Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Twenty-five years after Cooper entered the Lodge, the Fireman gives him instructions involving a sound, a number and the names Richard and Linda. The detective remains separated from the ordinary world while his violent double travels through it as Mr C. At a remote house, the double overpowers a guard and collects Ray and Darya for his next business. In Twin Peaks, Jacoby receives a delivery of shovels, Ben works with his assistant Beverly at the Great Northern, and Lucy is still at the sheriff's station. The Log Lady calls Hawk with a message: something connected to Cooper is missing, and Hawk's heritage will help him find it.
In New York, Sam watches a glass box surrounded by cameras, carrying out strict instructions without knowing what might appear inside. When the guard is absent, he lets Tracey join him. Their private encounter is interrupted by a creature that breaks out of the box and kills them. In Buckhorn, South Dakota, a neighbour reports a terrible smell from Ruth Davenport's apartment. The police discover her severed head lying with a headless male body. Fingerprints lead them to school principal Bill Hastings, who denies being at the apartment but cannot account clearly for his movements. He is arrested, and a search of his car produces another piece of human remains.