Creators Mark Frost, David Lynch. Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Richard Beymer, Lara Flynn Boyle, James Marshall, Everett McGill Review by Molly Elizabeth
SYNOPSIS:
An idiosyncratic FBI Agent investigates the murder of a young woman in the even more idiosyncratic town of Twin Peaks.
The Twin Peaks pilot is as elusive as Laura Palmer's killer. CBS and Hulu are currently airing the series in it's entirety EXCEPT THE PILOT. If one were to purchase the official Twin Peaks box set, one would find every episode included EXCEPT THE PILOT. Even Youtube has banned all but the first twenty minutes of this cinematically based enigma. Why is the first episode of David Lynch's serial masterpiece being withheld from all but the most diligent of internet adventurers? The air of mystery surrounding the Twin Peaks entity is as palpable as the events contained within the series itself.
And so it begins. A sawmill. An inn on a bluff overlooking the sea. An old man finds a person-shaped, plastic wrapped parcel. The man obviously contacts the police. Meanwhile, a housewife calls her daughter to breakfast. A viewer can only assume that the tardy Laura might be the owner of the body on the beach. And where is her boyfriend, Bobby?
Lynch wastes no time delving into sordid secrets of the town. All American Bobby sits at a diner and offers beautiful waitress Shelly a ride home. Beatnik Bobby cools his way out of the joint with Shelly in tow, and the ensuing sexy dialogue reveals that they are worried about being discovered by Shelly's husband. But Shelly's husband is home! Looks like Bobby might have to make an appearance at first period after all.
But his appearance is delayed when the cops call him into the office. Fluffy-haired Donna and bad boy James make eyes in homeroom – but are interrupted by an announcement by the Principal. Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer has been found dead. Laura's parents are informed as well, and Mom immediately goes into a downward spiral. She has to be sedated to give a statement about Laura's whereabouts the night before. Donna cries. James seems sad.
Life in Twin Peaks, as well as the local sawmill, literally shuts down upon the news of Laura Palmer's demise. Directly following the workers hiatus a dirty, bloody teenage girl appears on a bridge overlooking the mill. Enter David Lynch's living muse Kyle Maclachlan – in the form of FBI agent Dale Cooper. Cooper wastes no time establishing his authority in the podunk – albeit charming – town and heads directly to the ER to interview Ms. DirtyBloody. Her identity is revealed as Ronnete Wilkins She is a local girl who has been raped repeatedly, and is too disconnected with consciousness to give any kind of statement. ('She has no idea where she is, or IF she is..')
Local investigator Harry Truman leads Cooper to the body of Laura Palmer for futher investigation. Insert the immortal Russ Tamblyn as crazy Dr. Jacoby, Laura's psychiatrist. He offers to accompany them to the morgue but is quickly denied. Cooper examines Laura's body and after a painful search discovers the letter 'R' under her fingernail.
Cheating boyfriend Bobby is the first suspect. Cooper puts the hothead in his place, and simultaneously rules him out as a candidate for murder. Laura's diary turns up, and all signs point to a suspect who owns the first initial J. Additionally, a video tape has surfaced featuring BFF Donna (of the fluffy hair) and a mysterious director, whom Donna refuses to name. Cooper and Truman continue the investigation, and turn up the third clue - half of a gold heart found in a bloody, abandoned part of the sawmill. The owner of the other half of the necklace is grieving bad boy James. The fourth piece of evidence turns up in Laura's safe deposit box. Ronnette Wilkins appears in a skin rag alongside a stack of money.
Cut to Beatnik Bobby's mistress Shelly. Poor, tragic Shelly is victimized by her husband. Cut to Fluffy haired Donna, who is victimized by her meat head boyfriend. Cooper addresses the town and informs them that the murder of Laura Palmer follows a pattern previously established in a different part of the state. He names the killer as a Twin Peaks resident and imposes a curfew on the town. Donna wastes no time in breaking this curfew, and sneaks out to meet bad boy James. To discuss Laura, of course. Her parents notice her missing and inform her meat head boyfriend and a ridiculously drunk Bobby that she has snuck out of the house. The police are called in, and all the characters converge on the Roadhouse because trouble is brewing.
At the Roadhouse: Some characters that are not especially interesting are also having an affair! Along with being the local hangout, the Roadhouse is also the hot adultery night spot. Bobby and meathead find Donna and start a brawl. Donna escapes on a bike to meet James with Truman and Cooper in hot pursuit. She finds James. He reveals that he was with Laura right before she died. He reports that she was acting crazy! He also reveals that Laura confessed that Bobby confessed that he killed someone. Hm. James cries and then he and Donna make out. The conspire and bury James' half of the necklace. Not a moment too soon, because Cooper and Truman soon accost them and put James in jail – right next to incarcerated Bobby and meathead (arrested for starting the Roadhouse brawl.)
An enticing row of donuts leads Cooper and Truman into their final tet – a -tete of the evening. Cooper is quite taken with Twin Peaks, and plans on staying there for quite some time. On the way home, Truman stops by his mistress' house – One Miss Josie Packard, whom also happens to own the sawmill. Meanwhile, Laura's grief stricken mother has the first Twin Peaks vision ….a gloved hand burying half of a necklace.
REVIEW:
In 1990 David Lynch set out to create a series that would revolutionize the one hour television drama. The camera work is masterful – it ranges from magnificent (establishing shots of the famous Twin Peaks waterfalls) to macabre (close up: tweezing under Laura's dead fingernail to extra the letter 'R') And the editing slips expertly from crazy to crazier. Immediately introduced are a plethora of plot twists and turns – adulterous affairs, nuanced drug ring involvement, an unhealthy penchant for cherry pie...
Lynch's wild ride lasted for 30 episodes (Two seasons 1990-1991) and quickly reached cult classic status after cancellation. There are many who believe that prime time simply was not ready for such a disturbing series. The pilot is almost a film unto itself – and Youtube features a 'European' ending to the pilot that wrap up the story line without the ensuing 30 episodes. Thank goodness the euro ending didn't catch on – or society would be without the pop culture phenomenon that is Twin Peaks.
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