But there is this one interaction, where Cooper accidentally deadnames Denise in a conversation and she corrects him and he says sorry and moves on.

This seemed kind of sweet, and intentional? Like, it does little to advance the plot AFAICT (except, maybe, to characterize Cooper as respecting her.)

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but Cooper's basically the coolest person on the show about Denise, and I think the audience had already been meant to see him as a role model. So something about that interaction is kind of sweet, but in a way I am way too tired to express properly.

I guess maybe I'm just feeling this way because my expectations were at the rock-bottom for the portrayal of a trans woman in a 90s show.

Agent Cooper: Rolemodel for the Cis