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Twin Peaks Recap: “The Return Part 7”

By Kelly Shanaphy

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After losing some momentum last week, Twins Peaks drives full speed ahead by touching on a lot of storylines in “The Return Part 7”.

While the Dougie storyline has begun to lose some of its wonder because of the constant retreading, this week finally touches base again with Cooper’s other doppelgänger. It’s unusual for Twin Peaks to try making progress on every storyline, especially considering David Lynch prefers the slow burn, but this week was incredibly fast-paced.

With the introduction of Diane in the previous episode, “The Return Part 7,” begins to flesh out Laura Dern’s ominous new character. In the original series, she is only referenced, and viewers never got a true sense of who the character was. Now, we learn she isn’t just a mellow secretary who listens to Cooper’s constant reports but rather an edgy sophisticate who drops f-bombs as forms of endearment. It makes it all the more heartbreaking when she finally gets into a room with her former boss and the two have a tough conversation.

After being roped into visiting Evil Coop in federal prison along with Gordon, Albert, and the still furiously under-used Tammy, she reveals hints of a deeply upsetting final night between her and her former boss. While Evil Coop stares at her, cold as ice, as she demands he really look at her and the pain he’s caused. It isn’t outright stated but considering BOB’s behavior, it would seem like he sexually assaulted her before happily abandoning the woman who dutifully stood by Coop’s side for many years. Either way, her confirmation to Gordon that the man in there is not the Coop they know is enough to confirm to him that they’re dealing with an imposter.

The FBI isn’t the only team that has made a bit of progress towards the whole Coop mystery with Hawk going over his findings with Sheriff Truman. In a not-so-shocking (which is a surprise for Twin Peaks!) it turns out the notes that were stuffed into the bathroom door were three of the missing pages from Laura’s diary. Now that Hawk is aware that the Coop who is walking around is the evil one, hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before Gordon is looped in as well. Of course, Laura’s diary is still missing one page which will undoubtedly come into play later in the series.

Elsewhere in the town of Twin Peaks, Andy is trying to figure out who was driving the car in the murder of the young boy in the previous episode. “The Return Part 7,” doesn’t exactly explain why none of the eye witnesses have come forward about watching Richard Horne drive the boy over but we do learn that it wasn’t his car. Considering the owner never went to secretly meet Andy in the woods with information, it’s safe to say that he has most likely been killed or muscled into silence. In “The Return Part 1,” the giant tells Cooper to remember: “4-3-0, Richard and Linda, two birds with one stone” which means that the despicable younger Horne will also play a bigger role in the season’s mysteries.

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Thus far he’s just been an unforgivable punk but it will be interesting to see how he plays into the larger story. Of course, Dr. Hayward revealed earlier on that he was pretty sure Evil Coop (who was still masquerading as normal Coop) went into check on Audrey Horne after the bombing, which means that Richard could be the result of a non-consensual coma assault? It seems like an outlandish theory but at this point, it’s hard to figure out how he ties into everything.

The Dougie story is slowly trudging along with no hint as to when Coop will finally return to a normal mental state. Janey manages to talk her way out of any trouble with the police by claiming her husband’s car has been stolen and that storyline wraps up nicely. On a darker note, it seems like the insurance cover-up Dougie discovered last week will set up his coworker in a massive downfall. If this is the case, one has to wonder if hopeless Dougie is still at risk even though the gangsters are off his tail.

Luckily, he seems to possess some super-human reflexes because he manages to push his wife out-of-the-way instinctively and take down the short assassin from last week who tries to shoot him. Not only that, the small brain tells him to squeeze the man’s hand off and judging by the weird lump left on the weapon, he definitely took something from the guy.

Finally, Evil Coop got his saving grace with a well-timed blackmail against the warden of the prison. Something involving a man named Joseph Mccluskey and a woman named, “Strawberry,” earns Coop a car, a gun, and the freedom for himself along with his former associate Ray. Considering Ray’s partner was killed early on in the series, his fate is all but sealed at this point but at the same time, Evil Coop probably needs all the allies he can get. “The Return Part 7” marks the beginning of the inevitable war between the two Coopers which has to shape the rest of the season.

Every week Twin Peaks manages to get weirder while still trying to make the story compelling enough to keep confused viewers watching. Part of what drew in viewers to the initial series was the mystery around Laura Palmer’s death so it makes sense that the show would once again have the death of a child ground the series. Yes, “The Return Part 7,” focuses on the two Coopers, but it is still touching on the mysteries of the town of Twin Peaks. With eleven more episodes left this season, the show is bound to get even more unusual while still offering up some closure to some of the more disjointed storylines.

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