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In just two weeks -- and three episodes -- we'll be concluding our journey back to Twin Peaks. As exciting as these last few hours are of our beloved Twin Peaks, there's a bittersweet notion that this is the last we'll ever see of Twin Peaks (Mark Frost's book "The Final Dossier" will tie up some loose ends when it comes out in October) or David Lynch for that matter.
But before we get there, we get to cross off a couple mysteries in a very eventful Hour 15, it's an intensely satisfying hour where we move from a long-awaited moment of joy to David Lynch's signature strangeness and then to a peculiar sadness. It's an emotional episode with many ups and downs, scares and even a cliffhanger left dangling right in the middle of the episode.
The episode opens with perhaps one of the fans most anticipated moments that we've been waiting for since the first episodes of Twin Peaks ever aired. Big Ed's heart breaks no more. And that's because Nadine, dragging her signature Dr. Amp golden shovel to dig herself out of the shit, informs Big Ed that he's now free. That she now sees that she's been holding him hostage and accountable for all of these years for shooting her eye out way back when. He doesn't believe it at first. He thinks she'll just change her mind again tomorrow, but there's something about her demeanor that lets him know the truth. He drives off to the Double R Diner to let Norma know that they can finally be together -- and she's with Walter. She apologizes to Ed and goes with Walter to offer him to buy out her diner's franchise. He reluctantly accepts and leaves. It's then as Ed grieves over feeling a slight rejection after all of this time that Norma walks up and embraces Ed. He then proposes and she accepts.
Immediately following that joyous moment we transition to the unsettling and foreboding perspective of DoppelDale's truck headlights driving through backroads. He ends up at a familiar location, a convenient store we've last seen in Hour 8, where time skips and jumps around. It may be where the Woodsmen live. One meets him there and leads him to the room above, a room we've seen many times before. We see the jumping man from "Fire Walk With Me," some other familiar faces and some very familiar wallpaper. In that room, DoppelDale requests to see Phillip Jeffries and is then led out to a motel. The same motel we saw Leland Palmer with Theresa Banks way back in "Fire Walk With Me." And a strange women leads him into the room where Jeffries is. Jeffries, like the Arm, has evolved or transformed into a different sort of object. He's now some sort of metal bell-shaped machine that shoots out steam.
They discuss Jeffries reappearance at FBI headquarters in 1989 and whether or not he was the one who sent Ray after him and talked to him way back in Hour 2. Then the subject of Judy -- whoever that is -- gets brought up. We've heard Phillip Jeffries bring her up before, and we've heard a monkey's face say it in "Fire Walk With Me," but who or what Judy is still is a mystery. Fans theorize that Judy is actually Major Garland Briggs, because Judy Garland/Garland Briggs. But in this scene, things get quite testy after Phillip Jeffries refuses to tell him who Judy is. He simply emits some numbers with his steam that spell out the same coordinates on Ruth Davenport's arm that lead to Jack Rabbit's Palace. Perhaps Judy actually is Naido, the eyeless woman found outside of Jack Rabbit's Palace not sitting in a jail cell, and DoppelDale is headed to those coordinates to kill her.
The phone rings and DoppelDale is transported outside of the gas station. He is then confronted by Richard Horne. Richard threatens to kill him because he believes that he is an FBI agent. DoppelDale makes quick work of him and tells him to get in the truck. After learning -- and finally confirming -- that Audrey Horne is his mother, Richard gets in his DoppelDale's car. On there way out, the gas station disappears into the woods.
In Las Vegas, we see Dougie enjoying a nice piece of cake when he accidentally turns on the television and "Sunset Boulevard" is on. If you're familiar with that movie, there's a character in it named Gordon Cole. As the TV set turns on, a character says "Get Gordon Cole!" and there's an immediate sense of awareness from Dougie. The nearby wall outlet begins to hum with electricity and Dougie takes notice. He walks over to it and jams a fork in it. The power goes out.
This very well may be the shock it takes to bring our beloved Dale Cooper back. It's what brought him into this world the way he is so maybe it'll bring him back. It's the moment we've all been waiting for and all signs lead to this conclusion. But David Lynch has tricked us before, don't be surprised if he does it again.
Then we mourn the passing of Margaret Lanterman who calls Hawk to let him know that she is dying. She tells him that death is not the end but a separate existence and warns him to beware of the man below Blue Pine Mountain. Hawk says his goodbye and informs the rest of the station of her passing.
Things to keep
in mind:
• In this episode, we see the passing of one of Twin Peaks most iconic characters, Margaret Lanterman, who we often refer to as the Log Lady. She's perhaps the most singularly defining portrait of the world of Twin Peaks is like -- there's a sweetness to her strangeness. She's foreboding and wise yet bizarre and off center. Well, in this episodes closing credits -- as the show has done all season -- there's a dedication in memory to Margaret Lanterman -- not Catherine Coulson, the actress who plays her that passed in Sept. 2015.
• There's a strange sequence where Steven threatens to kill himself while he sits at the base of a tree with Gersten Hayward. When Cyril Pons (Mark Frost) strolls by Gersten runs and hides at the other side of the tree and we hear a gunshot. We can presume that he went through with killing himself because we later saw Cyril informing Carl Rodd of the incident. Either way, I don't exactly know where this plotline is going but it might be my least favorite of the happenings in Twin Peaks.
• At the Roadhouse, we get to see the power of Freddy's green gloved hand when he punches the dudes beating up James. He sends them all to the ICU. They both end up in jail with Naido, Chad and the strange bleeding man.
Assistant Lifestyle editor and television and film critic Jordan Musheno's review of "Twin Peaks" will run every Thursday in Showcase.