Being that there was just a Twin Peaks panel at ComicCon with Big Ed Hurley, he HAS to be in this week’s episode. Also, looking forward to more Jerry In The Woods Adventures. And will Audrey ever make an appearance? At this rate, it feels like she will show up in the last few minutes of the season at the Roadhouse.   Let’s get into this week…

Twin Peaks: The Return Part 11

In Twin Peaks, three young brothers are having a game of catch. The ball rolls out to the road and the eldest chases it down. As he’s heading back he hears something. He looks to his left and sees a bloody and battered Miriam (Sarah Jean Long) crawling out of the woods. He quickly sends his brothers to get their mom.

Miriam Sullivan is not dead!   This is bad for Richard Horne along with the fact that Deputy Chad has the wrong letter too.   If you remember to last week, Richard called Chad and said that he needed to check the mail and get the letter that Miriam wrote.  Turned out that Chad took a letter out of the stack from a Miriam Hodges, not from Miriam Sullivan.

At the New Fat Trout Trailer park, Becky Burnett (Amanda Seyfried) has just received an infuriating phone call about the activities of her husband Steven. She frantically calls her mother, Shelly (Mädchen Amick), begging her to hurry because she needs her car, telling her it’s about Steven (Caleb Landry Jones). When Shelly arrives, Becky comes running out of the trailer snatching the keys from her hand and jumping into the driver’s seat. Shelly bangs on the window demanding Becky to stop. As Becky pulls away, Shelly jumps on to the hood continuing to yell for Becky to stop. As Becky turns the car to leave the trailer park, Shelly rolls off.

Becky needs to get out of her situation with Steven. She appears to have fallen into the same patterns as her mom with taking up with the wrong guy.  How many times has Shelly done this with Becky where Becky calls her mom crying about something, and then Shelly goes to try and save her? And what was with Shelly jumping on the hood of the car?   Exactly what Carl said, “What the hell?”

Carl (Harry Dean Stanton) comes running up to her to see if she’s alright. She says she fine and asks Carl for a ride to the Double R. He blows a long whistle and the VW bus he rides into town each day soon comes pulling up. As they ride toward the diner, Carl tells her about hearing the trouble coming from their trailer. Shelly calls Norma (Peggy Lipton) for advice. She asks Shelly why she doesn’t just call Bobby (Dana Ashbrook). Carl gets on his CB radio to the Sherrif’s Department to patch through to Deputy Briggs. Shelly gets on the radio with him telling him about Becky and that she has a gun.

Shelly Briggs?!?! Are Shelly and Bobby married currently?  

Becky burst into an apartment building races up the stairs to apartment 208 and begins banging on the door. She shouts that she knows Steven’s in there. A neighbor (Lauren Tewes) pops her head out to tell Becky they left, there’s no one in that apartment. When she spies the gun in Becky’s hand, she backs into her apartment and closes the door. Becky continues yelling and then fires six shots in to the door. Meanwhile down the hall in a stairwell a concerned looking Steven stands alongside Donna Hayward’s younger sister, Gersten (Alicia Witt).

With the way, the camera was going down the halls and stairwells, it felt very BOB like. Why is it that Gersten Hayward has taken up with Steven?   What is she into?  The last time we saw her she was child pianist. 

Calls of the gunshots come pouring into the Sheriff’s department, answered by dispatcher, Maggie (Jodi Thelen). She tells each caller “someone’s on the way.”

You are busy tonight Twin Peaks Sheriff’s department, thanks to Becky. I feel like Bobby needs to get his daughter under control.  If that is his daughter and not a situation where Shelly was already pregnant with Leo’s baby.

In Buckhorn, SD two vehicles pull up in front of an abandoned house. Agents Gordon Cole (David Lynch), Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell), and Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) along with Diane Evans (Laura Dern) all get out of the first car. The second car is being driven by Detective Macklay (Brent Briscoe) with Bill Hastings (Matthew Lillard) in the backseat. Tammy asks Hastings if this is the place where he saw Major Briggs. Hastings tells her he went through the hole in the fence toward the empty about 15-20 feet. He says he doesn’t remember what happened after. Gordon and Albert are looking at the house when the spot a woodsman appear and then soon disappear near the house.

