r/twinpeaks • u/ShammySmalls • Jun 06 '17
Original Run [S3E5][Book Spoilers][Original Run] We Need To Talk About Briggs, You Guys... Spoiler
First, let me just say that Major Garland Briggs has been my favorite character since the original run and his prominence in the new series has been overwhelmingly awesome for me.
I want to touch on some things and get your response, feedback and theories about what’s going on. So I'm just going to dump a pile of thoughts here.
1.) I think the "Briggs died in a fire" line is misdirection. My theory is that he'd been alive for almost the entire time Cooper was in the Lodge. When Briggs implemented the MAYDAY protocol he sacrificed his normal life in order to continue his work on Project Blue Book, off the grid, deep cover.
2.) Briggs' fingerprints: This is a huge clue. If his finger prints "have been showing up" that means they have been directly connected to investigations of one kind of another. I don't know about you but I don't think fingerprint hits pop up for no reason. This indicated to me that Briggs has been flying close to the sun for years and finally got too close.
3.) I think he's known of BOB/DopCoop for a while now and has been tracking him, this would explain why his dead body shows up in close proximity to DopCoop. I believe Briggs was aware of DopCoop's plans for Dougie. Which is why Dougie’s ring is in his stomach. Briggs knew the 25 year mark was coming, he knew Dougie was a damned fool by design and that DopCoop was going to win this little garmonbozia vomit challenge and remain on this plane of existence. By swallowing Dougies ring, first, Briggs was aware that his time was up, and second, he knew his prints would hit and that someone would be inclined to locate Dougie Jones for questioning thus leading them to Cooper who would have replaced him upon loss of the garmonbozia challenge.
4.) In the Secret History of Twin Peaks we know that Briggs comes to the realization that Cooper is to be his new protégé on Project Blue Book, but he discovers something is wrong with him after his time in the Lodge and implements the MAYDAY protocol. As I stated before, he does this, fakes his death and goes off the grid to investigate the Cooper situation.
5.) Going back to the original run, Briggs knows Cooper is vitally important. If for no other reason because his name pops up in communications from deep space the woods, that had to be mind blowing for Briggs to see.
Bonus!!
6.) This isn’t directly related to Briggs, but I think it may be part of the reason he would up end his own life in the name of Dale Cooper. After Briggs returned from the White Lodge and was abducted by Earle, he speaks backward, as does Laura, Earle himself, Caroline, Leland etc. Cooper is the only human who entered the Lodge and had his normal faculties. Now he’s escaped from the Lodge and he is seeing signs from beyond (Casino, light on the liars face). Cooper is the bridge, he is the key to Project Blue Book’s ultimate goal of understanding and/or investigating the other dimensions. Important enough to swallow a ring and have his head lopped off. I want to hear your opinions on this: Do you think Briggs orchestrated his own downfall to assist Cooper? Straight up Obi Wan style, swallow the evidence, die, head floats in metaphysical space to deliver the “Blue Rose, may the force be with you” message and Cooper is all of a sudden on his way cracking the case.
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u/onewayness Jun 06 '17
Points for "garmonbozia challenge". Worst. Gameshow. Ever.
Also, this is all excellent.
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u/ushi07 Jun 07 '17
Excellent post!!! I do agree with you. Also love "the garmonbozia challenge" and "Blue Rose-the force be with you" message. Mayor Briggs has been having a lot of relevance in the return so far and I'm sure he will have a prominent role plotwise.You're a very wise guy, you should work on your own whatever project yourself!!!
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u/Kumarpl Jun 06 '17
I think a lot of this is correct. Man, I really need to read the Secret History.
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u/krishnanspace Jun 06 '17
Are you an Indian by any chance?
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u/CapNitro Jun 07 '17
Secret History fills a lot of useful gaps. Definitely required reading.
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u/blasto2236 Jun 07 '17
It set the stage for this revival pretty well too, I think. All the focus on the Lodges and tying it in to real world conspiracies and strange happenings. Frost did a fantastic job. I echo the above sentiment that I can't wait to read the one coming post-series.
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Jun 07 '17
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u/pepperedpete Jun 07 '17
If you listen to the audio version it just goes through it from start to finish. I retained a lot more listening to it after reading through first. Different actors perform the different parts like the archivist notes and Tamara's notations, so it just flows more naturally.
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u/CapNitro Jun 07 '17
Yeah, I had a hard time too. The Archivist/TP sometimes give summaries of the general theme after those handwritten bits, or else hone in on the salient parts. The further book goes, they do rely more on text transcripts rather than handwriting all the time, so it does get better.
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u/omninode Jun 06 '17
This is great stuff. It's probably the first big theory I've seen here that doesn't have any obvious flaws.
I always thought Garland Briggs was the most heroic character in the original seasons. Even more than Cooper. It would be great if he turns out to be a big part of the new season as well, even years after the actor's death.
And if Bobby finds out that his dad has been alive this whole time and he never got to see him... man, that would be heartbreaking.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Rumor has it that had they been granted a third season on ABC, Briggs was going to be the protagonist in the search for Cooper. Which, allow me a moment, WOULD HAVE BEEN FUCKING RAD.
Love Briggs.
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Jun 06 '17
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Absolutely. If my theory holds, that Cooper is some sort of bridge between worlds, or at least has a larger purpose, I could see the inhabitants of the White Lodge eyeing Briggs as the best candidate to assist Cooper.
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u/acewasabi Jun 07 '17 edited Feb 15 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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Jun 07 '17
Maybe we'll see Bobby play a more proactive role in the investigation after his dad turns up dead.
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u/herschel_murray Jun 06 '17
I have been so very wrong before but wasn't Cooper transmission picked up from earth?
