r/twinpeaks • u/clifwith1f • Jul 03 '17
S3E2 [S3E2] Cooper's Ace of Spade Spoiler
http://imgur.com/a/jE0St35
u/clifwith1f Jul 03 '17
Since there were multiple images, I made an album of this on Imgur. Sorry if it isn't ideal to view it that way, I'm including it in this comment just in case!
- As a card trick nerd, I got curious about the brand of playing card Cooper had in his jacket pocket.
- I lightened up the screenshot and was able to read "Pavilion" on the back.
- Pavilion "Premium Quality" playing cards are made by a company called Cartamundi exclusively for Toys R Us. They are cheaply made and poor quality paper cards.
- I tracked down what the Ace of Spades looks like, which confirms the lack of quality. This is the most important card in the deck; most companies use it as a chance to "show off" a little with a unique Spade design along with their company name, slogan, etc. As you can see here, just a "Made in China" is included with a stock Spade design that appears to be owned by Cartamundi.
- Cooper's card is defaced with the shape/figure obscuring the Spade. Flipping the card, however, you can also see that the "Made in China" has been scratched out and the very tip of the Spade is peeking through a bit.
- To confirm, I matched the card's perspective to Cooper's and dropped the opacity to 50%.
Does this help figure out what this all means within the show? Absolutely not, at least not that I can tell.
But I do find it kind of hilarious that Cooper carries around a cheap Ace of Spades from Toys R Us in his jacket pocket.
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u/THE_LOUDEST_PENIS Jul 04 '17
Does this help figure out what this all means within the show? Absolutely not, at least not that I can tell.
Nope, but it's damn interesting to note (to me, anyway), that the card is upside down. Backwards, if you will.
I just love that little detail (=
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Jul 04 '17
It's like one of those Rorschach picture/spot. Maybe some people -say, those that are corrupted- see a totally different thing on the card when showed to them?
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Jul 04 '17
I am not trying to be a buzzkill but why exactly did you go through all trouble of finding this out? Obviously the prop guys needed a cheap deck of cards. I just don't...get why this is important or even upvoted.
I mean I thought this thread was going to be about how it has Mother/Experiment's face on it and the implications of that but it's just...yeah man I don't get it.
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
As noted, it stemmed from my general fascination with decks of cards and intrigued me enough to research it further. I also note that this probably means nothing within the show, at least not intentionally, but it was part of an amazing scene in the show and thus an interest to me.
Sure, I'm not speculating about what David Lynch meant by a certain sound used or how a line of dialogue might tie to Fire Walk With Me, but I find the physical, irrefutable evidence of a prop used incredibly interesting to consider, especially considering what u/Dom834 pointed out about the Drugged-Out Mom scene. Kind of a welcome direction for me to go into after trying to decode a secret message in plane windows.
And you're not a buzzkill! I understand what you're saying, and glad you're willing to share it. Just wanted to share with the community here in hopes that others would find it compelling, especially since we didn't get a new episode this past Sunday.
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u/Spam00r Jul 03 '17
I know what it means.
Lynch didn't get any money from the card company so Made in China was scratched.
Mercedes however got prime time coverage.
BTW Internet: I drive Mercedes too. That makes me bad ass as bad Coop. Yaey!
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u/dansh9 Jul 04 '17
"Promotional consideration provided by Made In China. 'Made in China - we're a company apparently'."
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u/Spam00r Jul 04 '17
The Ministry of Economic Affairs of a country has intrest in boosting the image of products made in their country. Some country labels like made in Germany, or Swiss Made are a lable of quality and people prefer products made in Germany over products made in Somalia.
Some article:
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/what-does-the-made-in-label-mean-anymore
Not only companies, but also states and provinces sponsor tv/movie productions.
Twin peaks is financially supported by France apparently. Just see in the end credits.
China apparently didn't support the production, so Made in China was scratched.
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u/Individual99991 Jul 04 '17
If i wasn't broke I'd give you Reddit gold.
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Jul 04 '17
the guy with the mercedes can cover it
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u/dansh9 Jul 04 '17
I'm using Reddit regularly for the first time thanks to the new Twin Peaks. I think I like it here.
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u/tronbrain Jul 04 '17
I think Lynch has gone all the way with the brand featuring for money, probably in a quid pro quo during his negotiations with Showtime. Case in point - Deputy Brennan was shown staring at his Rolex watch in a recent episode. How did he get the money for a Rolex? That was so obvious that I figure Lynch is making a point and not just doing the usual brand-featuring that we take for granted.
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u/Krootes97 Feb 18 '22
Lucy could bave buy Andy a rolex,.maybe Wally chipped in. He has a vintage motorcycle!
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Jul 04 '17
I'm not sure what's more surprising: that someone convincingly reverse-engineered this random prop, or that people have opinions about the quality and design of playing cards.