Tammy walks over and tells Gordon and Albert what Hastings has told her. Gordon asks “Do you think there’s one in there, Albert?” Albert replies “We’ll soon find out.” Asking Tammy to cover them, Gordon and Albert go through the fence. The sound of crackling electricity grows ever louder as they approach the house. Albert stops as Gordon continues. The space around Gordon begins to shake and blur and soon the sky begins to swirl. Gordon reaches toward the swirling sky that has now appeared to form a tube. As Gordon soon begins to flash in and out of existence, Albert grabs Gordon and pulls him out of the spot. Albert says “I guess we found out.” Gordon responds “We certainly did.”

Hastings sits nervously in the car. Albert notices the headless corpse of Ruth Davenport lying on the property. Diane catches sight of the woodsman Gordon and Albert saw sneaking around another abandoned house and up to Macklay’s car where he seems to disappear into the car. Staring off, watching Gordon and Albert who have discovered the coordinates written on Ruth’s arm. Suddenly, the top of Hasting’s head explodes. Macklay jumps out of the car and calls for backup as the others run over. Gordon looks at Hastings and says “He’s dead.”

I am going to miss Bill Hastings. I assume he is not coming back since his head exploded, but with this show, who knows!   And it appeared to me that Diane was mouthing things to herself, but what exactly.  What is it she knows?   And why are the Woodsman there?  Was it just to kill Hastings and to protect whatever else is there at that location?  Sometimes I feel like I am not following along anymore when the show gets into supernatural elements, but it does not bother me.   I just am trying desperately to figure out what is happening.  Where is this going?   Maybe it will make more sense as we continue in the stories.

At the Double R Diner, Becky sits in a booth with her parents, Bobby and Shelly. She tells them she wants out of her marriage. They tell her she needs to pay for the door and the damage to Gersten’s apartment. She refuses and says she can’t anyway because she doesn’t have any money. Bobby tells her that only reason she’s not in jail right now is because he works for the Sheriff. He agrees to lend her they money. Shelly assures Becky they will help her in getting away from Steven. Becky changes her tunes and begins defending him. Bobby tells her the only reason he hasn’t busted Steven is because he was hoping for her sake that he would come around. When her father asks if Steven has ever hit her, she vehemently denies it. Shelly says they are just worried about her and don’t want to lose her.

Becky suddenly remembers her mother on the hood of the car earlier and begins apologizing profusely, wanting to be assured that she’s okay. As they embrace, Red (Balthazar Getty) comes walking up to window. The sight of him turns Shelly into a teenager again as she lights up the way she used when Bobby would pick her up from work. Bobby sits looking stunned as he watches Shelly jump up and run outside to passionately embrace him. Shelly realizes they can be seen and moves Red away from the glass door. They agree to meet later at “the same place.” Red leaves and Shelly, unable to wipe the grin off her face scampers back to the booth. No sooner does she get back and bullets start flying into the diner. Bobby yells for everyone to hit the floor as he heads out to investigate.

Norma just seems so judging as she watches Shelly and Bobby parent Becky. How many times do you think Norma has wanted to step in and give advice?  Also, it is apparent that Shelly and Bobby are no longer married, especially after Shelly runs into the arms of Red.   Again, Shelly’s track record with men is terrible!   However, Bobby seems to have changed into the better man that his father predicted he would be.   And Becky, why are you defending Steven?   What is wrong with you?   Is it the drugs you’ve been doing?  I was startled when the bullets starting flying into the café, however thankful that Deputy Briggs was there. 

When he gets outside he finds a minivan stopped in the middle of the street. A woman (Cherity Parenzini) has left the passenger seat and opened the side door. Her husband (Linas Phillips) is getting out of the driver’s seat. She’s yelling at him, as she gets their son Ralph (Elias Parenzini) out, for having put in a gun in the van. He says it was in a box. Not knowing there was a gun in it she had put the box in back with their son who had apparently pulled it and fired off a couple of shots. Bobby approaches and identifies himself. He takes the gun from her and removes the remaining bullets as Deputy Jesse Holcomb (James Grixoni) arrives on the scene. Bobby stares at Ralph, who dressed identical to his father. Both are wearing boots, jeans, an army green shirt along with matching camouflage hats and jackets. For some reason Bobby a Ralph stare at each other for several moments.

Jesse comes up to Bobby and tells him he was at Big Ed’s Gas Farm when he heard the shots. Bobby brings him up to speed on the situation and then proceeds to the car behind the van. The driver of the car (Laura Kenny) has been honking incessantly during the entire ordeal. When he approaches her window asking her to stop, she begins insanely yelling at him that they are trying to get home. She continues to tell they are late for dinner, “It’s after 6:30, why is this happening!?” She furthers says she saw that gun shooting out the window. Appearing to change topics, she continues “Her uncle is joining us. She hasn’t seen him in a very long while. We’re late! We have miles to go! Please we have to get home! She’s sick!” With that the woman begins freaking out as a previously unseen young girl (Priya Niehaus) rises in the passenger seat with a strange liquid emanating from her mouth.

