The talk about David Lynch's relationship with his fans and the Black Lodge encyclopedia entries, coupled with a reading of the Deer Meadow sequence of the FWWM script, have given me a new idea: Sam Stanley is David Lynch's "service" to the fans of the show, a summation of what he sees as their collective, dominant traits placed into a character that gets to go along for the ride.

Stanley is presented as intelligent yet benign, mostly standing by while Chet Desmond does all the legwork and offering occasional statements. He's in constant awe of the seasoned Desmond, alternating between the personality of partner and little kid who just got to meet Mickey Mantel. Unlike Desmond, Cooper, Albert, and Cole, who all consistently appear well groomed and maintained, Desmond is just this side of disheveled, and dresses like someone's idea of an FBI agent-- an immitation.

I believe that, quite possibly, Stanley is meant to be the fans of the series, a simultaneous glimpse into what David Lynch thinks of them, and a "Thank you" to them by letting them vicariously get in on the action. Desmond then is Lynch, or at least, the world of TP itself-- a strict father figure to Stanley who keeps him out of the really big secrets but decides to concede some random bits of knowledge, and who ultimately demonstrates respect and gratitude to him. What really made me think of this is Desmond's line in the FWWM script, "You have a good eye for detail." It seems like a compliment from Lynch to all of the show's fans, letting them know how impressed he is with all of their observations and analysis.

Something like "send this to Albert and his team, don't go to Sam... Albert seems to have a little more on the ball."

It's a neat idea, and the first thing it made me think of was his "$27,000" conversation with Chet.

And hey, I just realized there are two Chets, both once-removed from the core storyline!

The biggest problem for me is that he's supposed to be a fan's version of an FBI agent. Since every agent on the show had worn the exact same black suit, I don't really get why a casual fan would believe an agent to wear a bow tie.

Otherwise, this belongs in the fun speculation pile for me. Good post.

"What credit card do you want to put that on?"
"Caash, prease."

I reckon that's not too far-fetched, hehe. It pretty much ties in with my comment on Stanley's cut line about the lamp at Hap's. But there were more (note also that Fat Trout trailer park was called Canyon Trailer park in the script):

Stanley: "What did Gordon's tie mean?"
Desmond: "What? That's just Gordon's bad taste"

Desmond: "I think we should see the sun rise at the Canyon Trailer park."
Stanley: "Are you speaking to me in code?"
Desmond: "No, Sam, I'm speaking plainly and I mean just exactly what I say."

Stanley: "One thing that has been troubling me. That lamp at the diner.  Do you think they were working on it for esthetic reasons or was their work due to faulty wiring?"
Desmond: "Faulty wiring."

Add also his habit of repeating or restating everything Desmond says ("He does talk loud", "Yes, he is like a clown"), and a pedantic tendency to nitpick ("Nicotine's a drug. Caffeine's a drug"). So yeah, it seems Stanley was Lynch's way of parodying the people who over-analyze his work, while still admiring some of the theories they come up with. I guess in a way, I should feel offended, because Sam's problems are pretty much the essence of some of the controversies we are a still discussing to this day :)

I came to the same conclusion as Sourdust.

It feels more like he is mocking overanalytical fans (which includes just about every one of us). It could be Lynch creating a fun way of bringing the fans into the story in a sense, but I can't tell if he is laughing at us or with us, with Sam questioning details that are unnecessary and him being wound so tight with the coffee prank by Desmond and all.  Lynch may be telling us to relax, not everything means something in a literal or symbolic way, yet that conflicts with the way he paints his films as a collective whole.

I come off of this more on the offended side than a gee thanks Lynch!  Hopefully I'm wrong!

"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

Sam and Desmond part on an amicable note, though, with Desmond telling Sam that he is impressed with him. That seems pretty congratulatory from Lynch.

I think that it's definitely possible to become _too_ in depth in analyzing something, and these are the people Lynch is giving some light prodding with Sam's lamp fascination. Case in point: A few years ago there was a faction of fans on another message board who insisted that the robin from the end of Blue Velvet was meant to indicate that Frank and corrupted Jeffrey, that the fact it looked phony was meant to be picked up on by viewers, who would link phony robin = phony victory. When it was pointed out to them that Lynch simply couldn't get a real robin to work and that the fake one was a last minute substitute, they balked and insisted that if it looked fake, it looked fake because Lynch _wanted it_ to look fake.

ETA: Essentially, if you're doing what tends to be done on these boards in terms of analyzing Lynch's work, he's telling you, "Good job." If you think that everything down to the color of Dennis Hopper's shoes is a hidden code, he's telling you, "Take it down a few notches." In either case, I think that Sam is more of a reward to his fans than a jab at them.