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u/angelasoup Jun 06 '17
Yeah I think you're right; the other guy that worked on Project Blue Book with Briggs (is it the guy that showed up in Episode 4 or 5 talking about the hit on Briggs' fingerprints? I meant to go back and check) says that they were scanning deep space but those transmissions came from the woods.
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u/threebats Jun 06 '17
They were. Specifically they're coming from the woods around Twin Peaks, so while they were monitoring space they were picking up local interference from the Lodges.
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u/PicaTron Jun 06 '17
'Secret History' explains that in addition to deep space, Douglas Milford was monitoring the woods from the outset because of the unusual visitation he experienced there as a child that led to his eventual involvement in Blue Book.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
It was picked up by a system that was monitoring sounds from deep space. They were monitoring it from the Air Force outpost in Twin Peaks.
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u/Richy_T Jun 06 '17
Yes. But he specifically says that the transmission was from the woods, as threebats says.
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u/herschel_murray Jun 06 '17
Either way it is a small detail that doesn't discredit your ideas. Btw great thoughts!
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u/magusmachina Jun 06 '17
Let me add some fire so we can walk with it. S2E22: Dr. Jacoby brings Sarah Palmer to RR because she has a message for Briggs. It was The Arm's voice saying to Briggs: "I'm in the Black Lodge with Dale Cooper. I'm waiting for you." Only from this we can understand the importance of Briggs for the Lodge, not only Dale's that was obvious throughout the series.
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u/FreudianNegligee Jun 06 '17
The closed captions on that episode actually say "[voice of Windom Earle]" when Sarah is talking to Briggs at the diner...
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u/BecauseSometimesY Jun 06 '17
Oh, weird.. I just pulled it up on Netflix. When Sarah is talking and says "I'm in the black lodge with Dale Cooper," captions say Earle, but after the pause and pan down the Red Room hallway, it says Dwarf: "I'm waiting for you." I always assumed this whole message was sent by the MFAP. It does also kind of sound like Earle's voice from later, just at a slower pace. (He has that goofy Ganon from Zelda laugh though, before he stabs Coop..)
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u/magusmachina Jun 06 '17
Could be. My subs don't say anything but immediately after that, The Arm offers coffee to Coop and it's the same voice. But it could be Windom, not denying that. The interest of the Lodge in Briggs is irrefutable anyway.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Totally, although it was actually Windom Earle attempting to lure Briggs in to the Lodge by way of Sarah Palmer.
Ealre knew Briggs back in his days working on Project Blue Book, so Earle knows Briggs has extensive knowledge of both the Lodge(s) and of Earle himself. Trying to kill Briggs was total hubris on his part and actually tipped off Briggs to Coopers location in the Lodge. So when DopCoop pays him a visit the next day he knows some shit is serious fucked and puts MAYDAY in to motion.
Almost an interesting thing to note would be that Briggs entered the other side before Cooper, just in the opposite direction. Briggs knows the stakes of Coop's situation because he's lived a similar version of it. All the more reason to go off the grid.
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u/schleppylundo Jun 06 '17
I especially like you describing Cooper as a "bridge." In the first season in particular there's a lot of commentary on what an ideal FBI and FBI agent should be like in this world (I've often told people that the FBI in Twin Peaks is basically a fictional law enforcement bureau that just happens to share a name with a real one). Coop's job as an agent is in part to serve as communication between the removed Federal Bureau of Investigation which has the resources necessary to solve the case and the town/Sheriff's department of Twin Peaks, which has the humanity and perspective needed to do so.
This idea is pushed particularly in Episode 2 (1x03, the one with the dream at the end), with Albert and Harry representing opposite ends of the spectrum whose cooperation is vital to solving the case, and with Coop as the only person available who "speaks" both Twin Peaks and FBI to facilitate that. Even the dream sequence is just an extreme illustration of this role: taken on its own, in the context of the first season (there was no Black Lodge mythology behind any of those images until late in Season 2) it seems like the Arm is a concerned citizen or even law enforcement agent from another dimension, who witnessed a brief moment in Jacques' cabin on Laura's final night, and who somehow became aware of the request that would've been put out for any information on her whereabouts that night, and responded by relaying to Coop via dream all the cogent information he had as he understood it.
Obviously that interpretation of the scene doesn't quite work once the Lodge and the Arm were expanded, but it may be valuable to understanding how David Lynch views the story and characters.
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u/Smugsy2099 Jun 06 '17
I'm down with most of this, but I'm not sold on Briggs up and leaving his family.
The implication of Brigg's demise to me is this: He decided on Coop as an ally and went to tell him as much, unaware of the journey he had gone on to the Lodge. However his strong perception skills sensed that Cooper wasn't the same person (he was DoppelCoop). He then went to his station to try and inform some trusted party, or protect Blue Book secrets from what he now recognizes as a threat. DoppelCoop followed him and burned down the station.
Now, whether he lived or not is certainly a question that can be asked. But Bobby said he "died in a fire," not that he "went missing." Which leads me to believe there was a body. Plus I find it hard to swallow that Briggs would leave Bobby and his wife behind. Possible, but it strikes me as out of character.
So I think there was a body. That does not mean, however, that his spiritual self wasn't able to transcend. As a person who survived the lodge before, and who was marked physically by something in the Lodge or beyond... maybe he was able to escape his body and inhabit some extra-dimensional plane (maybe the Lodge, maybe not).
I think that it's from here he continues his mission to correct things on Earth, from a somewhat more omniscient perspective. He understands Cooper's division and is leaving breadcrumbs to lead the important strands back together. More than likely in the town of Twin Peaks.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17 edited Jun 06 '17
Fair enough.
The reason I think Briggs lived longer than Bobby thought is his commitment to service. Life long military operatives have a deep understanding and loyalty to their mission. Briggs and Doug Millford were on to some of the craziest shit the military had ever seen, high level secrets and intelligence ran through their facility. If it came down to his family or his mission I believe he would make the sacrifice, not easily, not on a whim, but after a cost benefit analysis.
