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Robert "Bobby" Briggs was the boyfriend of Laura Palmer, and therefore he was one of the initial suspects in her murder. His father is Major Garland Briggs, a member of the United States Air Force, with whom he has an uneasy relationship. Bobby becomes jealous of James Hurley when he discovers that James was secretly seeing Laura. Laura, on the other hand, did not really love Bobby, and only used him as a source of cocaine. Even before Laura's death, Bobby was seeing Shelly Johnson.

Biography

On a morning in mid-February, 1989, Bobby and his best friend Mike Nelson sat in the former's car, discussing their cocaine supply going low, worried since they owe $5,000 to Leo.[2] Their girlfriends Laura Palmer and Donna Hayward then passed by on their way to school. Bobby and Mike declared that Mike was "the man."[2][3]

After school, he approached a display case containing Laura's picture and he kissed the glass. He left and saw Laura, who had been unaccounted for during the past hour. He was angered by this, believing she was with someone else. However, she managed to brighten his mood and she went home.[3]

Later, Bobby called Leo Johnson, looking for more cocaine for distribution, but Leo refused, as Bobby owed him $5,000. He then called Jacques Renault, who told him of a supplier he could meet in two days "by the sound of sawing wood."[3]

At school two days later, Bobby met Laura and said there is a big score of cocaine to get that night. At night, they drank in woods, also taking what little cocaine they had left until the drug supplier showed up. He said he was sent by Jacques and showed a bag of cocaine before drawing a gun. Bobby pulled out his own gun and killed him. Laura insisted that he killed Mike, much to his anger.[3]

The following day, Bobby told Laura to hide $10,000 in her safety deposit box. Later, Bobby inspected the supplier's cocaine in the woods only to discover that it was merely baby laxative.[2]

On the night of February 23, Laura came to his home to see him and he informed her about the product's true nature.[2] Laura then asked him for more cocaine for the night and told him that she was "going home." Bobby gave her some drugs from his private stash.[3] When she left, he walked her to the door and lit a cigarette, his father telling him to put it out.[2]

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Bobby drank a coffee at the Double R Diner the next morning when waitress Heidi showed up to work late, claiming she could not get her car started. After Shelly Johnson commented "too busy jump-starting the old man, huh?" Heidi giggled. Bobby said that he thought Germans were always on time, but Heidi just giggled in response all the way back to the kitchen. Norma Jennings poured his coffee and he offered to drop off Shelly at her home on his way to football practice, which she accepted. On the way out, he played a song on the jukebox and commented to Norma that he would be seeing her in his dreams. They went out to his car and he suspected that Norma knew about their secret relationship, but Shelly disagreed.[4]

They drove to Shelly's house, drinking along the way, but stopped when Bobby saw Leo's truck in the driveway. He backed up and dropped her off away from her house.[4]

Bobby arrived at school, where Mike was waiting. He was told that he is wanted in the office, where he was questioned about his whereabouts by Deputies Hawk and Andy Brennan until Sheriff Harry S. Truman arrived and informs him that Laura had been found dead. Due to his unconfirmed whereabouts for the previous night, he was immediately wanted for questioning. Truman told him he could make a phone call to his parents to get their lawyer. Bobby interpreted this as being considered a suspect and insisted that the two of them loved each other. Truman told Deputy Andy to assist him as he made his phone call, but he resisted until he was restrained by the deputy and sheriff.[4]

He was later brought in for questioning before Sheriff Truman and FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, who had been sent in to investigate the case. Cooper's very first question was if he killed Laura, which he angrily denied. He confirmed that Laura was at his house "studying" until around 9:30 the night before and that she drove herself home. He was angered further when Cooper brought up the fight the couple had the week before. The FBI agent then showed him a video of Donna and Laura, but it was not filmed by him. Cooper announced to him that Laura was seeing someone else, as he had suspected during the couple's fight. He was also asked if he had ever used cocaine with Laura, but he denied it, saying that he did not use drugs. Cooper then asked if he knew anyone with the initial 'J' that could have filmed the video. Bobby said, "no."[4]

