I think this is a whisper never to be revealed, which is its centrally mysterious point. But it could definitely be a repeat of the original phrase, as eyeboogers pointed out, as that would fit with the unending, cyclical nature of events and Cooper's inability to change them. However, I mostly think we are meant to ponder what horrifying element the whisper may now entail that it didn't before. Cooper is very much shocked by what he heard, and the aftermath. And then that final, silent, post-scream scene, scored to "Dark Space Low" really leaves you feeling some sort of otherworldly emptiness. It's all very effective, for sure.
I have to say that what I'm most fascinated in about this/these scenes in The Return, is, during its first appearance in Part 2, the nearly inaudible whisper that literally says or perhaps even directs the actors (or characters?) to "whisper." I find that to be one of the most uncanny moments in the series. I'm almost certain it's said forwards, not backwards, so how did it get there? I highly doubt that none of the sound-oriented guys, including Lynch and Hurley, noticed that it was left there, so I don't believe it was ultimately by accident, even if it may have started that way. It's basically subliminal...I don't hear it every time I watch it, but it is definitely there, and one of many instances of real-world intrusion and evidence of process adding another layer to what we're seeing/hearing.
I'm surprised no one has tried deepfaking young Sheryl Lee on these scenes...
"The pine weasel escaped"
I'm curious...why do you feel this way? To me, the entire point of replaying the scene is the poignancy of seeing how the actors have aged, and contrasting the two scenes shot 25+ years apart. The passage of time is a huge theme in The Return, and for me that's such a key moment. What would be gained by replaying old footage?I have to admit, I almost wish they'd reused the images from the pilot rather than re-enact them.
This was something that troubled me during the buildup to the show in 2017. I thought a lot about it. Were they going to use de-aging effects or what? I was thinking about it in literalist terms, because of course time doesn't pass in the Lodges! But once the show aired, and I saw a 49-year-old Sheryl Lee/Laura Palmer, it just felt so thematically right. This sweet teenage girl cut down in her prime...and yet here she is, somehow having aged along with the rest of us. "I am dead, yet I live." Same for Cooper...sure, it doesn't make logical sense that he would have aged in the Lodge where time passes differently, but in an intuitive sense, how else to convey the time that he's lost from his life? Of course we have to see it on his face. It's such a powerful image, seeing those two actors replay that scene all these years later, and it plays into all The Return's themes of time passing and meta-textually breaking down the fourth wall.It never quite sat right with me that anyone aged in the Lodge itself, I guess. I could imagine Cooper ageing when he returned to the 'real world' but I always found it odd that he and the Lodge's inhabitants got older. I guess it's down to me perceiving the Lodges as sitting outside of normal time. If anything I'd have thought everyone in there would get younger.