Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

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DonnieB
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Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by DonnieB »

There may be an obvious answer to this, so I apologize in advance, but why does DoppleCoop smash his head into the mirror? You would think his goal would be to convince everyone that there's nothing unusual about him, that he's good ol' Coop, and this is one way to accomplish the exact opposite.

One thought I had was that maybe the good Coop still has some waning control of himself and this is one last act on his part to warn people that he is not himself. Anyway, is there common wisdom on this?
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Rainwater
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Rainwater »

It struck him as funny.
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Soolsma
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Soolsma »

BOB got a bit overexcited at the sight of his new vehicle is my guess. Remember, that at least a part BOB wants to be found out about, which is why he left the paper under the fingernails. But really, there is no consensus on this whatsoever.

What Rainwater is referring to:
Carrie Page: "It's a long way... In those days, I was too young to know any better."
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secretlettermkr
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by secretlettermkr »

Rainwater wrote:It struck him as funny.
8) :twisted: yeah, thats exactly the answer
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Venus
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Venus »

Soolsma wrote:BOB got a bit overexcited at the sight of his new vehicle is my guess. Remember, that at least a part BOB wants to be found out about, which is why he left the paper under the fingernails. But really, there is no consensus on this whatsoever.

What Rainwater is referring to:
I wonder what the chances are that this cut scene will start series 3?
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Soolsma
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Soolsma »

Next to zero? Otherwise Lynch probably wouldn't have released on the missing pieces. Besides that, I think we'll start off fresh.
Carrie Page: "It's a long way... In those days, I was too young to know any better."
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Panapaok
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Panapaok »

Rainwater wrote:It struck him as funny.
lol
This is - excuse me - a damn fine cup of coffee.
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mtwentz
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by mtwentz »

DonnieB wrote:There may be an obvious answer to this, so I apologize in advance, but why does DoppleCoop smash his head into the mirror? You would think his goal would be to convince everyone that there's nothing unusual about him, that he's good ol' Coop, and this is one way to accomplish the exact opposite.

One thought I had was that maybe the good Coop still has some waning control of himself and this is one last act on his part to warn people that he is not himself. Anyway, is there common wisdom on this?
I thought I read somewhere an early draft of the FWWM script implies that Cooper is trying to get sent to the hospital so he can kill Annie.
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David Locke
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by David Locke »

mtwentz wrote:
DonnieB wrote:There may be an obvious answer to this, so I apologize in advance, but why does DoppleCoop smash his head into the mirror? You would think his goal would be to convince everyone that there's nothing unusual about him, that he's good ol' Coop, and this is one way to accomplish the exact opposite.

One thought I had was that maybe the good Coop still has some waning control of himself and this is one last act on his part to warn people that he is not himself. Anyway, is there common wisdom on this?
I thought I read somewhere an early draft of the FWWM script implies that Cooper is trying to get sent to the hospital so he can kill Annie.
Oh wow - never crossed my mind. That's pretty chilling.
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Rudagger
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Rudagger »

mtwentz wrote:
DonnieB wrote:There may be an obvious answer to this, so I apologize in advance, but why does DoppleCoop smash his head into the mirror? You would think his goal would be to convince everyone that there's nothing unusual about him, that he's good ol' Coop, and this is one way to accomplish the exact opposite.

One thought I had was that maybe the good Coop still has some waning control of himself and this is one last act on his part to warn people that he is not himself. Anyway, is there common wisdom on this?
I thought I read somewhere an early draft of the FWWM script implies that Cooper is trying to get sent to the hospital so he can kill Annie.
That theory always made sense to me (and is personally why I believe Annie will be dead as a doornail before Season 3 even begins).

I think also Bob kind of has a hatred for Coop (at the very least, he goes out of his way to taunt Coop a couple times), and I wouldn't be shocked if he just wanted to spite Coops face a bit. I think it kind of emphasizes the struggle a bit and suggests it's a different Bob/host relationship than it was with Leland (who depending on your interpretation, could've been a willful participant in at least a few of the murders).

And also, for the inside baseball perspective; it's just a striking visual to end a finale on.
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Driftwood
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Driftwood »

Windom Earle wanted to drive his old partner insane for revenge and he succeeded.
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Mr. Reindeer
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Mr. Reindeer »

mtwentz wrote:I thought I read somewhere an early draft of the FWWM script implies that Cooper is trying to get sent to the hospital so he can kill Annie.
That seems kinda silly, tho'. It would make sense if it were a location that's difficult to get into, like a jail. But Leland proved it's not that tough to sneak into Calhoun avoiding detection and kill someone. If anything, being an admitted patient might make him slightly MORE likely to be a suspect (especially given the odd nature of his self-inflicted head wound to begin with).

Of course, the TP writers certainly weren't above silly over-plotting, so I could certainly see something like that being in a draft. Man, I'd love to read all those early FWWM drafts.
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Cappy
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Cappy »

I've always viewed the final shot of Twin Peaks as sort of a call back to that first scene of the pilot, where Josie looks at herself in the mirror and applies makeup.

A big theme of the show is the deceptive nature of appearances, the power of lies. Josie seems content with her mirror image, almost entranced by the facade that she has built around herself in Twin Peaks. Maybe she has lied and pretended to be someone else for so long that she almost believes she is that person, or maybe she is just admiring the lie she made. Either way, she has no real desire to look at what is underneath. She flees truth and revelation. Whenever Josie was presented with the truth about her actions, she doubled down on her innocent widow routine or fainted. Finally, when she was backed into a corner by Cooper and the man she loved, Harry, she was forced to acknowledge her duplicity and her pain all at once, and the shock of her illusion being shattered killed her.

Cooper, on the other hand, is actively trying to see past appearances. Even though he succumbed to fear in the Black Lodge, and even though he might have avoided dealing with the pain of his affair with Caroline and her subsequent murder, he still desires truth and honesty. In the end, when he shatters his mirror image, he's trying to reject the lie and see who BOB really is, just as Laura had to see who BOB really was in FWWM. Whether he is successful and can look past BOB to see his own failings is another story, but I think at Coop's heart lies a sincere desire for the truth.
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Robot Butler
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by Robot Butler »

He was never good with impulse control.
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tmurry
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Re: Why does he smash his head into the mirror?

Post by tmurry »

You have to think of this scene as a metaphor and from where Cooper is emotionally. He slams his head into the mirror because part of him is struggling to regain composure from the fear/anger that he lost control of when he faced Earle. He squeezes the toothpaste wastefully (old Dale rolls from the bottom for sure) in a haphazard approximation of the circle from the grove (part of him wants to open a portal). Then he looks at the mirror seeing the reflection of wraith (he is now the killer, having murdered Earle not in self defense but by something primal slipping out) and struggles to control the anger but wishing to go back to the other side. Thus he slams against the mirror in an attempt to escape and (simultaneously) to destroy the means of escape (two opposite impulses aligning - to regain and annihilate the self). Good Dale loses - he sees his soul as cracked and fractured and winds up with a head wound (trademark David Lynch) indicating his existence as a damaged conduit for some (bad) collective thing. He ends mocking the absurdity of his own concern for the wellbeing of others.
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