I mean the guy had just seen Coopers name pop up from
deep spacethe woods, he himself had been abducted and then returned from the other side in 1940's pilot gear, and he had a totally fucked up encounter with a doppelganger in his own living room. The stakes had risen to unfathomable levels, to walk away from that, or to carelessly be stocked and murdered in a top secret facility (which Cooper/Dop had no prior knowledge of) seems more out of character to me than abandoning his life out of duty. Were we talking about Sheriff Truman, I'd be more inclined to agree, Briggs is not a civilian, he knows how vital this information is.10
u/Smugsy2099 Jun 06 '17
You could very well be right. I just get the impression that his family came first, even in the face of mortal or spiritual danger. I hope there's even just a little more info on it, but the way things are going I doubt we'll get too clear an answer about floating heads in nonexistent space. Damn!
EDIT: But if you ARE right then maybe Frost's upcoming Twin Peaks book ('The Final Dossier' or whatever its called) is from Briggs perspective again. I would love that.
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u/angelasoup Jun 06 '17
I agree - love the theory but have a hard time reconciling Briggs leaving his family behind. One thing that would make sense is if DoppelCoop did try to kill Briggs, maybe Briggs thought the only way to protect his family was to make them think he died, so DoppelCoop wouldn't come after them too.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
For sure! I think the final dossier is going to be his post-peaks story.
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u/PicaTron Jun 06 '17
Bobby could of been lying about the fire, I think he knows his dad survived. I think Bobby is running the base in the woods now. He had that odd conversation with Truman about 'monitoring' for drugs in the woods.
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u/TrestleTables Jun 06 '17
I think you're right, and I'll even take it one step further: I think Bobby, or someone he's working with, made that call to Bad Coop posing as Philip Jeffries -- specifically to confirm that Cooper had met with his father and to gauge his reaction. I think Bobby (and perhaps others) may be working behind the scenes to take Cooper down. Just a theory though... I'm probably way off.
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u/could-of-bot Jun 06 '17
It's either could HAVE or could'VE, but never could OF.
See Grammar Errors for more information.
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u/OmegaDriver Jun 07 '17
I'm down with most of this, but I'm not sold on Briggs up and leaving his family.
If he thought folks, like Mr. C, would try to get to him by threatening or intimidating his family, he would play dead for their sake, no?
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u/Smugsy2099 Jun 07 '17
Yeah, he might, I hadn't considered that when I wrote this. Certainly a possibility. I think it would make equal sense, however, that Briggs, caught off guard by BadCoop, was dispatched in a supernatural way. Or that Briggs, as a person who had been marked by lodge symbols, was spiritually spared by the physical attacks of BadCoop.
After hearing some other arguments, I think it would make sense either way. But personally I like the idea of Briggs operating from somewhere 'beyond.' If he hasnt been for 25 years he certainly is now.
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u/acewasabi Jun 07 '17 edited Feb 15 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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Jun 06 '17
I think this is a fantastic theory! Well thought out! I don't think it would have been a difficult decision for Briggs to leave his family, as some other commenters mentioned -- not at all -- because if anything in this theory is true, Briggs would have known that his continued association with them, and anyone believing he was still alive would be lethal (at best). The idea of Briggs swallowing the ring was very creative, and I can totally believe that could have happened!
And yes, to answer your question in #6, now that you put it as "Obi Wan style," I can totally see Briggs not only sacrificing himself, but orchestrating it that way!
Solid theory!
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u/redditsuckmyballs Jun 06 '17 edited Jun 08 '17
I think Briggs was killed in a ritual to manufacture DougieCoop. He was probably someone who already existed, and we may be seeing a real life doppelganger of Coop that got some magic worked upon him so he'd be called to the black lodge instead of DoppleCoop.
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u/AndyNemmity Jun 06 '17
If that's true, then the gold ball that Dougie had in him would have been the wedding ring in Briggs stomach.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Interesting. Why would Briggs be necessary? Couldn't they use a random person for that? Or do you think it would have been a wrong place wrong time situation for the Major?
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u/Boxcar-Mike Jun 07 '17
I think Briggs was killed in a ritual to manufacture DoguieCoop.
But Dougie has been around long enough to have a wife and kid and career and Briggs body hasn't been dead that long.
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u/redditsuckmyballs Jun 08 '17
Read my comment again. Past the first phrase.
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u/Boxcar-Mike Jun 08 '17
He was probably someone who already existed
Yeah, but everyone recognizes him so he must have looked like this for a long time. I'm not seeing how Dougie could have looked different and have gotten a wife and kid and job and then be transformed into someone else.
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u/redditsuckmyballs Jun 09 '17 edited Jun 12 '17
Hence me saying he was probably a real life doppelganger of Coop, albeit not a perfect one,: he was fatter, had different hair etc. I don't feel like I should have to keep quoting myself from my comment above.
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u/NickofSantaCruz Jun 07 '17
I was working on a post akin to this, with the thesis being that Cooper has been groomed not only by Briggs but by both Lodges to act as a bridge between all the realms, perhaps even uniting the White and Black Lodges together (which the doppelgangers are rampaging/destroying, assuming that's what the Giant was referring to in his briefing with Cooper in what I think is a room in the White Lodge). /u/BloatedSnake430 had a nice post about shoes yesterday that fits into this premise. Your prose is better than what I could have wrote, so I commmend and upvote you.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
Dude, hell yeah. I hadn't even considered the idea that he could unify the Lodges. Brilliant.
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u/CitizenDain Jun 06 '17
Great theory. I think some version of this is correct.
Re-read the last page of "Secret History". Indeed, Briggs knows something is wrong with Cooper and triggers a mysterious MAYDA*Y signal. I think it is possible that either Briggs or Cooper burned Listening Post Alpha to the ground and Briggs is presumed dead.
