before she shot him, sending Diane back to the Lodge where she promptly exploded.
But this isn't the end of the road for the real Diane or her evil doppelganger. After evil Cooper and BOB is defeated, the eyeless Naido (who has been languishing in Twin Peaks Jail) makes her way over to Cooper and is revealed to be Diane. Hurrah! Only... then things get really weird. Diane and Cooper take off together, crossing some kind of electrified border. They stop at a motel, have the most awkward sex, and Diane sees her doppelganger standing outside. So which is which? We will probably never know. And why is Diane dressed like she belongs in the Lodge? Again, we have no answers for that, either.
Phillip Jeffries Still Exists
A bit of a sad one, this. Originally played by David Bowie, Phillip Jeffries was a big character in the Twin Peaks movie, Fire Walk With Me. It's rumored that Lynch wanted Bowie to be in the revival, too, and that Bowie was all for it. Sadly he passed away before that could happen, but that didn't stop Lynch from finding an ingenious way of bringing the character back. Bowie himself appeared in a couple of flashbacks, but it was mentioned several times that Jeffries had disappeared. Well now we know what became of him, because Evil Cooper went to visit him. Phillip Jeffries is now a giant tea kettle.
No, we don't have any explanation or answers, but the tea kettle did serve the purpose of bringing back the character that was so integral to Fire Walk With Me, in a unique and interesting way. Gordon Cole also reveals a very interesting piece of knowledge that Jeffries holds; he knows who Judy is.
Judy is Revealed
Not a 'who,' exactly, but a what. Fans of Twin Peaks, especially those who have dissected Fire Walk With Me thoroughly, will have long speculated over who Judy is. Well whatever anyone thought, they'd be unlikely to have come up with the explanation that Gordon Cole eventually offers.
Judy is, in fact, an extreme negative force called 'Jow-day,' and over the years, Gordon and Jeffries shortened it into what has become known as Judy. Major Briggs was aware of jow-day, and he disappeared. Jeffries too, vanished (in his human form at least) after he tried to investigate the force more thoroughly. Finally, Cooper and Cole worked on a way to bring the force down, with Cooper warning Gordon that he could end up disappearing, too. The result being that Gordon Cole has long since been aware that there is an evil Cooper at work, and he also knew of Dougie's existence, too.
A Fitting Farewell
Not a 'reveal' as such, but it's worth mentioning that in the midst of all the Twin Peaks madness, there was a touching farewell in episode 15 to Catherine Coulson, who played Margaret Lanterman a.k.a. Log Lady. When the Twin Peaks revival was first announced, she was among the cast list despite already having been diagnosed with terminal cancer. She filmed all of her scenes- which were phone calls to Twin Peaks Deputy Hawk- while in the final stages of her illness.
The first episode of the new season was dedicated to Coulson, while episode 15 was dedicated to her character. In a call to Hawk that sadly mirrored events of her own life, she tells him that she's dying, before going on to add; "You know about death, Hawk; that it's just a change and not an end." Even so, she admitted that there was "some fear in letting go." The next scene was of Hawk announcing Margaret's passing to a clearly emotional sheriff's team. While she will be much-missed, it was still wonderful that we got to have those scenes with her for a final time.
Cooper is a Dad (Kind Of)
To two kids, no less. Except he's not. Bear with us.
Firstly, Dougie and Janey-E had young Sonny Jim together. While the original Dougie (created by evil Cooper) was a lousy father, the new Dougie that the one-armed man created, will no doubt be much better. There was genuine remorse when Dale Cooper had to say goodbye to the kid, though; as if it would be all too tempting to stay in suburbia with Dougie's wife and child.
Meanwhile, we are told that evil Cooper raped Diane (the real Diane, we think). It's then later revealed that Richard Horne is also evil Cooper's son. We know this because evil Cooper watches him die and then bids him 'farewell, my son.' So, evil Cooper fathered an evil child with Audrey. Through rape, are we to assume? And won't Audrey be a little bit upset that he's essentially killed their child, even though she doesn't seem to like him anyway? Well, no one really knows what's up with Audrey, or where she is, so we'll have to leave that one unanswered.
