Twin Peaks Episode 13 Recap: Finally, Some Answers From David Lynch
Week unlucky number thirteen, here we are. We go into every episode of Twin Peaks wondering what new questions are going to arise. This installment provides a lot of answers, thankfully, and, so, a pretty succinct summary. (For once!) This week focuses on the Vegas plot since we barely saw Dougie/Cooper last week, so there’s lots of loose ends to tie up there. Also we get some key details in the mystery of what Bob (inside Cooper’s real body) wants, and who wants him dead… and who wants the real Cooper dead. Nothing from the FBI folks this week in between all that action. Read on.
Kyle MacLachlan and Tom Sizemore in a still from Twin Peaks. Photo: Suzanne Tenner/SHOWTIME
Las Vegas
The Mitchum brothers Congo-line into the insurance office with Sandie, Mandie, and Candie after staying out all night… and Dougie. Anthony looks extremely worried. (Continuity check: last episode we saw Dougie home with his son playing catch, but this looks like the end of their bender after the dinner in episode 11?) They present lavish gifts to Bushnell Mullins, including a new convertible. Anthony, cowering under his desk, puts in a call to Duncan Todd, the creepy man in the mysterious office (Patrick Fischler). “I’m giving you one day to remedy the situation,” Duncan says. He’s a solid new Lynch villain. Clearly these people want Cooper dead for some other reason.
At Dougie’s house, the Mitchum brothers send a new play-gym set for Sonny Jim and a new BMW, which Janey-E gladly accepts. Cut to a creepy night sequence of Sonny Jim playing on his new gym with tons of lights and a spotlight following him. Janey-E tells Dougie she expected the worst when he didn’t come home (again, continuity: wasn’t he home in the last episode?) I’m resigning myself to the idea that we’re going to go through the whole season with Cooper/Dougie acting completely brain-fried. Oh well.
The idiotic Las Vegas police officers get prints from Douglas Jones, who apparently escaped from prison two days ago in South Dakota and is a former FBI agent. Ding ding! ”It’s a huge f—ing mistake,” one cop says, and they throw it in the trash. Ha.
Anthony comes by to talk to one of the dirty detectives that works with him to ask about buying an undetectable poison, obviously for Cooper. They set up the “The fuck wants to poison somebody,” Other guy says I’ll call Mr. Todd.
Janey-E drops Dougie off at work, with that same glazed-over doting act typical of a Lynch heroine. Anthony is waiting for him, and offers to get him a coffee (eek!). Of course, Dougie agrees. When Dougie wanders into the coffee shop because he sees cherry pie. Anthony then takes his opportunity to poison the coffee.
Cooper sees dandruff on Anthony’s back and starts to touch it, massaging his back in a calming gesture. Anthony breaks down sobbing and leaves with the poisoned coffee as the waitress brings Cooper a slice of cherry pie. Anthony comes back crying telling Doug he he so sorry, who just stares at him. This version of Cooper certainly brings, well, something out of people.
Anthony comes clean to Mullins about working for Todd and cheating the company for money. Mullins tells him that Dougie already explained it all. (Wait, why wasn’t Anthony immediately fired?)
A sobbing Anthony agrees to testify against Duncan Todd and the crooked cops. Cooper saves the day, once again.
Eamon Farren in a still from Twin Peaks. Photo: Suzanne Tenner/SHOWTIME
Western Montana and Elsewhere
On the road, Chantal and Hutch are driving west, and that’s about it—but any scene with Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tim Roth is fun. I guess Lynch liked The Hateful Eight! (In turn, I have a feeling Tarantino would not like the revamp of Twin Peaks given he had this to say about Fire Walk With Me: “David Lynch had disappeared so far up his own ass that I have no desire to see another David Lynch movie until I hear something different.” Other than the masterful episode eight, a lot of these episodes, or at least parts of them, aren’t too different…)
In western Montana, Bob pulls up to the warehouse where Ray, his old partner and prison-break cohort, has ended up. A surprised but not too concerned Ray tells his gang he thought he was dead, but the boss, Renzo, says he should come up. When Cooper arrives, they tell him he has to arm wrestle the boss. If he wins, he’s the boss; if he doesn’t, he has to do what the boss says.
