I don’t know what to say for this week. This show is so hard to predict and I love that about it!   I love being surprised scene to scene, or even in the same scene. I am amazed at how this show has maintained such secrecy and no leaks whatsoever. We are now at Episode 13, which means we have only 5 more episodes to go. Let’s see what is in store for us this week.

Twin Peaks: The Return Part 13

Party at Bushnell'sMuch to the surprise of Anthony Sinclair (Tom Sizemore), a party comes dancing through the offices of Lucky 7 Insurance straight into the office of Bushnell Mullins (Don Murray). The Mitchum Brothers(Robert Knepper & James Belushi) , Candie (Amy Shiels), Sandie(Giselle DaMier), Mandie (Andréa Leal), and Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) make up the parade.  The girls each place a wrapped package on Mullins desk as the brothers cheer for him. Mullins tells Cooper he might want to call his wife. He then proceeds to ask about the gifts. Candie begins open the boxes to reveal a box of cigars, monogrammed diamond cuff links, and the keys to a new BMW. One to match the one they gave to Cooper.  Bradley Mitchum (Belushi) tells Mullins that “A wrong has been made right, and the sun is shining bright.”

Hidden AnthonyHiding behind his desk, Anthony grabs his desk phone and calls Duncan Todd (Patrick Fischler) to tell him the Mitchums didn’t kill Dougie. A visibly angry Todd tells Anthony he knows what he needs to do now and he has one day to do it. Anthony pleads that Todd told him he would have two. Todd reiterates, ONE DAY.  Anthony hangs up and Todd calls for Roger.

I love the Vegas conga line! That they brought their own theme music to celebrate the 30 million dollars and how Anthony’s expressions were ones of disbelief.     However, I am questioning the integrity here of accepting gifts for payment of the insurance settlement.   I also don’t know how Anthony is going to be able to get through murdering Coop considering that the Mitchum Brothers did not end up doing so.   Anthony seems fragile at this point.

At the Jones house, Janey-E (Naomi Watts) answers the door to workers from the Silver Mustang Casino. They are there to deliver Sonny Jim’s new gym set. Surprised she looks at the set and then sees the new BMW parked in the driveway. The head mover (Alon Aboutboul) tells her they are courtesy of the Mitchum brothers. After a brief pause, she tells them to set it up in the backyard.

I love how Janey-E does not think twice about taking these gifts that were sent to her family from the casino.

 

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That night when Cooper arrives home, Sonny Jim (Pierce Gagnon) is out back playing on the new set. The gym set is covered with lights and there is a big yellow arch with running lights set up in front of it. Janey-E tells Cooper that when he didn’t come home the night before she was so worried about him. But she is just so proud of what he’s done. She says that Sonny Jim is in seventh heaven. Furthermore, she loves him so much.

That gym set is elaborate, but hey, it’s Vegas! I like how Janey-E stands so proudly behind Coop, or Dougie as she believes he is, essentially telling him she loves him for the materialistic things he has recently brought into her life. 

Somewhere in Western Montana, Bad Cooper drives his truck into a large garage. Watching the garage on a large screen is Ray (George Griffith), along with two other gentlemen Muddy (Frank Collison) and “the boss” Renzo (Derek Mears). Ray tells the Bad Cooper is the man he killed. Renzo comments that he didn’t kill him too well. Bad Cooper calls out to Ray. Renzo agrees to let Ray take another shot at killing him but first he wants to have a little fun with him. He tells Muddy to let him in. Bad Cooper steps into a waiting elevator and is soon face to face with Ray, Renzo, and the rest of his gang.

Muddy explains to Bad Cooper that Renzo is the boss because no one can beat him at arm wrestling. Many have tried and many have failed. He continues that in 14 years no one has come close. Bad Cooper is given a chance to leave but if chooses to stay and he loses Renzo will become his boss as well. When Bad Cooper asks what he gets if he wins, several in the room begin to chuckle. Muddy tells him if he wins he is their new boss. Bad Cooper says he doesn’t want to be their boss, he just wants Ray.

They lead Bad Cooper into another room with a table and two chairs set up in the middle. He and Renzo sit down as Muddy shouts out the rules.  He tells them to get into the starting position and then shouts “GO!”  Immediately Renzo gets Bad Cooper’s arm into a good 70? angle but can’t get him all the way down. Soon Bad Cooper moves their arms back to the starting position, telling Renzo the starting position is more comfortable. Renzo struggles to get Bad Coopers arm back down. Bad Cooper puts his arm back towards the table telling Renzo that it hurt when he had his arm down there and the starting position is more comfortable.

