It is never easy to feel sorry for characters who don’t take responsibility for their actions, but if we must keep seeing them on film, we would rather they have a sense of humor, like Peggy from High Desert. We don’t have to worry about having to treat them seriously. Here is a summary of High Desert Episode 2 in that vein.
Spoiler Warning
How Does Peggy Find The Thief?
Despite the fact that everyone adores Peggy, she is only really good at one profession—that of a private investigator—since she consistently arrives late for her waitress job’s dance practices but takes risks for her investigator job.
Peggy’s supervisor accuses her at the conclusion of High Desert Episode 1 of stealing money from his safe. Peggy doesn’t need much to establish her innocence. The alarm’s code, which is his mother’s birthday, and the safe code for her boss are identical. There is no reason to expressly suspect Peggy as that is something that anyone might have predicted. Additionally, she wasn’t the only one, according to her supervisor, who thought she used to visit his workplace for coffee. Lastly, the person who stole the money only took $3000 and left $1500 behind, which Peggy said she would never do. Peggy does, however, quickly identify the true thief. Tammy, the woman wearing the 2-carat diamond ring, was there. When Tammy’s boyfriend, the one who was supposed to pay for her breast augmentation operation, broke up with her, Peggy understood why even if she now has larger breasts than before. Peggy realized that Tammy had to steal the money since she had to acquire it somewhere. Tammy admits it when the woman confronts her, claiming that she did it to get back with Bob. It must have been an abusive relationship, in our opinion. We thought Tammy’s comment about his fingers touching her face was a romanticized and manipulated red flag for domestic abuse. In any case, Peggy and her boss have an agreement whereby she will give him the money in exchange for a security contract. However, after hearing Tammy’s version of the story, Peggy decides against exposing Tammy and instead goes to see Bob.
Under the guise of his teachings, Bob pretends to be a spiritual guru and tries to sell knockoff artwork to his clientele. Peggy, who appears to have some sort of art degree, though, picks him up. She approaches him about the Picasso artwork and claims to know some individuals who could be interested in buying it, but she soon demands Tammy’s $3000 in full. But the reasoning escapes us. Peggy leaves him with her phone number before robbing his bathroom of some of his medication for her own use. Here, two con artists have actually merged. Bob is being threatened by a thug because Peggy sold him a false painting, which Peggy discovers as she is leaving. We think Bob really deserved it, and it’s also plausible that Peggy’s desired Picasso is also a fake, with Bob’s employer possessing the genuine article, which hasn’t been seen in over a decade. Peggy breaks up that fight with the pretext of applauding the caterer, but the calm is short-lived.
Does Bob Give Peggy The Money He Owes Tammy?
Because episode 2 proved us wrong, we now regret saying in the recap of High Desert episode 1 that Peggy did not appear to be grieving her mother’s passing. With her memories of having fun at the casino with her mother Roslyn, Peggy’s anguish is coming to the surface. She misses her so much that Peggy is convinced she saw her at the bus stop. She asks everyone in the room whether she is still alive even though she knows it is impossible.
We also believe Peggy’s frustration with the PI course and her refusal to put in the time to understand it are related to her bereavement. Given that neither of Peggy’s occupations is as rigorous as the course requires, 50 hours is not a lot of time to spend on it. Carol offers to take Peggy’s position when she declines to do it so that she can assist Peggy and herself. But the fact still stands that the course has real educational value, which Peggy is strongly opposed to, and is not merely a formality. Peggy visits a casino that evening after meeting Bob since she wants to play but lacks the funds to do so. At that point, Carol informs her that money is easy to come by and that it is unclear why a purported friend of Peggy would advise her to gamble. On the other side, did Peggy miss what Carol was saying or did we misinterpret what she was saying? In any case, Peggy enters and has a great time gaming. When Peggy leaves the casino at the end of High Desert Episode 2, she receives a call from Bob, but it was an accident. The goon and his daughter are beating him up, and they finish up chopping off his nipple. We have no doubt that they will go for Peggy on the phone when they realize she may have heard everything. Bob is now unable to help her financially, but if Peggy and Bruce wind up getting engaged with whatever illicit activity Bob is a part of, that may help them make a lot of money. In the meantime, Peggy runs her car backward while intoxicated and high.
Final Thoughts
Episode 2 of High Desert was merely passable and felt a little more composed than episode 1. Nevertheless, Peggy continues to be disliked by us. However, we have begun to feel more optimistic because the whole story is not focused on her carelessness as much as we had anticipated. Consequently, it appears that we will be able to endure this.