He balks: “What is this, kindergarten?” Agreed. We can see where this is going when he says that he doesn’t want to be their boss if he wins, he just wants Ray. Oh gee, I wonder who wins that arm wrestling match? The brawny Renzo is no match for the dark forces of Bob, who barely breaks a sweat. After he’s exhausted Renzo, he breaks his arm as he slams it on the table… then punches in his face so hard it appears that he is dead. Winner. The gang hands over Ray, and they’re left alone.
Ray tries to run but Cooper/Bob shoots him in the leg. He asks Ray who hired him to kill him: “It came through a man named Philip Jeffries.” (Who, as far as we know, has disappeared long before this season; and remember, he has been in touch with Cooper/Bob, too, or so he thought.) Apparently, he set the whole thing up with Warden Murphy and said that Bob was going to kill Ray unless Ray killed him first. “He said you’ve got something inside that they want,” Ray continues.
“Did he ever mention Major Briggs?” Cooper asks– answer is no. But: “Jeffries said I was supposed to put this on you after I kill you.” It’s the notorious green ring from the Red Room—which he know was found in the stomach of the body of Major Briggs that turned up in Buckhorn. A guard gave it to Ray when he left his cell during the bust-out. Jeffries said to put it on the ring finger left hand after killing Cooper. Cooper makes Ray put it on. Next he wants the coordinates they got from Hastings. “I know who you are,” Ray says to Cooper, as he gets the coordinates out of his pocket. Meanwhile, in the other room, the whole gang is watching this go down on a megascreen. Richard Horne walks into the group. Cooper asks a final question: Where is Jeffries? “The last thing I heard he was at a place called the Dutchman’s,” Ray says. “But that’s not a real place…” Bang!
Bob/Cooper shoots him dead. “I know what it is,” he says back. (The green ring disappears from his hand, and returns to the Red Room, along with Ray.) Cooper leaves, eyeing the cameras, and back in the other room Richard watches him intensely. Is Cooper (the real one, or more likely Bob) Richard’s father??
Russ Tamblyn and Wendy Robie in a still from Twin Peaks. Photo: Suzanne Tenner/SHOWTIME
Twin Peaks
At the Double R, Becky calls Shelly to say Steven never came home. He’s been gone for two days. Shelly tells Becky to come to the diner and she’ll give her some cherry pie and ice cream.
Later, Bobby Briggs comes into the Double R and hesitatingly sits with Ed Hurley and Norma—as fans will recall, the latter two were high-school sweethearts and then had an affair. Bobby senses tension. Someone named Walter comes to meet with Norma, and Bobby retreats. Ed sulks away. Walter is a business associate… Norma has a franchise! There are five Double R’s! In fact, they’re called Norma’s Double R. And they’ve turned a profit! But the flagship is struggling. Walter and the board (eh?) want her to find a cheaper way to make her pies, since that’s what struggling done her business. (Once again, eh?) Anyway, Walter and Norma are going out for dinner later—there’s more going on here than just business. A watchful Ed looks sad.
At her store, Nadine is on her computer, where we always see her, when Dr. Jacoby shows up at her door. She’s a big fan of his podcast, as we know. She even has a window display of his golden shovel. It’s been suggested in other shots of her, but now it’s crystal clear: she has a drape shop! Ha ha. Naturally she mentions how silent they are, and Dr. Jacoby looks on admiringly. Another romance in the making, it seems.
Across town, a very depressed and drunk Sarah Palmer watches wrestling, drinks vodka, and chain smokes. And in yet another part of town, Audrey is still there begging her husband to tell him what Tina said on the phone—from last week. She’s still looking for Billy and on the verge of a breakdown.
OK back to the Roadhouse! James Hurley, emo as ever, is performing “Just You.” Nice call back. A random from a few episodes back, Renee (Jessica Szohr), watches him and swoons. On a similar note, we end on Ed Hurley drinking from a cup of soup with Norma’s name on it, watching the cars go by. The lovelorn of Twin Peaks can’t catch a break.
A Field Guide to Recognizing Your Favorite Twin Peaks Actors Now, 26 Years Later
Though Kyle MacLachlan has since starred in other cult series, even when he was Charlotte’s impotent husband on Sex and the City and a murderer on Desperate Housewives, he’ll always be known as Special Agent Dale Cooper, a man never too far away from a slice of cherry pie or cup of strong, black joe. (No word yet on whether Diane will be returning, too.)