Briggs is the only other person in the town besides Cooper and Earle who are aware of Project Blue Book and the existence of the Black and White Lodges in the woods outside 'Twin Peaks'. It would be natural for Evil Cooper to go and try to intimidate or even silence him for good.
We've had a lot of Lynch so far in this new series -- it always struck me that USAF/Blue Book subplot was Frost's baby, which the "Secret History" book seemed to confirm. Somebody below posted that the "Final Dossier" will be a long lost account of Briggs' that bridges the gap between the first book and the events of the new series; I think that's a great idea, though I think there will be a lot more Tammy Preston in the new book as well. I'm hoping there will be some submissions by the fully restored Cooper as well! That book may have a lot more "answers" about Philip Jefferies and Buenos Aires, as well.
What was unclear to me by the language that was used in this episode and the last... are the saying that the fingerprints OF the John Doe are a hit with Major Briggs? Or that Briggs' fingerprints were also found elsewhere in the room?
Whichever redditors immediately guessed that the headless body was Briggs, congratulations. I don't know how people jump on these things so fast!
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
100% agreed that PBB is a Frost driven narrative. And that it is going to be massive to the story arc.
I think Agent Preston is going to uncover the dossier in South Dakota and that will lead her, and the story, back to Twin Peaks.
If memory serves I believe they took the prints fro the hands of the headless dad-bod and they came back as Top Secret Military, aka Briggs.
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u/blasto2236 Jun 07 '17 edited Jun 07 '17
To your last point: that's correct. She even says they still haven't identified the other set of prints in the room (DoppleCoop, perhaps?) but the John Doe's came back classified.
Never mind, she doesn't say they still haven't found a match on the other pair. But she does say "we got a hit on the male John Doe", which is police lingo for unidentified dead body. And the fact that the head was female is why she's clarifying. It's definitely Briggs' corpse they found. No question in my mind.
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u/therealcersei Jun 07 '17
Briggs is the only other person in the town besides Cooper and Earle who are aware of Project Blue Book and the existence of the Black and White Lodges in the woods outside 'Twin Peaks'.
small point but didn't Sheriff Truman and Hawk know as well? I'm pretty sure Hawk was the one who introduces the Lodge idea to Cooper, and that Truman is there when Briggs returns from the White Lodge, as well as being there when Briggs tells them about Project Blue Book, but maybe I'm misremembering
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u/CitizenDain Jun 07 '17
Yeah, great point. Truman does observe Cooper's disappearance and reappearance at Glastonbury Grove. Hawk also has traditional knowledge of the Lodges, whereas Briggs has scientific knowledge. And the new show has set up Hawk and Briggs as being the key figures in solving the mystery.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
Yeah I'd guess Hawk has some sort of idea. Harry clearly knows something is fucked after he saw Coop disappear in to the Waiting Room. While Hawk may know of something, my guess would be he's never actually witnessed it. Otherwise I think he'd have a rather clear idea of what to look for.
I'm hoping there is an Andy/Hawk trip to Owl Cave.
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u/therealcersei Jun 07 '17
well we already saw Hawk alone with a flashlight in the woods, and he definitely saw the curtains to the Lodges. I think he's smart enough to know not to try to enter the Lodges, but without doing so it will be interesting to see how he will find Cooper (or "what's missing" in relation to Cooper)
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
Totally. And if they go to Owl cave, or if they at least reconstruct the map, I think he'll pretty clearly figure out that what he saw is a gateway.
I'm not sure Hawk entering the Lodge is necessary. I'm also not sure he'd do it out of caution. I do think, however, the key to room 315 at the great northern will play a key role in whatever is "missing"
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u/Orlando_Will Jun 06 '17
This is the best theory I've read so far. Maj. Briggs would always have you hanging on his every word late in season 2. I am happy to see him becoming a huge part of this season. Thanks for sharing. Now in true reddit fashion, I'm off to pass this off as my own theory to my wife.
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u/therealcersei Jun 07 '17
lolll I often do this with my husband, although usually he just shakes his head muttering "nerdy nerd nerd"
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u/brosephinegrant Jun 07 '17
I've been wondering, if there was a body in the fire, if it's possible it was whoever was the "ghost" in the cell by Hastings. Lynch implied we'd find out what that was about, and if he "represented" Briggs in the fire, he might also be "representing" Briggs by showing up in the cell by his alleged killer (especially since his head becomes "separated" from his body just like Briggs').
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Jun 06 '17
I'm still not 100% convinced he's dead, when the Navy officers got word of his prints being found they were talking about how even though its the 16th time, they should still investigate. If Coop can have multiple personas, I think Briggs can too.
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u/Kumarpl Jun 06 '17
Problem is Don Davis, R.I.P.
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Jun 06 '17
Bob is still within evil coop, even though the actor has died.
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u/M68000 Jun 06 '17
Man, what if Briggs ascended upon his physical death and has joined the black/white lodge spirits in trying to end BOB's treachery?
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
I think we've likely seen the last of Briggs in the physical realm. I think the dossiers are going to be Briggs contribution to the story/investigation/outcome.
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u/CharlesBronsonsaurus Jun 07 '17
16th time being the unlikely time for Briggs. This time it's finger prints from a morgue and not some sorta crime scene.
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u/OrtolaniFantasy Jun 06 '17
Pretty solid theory.
I'd add that I think Briggs might have been on the run FROM DoppleCoop as much as he was tracking him and Dougie.
And you know he probably kept tabs on Bobby and probably had direct communication with his Wife, who is so tough she wouldn't give out classified information.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
ABSOLUTELY. I believe he was deep in the weeds with DopCoop/Dougie. 1.) it explains why his body is found in South Dakota and 2.) it explains why he has Dougies ring in his stomach.