The gang continues to cheer on Renzo and he gets more frustrated and struggles hard to win. Using all of his strength , Renzo is unable to keep control as Bad Cooper bends Renzo’s arm down to show him how it feels  before return their arms again to the starting position. When the crowd’s yells to “finish him” get louder and Bad Cooper stare toward Ray gets more intense, Bad Cooper finally decides he had enough and slams Renzo’s arm to the table and then punches his face in.

The gang is stunned as they back away from the sight of the blood gushing from what’s left of Renzo’s face.  Ray tries to get away as the gang restrains him. Muddy looks to Bad Cooper and says “He’s all yours boss.” Bad Cooper tells the gang he needs some cell phones and then asks for privacy. The quickly obey and leave the room. Ray pleads with Bad Cooper to talk about this but Bad Cooper shoots him in the leg. Ray falls to the floor. Bad Cooper looks up to see a lone member of the gang (Christopher Durbin Noll) wearing glasses and dressed in a shirt, tie, and sweater. The business attired man asks Bad Cooper if he needs any money. Bad Cooper refuses.

Bad Cooper asks the now incapacitated Ray who hired them to kill him. Ray tells him it was a man called Phillip Jeffries. He says he’s never met him; he’s only talked to him on the phone. Jeffries set the whole prison thing up with Warden Murphy. Ray was told that Bad Cooper was coming to kill him but he needed to get out and kill Bad Cooper first. Jeffries told him that Bad Cooper had something inside him that “they want.” Bad Cooper asks if Jeffries ever mentioned Major Briggs. Ray says “No.”

Ray pulls the ring out of his pocket. Bad Cooper asks him where he got that. Rays tells him a guard he had never seen before at the prison gave it to him just before he walked out of his cell. Jeffries told him to put the ring on Bad Cooper’s finger after he killed him. Bad Cooper tells him to put it on his own finger. All through this gang is standing in front of the large screen watching what‘s happening in the room.

Bad Cooper asks Ray for the coordinates. Rays has no intention of giving them to him and suggest to Bad Cooper that even if he did how he would trust him they were real. Ray states “I know who you are.” He then reaches into his pocket for a piece of paper with the coordinates that he gives to Bad Cooper. Bad Cooper looks at the paper and asks Ray where Jeffries is. Rays says he doesn’t know. Bad Cooper asks again more emphatically. Ray responds that the last he heard he was at a place called The Dutchman’s. As Ray is further explain that it’s not a real place, Bad Cooper shoots him in the head saying he knows what it is.

Bad Cooper takes a step forward and looks at the ring on Ray‘s finger and watches the ring disappear. The ring drops to the floor of the Black Lodge. Bad Cooper continues to stare at when the ring was on Ray’s finger before deciding to leave. All of this has been observed by an unnerved looking Richard Horne (Eamon Farren) who has been watching from the screen with the rest of the gang. Bad Cooper appears to make eye contact with Richard through the screen as he walks out of the room. Ray’s body and the pool of blood under his head are now lying on the chevron floor of the Black Lodge. The ring is once again placed on the pedestal.

Western Montana. Is this near Missoula?  What is this gang that Ray was part of, especially the guy in the glasses.  Obviously, the guy in glasses is the accountant.   I was not expecting at all for Bad Cooper to punch that guys face in but more break off his arm.    I also love how the rest of the gang stood around that huge television monitor to watch what was happening.   And then Richard shows up!!! What?!?!  Is this before or after he has run down that boy in Twin Peaks?   He also seems engaged and focused on Bad Cooper.    So, both Bad Copper and Ray have been in contact with Phillip Jeffries?   Ray says the Jeffries told him that Bad Cooper has something inside of him that they want.  What is that?  Is it the doppelganger?   Is that why Ray had the ring, to assure that after Bad Cooper was dead that he went back to the Black Lodge?    It doesn’t matter now though, since Ray now “lives” in the Black Lodge.

Detective “Smiley” Fusco (Eric Edelstein) is on the phone at the Las Vegas PD. He is trying to give some directions as his brother Detective D Fusco (Larry Clarke) sits next to him eating. He finally ends call by saying “bye mom.” He then tells his brother that their mom would like them to come to Sunday dinner and she hopes there are no murders this weekend. They both laugh as he continues says “fat chance that’s going to happen.” From the next room a loud struggle is heard as the desk sergeant (Jelani Quinn) and another office are trying to restrain a knife wielding woman who is “pissing” all over the floor. The two Fusco remain sitting, paying no attention to the ruckus in the next room.

