❗Intro: I'm trying to note any important details or analyze scenes in each episode that might ask the viewer a questions ⚠️ Spoilers for this episode 1. "The shadow-self of the White Lodge. The legend says that every spirit must pass through there on the way to perfection. There, you will meet your own shadow self. My people call it 'The Dweller on the Threshold' ... But it is said, if you confront the Black Lodge with imperfect courage, it will utterly annihilate your soul." -Deputy Hawk A brief retelling of the general concept of both lodges that will help us in understanding this episode. The journey through the Black Lodge is a test of sorts that allows a person to discover their true identity. Cooper is confronted with himself, with aspects of his personality that he has been hiding or denying. He must confront his fears, especially those related to past mistakes and losses. 2. Once in the lodge, we see a familiar dancing dwarf and an unknown spirit who sings a song and then disappears. I don't think he himself matters except for his song. It's called "Sycamore Trees." Sycamores are the kind of trees that encircle the portal to the Lodges in Twin Peaks' woods, and these trees have an intriguing symbolism in the lore of Ancient Egypt: "In Egypt the Holy Sycamore is said to stand on the threshold of life and death, connecting the worlds." (Source: Ancient Wisdom Foundation: Tree Lore). 3. We know that time in the lodge is non-linear and this is confirmed by the Saturn lamp on the table, for it was believed that the God Saturn could control the cycles of time. On the other hand the parallel may be that Saturn was the lord of the harvest and the Dugpas gather pain and suffering to feed on. It was also known in mythology that Saturn devoured his children, which is similar to how Leland killed his daughter Laura and niece Maddie, and Bob devoured their pain and suffering. Also consider that the people Bob lived among were "his children". In addition to the lamp, a Venus Pudica statue, which represents the "Virgin" archetype, can be spotted in the room. 4. The Arm tells Cooper "When you see me again, it won't be me", which obviously means the evil doppelgangers we'll see later. He then offers him coffee and tells him that some of his friends are here, hinting that Cooper will have to face the spirits or representations of important people in his life. Laura then sits in the chair, who greets Cooper and does a snap of her fingers, and tells him, "I'll see you in 25 years," referring to the possibility of Cooper being trapped in the Black Lodge for 25 years. She then says "Meanwhile..." and raises her hands in a mysterious pose. By vedic mudra this means "Don't be afraid" so most likely she meant it. Thus Laura's spirit appears to Cooper to remind him not to fear the Black Lodge as it guarantees his demise. Laura disappears, and a moment later the Elderly Corridor Man is sitting in her place with a cup of coffee in his hands. He emits an "Indian cry" which symbolizes the wind whistling through the trees. The corridor man says, "Hallelujah" and the dwarf says "Hallelujah" in response. This is another example of ritualistic behavior exhibited by the Dugpas. The elderly corridor man serves Cooper coffee, then transforms into the Giant. The Giant sits down in a chair and says, "One and the same." That is, the Giant has likely possessed the Corridor Man in the same way that many spirits have possessed their vessels. Next, he disappears and the Arm begins to rub his hands together. This could mean that he is pleased with the way things are going. Cooper tries to sip his coffee, but finds that it has hardened. He shows it to the dwarf, who looks pleased. Cooper looks at his coffee again and tilts the glass. This time the coffee spills as usual and the Arm becomes angry. Cooper tilts the mug again and it slowly spills: it seems to have turned to something like tar and the dwarf looks unhappy, and, looking off at some unseen thing or person, says, "Wow, Bob, wow," and "Fire walk with me.". Coffee is a kind of fortune teller that the Duggpas use to predict how Cooper will pass the test. At first, she's stiff and immobile, and the Arm looks pleased. This means that Cooper will be steadfast and brave at first and possibly defeat Bob. Things then take on a darker hue as they turn to motor oil, suggesting Bob's presence. Finally, the coffee ends, predicting that eventually, when Cooper confronts Bob and his evil Doppelganger, he will escape. 