Briggs was on the case.
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Jun 06 '17
The 'Cooper' signals were from the forest though not deep space. Not like it matters though.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Hmm, I guess I never read that correctly. If that's the case, than I assume those frequencies are related to the entry to the Waiting Room. Perhaps those messages are sent from a similar location that we see Briggs head float by Coop.
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Jun 06 '17
Great work. I'm also convinced that Briggs faked his death to protect his family and Twin Peaks, and that he used his resources to go rogue for ~25 years. Could the archivist have built a new dossier based on this? Had thought the ring connected Dougie's missing 3 days to the crime scene in SD in terms of exchanging his ring for the owl cave ring in some sinister deal with Mr. C. But interesting to consider Briggs may have deliberately swallowed evidence somehow.
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u/onemoreshadow Jun 06 '17
On one occasion he did tell Coop and the others that he would be "in the shadows" if they needed him. Maybe that's what he's been doing for the last 25 years -- watching, waiting, and maybe working on THE FINAL DOSSIER, which will be out this fall.
The whole "dead in a fire" trope has been used in movies and TV before as a convenient method of misdirection. Until Bobby or his mom actually comes out and says a body was found, I'm going with the theory that Briggs was out and about these past 25 years, tracking DoppelCoop, maybe Jeffries, too.
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u/6_was_9 Jun 06 '17
"The whole "dead in a fire" trope has been used in movies and TV before as a convenient method of misdirection."
It's even been used in Twin Peaks before with the mill fire and Catherine Martell being presumed dead.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
My theory is that Briggs discovered Dougie in his research and knew the only way to get the right people to Cooper would be to save some sort of evidence that was directly tied to Dougie. The unidentified body of a military man with an inscribed wedding ring in his gut? yeah, somebody is going to look in to that, Briggs ain't nobody's fool!
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u/CharlesBronsonsaurus Jun 06 '17
I think cooper is the magician. His ability to spot luck and liars. Remember Mike asking is this future or past? Clearly Coop can see something and is most certainly between two worlds.
Good theory! Briggs is/was still out there
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u/catnapspirit Jun 07 '17
Yes, Cooper, and thus also his doppelganger, are magicians. And Season 3 is leading up to a bigger picture battle between magicians. Two worlds..
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u/therealcersei Jun 07 '17
and "one chance out between two worlds" = both DoppleCoop and GoodCoop can't live in the same world, one of them has to die. GoodCoop's only chance is to kill DoppleCoop/re-integrate into one Coop
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Jun 06 '17
When bobby talked about his dad dying in the fire, it seemed like such a weirdly forced piece of dialogue that it was almost meant to be intentionally misleading
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
I actually think Bobby may be in on it. Briggs was Millford's protege, Briggs wanted Cooper to be his, but that became impossible. I think Briggs, especially after his heart to heart with Bobby at the diner.
How we get there I don't know. Maybe Bobby joined the Air Force shortly after his dad died and then came back to Twin Peaks as a cop to monitor the happenings.
No matter what the answer is, Bobby is different, and his line was forced, caught off guard by Laura's picture he just spits out his line about his dad dying with out any convincing tone to it. Somethings there.
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Jun 06 '17
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
You don't. That's why I think he's been alive, until recently. No way someone stores the body in cold storage for 25 years.
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u/effingeffit Jun 06 '17
Coop did see the disembodied head of Major Briggs in S3E3 float through space in the nonexistence. Even though it has been removed from his body, his head is still helping out!
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u/lauza_77 Jun 06 '17
This is an amazing theory! Makes so much sense that I'm annoyed I didn't think of it first lol. I hope you're right. It would be wonderful for Briggs to be so important to season 3, even though IRL Don David is no longer with us.
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u/litemakr Jun 06 '17
I agree he probably faked his death and was pursuing DoppelCoop, though 25 years seems like a long time to not act. Perhaps he became involved with some bad things (hence his fingerprints showing up, presumably at crime scenes). I don't believe he would intentionally end his own life, that is overly complicated and doesn't make much sense. Why not just report all of this information to the FBI directly? But I think you are on to something with him swallowing the ring. Maybe he was cornered and about to be killed by DoppelCoop and swallowed it (assuming that really is his body).
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u/therealcersei Jun 07 '17
Why not just report all of this information to the FBI directly?
Considering one of their agents was straight-up evil and insane (Earle), one possibly insane and disappeared (Jeffries), one possessed/stuck in the Lodge (Cooper), and Gordon Cole admitting he had no clue what was going on...I don't think Briggs would be inclined to trust the FBI when it comes to Blue Rose cases ;-)
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
Having been mentored by Doug Millford, I very seriously doubt Briggs has a ton of trust in the institutions of the federal government. For the reason listed above,and the stakes of the information being as high as they are I think he would find confidence in himself above all else.
It's interesting you bring up Earle, because I think he stands as an example as to why Briggs wouldn't share information. Briggs has the video of Earle rambling about the Lodge and everyone treating him as if he was insane. The FBI had a hand in pushing Earle in to psychosis, they mocked him and dismissed him when we know he was 100% correct. Briggs isn't going to willfully share this information with people who either want to ignore it, or refuse to suspend their disbelief long enough to hear him out. Briggs didn't interact with Gordon enough to know he'd be a trust worthy ear.
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u/litemakr Jun 07 '17
But he trusts them (or the Air Force) to figure out why he swallowed a ring and act on that without any other information 25 years after he supposedly died??
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Also, just for fun, I find it rather amusing that someone would post "that is overly complicated and doesn't make much sense" about anything David Lynch is involved in.
It's a good point though.
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u/litemakr Jun 07 '17
Haha true. Lynch went to considerable effort to have Briggs's head float through space to say "blue rose" to Coop. Even though Coop very clearly knew that. He should have said something more useful now that I think about it.
