TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

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Mystery Roach
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TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by Mystery Roach »

TR introduces several new concepts to the mythology of the world of Twin Peaks, and turns some things we thought we knew on their heads. How do you feel about TR's contrubutions to that mythology?

One thing I noticed is that there seemed to be a conscious decision to move away from many of the mythological elements of the original series such as dugpas and Lodges. As far I recall, there were no mentions of dugpas or the White Lodge, and only one mention of "the place they call the Black Lodge". Even BOB was only indirectly identified.

So the focus of the mythology then shifts to new elements such as tulpas, Judy, the Fireman, Laura, etc., but those things are rarely given the level of explanation that the original series went into. I think this was done absolutely by design, in an attempt to re-mystify the series so to speak.
Last edited by Mystery Roach on Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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mtwentz
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

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Mystery Roach wrote:TR introduces several new concepts to mythology of the world of Twin Peaks, and turns some things we thought we knew on their heads. How do you feel about TR's contrubutions to that mythology?

One thing I noticed is that there seemed to be a conscious decision to move away from many of the mythological elements of the original series such as dugpas and Lodges. As far I recall, there were no mentions of dugpas or the White Lodge, and only one mention of "the place they call the Black Lodge". Even BOB was only indirectly identified.

So the focus of the mythology then shifts to new elements such as tulpas, Judy, the Fireman, Laura, etc., but those things are rarely given the level of explanation that the original series went into. I think this was done absolutely by design, in an attempt to re-mystify the series so to speak.
For the record, I think the Black Lodge was mentioned twice- once by DoppelCoop and once by Hawk.
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Mystery Roach
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

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mtwentz wrote:For the record, I think the Black Lodge was mentioned twice- once by DoppelCoop and once by Hawk.
Oh right thanks. But that actually supports my feeling that they wanted to suggest that the Lodges were really just perhaps the local Native American concept of what those places are, and that the truth of the matter is something less knowable and definite.
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by Tailsun »

The introduction of Tulpas was a strange decision. It muddied the clear and thematically appropriate concept of doppelgangers and the relationship between the two was never explored in a satisfying way. Mr C.'s story is hinged on his manipulation of the Black Lodge "rules," but we are never entirely clear on what the rules are. I'm all for mystery, but there were many times where it felt like characters were more clued in than we were.

The red room/Black Lodge was far and away my favorite part of the original series/FWWM so it's a shame to come away feeling like their mythology has been simultaneously over- and under-explained.
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by mtwentz »

Mystery Roach wrote:
mtwentz wrote:For the record, I think the Black Lodge was mentioned twice- once by DoppelCoop and once by Hawk.
Oh right thanks. But that actually supports my feeling that they wanted to suggest that the Lodges were really just perhaps the local Native American concept of what those places are, and that the truth of the matter is something less knowable and definite.
Another couple of points to note:
-Garmonbozia was not mentioned.
-The idea of inhabiting spirits that feed off fear was not really mentioned.

It seemed the basic mythology changes from spirits that inhabit humans to spirits that incarnate and directly cause physical harm to humans.

I guess one can make the argument that Sarah is 'inhabited' by Judy, but this is never stated anywhere and even if she is inhabited, it seems odd that would give her the ability to remove her face.

None of it bothers me. 25 years later, the mythology was bound to involve, and I pretty much see the entirety of Twin Peaks to be one beautiful dream anyway, and in a dream the rules can change just like that.
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

Garmonbozia isn't mentioned, but it's seen. Both Mr. C and Dougie vomit creamed corn at 2:53. Interesting parallel to Judy vomiting Bob et. al. into existence.
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

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I think The Return makes a good job at explaining the use of the Ring, as a tool to bind the dead to be trapped in the Lodge.

It indeed condemned the dead Laura to be trapped to the Lodge.
It did the same with Ray once Mr.C made him wear the ring and killed him.
And it was used to send an empty Mr.C. finally back to the Lodge.
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

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The Archivist wrote:I think The Return makes a good job at explaining the use of the Ring, as a tool to bind the dead to be trapped in the Lodge.

