Just kidding With the tittle.

Well now, the only  gripe i have with the series is that it has been written by two different inviduals, that seem to have a whole different vision with the show, but that also gives it more variety. The more concrete way to understand this series would be taking Bob,  and the other "spirits" as actual spirits that work on different dimensions and possess poor inviduals for theyr goals, and such still somehow connected to our world.

Myself i dislike such ideas, and as seen Mulholland Drive by Davids Lynch i imagine other interpretion to be as plausible, even if some of Mark Frosts soul disagrees. Well first of all, i warn that this will be very hard to explain and i more than ask, i demand questions as im sure to do mistakes with this for these fragments of ideas that i have in my mind are seperately, but still as together making the overview and it will be hard to connect all the points which i will be trying now.

LYNCHIANITY 

Alright, first of all i will concentrate on Cooper, then i will touch the spirits a little and for end im gonna try inflict my idea, which im not sure if will manage to do that one. Now  Cooper and his dreams and that infamous techinuque. Well to set up how i interpret it, i will have to first explain how i interpret Lynch's surreal scenes ( LYNCHIANITY) Now we all remember when Bob and his friend are in the jail , and they start grr'ing at James, this as easy example, doesnt seem plausible or aunthentic, the thing is to try to understand it metaphoracly which it can be seen as emotion brough to the screen in concrete way. So as James and his friend are feeling pure animalistic rage, Lynch brings this to us by having them concretly behaving in that animalistic way.
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Now Coopers rock throwing at bottles, can be interpreted as his thought process when he thinks when going  the basic information he has on the most likely suspects and which he personally our smart agent finds the most suspectfull. Coopers dream, should be seen as simply his subconcious working through the case, (which Frost disagrees with.) The series style only transforms these things to this absurd form how they are, Lynch perversion to midgets and all such other things that make the show stand from the rest of tv. Those only reflect Lynche's personality, or basicly they can be seen as brain functions and such things that go over human understanding.

Bob should be seen as the concretion of human evilness, or just darker human side which wants to dominate, opress others and seek for own pleasure, which is highly connected on the opressign aswell. Antisosial nature, so Leland was as a child molested and harmed in many ways, by such persons, which is how he became aswell, the evil side that exists in everyone of us had become dominating, what the investigators want to understand by somewhat deciding to believe into spirits possessing people, its hard to grasp human  father cabable and desiring such things, its easy to blame some satanic creature or some other mystical supernatural creature, when its actually Leland commiting such acts in full concious.

The red room, in the room, can be seen as represention of Coopers mind, where these different parts of humanity exists, and in the end the evil in Agent takes the dominative position, the polite emphatic Cooper is lost somewhere, its the vengefull, hating, lustfull Cooper in charge now.

I hope you can understand some of this incoherent message and ask questions.

My question is simple: who/what is Mike? Now I elaborate...

BOB as "the evil that men do" and not an independent entity is a very popular theory, of course, some even claim that it is said in the show that BOB is that, when in fact it's only suggested by a character... I disagree completely with that view of BOB, simply put because I don't care that the series had 2 minds behind it, I don't give credit to one or the other, but both; and because I consider everything I see and it's said in the show and film and not what they were planning and didn't do... BOB is clearly described and seen as an entity, not a symbol of anything, a spirit that requires a human host and feeds on pain and pleasure... It isn't a product of Laura's or Leland's imagination (because other characters see him) and I don't see evidence that he's a symbol or a metaphor, the "evil that men do"...

But I'm not saying here it isn't a valid interpretation, it's just not my own... But then I go back to my question to you and everyone that thinks BOB is not just a spirit: where does Mike fit in all that? The evil that turns into good because he has changed? Does that mean that there were two "evils that men do" once? That's where IMO that theory falls apart completely... There were many supernatural elements in TP, but only BOB is considered as a symbol for something, discarding everyone and everything Lodge related... I repeat, I don't care what Lynch or Frost *thought* BOB was, I judge what we're told, all the evidence... I even go further, because there are clues that suggest that Mike was superior to BOB, he even said to Laura that he was afraid of Mike... So, how can someone/something be superior to evil? How can the evil that men do be afraid?

But to your question, i actually do have an interpretion to your question. Mike can be seen on a different dimension as a man, who had lost his innerself to the evilside of himself that masturbates with these evil deeds, which is concetly showed by his loss of arm. Give the devil your finger, it takes the whole hand. Ultimatelu it is the invidual that can control his darker urges, but for some they are either too weak and maybe the circumstances have contributed to that, but ultimately i could see Mike as metaphor for an invidual that had lost control, but regained. Person is the one mastering himself, and Bob is the evil dog that can go loose, on the person.

Hope this clears it up.

I guess I can see how Mike may have had to cut out the evil part of himself to save himself. Note that it's his left arm also, which was considered to be sinister, in the past.  I don't think that that has anything to do with masturbation though. C'mon, that's never hinted at once, unless I missed it.

Anyway, I don't see the 'BOB as "the evil that men do"' theory falling apart just because of other Lodge spirits. Surely, the beauty of TP is you can interpret it either way. Fair enough, one interpretation may mean you have to disregard other Lodge spirits but that doesn't mean it's wrong. The Lodge spirits give the show a complex mythology that you may or may not want to delve into. Maybe that's having your cake and eating it, but at times I'm interested in the mythology, and at other times I think TP is much more powerful if you view Leland acting possessed only by his own flaws, insanity or simply evil. Though I think to view Leland as simply evil doesn't really hold up because at times he does seem genuinely loving, but him being schizophrenic would be a stronger interpretation.

