SEPTEMBER, 2025 - DEPUTY DIRECTOR GORDON COLE

In order to complete the TVXOHOF tribute to David Lynch, who enriched Earth Prime-Time with the addition of the town of Twin Peaks, AND to complete the trifecta, we have one last induction to make into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame….

GORDON COLE

From the Twin Peaks Wiki:
Gordon Cole was a Regional Bureau Chief, and later Deputy Director, within the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Special Agent Dale Cooper's immediate superior, in a career that spanned more than four decades, and resulted in severe and permanent hearing loss. He was a part of the Blue Rose Task Force, and oversaw the murder investigations of Teresa Banks, Laura Palmer, and Maddy Ferguson, as well as the investigation into Cooper's doppelganger.

On February 28, 1989 - four days after Agent Cooper had been assigned to the murder investigation of Laura Palmer - Cole called Cooper at the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department to update him on Laura's autopsy results. He also warned that Agent Albert Rosenfield intended to press assault charges against Sheriff Truman. Cooper vehemently insisted that he would fight against it, and implored Cole to intervene. Later in the day, Gordon faxed Cooper a reconstruction of a plastic fragment found in Laura's stomach, which was part of a One Eyed Jacks poker chip.

Cole arrived in Twin Peaks in person on March 8, following Cooper's shooting at the Great Northern Hotel. He interrupted Truman's questioning of Donna Hayward to introduce himself, and to share Rosenfield's lab report on the shooting incident and the syringe found on Phillip Gerard.

Later, Cole met Cooper at the sheriff's station, enthusiastically greeting him and remarking that Cooper reminded him of a "small Mexican chihuahua." In Truman's office, Cole conveyed Agent Rosenfield's concern that Cooper was getting in over his head, and shared a troubling message sent to the bureau from the escaped Windom Earle - the first move in a chess game.

That evening, along with Cooper, Truman, and Deputy Hawk, Cole withheld Gerard's haloperidol dose and watched as he was possessed by Mike, an inhabiting spirit from the Black Lodge. Mike explained his nature and his purpose: to stop BOB, his former partner in crime. He then revealed that BOB was, at that moment, somewhere at the Great Northern.

Early the next morning, Cole mentioned to Cooper and the others that pages from Laura Palmer's secret diary had been found a mile away from the crime scene; Cooper sent Deputy Hawk to search Harold Smith's home for the diary. Cole then took his leave, heading for Bend, Oregon on secret business, and wished them luck.

Dale Cooper's superior, Gordon Cole shared many of his quirks, including a love of donuts, coffee, and cherry pie. Due to his hearing loss, Cole would occasionally hear a mundane comment from another character then go off on a tangent about a phonetically-similar yet categorically different topic, though it would generally be impossible to tell what he heard that made him think such tangents were appropriate.

Combined with his loud voice, Cole had a habit of annoying people around him, including the Log Lady, Sheriff Harry S. Truman, and Albert Rosenfield, although it was generally unclear if he was aware of this.

Despite his generally care-free attitude, Cole was still very professional in his work. He admonished Cooper during a phone call for attacking Albert when the latter put out a complaint against Sheriff Truman, and made a point to be sure Denise Bryson's colleagues were supportive of her during her transition.

At some point between 1989 and the 2010s, he made a decision to hold more private conversations by increasing the volume on his hearing aid, which prevented him from having to shout all the time, at the cost of making some of the simplest noises excruciating to hear.

Here are the productions which qualified Cole for membership in the TVXOHOF:

TWIN PEAKS
7 Episodes  (1989 - 1991)

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (1992)

O’Bservation:
While this was a theatrically released movie, it served as a prequel to the television series and so it has been absorbed into Earth Prime-Time while it also exists in the Cineverse.

TWIN PEAKS: THE MISSING PIECES (2014)

TWIN PEAKS
11 Episodes (2017)

By the way….

This is not a memorial tribute induction for Director Cole.  

Unless circumstances dictate otherwise (character’s appearance took place in the distant past; character was killed off within the storyline), Toobworld Central sees no reason why Deputy Director Cole, like Special Agent Albert Rosenfield before him, should not be still alive in Toobworld.

Welcome to the Hall, Deputy Director.  

Live long and prosper.  

Enjoy every donut....