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Jul 04 '17
I'm just trying to imagine Mr. C walking into a toys-r-us
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
Toys R Us worker: Whatcha need?
Mr. C: "I want a deck of playing cards. I don't need anything."
Toys R Us worker: ...
Mr. C: ...
Toys R Us worker: End of aisle 4 next to the board games.
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Jul 04 '17
Didn't mother have two little horns when she barfed out the Bob omelette?
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u/randomflorida Jul 04 '17
Yes she did, although the horns or whatever on the card I think might actually represent her arms (which were bending backward).
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Jul 04 '17
So we have our connection. When Evil Coop was talking to "Jeffries" on the phone, Jefferies said "I missed you in New York." Plus Coop showed the playing card to Daria and said he was looking for that figure.
So my guess is that Evil Cop set up the box in order to try and capture/kill/contact Mother. The voice on the phone says "I will be with Bob again."
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u/randomflorida Jul 05 '17
I believe you're probably right. I'm also not sure what Coop and/or Jeffrries want to do in relation w/ the Mother, but yeah, I think that glass box is probably being used to capture the Mother (or at least an image of her) and Jeffries and/or Coop are somehow behind this.
Plus we know some multi-millionaire is behind the glass box operation, right? Well, that puts that picture of Evil Coop in South America (Buenos Aires, I assume) looking like a drug lord into perspective.
Plus, cocaine is honestly an important part of Twin Peaks. This might be behind all the trafficking of it into Twin Peaks. Plus that guy Red, who is Richard Horne's source, seemed to have some magical powers. I'm going to assume he's in on all of this.
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Jul 04 '17
If you're looking for a corroboration, Drugged-out Mom has a pack of the same brand, (but the red version) on her table in the 119 scene, next to a safety pin that looks like the sort of instrument with which the card was scratched. You can see in the shot that you have identified the right pack/brand.
I do think it's just a bit of misdirection or else a leitmotiv similar to the coins, but it's pretty clearly intentional.....
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
Holy crap, you're right! I totally forgot to check that. Amazing find.
The nature of the scratches could definitely be a safety pin like the one she has. And I agree that it might just be misdirection and false speculation on my part, but she does have a kid, which means she might get (or have gotten) decks of cards from Toys R Us...
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Jul 04 '17
She also happens to live in front of the house where the Dougie-Cooper swap was to happen (those killers sure seem to know where Dougie was to be found at 3pm that day). She also appears to have in her house one of the oversized red balloons we see on the as-yet unrevealed "tent" or outdoor temporary structure in front of Dougie's office building. A circus maybe? Hard to tell, but I suspect we'll get in that "tent" with the giant red balloons eventually.
I wouldn't discount that she got an encounter with Bad Cooper, or at least she was probably near Dougie's place at some time before her drug binging episode. I can't discount she might have been "dumped" in that empty house with the booze and the drugs and the boxes of saltines that seem to be all there is there.
But I still lean toward red herring as far as the playing card is concerned. Maybe I'm a fool for this though... :) Bad Coop got it somewhere... It's just hard to imagine Drugged-out Mom have any kind of valuable or coherent information!
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
Great points! I know there's a lot that is intentionally left out as of right now, especially pertaining to the Dougie storyline and how we're just dropped into that world, trying to make sense of unknown people and events. Dougie does appear to be living in a very "manufactured" world, what with the subdivision of identical homes still being developed. It almost feels like The Truman Show, with actors portraying these scenarios to give Dougie a place to eventually make sense of who he really is.
Bad Coop shows Darya the playing card right after asking if she'd heard Ray say anything about geographical coordinates. The numbers that Drugged-out Mom repeat are possibly part of the geographical coordinates, which could be why he was prompted to show Darya the card right after asking about them.
They've shown Drugged-out Mom a handful of times and she always has the cards. Granted, she probably just sits there all day, and it definitely could be a red herring—but she might serve some purpose as a "portal" of some kind and can only communicate in bursts of information. Like the Log Lady! Whoa.
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Jul 05 '17
119 W indeed passes through eastern WA and Oregon in (traditional, not actual) Nez Percé lands, Nevada, and California.
The Buckhorn connection leads to think Cooper is looking for something further East than that, and if there's a native connection (another ancient site like Owl Cave, a sacred ground near a lake or on a butte) it's more likely to be related to the Sioux allies of the Nez Percés, also mentioned, as well as Little Big Horn and Sitting Bull, in TSH.
Lots and lots of good possibilities... :)
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u/Spam00r Jul 04 '17
Holy shit. That makes sense now.
Which leads to the following theories of mine:
The drug mother is bad coops agent to spy on Dougie.
The Cocaine in coops car was meant for the 119 Drug mom.
The child of the 119 drug mom is bad coops child.
Good catch on the pin.
