Richard Horne visits Miriam’s trailer home on the outskirts of Twin Peaks. Miriam tells him that she saw his hit-and-run accident and that she has sent a letter reporting it to the sheriff’s department. After confirming that she mailed the letter that very day, Richard attacks her. Blood pours from her head — it looks like a fatal injury. Richard then calls Deputy Chad Broxford, instructing him to intercept and destroy Miriam’s letter.
At the New Fat Trout Trailer Park, Carl Rodd strums a guitar and sings “Red River Valley.” This well-known folk song tells the sad story of a Native American girl and her doomed love for a white man. (By the way, Miriam’s trailer is notlocated in the New Fat Trout Trailer Park.)
Suddenly, a red mug flies out of one of the trailers. Inside, Steven Burnett is violently yelling at his wife, Rebecca “Becky” Burnett — “Don’t you ever cross me! I know exactly what you’ve done!” Watching the scene, Carl Rodd sighs, “It’s a nightmare.”
Rodney Mitchum is going over the casino’s books when Candy (Amy Shiels), dressed in her pink costume, walks in chasing a fly. At first, she tries to swat it with a red cloth, but soon switches to a TV remote — and accidentally smacks Rodney square in the face.
Rodney starts bleeding as Candy bursts into tears and panics, while his brother Bradley tries to calm her down. It’s one of those classic Twin Peaks moments — completely irrelevant to the main plot, yet unforgettable.
Elsewhere, Dale Cooper is being examined by a doctor. Both the doctor and Janey-E Jones are surprised to see how much leaner and more muscular he’s become compared to before.
Later, Candy sits crying beside Rodney as he drinks. On the TV, a news report announces that Ike “The Spike” has been arrested. Hearing this, Rodney says, “Cancel the hit on Ike,” implying that the Mitchum brothers had their own grudge against him. Since Ike was a hitman employed by Duncan Todd, it seems there was some past conflict between Todd and the Mitchums. Then a TV interview shows Janey-E Jones — and the brothers realize, “Hey, that’s Mr. Jackpot!” recognizing Cooper.
That night, Janey-E seduces Dale, asking, “Do you find me attractive?” The two end up in bed, and Janey-E screams, “Dougie! Oh yes! Dougieeeeeee!” — so loudly that Sonny Jim wakes up in shock.
Meanwhile, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby broadcasts his online show as Dr. Amp, ranting about “those corporate fat cats.” Nadine Hurley watches, utterly captivated. In her shop window, a demonstration of her invention — the silent curtain runners — opens and closes smoothly, and displayed inside are the golden shovels sold by Dr. Amp. (The silent curtain device, which Nadine developed back in Season 1, now seems to have been commercialized.) Her office looks neat and well-kept, suggesting business might be going quite well.
The next morning, a cheerful Janey-E sends Dale off to work. Out in the woods, Jerry Horne is still high, talking nonsense to himself as usual.
At the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Chad Broxford waits for the mail delivery. When it arrives, he discreetly pulls out Miriam’s letter before anyone notices. Lucy Brennan watches him suspiciously but doesn’t seem to realize what he’s done.
At the Horne residence, Johnny Horne sits strapped to a chair, wearing a helmet, his face swollen. After crashing into a wall while running around the house, it seems he’s now restrained for his own safety. (Back in Seasons 1 and 2, he never acted quite this erratically — something must have changed.) A talking bear toy repeats, “Hello Johnny, how are you today?” over and over. Just then, Richard Horne shows up to demand money. Sylvia Horne tries to drive him away, but Richard strangles her and forces her to give him the safe’s combination. Johnny struggles helplessly, bound to his chair. In this scene, Sylvia calls Richard her grandson — meaning he’s likely Audrey Horne’s son, not Johnny’s.
Meanwhile, Duncan Todd learns from Roger that Ike “The Spike” has been arrested. He turns to Anthony Sinclair, who’s sitting on the sofa in his office, and says, “Remember my business rivals, the Mitchum brothers? Tell them their insurance payout didn’t come through because of Douglas Jones.” He’s clearly trying to manipulate the Mitchums into killing Dougie. If that plan fails, Duncan orders Anthony to do the job himself.
Finally, Gordon Cole and Tammy Preston watch fondly as Albert Rosenfield and Constance Talbot share dinner together. It seems the two may have bonded over their shared appreciation for dark, sarcastic humor back at the morgue.
Anthony Sinclair shows up at the casino and asks to meet with the Mitchum brothers. Bradley Mitchum tells Candy to bring him in — but she keeps rambling and doesn’t actually do it. Feeling sorry for her, Bradley tells his brother not to fire Candy. When Rodney asks, “What were you two talking about?” Candy cheerfully replies, “The weather! It’s going to be hot tomorrow, with smog in the air. We’re lucky this casino has air conditioning!”
Anthony tells the Mitchum brothers that Douglas “Dougie” Jones has been blocking the insurance payout for the hotel that burned down a few months ago — supposedly out of personal spite. Rodney Mitchum responds, “I feel like Marlon Brando.”
At his hotel room, Gordon Cole is painting — a surreal picture of a hand reaching toward a horned deer. There’s a knock at the door, and for a brief moment, Gordon sees a vision of a weeping Laura Palmer before Albert Rosenfield walks in. Albert reports, “Diane received this message at 11:13 this morning. It was sent from a server in Mexico. Her reply was, ‘They’ve arrested Hastings. They’re taking them to the site.’” Gordon says, “I felt something when I hugged her… Let’s give her a little more rope.” (Indeed, after Diane’s prison meeting with Mr. C, she was in tears — and Gordon gently embraced her.) Still, it’s unclear why Gordon saw Laura Palmer’s apparition at that moment.
Tammy Preston then brings in photographs related to the New York incident. In one, Mr. C is seen standing in front of the glass box. What was the connection between that mysterious experiment and Mr. C?
Meanwhile, Sylvia Horne calls Benjamin Horne, furiously shouting, “Richard took all my money! You’d better reimburse me!”
Then, the Log Lady phones Deputy Tommy “Hawk” Hill and delivers another cryptic, poetic message — one that surely carries deep meaning from the Log:
Hawk, electricity is humming.
You hear it in the mountains and rivers.
You see it dance among the seas and stars
and glowing around the moon.
But in these days,
the glow is dying.
What will remain in the darkness?
The Truman brothers are both true men.
They are your brothers.
And others —
the good ones who stand with you.
Now the circle is almost complete.
Watch and listen
to the dream of time and space.
It all comes out now, flowing like a river —
that which is, and is not.
Hawk, Laura is the one.
Finally, at the Roadhouse, Rebekah Del Rio performs her haunting ballad “No Stars.” Del Rio, a Mexican-American singer-songwriter, wears a gown patterned like the Black Lodge’s chevron floor — an eerie visual echo of that otherworldly space.
Director / Writer / Executive Producer: David Lynch, Writer / Executive, Producer: Mark Frost, Originally aired July 16, 2017 (U.S.)
No Star / Rebakah Rel Rio
I’ve written before about how essential Catherine E. Coulson, who played the Log Lady, Margaret Lanterman, was to Twin Peaks and to David Lynch’s work as a whole. Sadly, she passed away on the morning of September 28, 2015, at the age of 71 — before The Return aired.
Her scenes in The Return were filmed while she was clearly battling illness, and knowing that makes her final appearance as the Log Lady all the more poignant. It’s hard not to feel a deep sadness realizing that this was the last time we would see her in the role.
The photo below (↓) is believed to be from around the time of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (The Last Seven Days of Laura Palmer).
