Episode 7 gives Gordon Cole the opportunity to explain the reversed use by Mr C of the word “VERY” to his team (which becomes “YREV” ) and to link this to his disturbing set of fingerprints, which should probably be linked to those of Douglas Milford in Mark Frost’s The Secret History of Twin Peaks, with lines in the shape of a spiral.

This reversal of the word gives me the opportunity to discuss a novel by John Uri Lloyd from the end of the 19th century (1895) entitled ETIDORHPA (or, the end of the earth: the strange history of a mysterious being and the account of a remarkable journey). This science-fiction novel is part of a sub-genre of hollow earth narratives that imagine another world in the center of the globe (more information on this subject in my former blog post here).

The book describes a subterranean trip (both physical and mental) of a man who has been abducted to a cave in Kentucky, where he discovers  a vast underground realm below the surface of the planet. With elements connected to Freemasonry, Etidorhpa is a book whose title when read backwards results in “Aphrodite”, the Greek name of the goddess “Venus” (of Red Room fame).

During his underground journey, the main protagonist of the story comes into contact with creatures from the hollow earth. A look at some of the illustrations below should convince anyone of the similarity between these “monsters” and the evil creature that briefly becomes trapped in the New York glass cube at the beginning of this new season of Twin Peaks.

Since Mark Frost regularly references ideas connected to the hollow earth in his latest book – from Lemuria to Richard Sharpe Shaver – it does not seem far-fetched to consider that Etidorhpa may have been a source of inspiration for the author and Lynch. Additionally, the idea of a “trip” linked to the process of individuation and to Freemasonry is also clearly ingrained in Twin Peaks, just as it was in this early science-fiction novel, reminiscent, among others, of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864).

Another interesting moment in episode 7 is linked to the picture of Dale’s doppelgänger in front of his Brazilian home, shown to Tamara Preston.

First, notice the obvious presence of palm trees behind him. As explained in my book Twin Peaks: Unwrapping the Plastic, Laura Palmer’s family name is directly connected to palm trees and their symbolism of eternal life. Interestingly enough, Tamara is a given name most commonly derived from the Biblical name “Tamar”, meaning date palm tree.

It’s clear that the picture also underlines the importance of reflection as linked to water (the house reflected in the pool). The house is located outside of Rio,  “river” in Spanish and Portuguese. The person who takes over the house as soon as the FBI shows an interest in Dale’s ownership hails from Ipanema, a place name that means “stinky lake” (in the Tupi language). No surprises there, since the house belonged to Mr C.

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