The third Fusco walks from where the ordeal is happening continuing to look back at the off screen action. He then turns his attention to his brothers telling them he has the results from the fingerprints they sent to the lab. According to the info he received on Douglas Jones, he escaped from prison in South Dakota two days ago and is also a missing FBI agent. The brothers all agree this is clearly a huge mistake. T Fusco (David Koechner) tosses the report in the trash as Anthony Sinclair pokes his head in asking where he can find Detective Clark.

Anthony heads out back where the Fuscos directed him to find Detective Clark (John Savage) smoking a cigarette. Clark is not happy to see him. He tells Anthony he is not supposed to be there. Anthony knows but he has an important question to ask. He tells Clark he needs to know of a good undetectable poison. Clark suggests aconitine and eventually agrees to get him some for $5,000. He says it’s perfect for Anthony’s needs. It will do the job and give him two hours to get away.  They agree to meet that night to make the exchange. Anthony leaves and Clark’s crooked partner (Johnny Chavez) who had been smoking nearby walks over to ask Clark what’s up. Clark says Anthony is starting to crack. The unnamed partner says he’ll call Mr. Todd.

Always great to see the Fusco Brothers. And, now we know that Anthony does plan to kill Coop since he is asking for poison.   

On the road from South Dakota to Las Vegas, Hutch (Tim Roth) and Chantal (Jennifer Jason Leigh) have entered Utah. As they drive they share a quick exchange about Mormon life. Specifically in regard to Mormon bans on alcohol, coffee, soda, and premarital sex. Hutch also mentions polygamy which makes Chantal wonder why there aren’t more of them then.

So, they have just murdered Warden Murphy in front of his kid, and they are driving down the road on their way to Vegas having typical road trip conversations.

Janey-E drops Cooper off for work in the morning, driving their brand new BMW. With a goofy smile on her face she reaches across, opens his door, and gives him a slight push out before shaking her head saying “Oh Dougie.”

As Cooper approaches the office building he walks smack into the glass door. He steps back and stares at it, unsure of how to get through. Inside the lobby, Anthony watches this scene with a mix of confusion and wonder. Soon a gentleman enter the building opens the door for Cooper. Cooper crosses to Anthony who invites him to get a cup of coffee. Cooper lights up at the word coffee and they head over to Szymons.

Someday Coop will learn how to open and close doors. Everyone is so patient with him constantly, how is this?   Is no one suspecting that something is off about him?  The only one that does appear to be Anthony who is watching Coop bang himself into the door trying to get into the building.   

Cooper delights in his first sip but then something in the bakery catches his eye. He stands up from the table and heads inside much to the confusion of Anthony. Cooper heads straight to a single slice of cherry pie in the display counter. Back at the table, Anthony realizes this is his chance. He grabs Cooper’s coffee and dumps in the small vial of aconitine. As he slides it back to Cooper’s seats he begins to show signs of uncertainty. Inside, the waitress sees Cooper stare at the pie and tells him she’ll bring him a slice. She sends him back to his table to enjoy his coffee while he waits.

As Cooper returns, he walks up behind a very tense Anthony and begins touching his shoulders. Anthony begins to show signs of discomfort as he tries to persuade Cooper to sit down and drink “your coffee.” Cooper repeats the words “your coffee,” and Anthony breaks down in tears. He grabs Cooper’s cup, says “Oh God! I never meant to hurt anyone!” and runs off with poisoned coffee. Cooper walks up to the table and takes Anthony’s coffee. He sits down as the waitress arrives with his cherry pie.

Anthony goes into the restroom, pours out the coffee into a urinal and throws the cup in the trash. He returns to apologize profusely to Cooper. Cooper stares at the tortured man as he eats his cherry pie.

I am always waiting for something to snap Coop out of it, and it could be as subtle as taking another sip of coffee. Or seeing that cherry pie. Or the combo of both! Also, I was waiting for Mike to show up or the Black Lodge to appear to warn Coop that there was poison in his cup. However, all it took was a back rub from Coop to get Anthony to break down. I feel so bad for Anthony right now.  He is fragile.