What was that all about? I feel like Episode 8 made more sense than the interaction that Bobby had with the women in her car. And what was the girl spewing up?   She seems sick to me, so why rush home to eat dinner?  Is she sick because she is overdosing on the drugs that are being sold in Twin Peaks?  That honking is really getting on my nerves!  STOP! YOUR! HONKING!!! 

We get a mention of Big Ed’s Gas Farm, does that mean we are going to cut to there soon?  

At the Twin Peaks Sheriff Department, Sheriff Frank Truman (Robert Forster) and Deputy Chief Hawk (Michael Horse) are making their plan for following Major Briggs instructions. While Frank is look at satellite view on his laptop, Hawk rolls out an old Indian map that he says is both very old and always current because it is a living thing. He shows Frank where Major Briggs station was located at Blue Pine Mountain, a very revered and sacred site. He believes the Major’s instructions will lead them there. Frank notices a campfire on the map and asks about it. Hawk explains that it is a fire symbol and it represents a type a fire that is like modern day electricity, but the intention behind the fire is very important. He also shows him the image of black cornstalks, they are black with disease. The black corn and the fire together make a black fire, also shown on the map. Frank asks about the symbol at the top, the same that Bad Cooper has on the playing card. Hawk tells him he should never want to know what that means.

They are interrupted by Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) letting Hawk know that the Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson) is on the line for him. She tells him there is fire where he is going and that her log doesn’t like fire. He thanks her and says goodbye. There is a knock at the door. Frank opens it and finds Deputy Holcomb asking him if he would like to check out his new car. Frank tells him they’re busy right now and asks to look at it tomorrow.

The log always knows what is going on. Also, I want to know what that symbol means considering Bad Cooper showed it to Darya.  And Frank just mentions seeing it within the papers that were found in the scroll from Major Briggs.

At the Buckhorn PD, Albert, Diane, and Gordon are sitting together as Gordon’s right hand is shaking, something he says it’s never done that before. Speaking in code Albert suggests not having coffee but getting some warm milk for the cat as he looks in Diane’s direction. Albert continues saying “on the roof?” Gordon replies “Yes, the picture you took of Ruth.” Albert takes out the picture of Ruth’s arm with the coordinates on it. He watches Diane as she too looks at the photo and mouths the numbers as she reads them. Realizing Albert is watching her, she stops and asks if she can smoke in there. Gordon tells her to ask Macklay when he comes in.

Albert begins telling Gordon the coordinates are a small town in the north – he is suddenly cut off as Macklay and Tammy come in with coffee and donuts. Diane asks Macklay about smoking and after first saying no he bends to her argument about how a cigarette would taste with this coffee. Macklay informs then that they were able to positively ID the body as Ruth Davenport. However, they were not able to find any suspects in the area and no one around there heard any gunshots when Hasting’s head blew up. Albert assures him that a bullet could not have done that to Hastings. Gordon brings up the “homeless man” they saw by the building. Diane says she thinks she saw someone like that getting out of Macklay’s car. Macklay discounts this as he was in the car. Diane says maybe she was wrong. Suddenly Gordon remembers having seen the bearded men before, together in a room.

What is going on with Diane? Why was she trying so hard to read those coordinates?  I am starting to think that Diane is not really Diane, considering last week’s episode when Gordon states to Albert that he suspected something was off with her. It seemed clear that Albert was trying to confirm his suspicions by showing Diane the photo of the arm.

Bushnell Mullins (Don Murray) is in his office doing pushups against his desk. He calls for Dougie to come in and Phil (Josh Fadem) responses they are on their way and he has his coffee. Soon Phil comes through the door holding a tray of coffee like a carrot luring Dougie into the office. Mullins tells Dougie may have uncovered a widespread corruption in the company and with the police. He believes the two recent attempts on Cooper’s life back this up. Further he commends Cooper for having shown that the Mitchum brothers’ claim was in fact not arson but a legitimate accident. This tells him the brothers are not part of the conspiracy. Because he just got a call from them requesting a meeting with Dougie Jones. Not knowing they plan to kill him, Bushnell is excited to have Cooper take the $30 million dollar check to them personally. The Mitchums are sending a car a 5:30 to pick him up.

