You wouldn’t think this would be an unusual thing to say, but a large part of the 11th hour of Twin Peaks actually takes place in Twin Peaks! Showtime’s revival series has featured major storylines in locations across the United States, and occasionally the world, so it’s always nice to spend a little time in the Pacific Northwest… even when the things that happen there are so unsavory.
For example, three boys tossing a baseball in the yard discover a bruised and bloody Miriam Sullivan (Sarah Jean Long) crawling from the woods, apparently surviving the beating from Richard Horne during the show’s last hour. We don’t actually see or hear from Horne in this hour; however, we catch a glimpse of the town’s other resident sleazeball, Steven Burnett (Caleb Landry Jones).
He’s cowering in the basement with the woman with whom he’s having an affair while his wife, Becky (Amanda Seyfried) angrily fires bullets into her apartment door. Becky arrived via her mother’s, Shelly (Madchen Amick), car, after grabbing the keys from her and speeding away with Shelly holding on to the hood of the car. She was so enraged that she tossed her mom into a yard at the trailer park, to be found and comforted by Carl Rodd (Harry Dean Stanton).
En route back to the Double R Diner, Shelly calls Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) for advice and we learn something we may have previously suspected, but didn’t know for sure until now: Shelly’s last name is Briggs. She and Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) were married and Becky is their daughter! I say “were” because Shelly now appears to be in a relationship with Red (Blathazar Getty), yet another Twin Peaks loser.
Bobby says he will loan Becky the money to help her get out of her relationship with Steven, but she has to make it right. Suddenly, Becky talks about what a good man Steven really is. Listening to the conversation, Norma gives her a priceless look, a combination of rolling the eyes and stink-eye. She apparently sees something about Becky that her parents do not. The family moment is interrupted when gunshots are fired into the diner.In the following scene, which is long and physically uncomfortable to endure, Bobby tries to manage the chaos that ensues outside. Standing outside a van in camouflage just like his father, a little boy has found a gun and fired it, stopping traffic on the street. A woman in the car behind won’t stop honking. Her passenger sits up like a zombie and vomits, causing the driver to scream… and scream… and scream.
It’s welcome relief when the scene changes to the Sheriff’s department. Frank Truman (Robert Forster) and Deputy Chief Hawk (Michael Horse) are quietly studying maps of the location discovered within the late Major Brigg’s metallic capsule. The symbols on Hawk’s ancient map are relevant to the entire series thus far. The campfire represents modern day electricity. The black corn represents fertility, but diseased or unnatural, like death. Combine the two and you get “black fire.”
Margaret Lanterman aka The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson) then gives Hawk one of her signature phone calls. “You found something, didn’t you? What did you find? My log is afraid of fire. There’s fire where you are going.” The scene, as well as the time spent in Twin Peaks, ends with Deputy Jesse Holcomb (James Girxoni) interrupting to ask if Sheriff Truman is interested in seeing his new car. He’s not.
There are big doings in Buckhorn as Detective Dave Macklay (Brent Briscoe) drives William Hastings (Matthew Lillard) to the location where he supposedly encountered Major Briggs. Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) pulls up behind them with Gordon Cole (David Lynch), Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell) and Diane Evans (Laura Dern). Various combinations of characters see “something” while there, whether it be “dirty, bearded men” or swirling vortexes in the sky.It’s a big moment as Albert prevents Cole, arms stretched upward, from being pulled into the aforementioned vortex. For all his trouble, though, things don’t end well for Hastings. On the site, they discover the dead body of a headless woman. (“Ruth Davenport, I assume.”) On her arm are numbers that seem to be coordinates. Albert reports, “The last digits are smudged, but indicate a small town in…” Where? He’s interrupted by a delivery of coffee and donuts.
In Las Vegas, his boss, Bushnell Mullins (Don Murray) sends Dougie (Kyle MacLachlan) to deliver a $30 million check to the Mitchum Brothers (Robert Knepper and Jim Belushi). Little do they know that the Mitchums are planning to kill Dougie, and they can barely wait to do it. Outside the building and inside a bakery, the Black Lodge appears and Phillip Gerard (Al Strobel) waves Dougie inside, where he later carries out a big, square box.
If the contents of this box matches “this one certain thing” that Bradley Mitchum (Belushi) saw in a dream, it means that Dougie isn’t their enemy. Sure enough, it does, and while frisking him, Bradley finds the $30 million check. The brothers howl with joy and Dougie is now suddenly their best friend! They take him to a fancy restaurant where Candie (Amy Shiels), Mandie (Andrea Leal) and Sandie (Giselle DaMier) serve them… cherry pie!
For most of my recap/reviews, I’ve glossed over the incredible work that Kyle MacLachlan is doing in multiple roles on Twin Peaks. These final scenes of the hour are a perfect showcase for his performance as Dougie. The look on his face and the positioning of his mouth when he sips champagne are worth the price of an Emmy. Earlier, when his driver gives him a play punch to the cheek and says, “Knock ’em dead, champ,” Dougie touches his cheek grimly and says, “Dead.” He’s subtle, he’s sympathetic and he’s hilarious.
When the Mitchum Brothers comment how good the cherry pie tastes, and Dougie says, “Damn good,” you have to believe this would be the last straw for the real Agent Cooper to emerge from his Dougie persona. What other reminder of his previous life does he need at this point? Will it happen in the next hour? We’ll see, because this hour leaves us with Dougie shoveling more pie into his mouth as the pianist plays, I believe, the lovely melody of “Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima.”