At the Double R, Shelly (Mädchen Amick) gets a call from Becky (Amanda Seyfried) who is sitting on her couch at home. Through teary eyes she tells her mom that she is concerned because Steven never came home last night and this is now two nights in a row. Shelly suggests maybe he just needs some time. She begins to rush Becky off the phone asking if they can talk about it later. As Becky says that’s fine, Shelly changes her mind and tells Becky to come to the diner and she’ll get her a nice slice of cherry pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and lots of whipped cream. Becky thinks that sounds so good and she’ll be right there.

Shelly has her hands full with Becky. Does Becky not know her mom must work to be able to bail her out from her life all the time.    

Anthony tearfully confesses to Mullins in his office with Cooper standing by. He tells Mullins that for months, he’s been secretly working behind his back for Duncan Todd and he’s been selling Mullins “down the river.” He says he’s lied and cheated for money. Mullins informs Anthony that Cooper already showed him everything and even implicated himself. He goes on expressing his anger and disappointment with Anthony, a man he trusted and consider his number one sales agent. Anthony begs for forgiveness and further confesses to attempting to kill Cooper.

Mullins says he was prepared to have Anthony put away but this confession changes things. He asks Anthony if he is prepared to testify against Duncan Todd. Anthony agrees even if it kills him. He hasn’t been able to sleep and he needs to fix this. Mullins mentions testifying against the two cops as well. Anthony pauses surprised Cooper knew about them and tells Mullins that he doesn’t know what he’s asking. They’re worse that Todd. Mullins says that he’s not really asking. Anthony agrees just wanting to fix the situation. He thanks Cooper repeatedly for saving his life by not letting him become a murderer.

Oh, Anthony, you are not a bad person. I see that you feel terrible about this whole situation. And I am glad that Bushnell did not fire Anthony. I just don’t know what is going to happen next with Duncan Todd when he finds out and retaliates against Anthony for confessing.

An off duty Deputy Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook), comes into the Double R looking for Shelly. Norma (Peggy Lipton), seated in her usual spot at her desk table, tells him she already gone home. Big Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) is sitting across from her. They invite Bobby to sit down and have some dinner. Bobby tells them he already ordered something and he’ll leave them alone. Ed insists he sit down and not go eat alone. Bobby agrees. Ed asks him what’s new and Bobby tells him they found some stuff today that his dad left but at this point they’re not really sure what it is but they’ll check it out.

Norma gets up to go get Ed’s dinner. While she’s gone, Bobby offers to move to another booth so they can be alone. Ed tells him there is no need because there is nothing going on there between him and Norma. Suddenly, Walter Lawford (Grant Goodeve) walks into the diner and goes up to Norma for a kiss hello. Ed decides that he and Bobby will move elsewhere so Walter and Norma can talk business. He tells Walter it’s go to see him and Walter replies in kind. However, when Walter sits down he asks Norma what Ed’s name is.

Walter is there to share some exciting news with Norma. He tells her that three of their five Norma’s Double R franchises have turned a profit. Which is very good news. However he points out that one of the lagging locations is the original. He shows her a spreadsheet with a bunch of numbers she can’t follow. He breaks it down for her that she is spending too much per pie and not charging enough. Norma tells him that she’s heard from customers that the pies at the other locations are just not as good as they ones they make. She doesn’t know why because she gave them all her recipes per their agreement. She suspects they are just not following them. Walter assures her the other locations are following the recipes but, per the agreement, they are exercising their discretion about where they get the ingredients.

Walter goes on to say the board would like to her tweak things to ensure both consistency and profitability.  As an example they would like to change the name of the original Twin Peaks location to Norma’s Double R the same as the others. She really doesn’t want to change it from what it has always been even as he tries to persuade her with market research about how much better the other name tested. Sensing Norm’s desire to change the subject, Walter verifies that they are still on for dinner tonight to celebrate. She says of course. The whole while, Big Ed sits a couple of booths away staring at the back of Walter’s head with contempt.

Big Ed Hurley!!!  He is sitting there with Norma as if we just saw him last week. I also feel like Bobby comes to the diner to be able to see Shelly. What happened with them? And, I did not see it coming that the Double R was now a franchise. I wonder when that happened and where the other locations are. Also, you can see that Big Ed and Norma love and will always love each other, however, it just does not seem like it is meant to be for them. Especially with the look on Big Ed’s face the whole-time Norma is talking to Walter. Ed has asked Bobby what is new and Bobby mentions that they found some stuff related to his dad, however, he is not specific about it, but says it was today. The timeline of this show can be hard to follow, and I wonder if we did not then go to Jack Rabbit Palace with Truman, Hawk and Bobby. Or is he referencing the cylinder and the map they found?

