After receiving an e-mail inviting them to a cinnamon festival, Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and Burton "Gus" Guster (Dulé Hill) travel to the quirky small town of Dual Spires.

After receiving a flier by email inviting them to a cinnamon festival, private detectives Shawn Spencer (James Roday Rodriguez) and Burton "Gus" Guster (Dulé Hill) travel to the quirky small town of Dual Spires.

Soon, the body of Bob and Michelle's niece, Paula Merral (an anagram of Laura Palmer, the Twin Peaks murder victim), is found by a lake.

Sheriff Andrew Jackson (Lenny Von Dohlen) rules the death an accident, but Shawn receives the Dewey Decimal Classification number of a book, Reincarnation and Rebirth, the title of which parallels the revelation that Paula had supposedly drowned in Santa Barbara, California seven years earlier, though her body was never found.

Detectives Juliet O'Hara (Maggie Lawson) and Carlton Lassiter (Timothy Omundson) reopen the case and leave to issue a warrant for Bob's arrest.

Shawn and Gus continue the investigation and, finding an entry in Paula's diary about meetings with "J", are led to partially blind photographer Jack Smith (Ryan McDonald).

Randy reveals that after he attacked Jack, Paula confronted him about his ex-girlfriend, who Shawn deduces is librarian Maudette Hornsby (Sherilyn Fenn).

However, Hornsby is found hanged at the library, and Sheriff Jackson and Dr. Donna "Doc" Gooden (Sheryl Lee) rule that Maudette killed Paula out of jealousy and committed suicide to keep the town from knowing about the affair.

Bob, who is revealed to be Paula's biological father, explains that after World War I, his great-grandfather established the town with two other soldiers, intending to create a secluded utopia.

After Lassiter and O'Hara arrive and arrest Gooden and Jackson, the group celebrates at the diner, only to be repulsed by a number of oddities referencing Twin Peaks.

"[9] In addition, Mädchen Amick, who played diner waitress Shelly Johnson, agreed to appear as Michelle Barker but dropped out due to a family issue.

[4] The imagery that accompanies it is an almost shot-for-shot recreation of the Twin Peaks opening sequence,[10] with a white horse that resembles the one in Sarah Palmer's vision before the attack on Maddy Ferguson.

[9] "Dual Spires" is presented as an homage to Twin Peaks, and CNN writer Katie McLaughlin noted several allusions the episode makes to the series.

In Twin Peaks, Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) delivered the famous line "Diane, I'm holding in my hands a small box of chocolate bunnies."

[3] When Shawn makes the observation that Dual Spires has "Bob Barker, Doc Gooden, and Randy Jackson, all living in the same inlet town with no cars, cell phones, or internet",[10] Gus replies that they should pitch the concept to Mark Burnett.

Jonah Krakow of IGN gave the episode a score of 9 out of 10, writing that it was "enjoyable enough on its own merits that I don't have to apologize for gushing over every single subtle nod to Twin Peaks.