10 Things We Learned From Twin Peaks: The Return Part 7

2. The Dougie Jones Arc Pays Off

Cooper Diane
Showtime

We have seen glimpses of the old Agent Cooper within the Dougie Jones vessel.

At first, it seemed his casino success was guided by the Black Lodge avatars hovering above the slot machines. On reflection, it was a shallow reading. Subsequent scenes indicated that the special effects were as much a visualisation of his intuition than a beacon to blindly follow. A green light hovered over Anthony Sinclair's face, leading Cooper to instinctively deduce that his sinister colleague was deep in insurance fraud. Cooper was subsequently able to connect his name to the fraud directly with a series of scribbles on the case files handed to him in Part 5.

Here, in a scene that justified the Dougie Jones arc with uplifting, fist-pumping catharsis, the old Cooper - the preternaturally gifted lawman - truly returned, if only for a brief, completely rewarding payoff.

As he left work for the day, with wife Janey-E in tow, he saw Ike The Spike emerge from the crowd, gun in outstretched hand. Instantly, instinctively, he pushed Janey-E out of harm's way - before she recollected herself to get some digs in of her own - and disarmed him before striking him in the throat. A wave of nostalgia crashed down, but it was distilled into a fresher, braver context - an apt metaphor for the series as a whole.

It was glorious, if (and because) it was fleeting. Those still dismayed by Dougie were at least assuaged when his heroics were filmed - possibly there to be seen by a face from his past.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!