Was Leland a Victim or a Monster?
This mystery has been haunting me for a while when it comes to the character of Leland in Twin Peaks. He is the father of Laura Palmer, and in the beginning of the show, the audience feels so sorry for him, because his grieve over losing his daughter breaks him. Leland goes through a cycle of sadness, and everyone witnesses his grieving throughout the first season.
Then in season 2, we get a completely different Leland. His hair is now white, which surprises his family members, such his wife, and his niece, who came over to offer moral support to her aunt and uncle over losing their daughter. Leland appears to be finally moving on from his heavy loss, and despite how odd his happiness is, everyone around him just goes along with it, believing that Leland is going to be alright. Even his wife appears to be healing from her loss, and we get quite a bit of heartfelt scenes between the two of them, hinting that the couple is going to be alright.
Leland's niece, Madeline, eventually decides that she can go back home to New York. She makes this decision after some time, and she says a heartfelt goodbye to her family members.
Unfortunately, this turns out to be a huge mistake for Madeline, but she never knew the dark truth.
After Madeline tells her family about her decision to leave Twin Peaks, we get a crazy reveal with Leland's character. He is revealed to have been possessed by an evil entity from the Black Lodge, and he murders Madeline in his home, as his wife, Sarah, is passed out on the floor.
It's a brutal reveal, and it's heartbreaking to witness Madeline get murdered by Leland, not knowing that he was actually possessed.
However, there is another creepy reveal with Leland's character in the prequel film of Twin Peaks.
Laura Palmer did learn that her father had been possessed by an evil entity, and Leland even murdered his own daughter, torturing her before her death.
Then we get a terrifying moment of Leland telling Laura before her death:
"I always thought you knew it was me."
Fans believe that Leland was fully aware of the possession, but this line could insinuate that he allowed the possession to happen, because a part of him did like this evil inside of him. Which means...there was a part of him that knew what was being done to Laura was wrong, but deep down, he liked having this power over his own daughter. It's even more disturbing when Laura does learn this awful truth before her death, and the fear and anger in her eyes as she tells her father to stay away from her was heartbreaking.
Personally, I really hope this theory is false.
It's just so messed up to think about.
The thought of Leland being aware does make sense, because he did confirm to Cooper before his death, that he was aware of being possessed by this entity. Cooper tells him that it wasn't his fault, because he had no control over what he was doing to Laura. This scene in season 2 was so sad to watch, because I think Cooper was one of the few people who truly understood what was going on, while other characters believed that Leland was a total monster.
It's hard to figure out if Leland is a monster or not, but this is always going to remain a mystery. I wouldn't doubt this was written in a way for the fans to interpret on their own, but either way, the fate of Leland and Laura is absolutely gut wrenching.
It's even worse when you learn that Sarah Palmer lost everyone in her life, and how she remained so strong in the old seasons after losing her whole family was beyond me.
Comments
Post a Comment