High Desert (Season 1), Episode 7: Recap & Ending Explained

High Desert (Season 1) Episode 7 Recap & Ending Explained: With every new episode, ‘High Desert’ on Apple TV+ is trying to bring its brand of spontaneous, absurd humour to the forefront. Some of these moments in the latest episode turn it into an exciting roller-coaster ride. 

The show’s previous episode showed Peggy investigating whether the finger she found in the desert belongs to Donatella. While still not over her mother’s loss, she has started to build her life as a private investigator. Bruce also trusts her more than before, which results in a sort of camaraderie between them. 

The seventh episode of High Desert shows Peggy trying to confront some harsh aspects of her past and the present. While she discovers further details in her investigation, she is made to face a new set of challenges.  

*Spoilers ahead*

High Desert (Season 1) Episode 7 Recap:

Episode 7: This Doesn’t Have to Be a Tragedy

The penultimate episode of High Desert begins with Leo Gatchi (Michael Masini) i.e., Dona’s brother, outside Peggy’s (Patricia Arquette) house, keeping a watch on her. Peggy sends a voice message to Bruce (Brad Garrett), hoping that the DNA match of Dona’s finger leads her closer to her family. Why? Because she will have money to pay off the mortgage for her mother’s house, thanks to the reward for discovering details about Dona.

After that, Peggy calls Denny (Matt Dillon). She says she wants to give him the benefit of the doubt about him having changed for good. At the moment, he is committing a robbery at a dispensary, with a partner. But he does not reveal that to her. Instead, he makes the shop owners wait until he speaks with Peggy. Who knows if he will ever get another chance like that to have a heartfelt dialogue with her? So he continues speaking with her. So, that conversation ends up being strangely hilarious. 

On the other hand, Cooper (Jayden Gomez) uses a drone all over the desert next to Bob’s house – to find more details about Donatella. She discovers that Dona’s body is in the same place. Carol (Weruche Opia) calls Peggy to let her know that the smaller thing (finger) is attached to the bigger thing (Donatella). 

Once Cooper returns home, Carol shows Peggy a photo of Dona’s body, or part of her body, that Cooper took in the desert. Peggy now feels certain that Bob killed Dona and wishes to get the reward at the earliest.  

At the time, Peggy is at Pioneertown. Behind her, Owen (Eric Petersen) tries to see if a body can be shot out of the canon he made for the upcoming, big event. He continues trying, despite repeated failed attempts. 

Meanwhile, Tammy (Susan Park) walks up to Peggy, crying over her issue with the transplant. She reveals that she recently reached out to Bob. Peggy feels bad that Tammy still desperately seeks that pretentious guru and warns her to stay away from him. 

After her call with Carol, Peggy drives up to Gatchis’ tanning salon. She knew that the bearded man i.e., Leo, was following her. While she walks inside by herself, Leo enters breathlessly. She informs Nick (Carmine Giovinazzo) that Dona is dead and shows him Dona’s nail. She agrees to tell Dona’s location once she gets the reward money. 

Nick is not ready to give Peggy the $70, 000 reward just like that. He is already suspicious that she stole a painting from their salon, a counterfeit made by Dona. Despite having stolen it, Peggy denies his claim. Since she cannot convince him, Peggy asks for at least some part of the amount. She tells Nick to share the remaining money later, in Pioneertown. But, instead of money, Nick just gives Dona’s bird to Peggy.

Peggy goes to Carol’s house with the bird and hands it over to her. Then she drives up to Bruce’s office, excited to meet her siblings and hand over a check. Dianne (Christine Taylor) and Stewart (Keir O’Donnell), who are standing right outside, greet Peggy with a plant for her desk. Peggy decides to call it Pam. She gives Stewart a check but asks to cash it a few days later as she is uncertain about when she will have the money herself.

After this exchange, Peggy walks up to her office to hear some music playing from Bruce’s cabin. William (Kellen Joseph) says that Bruce is trying to process the fact that his wife cheated on him with a woman. Suddenly, they start hearing gunshots from the inside and get terrified. 

While Dianne and Stewart run out, Peggy walks into Bruce’s cabin to find him shooting at cars from their parking lot. She laments the fact that he ruined the chance for her to gain her siblings’ respect. She then slaps him and offers him the plant. 

Bruce opens up about how his partner – Mojo, ran off with most of his business. Peggy says he should not fixate on matters of love. Then, she heads out to get the reward money for finding Dona. 

Peggy drives back home to find Denny cooking in the kitchen. They talk about her son, Ethan. She gets emotional thinking about him because he did not attend Rosalyn’s funeral. Denny tries to use that vulnerable moment to get back into Peggy’s life. But Peggy is perceptive of his tricks. She is also confident that she does not want to get back together with him.

High Desert (Season 1), Episode 7 Ending Explained:

While Peggy is sleeping, Heather (Julia Rickert) and Arman (Carlo Rota) suddenly show up in her room. Peggy gets scared out of her wits. While Heather holds a knife near Peggy’s chest, Arman asks why they have not received the money in two days as Peggy had promised. Peggy tries to buy some more time. But all her begging is to no avail since Heather cuts through her chest. 

While bleeding, Peggy says that she did not fool them with a fake buyer’s promise. Arman reveals that Bob has skipped town. It comes as a surprise for Peggy. When Heather starts walking toward Rosalyn’s room, Peggy gets angry and approaches to stop her. She eventually bites Heather’s arm to do so. After that, Arman threatens to strip Peggy of all that she has to make up for the money she owes.

To stop matters from getting any worse, Peggy brings Arman and Heather to Denny’s RV. Coincidentally, Denny has all his stolen cash from his earlier robbery out on a table. While it is only a part of what Arman expected, he lets Peggy off the hook for the time being, in exchange for the RV in addition.

Once Arman leaves, Denny gets angry at Peggy but still offers a hand to take her to the hospital. She does not accept his offer and walks in to heal the wound herself. That is when she gets a call from Ethan. He reveals that his father has been arrested. But he does not want to get back to her place. She gets emotional thinking how Ethan may not want to be a part of her life again. 

In that mental state, Peggy walks up to her mother’s closet, crying, and takes a pill. Soon after that, she hallucinates Rosalyn sitting in the bathtub and starts talking with her. She still feels bad for all that she was in the past. Rosalyn tries to console her. Suddenly, the Gatchi brothers arrive there to escort Peggy out to find out where Dona is.

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High Desert (Season 1), Episode 7 Links: IMDb Wikipedia
High Desert (Season 1), Episode 7 Cast: Patricia Arquette, Bernadette Peters, Brad Garrett, Weruche Opia, Matt Dillon, Christine Taylor, Rupert Friend

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