POP! Television – Twin Peaks: Dale Cooper

Spoiler Alert: This review contains spoilers for Twin Peaks and Fire Walk With Me. 

“You know, this is - excuse me - a damn fine cup of coffee. I've had I can't tell you how many cups of coffee in my life and this, this is one of the best. Now I'd like two eggs over hard. I know, don't tell me, it's hard on the arteries, but old habits die hard, just about as hard as I want those eggs.”

Kyle MacLachlan should be a much bigger star than he is today, up there among the George Clooneys and Brad Pitts of the world. He’s handsome, he has charisma in spades and he can act too. But as we know, things don’t always go the way they “should”*. A few dud films in the mid-90s (like The Flintstones and the notorious Showgirls) meant his star began to wane right as it really should have been ascending. Nonetheless, he’s still carved out a career that plenty of other actors would kill to have – and next month he’s going to be back on our screens in his best-loved role, Agent Dale Cooper!  

I normally loathe using the word “quirky” to describe things, but I’d say that it’s probably a fitting descriptor for Dale Cooper. He’s relentlessly cheery without being annoying, far more capable than the average man but never condescending, and totally weird without being alienating. We need more characters like him on TV. And though I love The X-Files, Mulder – the more famous FBI agent of the two – pales in comparison.

In POP form, Cooper is (naturally) depicted with a mug of coffee, and giving the thumbs up. If they ever do a second version, he’ll hopefully be holding a piece of cherry pie and/or tape recorder. Nonetheless, they’ve definitely made a good choice by going with this pose. Paintwork is solid (though check the hairline before purchasing) and the sculpt is excellent. All these factors boil down to a must-buy for fans of the series; you could pass over the others if your budget or space is limited, but Agent Cooper is essential. To paraphrase the man himself – every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it; don't wait for it; just let it happen. It could be a new shirt in a men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black, coffee…or a Funko POP.

For myself, I’m planning to pick up the whole line; between these guys and the Stranger Things POPs, Funko is really delivering some of their best quality work in years. But even more importantly, I'm really eagerly awaiting season 3. When we last saw Cooper, he was the new host for BOB -- with his "good" side seemingly trapped in the Red Room. What's been going on since then? David Lynch is not really known for giving straight explanations, but I'm sure we'll find out soon.

*Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have had to wait 25 years between Fire Walk With Me and season 3 of Twin Peaks, would we?