"Part 3", also known as "Call for Help", is the third episode of the third season of the American surrealist mystery horror drama television series Twin Peaks. It was written by series creators Mark Frost and David Lynch, directed by Lynch, and stars Kyle MacLachlan.
"Part 3" was released on Showtime's streaming service Showtime Anytime, along with "Part 4", on May 21, 2017, immediately after the broadcast of the double premiere; it was eventually broadcast on Showtime on May 28, 2017, and was seen by an audience of 195,000 viewers in the United States. Critics widely praised the episode for its opening sequence and overall surreal atmosphere, while audiences were more divided on the latter aspect.
Plot
Background The small town of Twin Peaks, Washington, has been shocked by the murder of schoolgirl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) and the attempted murder of her friend Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine). FBI special agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) has been sent to the town to investigate and has discovered that the killer was Laura's father, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), who acted while possessed by a demonic entity, Killer BOB (Frank Silva). At the end of the original series, BOB trapped Cooper in the Black Lodge, an extra-dimensional place, and let out Cooper's doppelgänger to use him for physical access to the world. 25 years later, Cooper's doppelgänger roams freely through the world, with Cooper still inside the Lodge.David Lynch (writer and director), Mark Frost (writer) (May 21, 2017). "Part 1". Twin Peaks Laura tells Cooper that he is free to go, but while he roams the Lodge, one of the statues turns into the doppelgänger of the Arm and opens up the floor, causing Cooper to fall into space.David Lynch (writer and director), Mark Frost (writer) (May 21, 2017). "Part 2". Twin Peaks He eventually lands on a glass box in New York City; he is absorbed by it and floats inside, only to disappear before the box's absent guardian, Sam Colby (Benjamin Rosenfield), returns with Tracey Barberato (Madeline Zima).
Events Cooper continues to descend through space. He eventually lands on a balcony; looking outside, he observes a purple ocean stretching as far as he can see. Cooper enters the building through a set of windows; inside, in a nightmarish blur, a woman with scars on her face and large patches of skin over her eyes (Nae Yūki) sits in front of a lit fireplace. Cooper asks the woman where they are, but she responds only with disjointed, high-pitched breath noises. A loud pounding is heard, as if something very powerful is trying to enter the room, and the woman signals Cooper to be quiet. He notices a large electrical throw-switch mechanism on the wall labeled with the number 15, but she keeps him away from it and leads him up a ladder. They reach the roof, where the structure they had been inside appears as a metallic cuboid floating in space with a bell-shaped mechanism on its top. The woman throws a switch on the mechanism and receives an electric shock, which throws her into the void but makes the hitherto blurred reality come into focus. After she has fallen out of sight, Garland Briggs's (Don S. Davis) head floats under the structure and says "Blue rose."David Lynch (writer and director), Mark Frost (writer) (May 21, 2017). "Part 3". Twin Peaks Cooper walks back downstairs and encounters another woman (played by Phoebe Augustine, who played Ronette Pulaski in the original series of Twin Peaks but is listed in the episode's credits as "American Girl") sitting in front of the fireplace. Cooper approaches her while she checks her wristwatch; as the watch strikes 2:53, the mechanism on the wall, now labeled with the number 3, begins to hum, and a light on a coffee table turns on.
In South Dakota, Cooper's doppelgänger is driving along a deserted road when he begins to feel uncomfortable. The cigarette lighter in his car begins to exercise an electric force on him. Cooper observes the mechanism as the woman by the fireplace tells him, "When you get there, you will already be there;" he approaches the machinery, but recoils when his face begins to deform. He continues to feel uncomfortable, while back in the purple room, more insistent pounding is heard, and the American Girl tells Cooper to leave because her mother is coming. Cooper approaches the throw-switch mechanism again, and it begins to suck him into itself, elongating and deforming his body and leaving only his shoes behind. The doppelgänger begins to lose consciousness and loses control of the car, crashing on the side of the road. He gags, but holds back his vomit; as the cigarette lighter continues to exercise the force over him, red drapes faintly appear in front of him.
In a house for sale in the Rancho Rosa estates, Las Vegas, Dougie Jones, a man physically identical to Cooper but for his weight, hair and clothes (MacLachlan) sits with prostitute Jade (Nafessa Williams) on his lap, saying that his arm (on which he wears the Owl Cave ring) feels "tingly." Jade takes her payment and proceeds to shower; Dougie gets out of bed only to experience greater pain and weakness. He falls down, as the doppelgänger continues to hold his mouth in South Dakota. Dougie crawls down the corridor, and tries entering the bathroom, but Jade has locked the door. He proceeds to move toward an electric socket, which exercises a force on him. As red curtains faintly appear in front of him, Dougie vomits and is transported away with a loud noise, which at last alerts Jade. The red curtains fade away and the doppelgänger vomits a mixture of creamed corn and engine oil and passes out. In the Black Lodge, Dougie is seated before MIKE (Al Strobel), who explains that someone manufactured him for a purpose. Dougie's hand begins to shrink, and the ring falls down; his heads pops out with a hiss, producing black smoke, and a golden orb floats out of it. Dougie's body deflates; an egglike object appears, prompting MIKE to shield its sight. The object deflates, letting a golden orb fly out of it; the orb and the object collide on the armchair, which produces smoke and a loud electrical crackling noise. When MIKE looks back, a small golden orb is on the chair; he picks it up along with the ring, which he proceeds to put on a pedestal.