Death be damned, Laura Palmer is coming back with a bang by starring in all 18 episodes of the new series—that is, unless Sheryl Lee, whose first post-Peaks role was Salome opposite Al Pacino, and who has since showed up in Winter’s Bone and Woody Allen’s Café Society, is simply reprising her role as Laura’s suspiciously identical cousin, Maddy.
Dana Ashbrook has kept up acting with a steady roster of smaller films, including 2012’s The Agression Scale with Ray Wise, aka Leland Palmer, and more than a few appearances on Dawson’s Creek, presumably making him more than up to the job in reprising his role as the annoying ultimate bad boy Bobby Briggs—even now that his hair’s gone gray.
Though she’s now a long way from a schoolgirl, the ever flirtatious Audrey Horne may have a chance at getting together with Coop after all, especially since actress Sherilyn Fenn has been keeping up her acting chops on shows like Gilmore Girls and Shameless (not to mention appearing on the cover of Playboy in the ’90s).
At 70, Peggy Lipton scarcely seems to have aged since she last played Norma Jennings, the owner of the Double R Diner, though she has since raised another actress, her daughter Rashida Jones.
Richard Beymer‘s eyes seem only bluer than ever since the now 79-year-old actor last turned up as Benjamin Horne, Audrey’s father and the owner of the Great Northern Hotel (not to mention an appearance in West Side Story, which helped to earn him a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year that he shared with Warren Beatty). Not that viewers have been able to appreciate them: Twin Peaks is only Beymer’s fourth on-screen appearance so far in the 2000s.
From blue streaks to twin top knots, Kimmy Robertson seems to have as much appreciation for an out-there hairdo as Lucy Moran, her curly-haired secretary in the sheriff’s office. Robertson has since lent her high-pitched voice to shows like Batman and The Simpsons, plus appeared onscreen on an episode of Drake & Josh—all good practice for appearing on all 18 episodes this season.
Like Leland Palmer, Laura’s potentially murderous father, actor Ray Wise has since gone gray, a new look he’s shown off in shows like Mad Men, Fresh Off the Boat, Gilmore Girls, 24, and How I Met Your Mother. That’s range.
Another face who’ll be showing up in the full series, Mädchen Amick has lately turned up on Riverdale, plus a host of cult shows like Mad Men, Gossip Girl, ER, Gilmore Girls, and Dawson’s Creek. Fortunately for her character, the waitress Shelley Johnson, though, her abusive husband Leo won’t be back.
Since playing Deputy Hawk, one of the most reasoned voices in the sheriff’s office, Michael Horse has gone on to not only appear in shows like Malcolm in the Middle, but pick up a full-on artistic career as a jeweler and painter.
Though Michael Ontkean has maintained his curly head of locks since starring as Sheriff Harry S. Truman, the actor, who last showed up in The Descendants in 2011, has decided to leave Coop hanging and won’t be returning to Twin Peaks.
Lara Flynn Boyle won’t be returning to this season but she’ll always live on as Donna Hayward, Laura’s best friend of sorts who was never short on spectacular sweaters.
Russ Tamblyn‘s daughter Amber has since gone on to become an actor and even director herself, but Tamblyn has kept up an acting career of his own since playing the ever eccentrically-outfitted psychiatrist Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, recently picking up roles in films like Django Unchained.
Like the actor who plays fellow bad boy Bobby Briggs, James Marshall, aka James Hurley, Big Ed’s nephew who can’t get enough of riding his bike, has also gone gray, but still showed up on-screen with a few films and an appearance on CSI.
Like her on-screen daughter, Laura, the grief-stricken Sarah Palmer will be returning for all 18 episodes, although actor Grace Zabriskie has turned up in shows like Charmed and Big Love.
Fittingly, like her beau Sheriff Harry S. Truman, sawmill owner Josie Packard won’t be returning to the series—like fellow mill worker Piper Laurie, aka Catherine Martell, David Lynch apparently never asked her back. But actor Joan Chen has been looking young as ever lately in shows like Netflix’s Marco Polo.
Read W‘s recap of Part 12 of Twin Peaks.
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Read all W‘s Twin Peaks coverage here.
Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, Patricia Arquette, and Hailey Gates Open Up About Working with Legendary Director David Lynch:
