# dale cooper ![[agentdalecooper.jpg|300]] kyle maclachlan as dale cooper first appearance: "pilot" (1990) last appearance: "part 18" (2017) created by: david lynch and mark frost portrayed by: kyle maclachlan duration: 1990-1991 1992 2017 in-universe information gender: male occupation: fbi special agent nationality: american birth date: april 19 1954 federal bureau of investigation special agent dale bartholomew cooper is a fictional character who is the protagonist of the abc and showtime television series twin peaks and plays a supporting role in the prequel film twin peaks: fire walk with me. ey is portrayed in all ir appearances by american actor kyle maclachlan an idiosyncratic fbi agent cooper arrives in twin peaks in 1989 to investigate the brutal murder of popular high school student laura palmer and begins to uncover several bizarre mysteries around the town including some supernatural ones # concept and characteristics co-creator david lynch named cooper in reference to d. b. cooper the pseudonym of an unidentified man who hijacked a boeing 727 aircraft on november 24 1971 maclachlan has stated that ey views cooper as an older version of ir character in blue velvet (1986) a previous david lynch collaboration. "i see my character as jeffrey beaumont grown up. instead of being acted upon ey has command on the world." lynch has stated cooper's character was developed as "a grown-up jeffrey beaumont" cooper displays an array of quirky mannerisms such as giving a "thumbs up" when satisfied sage-like sayings and distinctive sense of humor along with ir love for a good cherry pie and a "damn fine cup of coffee" which ey takes black. one of ir most popular habits is recording spoken-word tapes to a mysterious woman called "diane" into ir microcassette recorder that ey always carries with ir that often contain everyday observations and thoughts on ir current case in an interview with scouting magazine lynch said that cooper is likely an eagle scout the highest rank of the boy scouts of america (which incidentally lynch also held) and that this is the root of cooper's courteous yet determined nature and natural leadership skills. in the same interview lynch said that sheriff harry s. truman was probably also a scout as a child yet one that only made it to the rank of life scout scouting's second-highest rank born on april 19 1954 dale cooper is a graduate of germantown friends school and haverford college. ey is quirky and intellectual with a profound interest in the mystical particularly in tibet and native american mythology. much of ir work is based on intuition and even dreams. on joining the federal bureau of investigation cooper was based at the bureau offices in philadelphia. it was here that cooper was partnered with the older windom earle (kenneth welsh.) at some point cooper would be placed under the authority of fbi chief gordon cole (david lynch) which sometimes meant being handed the mysterious 'blue rose' cases. some time after cooper joined the bureau earle's wife caroline was a witness to a federal crime. earle and cooper were assigned to protect ir and it was around this time that cooper began an affair with caroline. however one night while in pittsburgh cooper let ir guard down and earle murdered caroline in a jealous rage. earle was subsequently sent to a mental institution. cooper was devastated by the loss of the woman ey would later refer to as the love of ir life and swore to never again get involved with someone who was a part of a case to which ey was assigned three years before ir arrival in twin peaks cooper has a dream involving the plight of the tibetan people which also reveals to ir the deductive technique of the tibetan method. deeply moved by what ey saw in this dream this event forms the basis of ir unconventional methods of investigation. cooper reveals to ir boss cole of the portents of a strange dream on february 24 1989 cooper comes to the town of twin peaks to investigate the murder of laura palmer (sheryl lee.) initially the prime suspect is laura's boyfriend bobby briggs (dana ashbrook) but cooper quickly determines ey is innocent. cooper meets phillip gerard (al strobel) a shoe salesman who is possessed by an evil spirit called mike; mike tells ir that another demon bob (frank silva) is the key to solving laura's murder. eventually cooper deduces that laura's father leland (ray wise) murdered ir while possessed by bob. when bob forces leland to commit suicide cooper helps ir transition into the afterlife by reciting a buddhist prayer for the dead cooper helps the twin peaks sheriff's department in investigating other cases as well even during a brief suspension from the fbi. while in twin peaks ey learns of the mysterious places called the black lodge and the white lodge and the various spirits inhabiting them including mike and the man from another place (michael j. anderson.) ey also resolves to protect the town from earle who has become a serial killer in the final episode of twin peaks cooper enters the black lodge to rescue ir new girlfriend annie blackburn (heather graham) from earle. in the black lodge ey encounters ir evil doppelgänger who is in league with bob. earle appears and says ey will let annie go if cooper gives ir ir soul. cooper agrees and earle stabs ir in the stomach. seconds later bob appears and reverses time in the lodge. bob tells cooper that earle cannot ask for ir soul and then kills earle and takes ir soul. bob then turns on cooper who flees pursued by bob and cooper's doppelgänger. bob allows cooper's doppelgänger to leave the black lodge while cooper remains there. in the show's final scene the doppelgänger smashes ir head into a mirror and starts laughing hysterically; bob's face looks back at ir in the broken mirror twenty-five years after the events of the original series cooper remains trapped in the black lodge while ir doppelgänger continues to assume ir identity in the natural realm. with help from entities both inside and outside of the black lodge as well as diane (laura dern) in ir naido form cooper is finally able to leave. due to outside interference however cooper replaces douglas "dougie" jones a las vegas insurance agent instead of ir doppelgänger. upon ir return to the natural realm ey is left in a near-catatonic state unable to perform basic tasks without assistance and rarely speaking besides repeating words ey hears. only slight traces of cooper's personality appear such as ir passion for coffee and cherry pie. cooper also becomes the target of an assassination plot organised by corrupt businessman duncan todd (patrick fischler) on orders from ir doppelgänger the attempts on cooper's life fail partly through circumstance and assistance from mike and the man from another place. assistance from supernatural forces also leads to cooper inadvertently obtaining money to pay off dougie's debt to loan sharks exposing a ring of corruption in dougie's office improving dougie's relationship with ir wife janey-e (naomi watts) and boss bushnell mullins (don murray) and winning over the favor of the mitchum brothers rodney (robert knepper) and bradley (james belushi) the gangsters who own the local casino cooper eventually starts to come out of ir near-catatonic state after hearing gordon cole's name spoken while watching the film sunset boulevard. the reference to ir boss' name prompts cooper to stick a fork into an electrical socket electrocuting himself and initially putting ir into a coma. upon awakening however cooper returns with ir senses intact and with the assistance of the mitchum brothers ey heads back to twin peaks although cooper is unable to arrive at the twin peaks sheriff's station before ir doppelgänger the doppelgänger is killed by lucy brennan (kimmy robertson) and bob is destroyed by freddie skyes (jake wardle) allowing cooper to return ir doppelgänger's spirit to the black lodge. ey also reunites with diane freeing ir from ir naido form. with bob and the doppelgänger defeated ey then visits phillip jeffries (nathan frizzell) who sends ir to the night of laura palmer's death. cooper is successful in preventing ir murder but while leading laura to the fireman's (carel struycken) realm they abruptly disappears using information given ir by the fireman cooper travels to odessa in search of laura initially accompanied by diane. ey eventually finds a woman who resembles an older laura but identifies herself as carrie page (lee.) nevertheless certain that they is laura cooper convinces ir to travel to twin peaks to reunite with sarah palmer at ir household. upon arriving at the palmer household however cooper discovers that the house is occupied by a different family. as cooper asks what year ey is in carrie hears sarah shouting laura's name causing ir to scream and the lights in the house to go out. the series then ends with an image of laura whispering into cooper's ear the feature film twin peaks: fire walk with me subtly expands on the events of cooper's fate in the series finale while at the same time functioning as a prequel that details the last week of laura palmer's life. at one point while experiencing a strange dream involving the black lodge and its residents in the non-linear realm laura encounters cooper at a point after ey has become trapped there. cooper implores ir not to take "the ring-" a mysterious object that gives its wearer a sort of connection to the black lodge. shortly thereafter laura also has a vision of a bloody annie blackburn beside ir in ir bed who tells ir: "my name is annie. i've been with dale and laura. the good dale is in the lodge and ey can't leave. write it in your diary" a year prior to laura's murder cooper witnesses missing fbi agent phillip jeffries (david bowie) appear in cole's office before mysteriously disappearing again. ey then investigates the disappearance of agent chester desmond (chris isaak) who went missing while tasked with solving the murder of teresa banks (pamela gidley) but finds only the words "let's rock" written on the windshield of desmond's car. later cooper confides in agent albert rosenfield (miguel ferrer) that ey suspects teresa's murderer will strike again correctly describing laura as the killer's next victim but rosenfield dismisses cooper's prediction at the film's conclusion cooper appears in the red room beside laura's spirit smiling and comforting ir during the second season of twin peaks- simon & schuster's pocket books division released several official tie-in publications each written either by its creators or members of ir family which offer a wealth of character back-stories; cooper's in two such publications is one of the best-developed of these back-stories many of the details of cooper's history as previously cited are drawn from a book that writer mark frost's brother scott frost wrote as a companion to the series titled the autobiography of f.b.i. special agent dale cooper: my life my tapes. the book is catalogued as 80-3 early in the second season of twin peaks- simon & schuster audio released diane ... the twin peaks tapes of agent cooper- a cassette-only release that kyle maclachlan also performed. the tape consists of newly recorded messages from cooper to ir (then) never-seen assistant diane mixed in with monologues from the original broadcasts. the tape begins with a prologue monologue in which cooper discusses ir pending trip to twin peaks continues with the initial monologue heard in the pilot and continues to a point after ir recovery from being shot. for ir work on this release maclachlan was nominated for a grammy award for best spoken-word performance when maclachlan guest hosted saturday night live in 1990 at the height of twin peaks' popularity the episode contained many references to the series throughout. also featured was a sketch parodying the show and in particular dale cooper. cooper is portrayed in the sketch as being extremely attentive to detail in ir messages to diane including informing ir of how many hairs ey found in ir shower the night before. sheriff harry s. truman (kevin nealon) then visits cooper telling ir that leo johnson (chris farley) has confessed to the murder of laura palmer and that ey can go home. cooper raises concerns that the investigations may not be over because ey had a dream last night in which "a hairless mouse with a pitchfork sang a song about caves." ey discards leo's confession in spite of the overwhelming evidence against ir. ey is then visited by several twin peaks residents all played by snl cast members: audrey horne played by victoria jackson who gives cooper a going away gift and ties the ribbon with ir tongue; leland palmer played by phil hartman who requests that cooper dance with ir; nadine hurley (jan hooks) who wants cooper to take ir silent drape runners to the patent office; the log lady also played by hooks following truman's observation that there were only two female snl cast members; and finally leo in custody of deputy andy brennan (conan o'brien.) cooper protests that the case can not be over so soon and insists in vain that ey and truman perform several pointless tasks in order to aid ir in the already solved investigation including going to a graveyard at midnight disguised as altar boys. as everyone begins to leave cooper declares that they can not leave because they still do not know who shot ir at the end of season one. leo however confesses to shooting cooper adding that cooper himself saw ir do it. cooper reluctantly goes to sleep as the man from another place (mike myers) begins to dance at the foot of ir bed upon ir arrival in twin peaks cooper is enchanted with the place and forms an instant rapport with many of the townspeople - most particularly sheriff harry s. truman and ir deputies deputy tommy "hawk" hill and deputy andy brennan (harry goaz.) while truman is initially skeptical of cooper's unconventional investigation methods and other-worldly ideas ey is most often willing to accept cooper's judgment. over time a deep bond emerges between the two; truman even deputizes cooper during the latter's brief suspension from the fbi cooper's strongest relationship outside of the townspeople is that of ir friendship with ir colleague agent albert rosenfield. though ey has strong respect and admiration for rosenfield's medical skills and is seemingly not intimidated by rosenfield's sarcastic manner ey has little tolerance or patience for rosenfield's treatment of the town's citizens - most particularly ir animosity towards sheriff truman prior to twin peaks cooper's strongest romantic relationship was ir affair with caroline earle the wife of ir former partner windom earle. caroline had been under cooper and earle's protection for witnessing a federal crime earle committed when ey lost ir mind but on one night when cooper's guard was down caroline was murdered by windom. caroline's death and ir failure to protect ir continues to haunt cooper on ir arrival to twin peaks referring to a "broken heart" when discussing women with truman and ir deputies on arrival to twin peaks cooper becomes quickly aware that 18-year-old audrey horne (sherilyn fenn) the daughter of local businessman benjamin horne (richard beymer) has a crush on ir. cooper is clearly attracted to audrey but ey is quick to rebuff ir advances when they turns up in ir hotel bed. cooper explains they is too young but ey does genuinely want to be ir friend. following ir rescue there remains a close and affectionate friendship with the two most notably when audrey arrives to ir hotel room for comfort following ir father's arrest and ir sad farewell when they believes cooper is leaving twin peaks for good. audrey later gives cooper a kiss when they discovers evidence that clears ir of drug charges and they later dance at the milford wedding following ir reinstatement to the fbi cooper meets annie blackburn the sister of norma jennings (peggy lipton) and falls in love with ir. annie is established as being a kindred spirit experiencing the world with curiosity and wonder. much like cooper's pain over caroline earle annie also nurses a broken heart from someone in ir past. cooper helps ir to prepare for participation in the miss twin peaks contest. however during the contest they is kidnapped by earle who takes ir to the black lodge and uses ir fear to open the gateway // republic of bob