i was going to put this in the one-armed man thread, but far be it from me to break up the ribaldary going on there, so i figured id just start a new one. ive been having some health problems as of late, so in my immobile state, actually anytime im just sick, usually TP+FWWM comes to mind as a good approx. 34 hour diversion. on this viewing, with FWWM in mind(and the inconsistancies between the two), i was struck by the MIKE and BOB plot line, specifically the contradictions and fuzziness most of us see(MIKE seeing the face of God, the arm becoming LMFAP, the owl ring, teresa, etc.) also, and maybe most importantly, MIKE in the black lodge after laura's murder, eating her garmonbozia. i like the theory that the owl ring is something of a covet, in that teresa and laura both wore them and were "wedded" to MIKE and LFMAP. and it seems an accepted fact that by laura putting on the ring in the traincar, BOB could not inhabit her as he wanted, but had to kill her for the garmonbozia, specifically to pay back what he stole from killing teresa. so guess my point is this: ive always been on the fence about MIKE and whether he is benevolent or malignant, or both. but now im thinking that there is no fence. as black lodge spirits they need to collect garmonbozia. MIKE explicitly says that BOB was his familiar, so it would follow that BOB is always the killer, and that much of TP and FWWM is them settling the score about teresa's murder, which usurped MIKE's power. so that whoever wears the ring belongs to MIKE, but when BOB kills independently(maddy+jacques), he can have sole ownership of the garmonbozia. BOB is the harvester, able to do as he pleases, except when mike has made a claim with the owl ring. and by what leland says in the train car, "dont make me do this!", one could think that he kills for MIKE as well and has no choice when the ring is worn. which brings me to the conclusion that MIKE may indeed be a more powerful spirit than BOB and BOB does the dirty work no matter what. ok enough ramblings. its nice to be back and have a good laugh at some of the threads ive missed, so thank you to coolsprings, nefud, one suave folk, booth, 12, and even cooped for the outstanding humor, hell thank you to everyone who makes this the one of the finest boards around.
if you need me, i'll be in the shadows...

"Don't make me doody!"

hahaha you are positively obsesed with that scene. do you, like me, picture it being delivered by manuel from fawlty towers?

i basically agree with the first post. mike is clearly the most powerful black lodge character we've seen (as long as you include the arm as being part of him), and bob is a whipping boy. i'm even fairly certain he's the "black dog" referenced in the movie. he's a hunting dog, an animalistic vicious "pet" of mike. this kind of falls in line with the idea of of bob as a "familiar" as a magician's familiar is usually an animal in mythology.
 

"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

Seems like in 2 months with specific symptoms, the doctors would have your episodes figured out. All wishes for a complete recover to you JFK.

I vote Mike with the arm seems to have a higher status v. Bob. (He)They demand their garmonbozia from Bob and he obeys=last part of FWWM.     

 one would think so. it would help if there was proper communication between the multiple doctors im seeing. and no, this is a bit more violent than fainting.
anyways
thank you for the well wishes.

"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

"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

Good post OP...and one I generally agree with.

Although, I would add that it seems that the Chalfont child with the mask actually seems to give out the order for Bob to go and kill...no doubt for the gathering of 'bozia...it is he during the 'convenience store' scene (FWWM) that says to Bob  'Fell a victim'....(finger pointing) surely a reference to go out and kill, followed by MFAP saying 'with this ring, i thee wed'...reference to the next victim (Teresa?) and their association with Bob/Leland and giving them 'the ring'...which we saw worn by Teresa.

So maybe the child is the ultimate magician...in all this weird heirarchy...'the magician longs to see' (as quoted by Mike) he wears the mask with no eye holes!  The child also clicks his fingers during the 'chalfont painting' scene and the 'redroom' appears...I don't see anyone else being able to do that.

Just a theory of course.