Four episodes later, I feel like there isn’t anything Peggy Newman cannot do. In a world like ours and a life like hers, no one else could have handled it better than her. She is always doing something, so she doesn’t have time to pause and reflect on her life. And what’s interesting is that she isn’t one to stop for a moment or two and think about her life. Peggy is a one-woman show, and there’s no stopping her. As strong as one can be, but at the same time, equally lovable. We understand why Denny is head over heels for her. Episode 4 of High Desert is another example of her strong character, as she does all that she can to prevent Bruce from declaring bankruptcy and also tries to get things back to normal with her sister Dianne. She knows that Bob’s wife, Donatella, is alive and is bent on finding out more about her and the money that is supposedly held in escrow. Will she find it?
Spoilers Ahead
Always Peggy
There wasn’t a time when Peggy was different from how we see her now. She is the same woman who, in 1986, flipped out when her father walked out on her mother with a different woman. She made it absolutely clear up front how much she hated that woman and even her own father for doing what he did to her mother, her siblings, and herself. She may be in pain, but she isn’t one to shed tears. The scene also shows Peggy’s camaraderie with her mom and proves why she misses her so much.
Coming back to the present, Peggy hates Denny for breaking into her house. All that she wants from him is to sign the divorce papers, but he, on the other hand, cannot stop loving her for a second. So, there’s no question of signing the papers. He even offers to take her out to dinner, and Peggy agrees. Denny is a person who Peggy loves to hate, I guess. This reminds me of a quote from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”: The love that follows us sometimes is our trouble, but we still thank it because it’s love. At the dinner, Denny tries to explain to Peggy how he is ready to evolve and begin a new phase of his life. And right after these inspiring words, he tells Peggy that there is silver hidden in the house that was seized by the DEA (Episode 1). Peggy lost the house because she couldn’t pay the mortgage. The silver could have helped her do that. Denny tries to justify why he didn’t tell her about the silver; the silver was supposed to be their backup when they got together. But Peggy doesn’t need that. She has a job, and she doesn’t want anything from Denny, who lied to her just like her father, other than a signature on the divorce papers. We later see her take sleeping pills before going to bed. That’s not healthy, but we know why she is taking them. It happens to the best of us.
An IT Offer
The next day, she returns to the office. Bruce is, as always, tensed because he has only a week to do a job for his only client. For this, he needs an IT guy that Peggy was supposed to bring in. She, on the other hand, is still telling him about the reward for locating Donatella. But she knows that in order to convince Bruce to look into the case, she has to get him the IT guy. She pretends that she has found one and leaves to bring the guy back, but we know that she is lying. She hasn’t found anyone, and she said it just to not let Bruce do anything that would compromise her plan. Luckily, she finds a guy at the rehabilitation center. She brings the guy over to take care of Bruce’s system, but it’s too late. Bruce has liquidated his stocks. He needs money. Peggy has to assure him again that she has something in mind that will bring in more cash, and considering how she got him the IT guy, he doesn’t say anything, which is a good sign. At least he didn’t speak against her.
Mafias And Paint
Back on her mission, Peggy finds out from Carol that Donatella belongs to the Gattchis, a mafia family that runs a tanning spa nearby. Since only the family can tell if the offer for any intel regarding Donatella is still on the table, Peggy visits the tanning spa, which is more of a brothel. There, she meets Nick Gattchi, and pretending to be an author who is writing about her missing brother, she tries to coerce him into revealing information about his sister, Donatella. The reward is $70,000. She tells him how they both deserve to be paid by the federal government. But then she finds out that Donatella has differences with her family. So 70 grand is all there is that the Gattchis can afford for her. But what’s surprising is that Donatella used to make replicas of famous paintings that were stolen, and Bob used to sell them to crooks. And then there is Lionel Richie, Donatella’s beloved macaw that repeats everything it hears. It is possible that it knows more and can reveal more about Donatella. Later, she gets her hands on Donatella’s missing person’s report, inside which is a note from Donatella to Bob that reveals that she was angry with him and thus had left him. Maybe they had some argument, and Bob got angry and killed her. At least, that’s what Peggy tells Carol. But on a personal note, I think Donatella is still alive, and Bob knows where she is. Or maybe even Nick or perhaps Lionel Richie. Meanwhile, Carol wants to rescue Lionel Richie.
What Is Peggy’s Plan To Get Some Cash?
After finding out from Carol how Stuart is pressurizing Dianne, Peggy decides to meet her and talk to her face-to-face. She expertly convinces her to come to Pioneertown. At Pioneertown, she meets Ginger (Peggy’s mother’s lookalike) and asks if she can play an art lover. This is so that she can take her to Bob to bid for a painting against a guy named James Kachel, as we see later on. For the time being, Dianne arrives, and she has to do a scene with Ginger. As uncomfortable as it is for Dianne, she gets emotional speaking to Ginger because she thinks she is speaking to her mother. Peggy realizes how much Dianne misses their mother and how much she wants her to come back. But that cannot be. Unfortunately, interruptions from Ginger keep on reminding Dianne that Ginger is not her mom. And this in turn reminds her that she doesn’t have a mom anymore. And what happens when Ginger, pretending to be Dianne’s mom, tells her that she forgives her for being selfish? Dianne snaps because she knows what her mother did and that she wasn’t a good mom to her. She feels wretched and leaves. Peggy brings Ginger to Bob and tells him that Ginger works for a guy who James Kachel hates. So maybe when Kachel finds out that someone else has been bidding for a particular painting that he wants, he will raise his bid, and Bob might just get $1.3 million. From there, Peggy will get her cut as planned (Episode 3). But unfortunately there’s no time for that as Bruce calls and informs Peggy that he is going to declare himself bankrupt. With no other way out, she returns to Denny. They are going to steal the silver from the seized house.
Episode 4 shows how Peggy is connecting the dots. The silver from the seized house will bring her cash that she will provide to Bruce so that he can keep his client and she can continue her search for Bob’s wife, Donatella. Also, if she is successful in selling the painting to James Kachel, she will get some more money. With that, she can do whatever she wants. Maybe she can buy a house where she can live with Dianne. As for Episode 5, we will most probably see Peggy and Denny steal the silver. That will be interesting. High Desert is maintaining its momentum nicely without rushing or dragging. It’s important to know the difference unless we want to get a scolding from Terrence Fletcher. If you don’t know who that is, look him up.