After being released, Bobby went to Mike, who was waiting for him and Donna, who was then being questioned. He mentioned to him that they were going to rough up a biker with the initial 'J.' He started to leave when he saw his parents talking to their lawyer. His father offered a sympathetic ear, but he rudely declined.[4]

In the evening, he went with Mike to speak with Donna, who was not home despite a curfew instated for residents under 18 years of age. They left for the Roadhouse, where a singer performed and they waited for Donna. When she arrived, Mike angrily grabbed her, with Ed Hurley coming to her aid, though Bobby beat him down and the two boys were attacked by other bar patrons.[4]

They were arrested and later saw James Hurley being taken to a cell. They began barking at him.[4]

Bobby sat in his cell the next morning with Mike, discussing the money they owed Leo, half of which was in Laura's safety deposit box, for she was supposed to give it to him that day. They argued over how they would get Leo the $10,000 they owed him. They watched as James is escorted back to his cell by Deputy Hawk.[5]

Later, they sat with Sheriff Truman in the interrogation room when Agent Cooper came in and released them after Mike insisted the fight at the Roadhouse was self-defense. He also told them that if anything happened to James, that they would be immediately suspected.[5]

At dinner, he sat at the table as his mother and father prayed. His father began talking to him, wishing to discuss his feelings over the past few days and the limits that should be in place on his rebelliousness. Bobby ignored him and placed a cigarette in his mouth, which caused his father to smack him, sending the cigarette into his mother's food. She picked it up and told him they were there for him.[5]

Bobby and Mike later drove past the Hayward home and saw James' bike outside.[5]

Bobby went with Mike to the woods to pick up the drugs left by Leo inside a football. However, it was not all there and Leo revealed himself. He also noticed another man in the area. They discussed the situation with the money and Leo told him that he knew Shelly had been seeing someone else but did not say if he knew who. He told them to "go out for a pass" and threw the football, which landed on the hood of the car Bobby and Mike were driving.[6]

He later went to Shelly, who was reluctant to let him in. When he gained entry, he noticed her bruised face, finding that Leo had beaten her. He then declared that if Leo harmed her again, he would kill him.[6]

The following day, Bobby stood in front of a sculpture of Jesus on the cross and went to touch it when his father interrupted. The major had him put out his cigarette and the two sat down, Bobby's father talking about his experience with funerals and his wishes to speak more to his son. Bobby was angered when his father insinuated that he was scared of Laura's funeral.[7]

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After the preacher finished speaking at the funeral, the angered Bobby accused the attendees of killing her, for they all knew she was in trouble. James then charged at him, though they were restrained by the lawmen and Ed.[7]

Bobby was at the Johnson home the next day, kissing Shelly. She told him that Leo was currently with Jacques Renault. He then told her about Leo and Jacques's drug operation and that Laura purchased cocaine from them. She then showed him a bloody shirt belonging to Leo. He happily took the shirt, declaring that it would put Leo away.[8]

Bobby planted Leo's shirt in Jacques's apartment that night and escaped the sheriff's department who were there to question Jacques.[8]

The next day, he sat in Shelly's kitchen and kissed her, then played out a scenario in which Leo showed up and Bobby threatened his life. Then Deputy Andy came and Bobby hid, listening in on the conversation. Andy asked about Leo's current whereabouts, and Shelly told him she overheard Leo having an argument with Jacques about Laura. When Andy left, Bobby came out of hiding and kissed Shelly. The phone then rings, Leo on the other end, who would be coming home soon. Bobby placed a pistol in Shelly's hand.[9]