By masturbation i didnt mean actual masturbation, but i tried to portray an image of of one getting his pleasure by doing those deeds, only acting in his self interest. Im ok too with interpreting the lodge spirits as actual beings, myself i just happen to try getting beyond that, even if im not absolutely sure if it makes total sense and im not sure if it should as i believe one could take Twin Peaks as work of art, and instead of understanding, just experiencing and feeling the powerfull experience that lies within it.

I like to think Bob being the manifestation of pure evil. When Leland was shown as Bob, it presented the evil side of him, he was still human with some good qualities, but Bob presented the evil part of him, one can, but doenst have to interpret it as seperate being.  Though i dont really see a disagreement here, and we all seem to agree that the possibility of many interpretions are one of the great parts in the series-

to me, it never really bothered me to ponder.  The series wasn't developed around BOB, it was developed around Laura's body being found and a means to pull you into a soap opera subverted in a small town.  BOB was discovered through the filming process, and I don't think the principles were defined but more what would help each new plot arc.

Duality and flip sides of a character's persona does seem very prominant though right off the bat- and to me, it cheapens the story as a copout just to have a spirit responsible.

could be these spirits -or entities from a planet of creamed corn- are entities that feed on feelings and passions- and just magnify the grabblings of humans; a plot device to delve into what ticks the human nature and pysche.

Hopefully, if the series has continued no definition would have ever come about about Mike. Bob, the red room.

I think your trying to look too deep into something that is simple.

Bob is a demon that causes people to act horribly. He moves from host to host through violent means often corrupting the person before possesing them.

Mike is the same as Bob but has turned good.

There really is nothing else to discuss.

The only mysteries really are the significance(if any)of Judy and the ring from FWWM.

Other unexplained things are Harold and his aversion to the outdoors. People say it's Bob and his fear of Bob but he does'nt believe Bob exists.

Great post, Hitch-cock. And I fully agree, things are simple but people want them to be difficult. Of course to call man´s conscience demons is filled with Hollywood-sacharine... but who cares, everyone´s entitled and blah blah. Judy was a nobody from China. Harold was a sick, nice guy.

However I have a question for ya, about J. a smart, nice guy, and in spring, the weather was cold and cool and the owls were howling, this guy named J. entered Palmer´s House. What happened? When he walked out of the house he became this evil chick-molestor .... again, what the hell happened? I hope everything will be alright for e v e r y o n e in the end.

Of course to say that Mike was good is plain wrong, more correct is to label what he represents as filth and human greed. No Santa Clau, by any standards. He could have saved Laura, if he hadn´t been acting like a fucking frodo on speed.  So Mike could have been scared, not likely but possible, he knew this female fatale deluxe - Lauras Doppelganger  - could have crushed his soul.

Let´s tip their power balance, tear down their crown,

Educate the masses, let´s burn the white Lodge Down!

Are you trying to say that demons exist in our world?

And thats the explanation ,it seems the sort of thing a madman would say that demons made me do it.

Sweet; I looove being labeled as mental but I don´t know about the other rookies so chill the fuck out!

Hanipuelli is pretty cool and this Hitpack, I mean his David Lynch Cliches-thread was beyond eh, it was brilliant.

"... I wanna punch the dwarf like a little fotball."

"... I don´t want to be rude but I don´t like midgets (David Lynch)."

"... I can´t say if he (David Lynch) has down syndrome..."

You can´t find anything remotely as funny on any board in the entire U.S.A. So I guess we know who will be the rookie of the year.

Let´s tip their power balance, tear down their crown,

Educate the masses, let´s burn the white Lodge Down!

 I take it you are not a fan of dadaism? Or Lynch himself. Hmm, is this board about Twin Peaks or is it Star Trek? My own three-word manifesto: taste systematically stifles creativity.

Another Hitpack-sentence: I was watching I am Sam the other day and looked bizarelly like a movie Lynch could have made. Re-read it again and realize the depth.

Gordon was making a song about Hitpack, not too bad, but too tasty for me, and therefore somewhat underwhelming. Especially compared to Hitpack brilliant answer: oh bth that song you made isn´t original. 

 I am certainly a fan of Lynch. But I like to think you have to decode Lynch's work because it is complex and symbolic not because he can't string two sentences together. (But I have since seen INLAND EMPIRE).

 I hope your 'three word' manifesto of "taste systematically stifles creativity" was ironic. Regardless, you are convincing me Robert. I think I should embrace the perplexity of Hitpack and co.'s contributions.

 *takes out dead chicken and throws it to the ground*

There! I have now taken over this thread. What are you going to do about THAT?*

*A shiny penny for the person who can name what I just referenced.

I like your posts you sound like a 40 year old guy whose balls get angry when he reads my posts.

Im new and sane :-)

No evidence of mental illness here guys, I get checked out every month since leaving the institution and they say im fine, as long as I stay away from the gerbils. 

Today´s Health Care is yester day´s Donald Duck..

Let´s tip their power balance, tear down their crown,

Educate the masses, let´s burn the white Lodge Down!