It indeed condemned the dead Laura to be trapped to the Lodge.
It did the same with Ray once Mr.C made him wear the ring and killed him.
And it was used to send an empty Mr.C. finally back to the Lodge.
That's a good point. I was never totally sure of the function of the ring just from FWWM. But although they managed to convey the function of the ring through what we see, it was never explicitly told to us.
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

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There was definitely no explicitly mentioned "entities feeding on fear", but I did notice that when Tulpa-Diane was telling the story about being raped, she makes mention of "he felt my fear, and smiled" (or something to that effect), which I took to be a nod to the original Bob concept. I imagined Bob being the "smile" she talks about. I was also thrilled with the repeated inclusion of The Ring...
I was hoping for a furtherance of the Lodge and Owl Cave mythology. I'm not exactly disappointed in the new concepts, but for me, the introduction of these new mythological concepts is the thing that leaves me wanting MORE.



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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

One thing I find weird on reflection/rewatch is that the Dougie storyline starts out with several callbacks to the old series mythology that seem to call Dale's attention in Parts 3 & 4 (Sycamore St., the Arthurian names, the owl flying overhead), but this element is dropped afterward. I wonder why they did so many of these right at the start of the Dougie storyline and then never again?
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by Novalis »

mtwentz wrote:
Mystery Roach wrote:
mtwentz wrote:For the record, I think the Black Lodge was mentioned twice- once by DoppelCoop and once by Hawk.
Oh right thanks. But that actually supports my feeling that they wanted to suggest that the Lodges were really just perhaps the local Native American concept of what those places are, and that the truth of the matter is something less knowable and definite.
Another couple of points to note:
-Garmonbozia was not mentioned.
-The idea of inhabiting spirits that feed off fear was not really mentioned.

It seemed the basic mythology changes from spirits that inhabit humans to spirits that incarnate and directly cause physical harm to humans.

I guess one can make the argument that Sarah is 'inhabited' by Judy, but this is never stated anywhere and even if she is inhabited, it seems odd that would give her the ability to remove her face.

None of it bothers me. 25 years later, the mythology was bound to involve, and I pretty much see the entirety of Twin Peaks to be one beautiful dream anyway, and in a dream the rules can change just like that.
Nice call-back to the Tremond grandson going on there. Are you studying magic? :lol:
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by mtwentz »

Mr. Reindeer wrote:One thing I find weird on reflection/rewatch is that the Dougie storyline starts out with several callbacks to the old series mythology that seem to call Dale's attention in Parts 3 & 4 (Sycamore St., the Arthurian names, the owl flying overhead), but this element is dropped afterward. I wonder why they did so many of these right at the start of the Dougie storyline and then never again?
Don't forget also, the owl which is seen on Dougie's street.

My take is that they just wanted to give an acknowledgement to the old elements of the mythology, then dispense with them.

I myself am conflicted about Twin Peaks ever going so far as to give a 'name' to where all the mystical figures come from. Remember the opening scene of Season 2 where Cooper asks the Giant where he comes from and the Giant shakes his head and replies, 'The question is, where have you GONE'?

Maybe Lynch is more in love with the idea of keeping mythology to a minimum and letting the images and sounds speak for themselves. Or at least sometimes he is, when he isn't filling in Albert and Tammy on the meaning of Judy :-)
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Re: TPTR and the Mythology of Twin Peaks

Post by The Archivist »

mtwentz wrote:
Mr. Reindeer wrote:One thing I find weird on reflection/rewatch is that the Dougie storyline starts out with several callbacks to the old series mythology that seem to call Dale's attention in Parts 3 & 4 (Sycamore St., the Arthurian names, the owl flying overhead), but this element is dropped afterward. I wonder why they did so many of these right at the start of the Dougie storyline and then never again?
Don't forget also, the owl which is seen on Dougie's street.

My take is that they just wanted to give an acknowledgement to the old elements of the mythology, then dispense with them.

I myself am conflicted about Twin Peaks ever going so far as to give a 'name' to where all the mystical figures come from. Remember the opening scene of Season 2 where Cooper asks the Giant where he comes from and the Giant shakes his head and replies, 'The question is, where have you GONE'?

Maybe Lynch is more in love with the idea of keeping mythology to a minimum and letting the images and sounds speak for themselves. Or at least sometimes he is, when he isn't filling in Albert and Tammy on the meaning of Judy :-)
Also, there was lots of coffee and cherry pie later in the season, which are certainly callbacks too!
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