In the house, a cloud of black smoke pours out of the socket and materializes into Cooper on the ground near Dougie's vomit. Jade exits the shower, and takes Cooper for Dougie; she is surprised to see him in a suit, with less weight and different hair, but is disgusted by the vomit and suggests that he could be sick. Cooper does not seem to react to her, and stands up or moves only when pushed. He exits the house with Jade, who notices that he is not wearing any shoes and tells him to go back and put them on; as he does not react, she walks back inside and takes them for him, only for him to follow her back in again. Jade eventually fastens his shoes for him and begins to take his nonresponsive state for granted; when searching his pockets for his car keys, she can find only the key to Cooper's room in the Great Northern Hotel, which puzzles and upsets her, as she now has to drive him back.
As the duo drive away, Gene (Bill Tangradi), a paid killer, parks in front of the house, and Jake (Greg Vrotsos), his partner, says he is ready to shoot him if they pass by the entrance. Jade tells Cooper to call AAA as soon as he finds a wallet or some money; when they pass through Sycamore Street, he takes out the key to his room and begins to observe it. When the car hits a bump, the key falls, and Cooper bends down to take it, so Jake does not see him as they pass. Cooper eventually gets up without the key; as Gene is told that Dougie did not leave Rancho Rosa, he puts an explosive device under Dougie's car and drives away. A boy (Sawyer Shipman) observes the scene from his house across the street, as his drugged-out mother (Hailey Gates) repeatedly yells "One-one-nine," takes a pill with whiskey and lights a cigarette.
Two highway patrolmen reach the doppelgänger's car in South Dakota; when one of them, Billy (Travis Hammer), checks inside the car, he becomes immediately ill from the smell, prompting his partner (Stephen Heath) to call for backup. At the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station, Hawk (Michael Horse), Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) and Andy (Harry Goaz) sort through files in search for something missing that relates to Hawk's heritage. Upon seeing a box of chocolate bunnies amid the evidence, Lucy, guilt-stricken, uncomfortably admits to have eaten one of the bunnies years before to get rid of "a bubble of gas." Andy asks Hawk if Native Americans use chocolate as a remedy; Hawk responds that the investigation is not about the bunny, but thinks for a moment before deciding that the bunny is not relevant to their search. On the White Tail Peak, Lawrence Jacoby (Russ Tamblyn) spray-paints five shovels with golden paint and hangs them to dry.
Jade drops Cooper at the Silver Mustang Casino, giving him $5 and instructing him to call for help; when she orders him out of the car, Cooper remembers Laura Palmer telling him that he can go out. Cooper begins repeating "Call for help", the last thing Jade said to him, to anyone who asks or prompts him. After struggling to pass through the revolving doors, he enters the casino; he is redirected by a guard (Brian Finney) to the cashier (Meg Foster) who changes his money. Cooper walks onto the casino floor, where he observes a man (John Ennis) hitting a jackpot and exclaiming "Hellooo-ooo!". Cooper notices a floating apparition above one of the slot machines, depicting the Red Room. He approaches it and repeats the jackpot winner's behavior, gestures and exclamations of verbatim; he hits a mega-jackpot, and is complimented by another patron (Josh McDermitt) for having "broken it."
Cooper follows the apparition to another slot, again imitates the other winner and hits another mega-jackpot as an old lady (Linda Porter) stares at him in envy; the floor attendant, Jackie (Sabrina S. Sutherland), congratulates him and when Cooper says "Call for help", goes to fetch a bigger bucket. Cooper points at another slot machine with the Red Room apparition next to the old woman; angered, the woman gives him the finger. As he walks away, she covetously eyes the mega-jackpot winnings he left behind but cannot take them because the CCTVs are on, prompting her to angrily give a camera the finger. Cooper follows the floating sign to yet another slot, while Jackie returns and is told that he left; she leaves a guard to watch the winnings. Cooper plays at the machine and wins a third mega-jackpot; upon seeing this, the old woman goes to the slot machine Cooper pointed to before, wins a mega-jackpot and claps and cheers ecstatically.