While driving past Run Silent Run Drapes, Dr. Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn), aka Dr. Amp, hits the brakes on his truck when he spies one of his golden shovels hung in the window display. Inside Nadine (Wendy Robie) is surprised when the door buzzer sounds, however she is delighted when she finds it is Dr. Amp paying her a visit. She tells him how much she loves his show and that the display in the window is a tribute to him. He is so touched by her loyalty to their cause. Jacoby remembers last seeing her seven  years in the supermarket as she was on the ground trying to get a potato. He reminds her there was a big storm that day. She looks at him with a blank stare.

Dr. Jacoby and Nadine had a moment 7 years ago that she does not remember. Could she have never recovered from her concussion and just been slipping in and out of different personas for years?  

In her home, Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) is sitting on her front room couch watching old boxing footage, smoking a cigarette, and drinking. When she runs out of vodka, she heads into the next room and rifles through some bottles before returning with an almost empty bottle.  She pours it’s contents into a glass and drinks it. Eventually she puts out her cigarette into one of two overflowing ashtrays, before getting up and leaving the room again.

I have no idea what is going on here. The television keeps looping back and it seems like Sarah’s actions do to? I was waiting for something else to happen like a figure to appear, but nothing did.  Her choice of programming though is odd and violent.  

Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn) is crying demanding Charlie (Clark Middleton) tell her what Tina said. He tells her they’ve been over this and she needs to stop it. Audrey looks around and says she feels like she’s somewhere else. She asks Charlie if he’s ever had that feeling. He replies no. She continues that she also feels like she’s someone else as well. Charlie again says he always feels like himself.

When she asks what she’s supposed to do, Charlie tells her she is supposed to go to the Roadhouse and see if Billy is there. She agrees but doesn’t seem to know where it is. He says he will take her but she needs to stop playing games or he asks if he needs to end her story too. Audrey asks “What story is that Charlie? Is that the story of the little girl who lived down the lane? Is it?”

Charlie says to her that she’s the one who wanted to go but now she seems like she wants to stay. Audrey replies that she wants to go and she wants to stay. That she wants both. She asks Charlie for help and says “It’s like Ghostwood here.” She begins sobbing as Charlie just stares at her.

What is going on with Audrey? The dialogue did not make sense.   The house that she and Charlie live in seems to be tiny and without any modern elements.  The decor as well as their clothing appears to be right out of the 1940s. She speaks of being trapped somehow and of Ghostwood? The scene also looks to be shot very softly and different from the rest of the show. I am believing that Audrey is still in the coma and that this is all in her head. 

At the Roadhouse, the MC (J.R. Starr) introduces James Hurley (James Marshall) as he begins to play “Just You” the  song he once recorded with Maddy and Donna. On stage with him are two stand-ins (Kelsey Bohlen & Rachael Bower) for them singing backup. Throughout his performance, a woman named Renee (Jessica Szohr) smiles as he performs and is then moved to tears.

I cannot believe that the Roadhouse let James sing that terrible song! When he was introduced I yelled out he better not sing that song, and he did! Ugh!!! It was not good 25 years ago and it’s not good today.  It seemed to work on that chick though who is crying about the song.  I am crying about the song in a different way. What happened on that date?   Maybe we need to go back and read the Secret History of Twin Peaks again.   It could be in there.

Big Ed sits alone at Big Ed’s Gas Farm having soup and coffee from the Double RR. He watches the occasional car pass by a sits with look of tortured loneliness  on his face. He picks a square of paper that looks like it could be a folded over note. Striking a match, he burns it up before returning to his soup.

Big Ed again. I hope we get more of him in the remaining episodes. I also hope that his life is not too lonely sitting there eating soup.

Final Thoughts

Only 5 Episodes left and still so many questions. I am excited to see how this all wraps up, and again sad that it will come to an end. Join me next week for more recap and thoughts of Episode 14.

Join me here each week during the season for recaps and discussion of every episode. Twin Peaks airs Sundays at 8 pm on Showtime.

About the Author

Amantha is first and foremost an avid David Lynch fan (especially Twin Peaks). In addition, she is a vital member of the team responsible for HorrorBuzz's monthly Horror Movie Night at The Frida Cinema, as well as, The Screaming Room short film festival at the annual Midsummer Scream convention.