So, the insurance company did approve the 30 million dollars for the Mitchum Brothers? I am not sure that sending Dougie to see them on his own is a good idea.  

At the Mitchums’ house, the brothers are just sitting down for breakfast at 2:30 in the afternoon. Bradley (James Belushi) is visibly upset about a dream he had all night. He dreamed about killing Dougie. He hates him and just can’t wait to kill him. Rodney (Robert Knepper) tells him to just hold on for three more hours.

They’re just starting the day at 2:30 PM? Well, it is Vegas. Also, anytime dreams are mentioned, I feel like we need to pay attention to it. 

At 5:30, Bushnell is walking Cooper down to the limo the brother sent, when Cooper is suddenly distracted. He sees Gerard in the Red Room motioning him into the coffee shop/bakery on the ground floor. Unsure what’s happening, Bushnell first calls after him then follows him. Moments later, they approach the limo with Cooper now carrying a box. The driver (Jay Larson), the same one who gave Cooper a ride home from the casino on the night he arrived, gets him into the backseat. Bushnell waves as the car pulls away.

The Black Lodge is helping Coop again. Why? Happy to see my favorite limo driver is back! He just seems like such a nice guy. I am not a fan of this Shawn Colvin version of the Viva Las Vegas, is it playing on the radio?

As the Mitchums sit in the back of their own limo in the desert waiting to kill Cooper, Bradley is beginning to have second thoughts because of his dreams. Rodney lists off all the reason they need to kill him. Bradley agrees that he’s right. Still haunted by his dream, he tells Rodney that in his dream the cut he got from Candie had healed. He pulls off Rodney’s band-aid to find it has, in fact, healed. Rodney is surprised but not really convinced. Bradley struggles to remember the rest of his dream.

Cooper arrives and the limo drives helps him out of the car. Rodney dismisses the driver but upon seeing the box Cooper is carrying he tells the driver to hold on. He tells Rodney that he saw that box in his dream. And if that box contains a certain item, they cannot kill him. It would mean he is not their enemy and they can’t kill him. However, Bradley can’t explain it other that it was the dream. He gets Rodney to promise if the item is in the box they won’t kill him. Bradley whispers to Rodney what it is. Rodney pulls out his gun and demands to know from Cooper if the box contains a cherry pie. Cooper repeats “cherry pie” and Bradley goes over to confirm it is a cherry pie. Surprised, Rodney has Bradley frisk him “just in case.” Bradley finds the check and shows it to his stunned brother. Bradley exclaims “I love this guy!” They go over and shake his hand.

I am glad that they did not kill Coop. Obviously, the Cherry Pie saved him, along with the Black Lodge.   I was just so worried that whatever was supposed to be in the box was not going to be, however, even with the way this show plays out sometimes, I was sure that we were not going to be losing Coop.

The brothers take Cooper out for dinner. They toast to Dougie. The piano player begins to play a melancholy tune that catches Cooper’s ear. He turns toward the piano and as he does he is recognized by a woman who calls out “Mr. Jackpots?” It is the old woman (Linda Porter) from the casino. Dressed in fine attire, she thanks him for changing her life. She tells Cooper she has a house now and has reconnected with her son. There’s just no way she can ever thank him enough. She tells the brothers that she hopes they realize what a special person they have dining with them. “He saved my life,” she beams. Rodney is moved to tears.

Candie (Amy Shiels), Mandie (Andréa Leal), and Sandie (Giselle DaMier) show up. The brothers ask Candie where they’ve been. She tells them there was so much traffic on the strip, cars everywhere. Cooper and the brothers dig in to the cherry pie. Rodney remarks that it is damn good. Cooper repeats this.

Yay dinner! Yay Mr. Jackpots! Yay, no Roadhouse this time! Ok, I like that we’ve been closing with the Roadhouse, but this was a nice change.    I like the way the scene was scored by the piano player.

Final Thoughts

With tonight’s episode, it gets us closer to the end, and I am not sure if anything we are seeing is going to be wrapped up come Episode 18.   Also, if not mentioned before, it seems like what has been occurring in Buckhorn and Vegas is taking place at least 9 days behind of what is happening in Twin Peaks. Why do we have different time lines?   How is this all coming together?   I’ve been trying to keep track of all the different dates and times and numbers and coordinates. I know though that I need to just watch the show and not try to guess what is going to happen next. #whereisaudrey?

Join me here each week during the season for recaps and discussion of every episode. Twin Peaks airs Sundays at 9 pm on Showtime.