I think that the Tremonds were a unique case of beings meant by virtue of their existance to be pure evil not wanting to be evil. I believe that this is the significance behind Mrs. Tremond's refusal to consume Garmonbozia: Guilt, over the fact that she must survive by consuming the suffering of other, living beings. It has been a theory of mine for a while that the physical state of the Lodge beings represents their vitality: MFAP, starved of his Garmonbozia, has regressed to a miniature state; Mrs. Tremond, intentionally depriving herself, is deteriorating; Pierre, perhaps a "lesser" spirit, has not been consuming much to begin with, and so hasn't grown; and Bob, with his rampant consumption, is the most physically adept and agile of the Black Lodge spirits, rampaging through TP in his bestial state.

If the White Lodge spirits survive on love, as the Black Lodge spirits survive on fear, I would presume then that, despite being usurped by the Black Lodge, they are in far better shape-- there is a much greater abundance of love than fear in the town of Twin Peaks. Thus, the towering, colossal presence of the Giant, grown massive and dominating through his consumption of love and happiness.

Back to the Tremonds.

I believe that it is the picture that the Tremonds give to Laura which finally allows her to see Bob as her father. A painting of a door, it is, metaphorically and literally, a door of perception. Only after taking possession of the painting does Laura see her father emerge from the house instead of Bob, and she has it with her during her freak-out in the bushes. Later, upon placing it on her wall, she has her extended dream sequence which further leads her towards death as opposed to possession by Bob-- in Laura's mind, and the mythos of Twin Peaks, a far better fate.

The Tremonds, then, are helping Laura-- both to see Bob for who he is, and to avoid possession by him. Whether they did this on their own out of a sense of guilt for how they live, or were manipulated/used by Mike/MFAP, is another topic of discussion.

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

i do think so. also, to lead donna to harold. and we all know what happened with that. maybe that donna would do what she exactly did, fixate on the diary, the most incriminating evidence of BOB/Leland's relationship with laura. then try to take the diary from harold(which she tries to do) at which point the possiblity for retrieval from donna of the evidence. by whom? i dont even want to get into that on a friday night.

Not sure if anyone has offered this... but I wonder if Pierre is maybe MFAP's protege? In the meeting scene of FWWM, maybe the single bowl of creamed corn near his foot is meant only for Pierre -- not the other attendants, an offering from MFAP to his trainee? (Perhaps the other Black Lodge attendants get their sustenance from MFAP and BOB is a parental way, or they don't need the corn because they haven't been touched by the evil like Mike and BOB, but entered the Black Lodge through rifts and such?) This would make sense in relation to the scene in Twin Peaks where he "disappears" the corn; his grandmother can't eat the corn but he is allowed to. She also mentions that he's "studying magic", or, in other words, he's in training.

 Also, Pierre dresses in suits like MFAP (and the jumping man, who he also seems to connect with and who also may have been allowed to have eaten corn from the over-turned bucket in the scene...) and acts in a flamboyant way (dancing, jumping) as MFAP tends to (as well as the jumping man..)   And in regards to the Tremonts being good or evil, it seems to me that they are evil in the way that MFAP is... more manipulative than BOB is (who represents a more animalistic evil), since they seems sorta of "nice," but are usually leading people to death or sadness.

 Any thoughts from veteran Twin Peakers? (I'm new to the show -- was a little young for it when it aired -- but avid DL fan. Since I finally came around to the series, have watched the seasons a few times over, and just today saw FWWM for the first time, referencing Black Lodge Encyclopedia as I went along, which was great fun!)

 The Queen of Beans

"Is this real... or some strange and twisted dream?" - Jerry Horne