Twin Peaks: Season 3, Part 11 "There's Fire Where You are Going" Review

 "He's dead."

-Gordon Cole

Part 11 picks up with a few young boys playing catch in the yard, when they come across a badly injured Miriam Sullivan (Sarah Jean Long), who managed to escape from her trailer after being attacked by Richard Horne (Eamon Farren).

Becky Burnett (Amanda Seyfried) calls her mom, Shelly (Mädchen Amick), in a panic and asks her to come over.  When Shelly arrives, Becky storms out of her trailer with a gun and steals Shelly's car.  Shelly jumps on the hood to try and stop her, but Becky flings her off.  She drives to an apartment building to confront her husband, Steven (Caleb Landry Jones), who she believes is in the apartment of Gersten Hayward (Alicia Witt).  The neighbor tells her she just missed them, so Becky fires several shots into the apartment.  Steven and Gersten hear the shots and the police are called.

Later, at the Double R Diner, Becky, Shelly, and Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) discuss the situation.  Bobby was able to keep Becky out of jail, but she has to pay to replace the door.  Shelly offers to pay for it, but Becky refuses to take any more money from her, so Bobby agrees to loan her the money.  It's also revealed that Shelly is seeing Red (Balthazar Getty), but it's unknown if she knows that he is a drug dealer.  

Gunshots ring out and the bullets fly into the diner.  Bobby investigates and discovers a kid in a passing van got ahold of his dad's gun and pulled the trigger.  As the police investigate, the woman in the car behind the van won't stop honking.  When Bobby goes to talk to her, he discovers a very sick girl is the passenger.

In Buckhorn, South Dakota, William Hastings (Matthew Lillard) takes Gordon Cole (David Lynch), Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer), Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell), Diane Evans (Laura Dern), and Detective Macklay (Brent Briscoe) to the run-down property where he saw Major Briggs (Don S. Davis).  Gordon and Albert spot a woodsman on the property and go investigate.  Gordon sees a wormhole open with several more woodsmen on the other side.  Albert pulls him back from the wormhole and the two of them find the rest of Ruth Davenport's (Mary Stofle) body, which has coordinates written on it.  Diane sees a woodsman approach Hastings, but doesn't say anything.  Hastings' head is crushed, seemingly without explanation.

Bushnell Mullins (Don Murray) talks to Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) about the work he did, which uncovered a ring of organized crime and police corruption.  Cooper is asked to attend a meeting with Rodney (Robert Knepper) and Bradley Mitchum (Jim Belushi) to give them an insurance check of $30 million for their damaged hotel.

The Mitchum Brothers prepare for their meeting where they plan to kill Cooper.  Bradley tells his brother that he had a vivid dream about killing Cooper.

Before Cooper is picked up by a limousine, he is led to a bakery by MIKE (Al Strobel) to get a cherry pie.  Cooper is driven out into the desert to meet the Mitchum Brothers.  Bradley notices a cut on Rodney's head has miraculously healed, which also happened in his dream.  When Cooper arrives with a large box, Bradley says that was also in his dream.  He tells Rodney that if there is a cherry pie in the box, they can't kill him.  When they discover the pie, they also discover the check for $30 million.  They realize Anthony Sinclair (Tom Sizemore) lied to them and take Cooper out to a fancy dinner to celebrate.  As they eat the pie, the gambling addicted, elderly woman that Cooper helped win a jackpot arrives.  She reveals that Cooper helped her turn her life around and get back in contact with her son.  She thanks him and tells the Mitchum Brothers how special Cooper is and they agree.

What Works:

I really like the opening of this episode.  It reminds me a lot of the pilot of the show, where we get someone just going about their life coming across a horribly violent crime.  It's a nice callback to the beginning of the show.

The Becky storyline is another really good one.  Becky's rage is very intense and I like the way her scenes are shot.  It escalates quickly and it's crazy to watch Becky stealing a car and Shelly jumping onto the hood.  Becky going to the apartment and firing into it all while Steven and Gersten hide nearby is an excellent sequence and genuinely thrilling.  It's clear Becky isn't stable and it's exciting to see what she's going to do next.

We also get a reunion of the Briggs family with Becky, Shelly, and Bobby.  Everyone gives a great performance at the diner, but special mention has to go to Dana Ashbrook.  The heartbreak on his face when he sees Shelly with Red is palpable.

This transitions shockingly into a shooting sequence, which is memorable by itself, but the woman screaming and the sick girl next to her is some absolute nightmare fuel.  I have no idea what the deal with them is, but it's certainly memorable.

Speaking of memorable, the ill-fated expedition with William Hastings and the FBI is another great scene.  The woodsmen are always fascination to watch and seeing Gordon and Albert have a supernatural experience is wild.  Plus Hastings' death is one of the best in the entire run of the show.

Finally, this where the Mitchum Brothers start to become some of my favorite new characters.  These guys could be played as typical Las Vegas mobsters, but it's awesome that they have these strange and unexplainable things happen to them.  These aren't the types of characters you would normally see in a  story like this and that makes them so interesting.  Plus they are deeply layered characters.  Some of my favorite parts of this season are the Mitchum Brothers becoming friends with Cooper and that all begins here.  It's wonderful. 

What Sucks:

I got nothing for you.

Crystal Coffee:

The Crystal Coffee Award goes to the most competent character of the episode.  For Part 11, this Award goes to Miriam Sullivan for managing to survive the attack from Robert Horne and crawl far enough to get help.  This is her 1st time winning this Award.

Verdict:

I love this episode.  It kicks off with a strong opening, some really interesting and exciting sequences with the Briggs family and the FBI, and some incredible stuff with the Mitchum Brothers.  This episode has absolutely got it going on.

 10/10: Amazing