BOB is Destroyed
Arguably, the one aspect of Twin Peaks that had the most comprehensive sense of continuity to it, was the idea of BOB. The evil 'spirit' that inhabited Leyland Palmer and made him kill his daughter, has taken on many forms and guises, and of course, we know that at the end of Twin Peaks season 2, it was residing in Dale Cooper. It stayed in Cooper for a long time- 25 years, in fact, and the resulting evil Cooper managed to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people before finally being brought down at Twin Peaks.
In a brilliant twist, it was sweet, innocent Lucy who actually shot evil Cooper, which was followed by a dark orb floating out of his body - BOB. Though Cooper is more than competent, we didn't fancy his chances of defeating BOB on his own, so thank goodness for Freddie and his green glove. Freddie finally found a purpose for all that strength, and punched and punched until BOB was no more. Cooper then put the jade ring onto evil Cooper's finger, and the corpse disappeared. Perhaps that moment, out of all, was the one thing in Twin Peaks that had the most conclusive ending.
Laura is Alive (or is she?)
Twin Peaks has always been thoroughly confusing; that's part of its Lynch-charm, and a reason why we all love it so, but the finale was perhaps the most confusing of all. Cooper paid teapot Phillip Jeffries a visit, and was sent back in time in order (we assumed) to save Laura Palmer. We see her walking through the woods on the night she was killed, only this time, Cooper takes her hand and tells her they're going home. After that, the familiar scene of Pete Martell fishing the next morning appeared, but this time, Laura's body was nowhere to be discovered. Hurrah, we all think, Cooper's gone back in time and prevented the murder from happening.
Only... he hasn't. You see, Laura has to die, because the past dictates the future. Cooper instead loses sight of Laura in the woods, and then we see Sarah Palmer stabbing the familiar prom photo of Laura, over and over. So while Cooper might have prevented her being killed by her father/ BOB, Laura has still died in some way or another.
But has she been reborn? Is she now a waitress named Carrie Page? After spending the night with Diane, Cooper seems to wake up in a different dimension; one where he is known as Richard, and she as Linda. Cooper/Richard takes himself to a diner called Judy's (!) where he's given an address. At said address, he finds a woman named Carrie Page, who is, surely, Laura Palmer. Still with us?
After some persuasion, Carrie/Laura agrees to visit her childhood home with Cooper, only when they get there, the woman who owns the house (who owns the house in real life, by the way), says she doesn't know anyone called Laura or Sarah Palmer. A confused Cooper hears someone calling "Laura," Laura then screams, and that's the end of Twin Peaks season 3.
So, did Twin Peaks answer all our questions? Well, no, very far from it, and it probably left us with even more. But it was undeniably satisfactory to learn the answers to some things, such as who Diane is, and what happened to Phillip Jeffries. There was also something sweet and charming in revisiting the town and catching up with characters that feel like old friends. Hawk is unchanging, Andy and Lucy are still going strong. Shelley is still living the same mistakes and now so is her daughter, Becky. Bobby has matured, finally, and Log Lady was full of insightful wisdom until the very end.
It was also a fitting goodbye to Miguel Ferrer, who shared some brilliantly funny screen time with Lynch. Albert and Gordon were a double act all of their own, and they were a joy to watch. As for Kyle MacLachlan; if awards season doesn't bring some nods his way then it's a crime. So in many ways, revisiting Twin Peaks was a wonderful trip down memory lane and a good catch-up. But for all the neat, happy endings tied up with a bow, there were a million other points that had us questioning, scratching our heads, frantically searching Google, and even yelling at our TV. What on earth did it- or does it- all mean? As Monica Belluci asked us "Who is the dreamer?" We may never know.