5. Next, flames erupt in the darkness, heralding the approach of Bob and the Doppelgangers. Cooper gets up and leaves the room. The dwarf has disappeared. Cooper walks out into the hallway and heads to the statue of Venus DeMilo, pulls open the curtains next to it and enters another room identical to the first. Comparing the statue in the corridor with the one in the red room, we can conclude that the Venus statues indicate duality: they represent the same Goddess in two different aspects. Venus symbolizes both the union of loving couples and the darker sides of love and lust. These statues can be interpreted as a reflection of Laura's struggle with the contrasting traits of her personality, including sexual relationships. DeMilo represents Laura and Pudica represents Maddie, her shy twin cousin. 6. When Cooper enters the new room, everything looks the same, only without the occupants, but soon we hear the manic laughter of a dwarf. He appears out of nowhere, dances backwards in front of his chair and sits down. This is his evil doppelganger. After he laughs and hides behind his chair Maddie walks into the room. She says, "I'm Maddie. Watch out for my cousin." Of course it refers to Laura, but not the Laura we're thinking of: Her evil Doppelganger. Then she disappears. When he enters the new room, he sees the Arm doppelganger screaming "doppelganger" again. Then, as Maddie said, Laura's evil doppelganger appears, holding her arms in the same shape as the good Laura and screaming "meanwhile...". She backs up and steps behind a new chair, one that is particularly unique: It is red, with two conjoined seats, both facing opposite directions. This of course is another representation of duality. She starts screaming and running towards Cooper to scare him. He runs away and his stomach starts bleeding. This is because the Doppelgangers managed to scare him and now they are slowly draining him. 7. Entering the new room, Cooper sees himself lying wounded on the floor, holding a murdered Caroline Earle in his arms. However, when she sits up, we see that it is actually Annie in Caroline's dress. This again is meant to scare and/or lower Cooper's fortitude. He walks into another room and sees Annie again. She walks up to him and says, "Dale. I saw the face of the man who killed me." Of course, this is referring to Windom Earle. Cooper does not understand this. She tells him, "It was my husband." Again, this means Windom. Everything here has a dual meaning: Some of it just relates to Caroline's past, but it is also playing on Cooper's anxieties over Annie's potential death. She then turns back into Caroline and the fact that she resembles her evil doppelganger suggests that she is most likely a black lodge puppet created to test Cooper. She then turns back into Annie, but wearing Caroline's dress. She touches Cooper's face lovingly and says, "You must be mistaken. I'm alive." This is actually Annie responding to Cooper earlier, when he asked, "The face of the man who killed you?" Suddenly she turns into an angry and screaming Laura, who in turn turns into Windom. He turns to Cooper, and then Annie materializes. Windom holds her captive, in a sort of mental cage, and he shows her to Cooper just to prove that he has her. She's his bargaining chip. Windom laughs maniacally and says, "If you give me your soul, I'll let Annie live." Of course Cooper consents unflinchingly. Windom takes his soul, but everything bursts into flames with talk of Bob's arrival. The scene where Windom stabs Cooper is played backwards, suggesting that everything has been canceled. Bob gets a hold of him and begins torturing him. Bob says "Be quiet," which mutes Windom's screams. Bob then tells Cooper, "You go. He's wrong. He can't ask for your soul. I will take his." Bob then takes Windom's soul. Cooper slowly leaves the room. 8. However, at that moment his doppelganger appears from behind the red curtains to perform one last test on him. As Cooper walks down the hallway, he notices Leland's doppelganger who says "I didn't kill anyone" saying that he is just a pawn in Bob's murders. Cooper's doppelganger appears at the beginning of the hallway, causing the frightened and real Cooper to run away from him. This was his fatal mistake, for he should have come face to face with him. The evil Cooper catches up with him and the ordeal is over and as punishment he is locked in a lodge for 25 years while Bob takes possession of his evil doppelganger in the real world.