[This story contains spoilers from the season one finale of Apple TV+’s High Desert.]
Patricia Arquette’s Apple TV+ comedy high desert it ended its season one finale with a literal bang.
The crime-focused series, which focuses on Peggy’s (Patricia Arquette) chaotic life as a recovering drug addict trying to find a new path as a private investigator, wrapped up its eight-episode season with a violent conclusion. Peggy and Guru Bob (Rupert Friend) were kidnapped by a missing painting, but their lives were miraculously spared after Leo Gattchi (Michael Masini) and Nick Gattchi (Carmine Giovinazzo) somehow killed each other. Also, Denny (Matt Dillon) managed to avoid Heather’s (Julia Rickert) wrath after her father was killed by a stray bullet.
During an interview with the hollywood reporterArquette discusses the final cliffhanger involving Peggy waiting for the human cannon to explode, the star’s conversation with her real-life sister that changed the course of Bernadette Peters’ role as Peggy’s late mother, her hopes for a second season and the changes that need to be made to how society deals with addiction.
Apple’s Matt Dillon and Patricia Arquette high desert
Courtesy of Apple
We get a bit of a body count in that final episode. There’s Heather’s dad and the police officer, and then we see Dona’s death. Also, we don’t know what happens to Peggy in that human canyon. Does it seem inevitable that the series will head towards such heavy moments?
There’s a bit of a noon quality that starts to happen in the last episode, where a lot of craziness definitely ensues. It is high risk. And even at the end with Peggy, what’s going to happen to her? Of course, Peggy is in a potential life and death situation at the end. That’s part of what terrifies her siblings, is her ability to put herself there. And one of the reasons she walks in [the cannon] it’s this other part of her that is codependent when she has to be responsible, and she gave her word to Owen (Eric Petersen), and everyone depends on her, even though she’s the last person we should really depend on. But she is there, and there is a part of her and a part of every addict: Do they want to be here or do they want to leave?
The highlight of the finale was seeing Peggy and Diane (Christine Taylor) talking about his mom. Did it feel like a breakthrough or a cathartic moment for Peggy?
I think so. And I think she really wants her sister to love and respect her. There was a time when she was the caretaker of the family, but she made decisions like a 16-year-old does. And Diane is constantly struggling between trying to see the good in Peggy and also protecting herself from Peggy’s flaws. She thinks she does want to heal her sister, and she wants to heal herself and she doesn’t really know how to do it.
This idea arose from this moment in which we had lost our mother, myself and my sister Alexis. [Arquette] they were at lunch one day. I looked up and said, “Oh my gosh, look at that lady. She looks like mom ”. And from this three-quarter angle, she did it, and this woman was having lunch with her friends and enjoying her life. And we both stared at her for a long time. My mom died at 57, and I was like, “She can’t go to lunch with her friends and do all this.” It was such a strange moment for me to be seeing a version of my mother. And I talked to the writers about it and then I talked about the idea of Bernadette being another character, and they came up with this amazing character, Ginger. (laughs.)
When you lose your mom, if you had a good mom, it’s a great loss. And so Peggy, her mother, is the only person who never really saw fault with her. Her mom loved her, she thought she was great, she made her very lazy. Peggy likes herself when she helps people, and she likes herself when she takes care of them, and she has to do that with her mother. Her brothers got off her because she was taking care of her mom and they didn’t have to. But when her mother passes away, she loses that usefulness in her eyes, and she has lost some of her own personal purpose and also someone she felt really loved her. She knows that Denny loves her to the best of her ability, but he will always make some bad decision that will put everyone in a terrible situation.
Was it fun to be part of a cliffhanger to leave the audience guessing?
Yes. We really wanted to do this kind of wild, crazy, outrageous ride: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. A wild adventure and don’t play it safe. It’s really weird being an actor because you make this world, and you fall in love with these characters, and it’s like, “Oh, are you going to have a second season? Where are they going to go? And you don’t know, and you’re in this hazy place. It’s almost like taking off your entire body or exoskeleton and hanging it on a hook, and it’s in a freezer, you’re in this no man’s land of waiting to see if you can put it back on.
Obviously, the entire industry is in limbo amid the writers’ strike. But has there been talk of the possibility of a second season?
I don’t know. I guess it will depend on how well the show does and how people respond. I just love Peggy, and I love this world, and I think it’s something really new that we’re not seeing on TV.
Throughout the season, we see that Peggy continues to be a somewhat chaotic character, and she’s still tripping on LSD towards the end. Does this unpredictability always seem to be a part of who Peggy is?
I don’t know for sure, but my gut tells me that’s always going to be something she’s struggling with. She’s going to make all kinds of excuses like, “Oh, this is my spiritual path,” or “This isn’t drugs, I’m doing it for this other thing,” or “Oh, this isn’t a drug.” Because that’s the way drugs are. They are completely seductive. If you have that addiction, it’s always whispering to you why this or that is okay. It is a very difficult thing.
We don’t think of addiction as a health crisis that millions of Americans struggle with, whether from alcohol or drug addiction, but it is. And until we start to look at it more therapeutically as a disease, I don’t think we’re going to make much progress. The way that Peggy loves Tristan and Isolde, and they die, and one jumps into a tree, there is a tragedy. On a certain level, she also sees her life as a tragedy but a great work of art.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
high desertThe first season is currently streaming on Apple TV+.