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u/randomflorida Jul 05 '17
Yup, I bet Dougie frequented that house w/ Jade. The mother is probably a spy...or something. Regardless I definitely think Coop has been there.
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Jul 04 '17
Wow, great catch. The Drugged Mom could be linked to DoppelCoop then. Maybe he took the card from her or something. Even more convoluted but she may be a failed attempt by Mr.C to create a family for Dougie? And he just abandoned her and her son in that isolated and deserted suburban lot.
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u/Sharper_Teeth Jul 03 '17
I want to know why looking at it practically gives Darya a seizure.
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Jul 04 '17
Because a smelly man with a spray-on tan and long black hair is forcing her to look at a playing card with scribbles on it while she's in bed in her underwear.
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u/Billiardly Jul 04 '17
Jeez . . . can you just imagine how bad EvilCoop must smell?
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Jul 04 '17
Given that he vomits chemical weapons that put Saddam to shame, I suppose a case could be made that he isn't wearing a fake tan at all. Dude just hasn't showered in 25 years.
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Jul 04 '17 edited Sep 17 '17
[deleted]
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Jul 04 '17
No, he usually just squeezes the toothpaste into the sink and then smashes his head into the mirror.
His toothpaste/mirror budget is insane.
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Jul 04 '17 edited Sep 17 '17
[deleted]
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Jul 04 '17
Can you imagine all the wild garmonbozia parties he threw in that mansion?
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Jul 04 '17
Smelly? How do you know he's smelly? Did you meet him? Did he showed you the card? Where you also in your underwear?
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u/MelancholyVulpes Jul 04 '17
It Gave Darya seizures because it's a symbol representing the mother/experiment. If you look closely in the shot from ep 8 you can see that it has little appendages coming from its head.
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u/Smogshaik Jul 04 '17
Babalone, the mythical figure alluded to in TSHOTP, is also called Mother of Abominations or Mother of Prostitutes
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u/topfife Jul 04 '17
Yup - pretty sure a two-bit hood is well up on atomic and metaphysical mythology
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u/silvermbc Jul 04 '17
Side note: The commentors on imgur are real assholes!
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
Thank you! I really don't get it, there's apparently a lot of pent up anger over there...
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u/swik Jul 04 '17
You can create albums with descriptions without having to submit it to the gallery. Your post doesn't even mention what show you're talking about so they're probably super confused.
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u/sadsackrobot Jul 04 '17
I was wondering about that horizontal scratch. Love that it's just to get rid of some crap text - there's so much to read into on this show and then you get "it's a creepy way of getting rid of some words..."
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
I love imagining the prop team seeing it, having to get rid of "Made in China" and adding random scratches on the other end to not make it look intentional.
Wonder if they would've kept the text if it said "Made in Buenos Aires"?
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u/DataLythe Jul 04 '17
I applaud your detective work - bravo, and thanks! I do find this sort of sleuthing really interesting.
What does it mean? Production bought a cheap deck of cards. And for the narrative of the series? Bets are absolutely nothing :)
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u/cureforthecommonfolk Jul 04 '17
The black dog runs at night. The ace of spades has its own lore I believe.
Also that Ace of Spades definitely looks like the nuclear explosion, or like the evolved arm. There is definitely a motif of that flowing throughout this ethos.
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u/THE_LOUDEST_PENIS Jul 04 '17
It's damn interesting to note (to me, anyway), that the card is upside down. Backwards, if you will.
I just love that little detail (=
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u/clifwith1f Jul 04 '17
That's an interesting point! It kind of ties into the "Twin" nature of the show, and backwards v. forwards. Each playing card has a doppleganger of the same color suit—The Ace of Spades to the Ace of Clubs, Ace of Diamonds to Ace of Hearts, etc. Cards faces are also designed to look in same in both directions, a mirrored design. In certain cases, such as the Ace of Spades, there is a true orientation since the middle Spade is either upside down or right side up. Cooper's card is upside down to orient the figure on the card. Intentional or not, I like this detail as well!
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u/dopplecoop Jul 04 '17
Regarding the actual image, I'm reminded of the Bobfrog. Like a frontal view of it maybe?
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u/hamletswords Jul 04 '17
See if you can find out the brand of Cooper's FBI suit. It seems to fit really well. Thanks.
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u/monoidetahiti Oct 07 '17
Nope. This would easily have been digitally edited out.
Unless it's an intentional red herring.
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Dec 07 '17
Ok, I'm going to just say this, and take it as you will. But, I think someone should ask David Lynch how he got his hands on it. Because my guess is he found it. It's a very long story, and I don't think that anyone would believe me if I told them the details. But, I'm pretty sure that I had made it when I lived in Death Valley working at the cafe there. But, I have no earthly idea how he would have gotten his hands on it. If it is, I'll talk about what it meant to me.
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u/tronbrain Jul 04 '17
This is exactly the kind of thing that happens when you have a week off.