High Desert Episode 7 Lost Mojo, A Slipstream and A Daughter Missing Her Mother -June 14

After last week’s miss, High Desert episode 7 is back on form. This is probably the most touching episode all season, with Arquette’s performance elevating the often-silly Apple TV+ show. We get to understand her relationship with her mother and see her longing for her estranged son. High Desert is at its best when it’s exploring family dynamics and loss.

Episode 7 of High Desert opens with drone shots of the desert as CCR’s ‘Fortunate Son’ plays. I really love the way Jay Roach makes California look, almost like a Western. We fly over the arid sands until we get to Peggy’s house where a man is sitting in a big black car sunbathing using tin foil.

Peggy is missing Denny, stroking her tattooed wedding ring. She calls her sometimes ex-husband to let him know that maybe she is being hard on him. When he picks up, he has a sheet over his head and a gun in his hand. Whilst Peggy is in the mood for a heart-to-heart, Denny is trying to hold up a marijuana dispensary. She talks about seeing her son and it sounds like it has been a while since she saw him. This starts the theme of High Desert Episode 7, family and longing.

 Cooper and her drone finally come into the plot, after weeks of her in the background for seemingly no point. Cooper’s drone flies over the desert and picks up what looks like human remains near Guru Bob’s compound. Finally, there seems to be some point to Cooper as a character, I just wish Carol’s step-daughter could have been a little better written. It has felt like Cooper escaping the home was a throwaway gag and the writers were just waiting for her to have some use.

There is a very funny scene where Carol and Cooper call Peggy to explain what the drone investigations found. They worry their phone is being intercepted so they try to be as ambiguous as possible with their language. This of course leads to wires being crossed between the three. There is also a scene in frontier land with a cannon that keeps setting fire to anything inside it, that is less successful. Frontier land and its staff are the least interesting aspect to High Desert.

Peggy Makes A Deal With The Mafia

Peggy immediately runs to the tanning salon owned by missing Donatella’s mob family. The man who was snooping on Peggy outside her house appears again. Peggy informs Donatella’s brother that they found a body, using the acrylic nail as proof. She will only tell them where the body is if she gets the 70k reward. The family will only give her the money, but only if they see the body first. They manage to come to a deal, so instead of getting any money, she gets Donatella’s parrot as a deposit. I am expecting this parrot to say something that gives away what happened to its owner, but perhaps that is too obvious for a show like High Desert.

The family know she stole the painting and now doesn’t believe any of her story about writing a book about missing siblings. We see an out-of-place flashback to Peggy stealing their counterfeit painting from the bathroom by throwing it out the window. This scene should have been in the last episode when it was revealed that Peggy took the painting from the tanning salon.

Peggy’s brother and sister return after episodes of absence to meet her at Bruce’s PI agency. Peggy is so proud that she can show them that her life has surmounted to something. Only, when they get there Bruce is wailing in his office. According to the newly hired IT guy, he has learnt his wife is cheating on him.

They hear bangs from the office which sound like multiple gunshots. Whilst her siblings cower on the floor in fear, Peggy bangs on the door and tells him: “You can’t shoot yourself four times in the head, I know you’re not dead.”

Bruce Loses His Mojo

When Peggy rushes into his office, she finds Bruce shooting at a car in the parking lot from his office window. Arquette once again showcases her talent as she scolds him for ruining the “redeeming moment of my entire life.” Peggy is so lovable because she is written with such care and Arquette delivers such a layered performance. She is genuinely gutted that her chance to prove herself as a big sister has been ruined by Bruce’s meltdown. It’s hard not to root for her, as chaotic as she is.

Another great gag in High Desert’s episode 7, is when Bruce talks about “losing his mojo” and when Peggy reassures him, he hasn’t, he amusingly reveals that Mojo is his wife. We also get the reveal that the cheating spouse investigation case Peggy gave Carol was actually Bruce’s wife. Her siblings run away before Peggy has any chance to redeem herself.

When Peggy gets home, Denny is making chicken Cacciatore in the kitchen he was previously banned from. Peggy has changed her mind from her morning heart to heart, she doesn’t miss Denny, she just misses the idea of him. Their relationship is one of the most interesting parts of the show, in all the eccentric characters and wild plots, they feel real.

Peggy tells him about her 21-year-old son, Ethan, who “has a man bun and whiskers,” and how he didn’t go to her mother’s funeral because “he thinks he hates me.” We also get confirmation that her son is not with Denny, but Denny had some role in his upbringing. Through all his flaws, Denny does admit he wasn’t the best partner. You can tell it’s over for this married couple, they just haven’t quite accepted it yet. It’s quite powerful writing in a show that has such a silly façade.

Peggy Gets A Late Night Visitor

As Peggy sleeps, the henchmen sneak into her room. When they wake her up, knife in hand, she seems relieved it’s them. They want the money she promised them last episode and you get the feeling this might be a situation even Peggy can’t get out of. Guru Bob has skipped town, leaving Peggy to deal with the henchmen and the counterfeit paintings.

She is as laid back as ever, even when a knife cuts her abdomen. She only loses her cool when the pair try to get into her late mother’s room. Peggy is a scrappy fighter, biting and kicking the younger henchwoman (whilst the other watches on eating cereal). It’s nice to see a realistic-looking fight scene by two scrappy people rather than an over-choreographed fight scene using stunt doubles.

Peggy only calms down when a gun is brandished. She promises she has the money and they promise that they will strip her house before harvesting her organs. Peggy finally has a plan, you can see Arquette’s face light up with mischievousness.

Peggy, a gun to head, calmly walks them to the slipstream Denny lives in and promises it is where the money is. When they open the door, Denny and his young assistant are counting the money stolen from the marijuana dispensary. It’s not enough money but giving them the slipstream seems to clear up some of the debts.

Peggy is stitching her wound up when she gets a call from an unknown number. It’s her son Ethan, informing her that his art-dealing father was arrested at customs. She invites her to visit her, but he doesn’t want to. “I’m doing so much better now,” she begs. Hopefully, the full story about her son and his father is revealed next week.

The end of High Desert episode 7 is a heartbreaker. After her phone call with her son, she cries into her late mother’s wardrobe of sequin knitwear. She breaks into the box of pills hidden in her mother’s closet. For a second I thought Peggy was going to try to end her life with those pills.

The next time we see Peggy she is wide-eyed, using a cotton bud to remove her smudged eyeliner. She is lifeless, the shell of the Peggy we love, staring emptily at her reflection and moving in slow motion. She sees her late mother, Roslyn, sat in her bathroom who tells her “You’ll be fine even if you’re not fine.”

Peggy breaks down with the vision of her mother. It’s a heartbreaking scene where Arquette conveys such longing and loss. She wants to know so desperately where her mother is, if she knows what Peggy did and if she is proud of her. Anyone who has lost someone will completely feel the desperation of the closing scene.

Her vision of her mother is interrupted by Donatella’s brothers who are ready to find their sister’s body. I am intrigued if next week High Desert wraps the story up neatly or whether there are more surprises in store for us. Find all our High Desert coverage here.