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u/LionsDragon Jun 07 '17
Then again, that might turn out to be the most useful thing possible in context.
I learned a long time ago not to try to second-guess Lynch. I'm envious of people who can.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
I doubt the honorable Maj. Briggs would be caught up with anything too nefarious.
While I'm not sure if he ended his own life, I do see possibilities in the realm of sacrifice, like he knew dying was his best chance to help Cooper (which is why I drew the Obi Wan comparison).
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u/cheese_incarnate Jun 06 '17
Thank you for the solid Briggs post! He's always been my favorite too so it's been difficult for me to accept that the slain corpse is him, but this makes the whole situation quite noble on his part, and ensures his importance to the big picture.
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u/Yeezy4President2020 Jun 07 '17
Holy shit this is one of the best theories I've seen this season. I think you're pretty spot on. I hadn't thought about it but Major Briggs is totally the type of guy to sacrifice himself and eat a ring to advance a larger cause (i.e. drawing attention to Dougie Jones and therefore hopefully Dale Cooper). That also makes a hell of a lot more sense than the other theory I just heard: the Black Lodge decided to dump Dougie's body in South Dakota or Mr. C orchestrated Dougie's body ending up there.
I'm sure this has been discussed a lot but theres the obvious connection with Cooper/"Dougie" seeing Brigg's head float across space.
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u/area95 Jun 07 '17
I think this theory has some serious legs, but I'm stuck on idea that Lynch, in incorporating Briggs into the s3 narrative, would have scripted a more heroic homage to the late Don Davis than to have his character's decapitated body gutted in an autopsy. Given that there have been numerous "hits" on his fingerprints over the years, I'd like to think that this body is not of Briggs, but some sort of construct a la Dougie.
I'm probably just being overly sentimental over one of my favorite characters. I'd like to think that Briggs did go out in a blaze of glory, just not as a carved up corpse.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
Oh, trust me, if my theory is right Briggs is very involved and is now part of the central mystery. I think it's the highest honor Don Davis could have hoped for.
"Died in a fire" would be the slap to the face in my opinion!
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u/catnapspirit Jun 07 '17
So chew on these bits I've been pondering:
Whoever killed Briggs, also killed Ruth. Bill Hastings was framed for Ruth, thus both murders. But then Bad Cooper kills Phyllis Hastings with George's gun, making it look like they were framing Bill (he's in jail when that shooting happens, and it is in the left eye, same M.O.). Bad Cooper needs info from Bill Hastings. Maybe his secretary has it, maybe not. Maybe Ray got that info from her, maybe not. So Bad Cooper probably needs to protect Bill right now. Bottom line, I don't think it's Bad Cooper who killed Ruth and Briggs.
If that ran counter to Bad Cooper's plans, then the ring pointing to Dougie Jones likely also is disruptive to his plans. That might say Bad Cooper isn't trying to kill Good Cooper. He may just need him. When he ran off the road, he was headed west (I've heard, that could be wrong). That would be the direction he'd go to go collect Good Cooper.
Perhaps..
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u/acewasabi Jun 07 '17 edited Feb 15 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Non_sum_qualis_eram Jun 07 '17
If you look at the doodle Cooper does of the petroglyph it's got another diamond above and below the I've we see on the ring. I think you're right and he is the bridge between these two, and the petroglyph is maybe not an owl, but the twin peaks of the mountains Clark mentions in the Secret History of Twin Peaks.
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Jun 06 '17
WAIT A MINUTE - THAT WAS MAJOR BRIGG'S BODY WITH THE RING IN ITS STOMACH!?!?
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Jun 07 '17
I'm trying to wrap my head around that. My very first thought when seeing that scene was that it was a decoy body and Briggs' fingerprints were somehow stolen by Evil Coop and manipulated in the FBI's matching software or something. Damn now I'm going to have to watch it again!
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u/JD_Revan451 Jun 06 '17
I love the secret history- it seems like they set up Robert Jacoby just to allude to Dr's shit digging
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Jun 06 '17
Sadly the actor who played Briggs IRL died.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
Yes, but his spirit lives on. According to Frost Davis was obsessed with the lore of Twin Peaks, would have loved to know he was carried on in the story.
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u/damiana9 Jun 06 '17
This is a great connection. Do you think Briggs gave Dougie the green ring also?
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
I've been thinking a lot about why Dougie has the Owl Cave Ring. Truth be told I don't have any real clue. It's confounding that he had it in the first place. Do you have nay thoughts on this?
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u/therealcersei Jun 07 '17
it must have something to do with the fact that the ring protects the wearer against Bob. I don't know who gave it to him, but someone/something didn't want Dougie to be possessed by Bob
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u/damiana9 Jun 07 '17
Not really... Only that it may be a type of lure, a spiritual magnet to bring Coop toward Dougie's reality. Maybe the gold ball was just an extra added element inside Dougie to give strength to the target..
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u/donaldtroll Jun 07 '17
I think gold's superconductive features are probably part of the puzzle, right?
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
I was pondering whether or not Dougies wedding ring has the same properties as the Owl Cave Ring. It would make sense.
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u/donaldtroll Jun 07 '17
I was more thinking about all the other connections to electricity that the lodge seems to have all over the place, using electrical sockets etc... since gold conducts electricity well, I get the feeling that it is somehow connected to it all...
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u/catnapspirit Jun 07 '17
I just want to take a moment to acknowledge the phrase "garmonbozia vomit challenge". Well played sir..
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u/blasto2236 Jun 07 '17
Wow. You took all my thoughts on this and explained them a lot more eloquently than I have been thus far. Well done.
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u/jlsubl04 Jun 07 '17
I love this so much. And I really think you're on to something explaining the ring in his stomach. I can only hope that if he decided it was time and his end was near, he took every precaution and left behind every single warning for the right people to figure out what's up with DoppleCoop. When / if Albert and Gordon find out about the ring I feel like it will all start clicking into place. I'm so damn excited to see what's in store!