Bobby and his family later attended a family counseling session with Doctor Lawrence Jacoby. Jacoby asked to see Bobby alone and his parents left. They talked about Laura, specifically his actions during his first sexual encounter with her, where he cried and Laura laughed. Stunned by this, Bobby insisted that Laura wanted to die and that she held some secret that made her wish for death. Jacoby insisted that Laura wanted to corrupt Bobby, who tearfully confirmed this, stating she made him sell drugs for her addiction's benefit.[9]

Bobby went to the Johnson home the following day to see Shelly, who was upset after shooting Leo. She went over what happened and Bobby promised to deal with Leo and James, then kissed her.[10]

At night, he went to the park, where he saw James and Donna ride away. He followed them to Doctor Jacoby's office and he slipped a bag of cocaine into James' motorcycle's gas tank.[10]

He watched as James and Donna left Jacoby's office and pointed his fingers like a gun as they drove away on James' bike.[11]

Bobby called the sheriff's department, posing as Leo, and told them to check out James, for he was an "easy rider."[11]

He went to the Johnson home, looking for Shelly. Leo revealed himself, saying Shelly was not there and he attempted to kill him with an ax, but was shot through the living room window. Bobby then calmly left.[11]

Bobby visited Shelly -- suffering from smoke inhalation after being present at the burning Packard Sawmill -- the next morning in the hospital, bringing her flowers. They discussed Leo's actions involving her the previous night. Bobby then left, declaring his love for her.[12]

He went to the Double R and he joined his father, who told him about a vision he had of an extravagant home where his happy son came to visit and the two embraced. Teary-eyed, he shook hands with his father, who then left. Hearing Hank Jennings try to talk to Norma, he remembered that it was Hank who shot Leo the night before.[12]

In his car the next day, he sat with Shelly and they discussed living off of disability checks for the paralyzed Leo.[13]

Days later, Bobby sat in a Port-O-Patient machine sold by Tim Pinkle, testing it out for Leo, but the machine proved itself to be unsafe. Shelly took Bobby aside to ask about their current situation before she went to meet Leo's lawyer. They then went outside, leaving Mr. Pinkle in the Port-O-Patient.[14]

Bobby then followed Hank to the Great Northern Hotel.[14]

He struggled to push Leo through the house in his wheelchair the next day, bumping him into several objects. Insurance representative Tom Brockman highly approved of their decision to take care of Leo. However, Bobby and Shelly were dismayed to find out they were to only get $700 a month in insurance rather than the $5000 they expected.[15]

They later had a party for Leo, and for the first time, expressing their love in front of him. Bobby brought over a cake and Leo fell into it.[15]

The next day, he and Shelly determine the Johnsons' financial situation, determining they only had $42 for the month following expenses. Leo began to scream, then spat and said, "New shoes." Bobby asked what this could mean and Shelly mentioned a pair of boots he had gotten repaired the week before.[16]

He retrieved Leo's boots and took them back to the house with Mike. They broke the heel off of one of the boots and found a micro-cassette.[16]

He later had a drink at the Roadhouse and was moved by the singer's performance of "The World Spins."[16]

The following day, Bobby listened to the tape found in Leo's boot, which contained the voices of Benjamin Horne and Leo planning the arson of the mill. With this blackmail, he wrote a note for Horne, saying they needed to talk, and then Shelly went to him, covered in the food she was trying to feed to Leo.[17]

Bobby took Leo to the roadhouse the next day, as requested by Agent Cooper, who determined Laura's killer to be Leland Palmer, who later died in custody.[18]

Bobby put on one of Leo's suits the following day to meet with Benjamin Horne. He reassured Shelly that this business would make them financially secure.[19]

He waited outside Ben's office when his secretary came to tell him that he was not expected and could meet with Horne perhaps the next month. Horne's daughter, Audrey then came asking him what he was doing there. She left for a moment and got him into her father's office. However, Horne kicked him out and he left the tape behind.[19]

