Recap of Twin Peaks
Season 3, Episode 11
The Return: Part 11
While playing catch in their yard, three young boys witness Miriam crawling out of the woods, having survived the attempted murder by Richard Horne with severe injuries. Meanwhile Hawk and Frank study an ancient map covered in cryptic symbols. Hawk identifies a symbol of a fireball as being a general symbol for "energy", also applicable to modern-day electricity, and a black horned symbol (the same seen on the playing card Cooper showed to Daria before killing her) as something Frank does not want to know about. Hawk receives a call from Margaret Lanterman, warning him that "There's fire where you're going".
Becky Burnett catches wind of her husband Steven having an affair. She calls her mother Shelly, asking to borrow her car. Concerned for Becky, Shelly drives to the trailer park where Becky hijacks the car, despite Shelly crawling onto the hood in an attempt to get her to stop. After Shelly is flung from the hood she is aided by trailer park owner Carl Rodd, who gets her a ride back into town and calls for Deputy Bobby Briggs, Becky's father. Becky drives to the apartment where Steven was spotted, firing multiple shots through the door while Steven and his paramour, Gersten Hayward, cower in a stairwell below. Becky avoids arrest for the incident thanks to her father, but Bobby and Shelly meet with Becky in the R&R that night to reprimand her for her dangerous and reckless behavior. Becky shows remorse but is reluctant to leave Steven despite her parents' insistence she do so. Becky and Shelly embrace and share a tender moment, interrupted when Shelly spots Red outside and hastily leaves the diner to make out with him while a crestfallen Bobby watches. Shortly after this, a gunshot is fired into the diner from outside. Bobby goes outside to investigate, finding the culprit was a child who got his hands on his gun-nut father's weapon in their car outside. Bobby confronts another vehicle behind this car, which was honking its horn incessantly, and finds it driven by an irate old woman with a sickly young girl in the passenger seat. The sick girl leans towards an unsettled Bobby with vomit pouring out of her mouth.
In Buckhorn, the FBI agents drive with Bill Hastings to the location where he claims he and Ruth Davenport encountered Major Briggs, an abandoned lot with several dilapidated buildings surrounding it. The headless body of Ruth Davenport is discovered on the premises, with coordinates written on her arm. Approaching a building, Gordon has a vision of a vortex appearing in the sky, leading to a room with several Woodsmen standing on a staircase. Diane spots another Woodsman approaching the patrol car where Hastings is being held. As Albert pulls Gordon back from the vortex, the Woodsman invisibly enters the car and crushes Hastings' skull.
In Las Vegas, Bushnell gives Dougie a check for $30 million to be given to the Mitchum brothers and fulfill their legitimate claim. Unknown to either man, Anthony Sinclair falsely informed the Mitchums that Dougie was responsible for scamming them out of the claim, and the brothers now plan to murder him. Guided by the Lodge's visions, Dougie buys something in a large box before departing to deliver the check. Bradley Mitchum is particularly eager to murder Dougie at first but begins showing misgivings as the encounter draws closer. Bradley reveals that Dougie's arrival with a mysterious box is identical to a potentially prophetic dream he had the previous night, warning that Dougie is his ally and should not be killed. Upon discovering a cherry pie in the box, as he did in the dream, Bradley refuses to kill Dougie, convincing his brother Rodney to back down as well. Upon discovering the $30 million check in Dougie's coat pocket the brothers are overjoyed and take Dougie out for champagne to celebrate. The brothers shower Dougie with praise as he eats his cherry pie, but Dougie's attention is drawn to a nearby piano player's bittersweet song and becomes melancholy.
Tropes appearing in this episode:
- Society-on-Edge Episode: Bobby is confronted with the erosion of social order in Twin Peaks, with reckless shootings and the sick girl who almost acts like Regan from The Exorcist, with the implication that she may have overdosed on Sparkle.
- Viva Las Vegas!: Although the entire Dougie Jones storyline has been set in Las Vegas, this episode has the characteristic montage of casinos along the Strip as Cooper is driven through it.