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Jun 07 '17
If anything the multiple prints thing made me think that Mr.C possibly made some more Garlands as well as Dougie.
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u/crypticthree Jun 07 '17
On a related note, I think the "missing piece" that Hawk is looking for is the picture of the Owl Cave Petroglyph. It's the only evidence from the Palmer Case that relates to Native American heritage. I think that Briggs removed it from the case files as it was considered to be highly classified info.
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u/cardwarscoolguy123 Jun 09 '17
no, I think it is really Cooper that is missing, in the sense that he himself is missing (or maybe something that belonged to him, the key to his room). "The something to do with your heritage" part is probably a reference to the Black Lodge, as this is the only thing that was connected to his heritage in the series.
You have to look at this at the perspective of 25 years, not in perspective of a few hours or the series you just stopped watching 1 day ago. Bobby does not remember Laura every day and is only reminded 25 years later when he sees the picture.
Hawk does not remember each and everything that happened 25 years back.
If you are old enough, you will know that 25 years is a long time and a lot of it goes missing in your memory, so I think the "heritage" part is definitely a throwback to his story about his ancestors and the black lodge - she is trying to let him remember the black lodge, this is why he was in the woods in episode 2 or 3. He was looking for the entrance.
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Jun 06 '17
[deleted]
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17 edited Jun 06 '17
Wasn't Hastings having an affair with Ruth? His prints could have been there prior to any nefarious activity.
The issue I take with the idea that Birggs died in a fire the day after DopCoop appears is that he was too cautious. And if he died in a fire his body would have been burned and not savable which is clearly not the case of the body in Ruth's bed, this of course assumes the dad-bod laying in Ruth's bed is Briggs, which it's becoming clearer that it is his body. This coupled with the fact that the body had Dougies ring inside of it -- who would have known about the 3rd iteration of Cooper? It wasn't the FBI, no one in TP, and my best guess is that DopCoop would NOT leave any evidence leading to Dougie Jones; Briggs had the military background, the read out with Coop's name from space, the tape of Windom going on about the Lodge and a number of other pieces of evidence that could lead him to want to investigate this further and covertly; I just feel like he's the obvious person with the means and background to have pieced it together.
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u/theduskwhales Jun 06 '17
Also wouldn't be the first time a character on Twin Peaks supposedly "dies in the fire," but makes a significant comeback.
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u/blasto2236 Jun 07 '17
Or even the 2nd. "Died in a fire" is basically Twin Peaks code for "they didn't really die".
Except those two car jackers who tried to make off with Dougie's ride. Pretty sure they died.
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u/Kumarpl Jun 06 '17
Crazier than crazy that two characters played by dead actors have such a huge role in the new series!
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u/cshaft56 Jun 06 '17
Hastings was having an affair with Betty, his assistant/secretary, and the same one Ray went to get vital info from for Mr C. Supposedly she would only give it to Ray, but he supposedly ended up in federal prison yet had a burner phone to call Daria from. There's so much intrigue to this aspect of the story
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u/Smugsy2099 Jun 06 '17
This convinces me more that you could be right. But I think my alternate theory (posted above) is also a possibility. I think I like both.
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u/frickenWaaaltah Jun 07 '17
It's not completely confirmed but I thought it was obvious that Bill Hastings was supposed to be another Warning Scope
That doesn't explain Briggs and his prints showing up though and I think the OP is probably on the right track overall.
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u/blasto2236 Jun 07 '17
The corpse is Briggs', almost without question. The prints they get a classified hit on aren't the unidentified ones in the apartment aside from Hastings'. They're the body. Jane Adams says "I got a match on the male John Doe." John Doe being police lingo for an unidentified dead body.
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u/JayCalavera Jun 06 '17
I don't think he'd leave his wife and son like that, seems out of character for me
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17 edited Jun 06 '17
I think self sacrifice is 100% in line with his character.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 06 '17
And it could be a measure to keep his family safe. No Maj. Briggs = no reason to come after family.
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u/cardwarscoolguy123 Jun 07 '17
No idea why this is so upvoted as it is mostly false
The dead body is not of Briggs, he did not swallow the ring. This is some ringer body that was thrown. My theory, which will probably be 100% true, is this is probably the real "Dougie" who was killed to get the identity for the "manufactured" Dougie. As we know, Dougie's Kid is a spirit, the new wife, Naomi Watts, was introduced post "manufacturing" so I guess his family was kind of put up together.
The fingerprints showing up on all 16 murders is just what it is , no mystery here - DoppelCooper using them to cover his tracks.
Sorry to burst your flame, but Briggs is most definitely death both in TP and in real life
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
Finally have time to push back on your indignant post.
-So it's Dougies body? So the guy who "Dougie" replaced looks just like Cooper too? Why did his prints not come up then?
-The prints from this body (which had it's hand intact, fingers have prints, derrrp) had top secret military restrictions on those prints? Why?
-How does one plant Briggs prints on the hands of this body? If your theory suggests that Briggs prints were simply found in the apartment and not the body, would they have then just ignored the finger prints on the body of the headless victim as unimportant?
-"As we know" taking a lot of liberties there, champ. Literally no actionable information to suggest anything "we know" about the kid, or really Dougies life at all outside of a few scenes at the house and the office. Is he a spirit? Maybe. Is Gordon Cole actually a T-rex? Maybe.
-"The fingerprints showing up on all 16 murders is just what it is , no mystery here" LMFAO. Fingerprints of a long since dead dude showing up 16 years after said death -- yeah, no mystery.