Bobby enters Horne's office days later, where he found the furniture stacked, with Ben crouched next to the stack. Ben told Bobby he needed to have balance, distance, and symmetry then asked him to admire the stack of furniture. When Bobby asked about the tape, Ben confirmed that he listened to it. However, he then told him to follow Hank Jennings. As he left, Lana Milford runs past him, screaming.[20]

He later saw Audrey and announced that he was on assignment from her father. She proposed doing business together and he went to Ben's office, where he had set up a miniature re-enactment of the battle of Gettysburg. He handed over pictures of Hank and was offered a full-time position.[20]

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Bobby went home and found his mother sitting in the dark. When he asked her about this, she cried for Bobby's father, who disappeared days before while on a fishing trip with Agent Cooper. He told his mother about the dream his father explained to him. The power then went out and Bobby and his mother saw his father standing in the living room. The power came back on as his mother went to hug him.[20]

Bobby went to the Johnson home the next day, where Shelly was feeding Leo. She was upset as it was his turn to feed him and he left.[21]

He went to Horne's office, where the Civil War re-enactment had grown, Ben then believing himself to be General Robert E. Lee. He went out to Audrey, who said her uncle and Jacoby were coming to help her father's condition.[21]

Audrey planned with Bobby to break Ben out of his mental state, insisting that she was the one he answered to for the time being.[22]

He returned to the Johnson home, where Shelly was being attacked by Leo. Bobby got inside, where Leo had raised an ax to kill his wife. Bobby attempted to disarm him but was pinned against the wall by him until Shelly managed to stab Leo in the leg, and the latter escaped.[22]

Bobby and Shelly went to the sheriff's station, where they talked to Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman about Leo's attack. The sheriff asked why he was at Shelly's house, to which he openly admitted their relationship and the duration of it. Cooper then asked where he was the night the mill was burned down, suspecting him to be the one who shot Leo, but he said that Hank was the one responsible. Truman told Shelly he would assign deputies to keep an eye on her home, though Bobby was resistant to this. They were then dismissed.[23]

He went to the Great Northern in a Confederate uniform, where he was commanded to play the bugle for the Great Northern employees also acting as Ben's troops.[23]

Bobby once again played the bugle in Ben's re-enactment, then at the surrender at Appomattox, announcing the arrival of Jacoby as General Grant. Jacoby surrendered, despite the historical inaccuracy. Ben collapsed, then came to, believing his Civil War to have been a dream.[23]

The next day, he attended Horne's business meeting with John Justice Wheeler, a potential business partner. Ben presented his plan to work against Catherine Martell's Ghostwood development plan in the name of the near-extinct Pine Weasel.[1]

At the diner the next day, Bobby told Shelly that he had noticed that beautiful people get what they want, so she should enter the Miss Twin Peaks Contest.[24]

He went to the Roadhouse with Shelly for the contest tryouts, but she worried that she would be unable to give a speech. He reassured her, saying that he would write her speech for her.[24]

Bobby saw Mike with Nadine Hurley and pulled him aside to voice his concern for their relationship. Mike dismissed his concerns, using Nadine's sexual maturity and extreme strength as his reasoning for the relationship.[24]

He later went to the diner, where he saw Shelly kiss FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole. The man taunted Bobby, then kissed her again, Bobby standing confused.[24]

Bobby and Shelly went over the speech the next day, but then he expressed that he felt like he had been neglecting her, but seeing Cole kiss her made him realize this and that he loved her.[25]

He sat backstage at the Miss Twin Peaks contest the following day and noticed that he saw the Log Lady both at the bar and also backstage. He approached her backstage, thinking it may have been a relative, but she bashed his head with the log, knocking him out. In reality, this Log Lady was actually former FBI Agent Windom Earle.[26]

Bobby and Shelly watched his parents having a happy breakfast the next morning and he told Shelly that they should get married.[27]

Behind the scenes

Bobby was played by American actor Dana Ashbrook, who is to reprise the role in the upcoming series.

References

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