I don't see this discussed too often, but despite what Dale states to Bobby, the young man did seem to really love Laura Palmer.

I don't know too many boys who kiss a picture of their girlfriend when no one's around without truly loving them. Infact, the relationship between Bobby and Laura was potentially more fascinating in FWWM than the one between her and James. Bobby did seem to sense Laura's emotional pain the night before she died, and although it wasn't good for her, he did give her his own stash of cocaine.

I guess that depends what you consider "love". I think Bobby admired her. She was ahead of other girls her age (like Donna) and in their shared drug (ab)use, she was his partner in crime. But it's a different kind of love than the one Bobby felt for Shelly, which was more romantic.

I agree that Bobby probably understood Laura better (and quicker) than James ever did. Their final scene together in FWWM is very nice. It contains an interesting line, btw, where Laura says "I'm going home" in reply to Bobby asking where she's going.

As you mentioned in the thread on Judy, Forgiveness, the MFAP uses the same expression in the script when Cooper queries how he can leave the Red Room. I'm afraid that, in this context, going home means dying, so Cooper probably never made it out of the Red Room.

 I never see Shelley and Bobby lasting. Garland didn't mention her in the vision he had with Bobby. I think Bobby's feelings for Shelley are questionable at times. His love for Laura seemed more romantic as in kissing her picture.

I don't think that "home" in this sense meant dying. She seems aghast more at the possibilty of going back home to a father she now knew was BOB. She doesn't seem to indicate that she believes she is going to die that night. Furthermore, BOB would not kill her without the ring. There was more chance she was going home to possession than death. In this sense I believe that the MFAP's words to Dale indicate that he was going home to his possessed body, a fate he had tried to pass on to Laura.

Weellll..... I kind of see what you're saying. He didn't show a great deal of outward emotion about her death when he was first informed, but he WAS momentarily stunned before launching into his "cool" mode.

But I always thought that he had deeper feeling for her b/c of the stuff that was written in her diary about their relationship. They had a significant history together, and he knew a lot about her "other" side than the others did - Donna, Sarah, and even James.

I think he was jaded by the way she treated him by the time she died. Back when they were young teenagers, he professed his love to her and she laughed (even though she felt the same for him) to keep from showing weakness. He wanted the picture-perfect relationship with her, but after he found out what all she was truly like, knew that this would never be. But I think it was still his dream for a long time. And he didn't understand why she was the way she was b/c he didn't know about BOB and the molestation. Even at the end, in FWWM, it showed him kissing her picture, questioning her intently and aggressively about where she'd been b/c he was eaten up with jealousy - b/c he KNEW that she did have romantic feelings for someone else - like the ones he wanted her to have for him, and he couldn't stand that it wasn't him.  

As far as his reaction to her death, it was shocking to hear that she was actually DEAD, but not so shocking b/c she was involved in a lot of bad, dangerous stuff. He even said at her funeral that they all killed her b/c everyone knew in a sense that she was in trouble but no one did anything to help.

I guess I just think his feelings for her were deeper than what he showed at the surface.

It's hard to comment on it because of the nature of the show.  it was a mystery in which the actors and sometimes the directors themselves had no idea until they received their part of the script.  And every character had to be a suspect.  in the series, it does very little good to have Bobby consumed with Laura (say in the way that James was) because it has to be active, and Shelly is alive and an active part of the show.

The movie which came out two years later was decided to revolve around Laura, so it makes more sense for him to be semi-consumed with her because she's the active part of the plot.

If the show continued, I'm sure Bobby's story arc would always be connected to Shelly, and explore his love for her.