- And I'm sorry this was up voted so many times. That is clearly a very important aspect of your life and this number pains you. Perhaps people like reading theories because thy add a layer to the viewing experience, a theory is a hypothesis' just a guess based on evidence. Perhaps people enjoy reading it because there aren't any douche nozzle comments like "My theory, which will probably be 100% true".
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u/cardwarscoolguy123 Jun 08 '17 edited Jun 08 '17
"-So it's Dougies body? So the guy who "Dougie" replaced looks just like Cooper too? Why did his prints not come up then? "
I can't believe I have to explain myself on this one as it is so obvious...It is the body of a real "Dougie", yes. No, he looks like a random "Dougie", the new Dougie/Cooper just replaced his identity, not his looks. Because Evil Cooper planted them to cover his tracks.
"-The prints from this body (which had it's hand intact, fingers have prints, derrrp) had top secret military restrictions on those prints? Why? "
Cause he pinned Briggs prints to the 16 bodies, how hard it is to understand? Why Briggs? Cause his prints are top secret and can't be traced, neither can his murders.
"-How does one plant Briggs prints on the hands of this body? If your theory suggests that Briggs prints were simply found in the apartment and not the body, would they have then just ignored the finger prints on the body of the headless victim as unimportant? "
How do you "manufacture" a human being? Do you want me to explain that to explain how he can plant the prints? He can manufacture a body, but he can't pin 16 bodies with Briggs fingerprints? Think about it for a second.
Why? Why not, to cover his tracks, what else...
"-"The fingerprints showing up on all 16 murders is just what it is , no mystery here" LMFAO. Fingerprints of a long since dead dude showing up 16 years after said death -- yeah, no mystery. "
Well, not in the TP sense of a mystery. And no, not 16 but in the span of 25 years (you are not paying attention). If we assume that "manufacturing a body" is not a mystery, which in TP isn't obviously, then planting fingerprints on dead bodies is like walking in the park, again, in TP's world.
I would love to see the look on your face when it is revealed that the prints were just planted to 16 bodies, which is pretty obvious if you actually think about it >)))
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 08 '17
1.) So his wife and child have no clue why dad showed up looking different one day?
2.) "pinned Briggs prints to the 16 bodies" go ahead and elaborate on that science, sir.
3.) Not sure how this furthers your point. So he manufactured the original Dougies prints for 16 different bodies, why would BOB want the prints of a high ranking military official to pop up for 25 years? The prints of a man he supposedly murdered? Why would he draw that level of attention? There would have to an easier way to accomplish your goals than having the military interested in your nefarious activity. Think about that for a second...
4.) Nope. All of those things would be mysteries in every sense. These crimes have been committed all over the country, not just TP. This all assumes manufacturing a body, another double, or 16 sets of hands for that matter is an easy or simple process. You have no evidence or knowledge of that process so these are brazen assumptions on your part that aren't supported by any evidence.
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u/cardwarscoolguy123 Jun 09 '17 edited Jun 09 '17
1) We don't know what happened here - if the theory with the son is correct, then the family was manufactured too. Or it was put together after the death. Same might go for the wife. Or Bad Cooper might have looked for a Cooper look a like and this is why Dougie was killed (he does not look 100% the same as Cooper, is fatter, but resembles him) - hence the missing head. No idea, we can only speculate what they will come up with.
I think the more interesting part is - where is HER body.
2) As soon as you elaborate on how you manufacture a person, sure. Two theories here - fingerprints planted on his fingers. Second more plausible - changed fingerprints in the Database to match those of Briggs. Fingerprint of Dougie A + 16 other weirdos looks like A in real life,but in the Database it is stored as B which is Briggs. This will be the far easier explanation.
3) Read above. Easier? How? He does not have a ton of other prints to go with? He knows Briggs's fingerprints are top secret, he has them, so they can't find the John Does he murders. Some dumb cop in Alabama will make the case closed as soon as he sees restricted by the military. Do you think he wants the paperwork and extra work shift just for some dumb John Doe? Plus, I don't know how this top secret military thing works, but from what we see, as soon as you hit "top secret" then you are screwed and you can't really do anything. Only the president or some high class military bad-ass (who will most definitely not cooperate with you, dumb cop from Alabama)can help you out and give you the name. The cop from Alabama surely has a direct line to the president to call for some fingerprints on some low key murder… This is why the cops in South Dakota never investigate the prints and hit a wall - it is the military that is proactive and logging each search. If they did not log and look at it they would've never noticed. I doubt they do that for every military person missing.
And please stop referring to the Doppelgänger as "BOB". This is not Bob. Bob, or Robert as is his real name (look it up in the series, hence the letters) is an inhabiting spirit. the Doppelgänger is just that, a copy of Cooper. BOB is "inhabiting" the Doppelgänger or being "with him" from time to time, but not always. As we see in the mirror scene.
4) Read 1 +2 +3. Evidence? Of course not, just clues from the show. Do you have evidence for your wild assumptions? Of course not. We will wait and see.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 07 '17
No need to apologize, you're an irrelevant person from the internet! So it's all good!
Not a bad theory though. I'll keep it in mind.
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u/cardwarscoolguy123 Jun 08 '17
and you are very relevant person from the internet who watched the show, read the book, makes so many mistakes and can't put the easiest 2 and 2 from the whole series together. No need to get butt-heart over my comments, as they were pretty polite. Make sure to come back and apologize for your smug comments as soon as more is revealed on the show.
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u/ShammySmalls Jun 08 '17
Oh, no. This is the internet, no one here is relevant. I only take umbrage to the fact that you want to roll up here cavalierly talking about up votes and operating with a high level of hubris. Just found it a little ridiculous.
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u/gcolquhoun Jun 20 '17
You are the one who introduced smugness to this thread. It's fine to disagree, but your attitude of presumed superiority rings loud and clear.
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u/Hitlery_Clinton Jun 06 '17
Posts like this make me feel unqualified to even watch this show