The small northwest town of Twin Peaks, Washington is shaken up when the body of the Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer, is discovered washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic.The small northwest town of Twin Peaks, Washington is shaken up when the body of the Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer, is discovered washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic.The small northwest town of Twin Peaks, Washington is shaken up when the body of the Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer, is discovered washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic.
- Shelly Johnson
- (as Madchen Amick)
- Leo Johnson
- (as Eric Da Re)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe name of the hospital in Twin Peaks is Calhoun Memorial. Calhoun was the name of Mark Frost's maternal grandmother, who would tell him stories about Hazel Drew, a 20-year-old governess whose body washed ashore in New York in July 1908. Drew's still-unsolved murder was an inspiration for Laura Palmer.
- GoofsWhen Cooper examines Laura's body for the first time, he turns to a doctor and asks him to leave him and the sheriff alone with the body. The actor, mishearing the line, replies "Jim" - his name. Cooper pauses for a moment and repeats the question and the actor apologizes and leaves. According to commentary on the 2007 DVD release, this was a genuine blooper but director David Lynch liked the surreal moment and kept it in the finished product. According to the same commentary, the flickering fluorescent lights were genuinely malfunctioning but Lynch felt it helped the scene so chose not to replace the lighting.
- Quotes
FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper: You know why I'm whittling?
Sheriff Harry S. Truman: Okay, I'll, I'll bite again. Why are you whittling?
FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper: Because that's what you do in a town where a yellow light still means slow down, not speed up.
- Alternate versionsEarly home media releases and overseas airings distributed by Worldvision visually plastered the early Lynch/Frost Productions logo (used only on the pilot) with the regular version, but retained the audio from the original logo. As the original logo only had a brief electric sizzling sound effect, it caused the plastered logo to only have a sound effect for it's initial period before abruptly falling into silence. Subsequent releases have restored the original logo.
- ConnectionsEdited into Twin Peaks (1989)
- SoundtracksFalling
Lyric by David Lynch
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Performed by Julee Cruise
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
This pilot was written by Mark Frost and David Lynch, with Lynch in the directors chair. Lynch is synonymous in film circles for eccentric direction and surreal storytelling, and one would think that Lynch would restrain himself from his trademark weirdness, but thankfully he doesn't, and television today is all the better for it. I can see traits of Twin Peaks' cinematography in works like Breaking Bad, I can see the eccentric cast of characters in works such as Bates Motel, I can see traits of Twin Peaks' surreal imagery in The Leftovers. Twin Peaks' influence can still be felt to this day.
I'd say the main theme of Twin Peaks is found within its humorous and complex cast of characters, the type of people you find within a Soap Opera, the kind that is found in the idyllic concept of small-town America, but each character has a darker element to them. It's about the inner darkness within people. And Twin Peaks can get disturbingly dark, but is balanced with an off-kilter sense of humour that only a person like David Lynch could pull off.
The standout of the cast of Kyle MacLachlan, who plays the main character, FBI Agent Dale Cooper. Cooper has the deductive skills akin to the likes of Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, but is an eccentric and polite man akin to a Mr. Rogers type. Most of the cast is also very good, particularly Ray Wise in my opinion. However, some of the cast is quite wooden (Michael Ontkean, I'm so sorry to say), and James Marshall is almost downright terrible in some parts.
I could go on, but there's only so many words I can use to describe this masterpiece of a pilot episode. Even if this was the only episode, it could stand proud amongst David Lynch's own filmography. Even if you don't like Lynch's work, you should still find a way to watch this episode if you haven't already. Because its influence is too important to simply pass by.
A masterpiece.
- mnkeyby
- Dec 1, 2017
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Filming locations
- Kiana Lodge - 14976 Sandy Hook Road Northeast, Poulsbo, Washington, USA(exteriors and interiors: Blue Pine Lodge aka the Martell residence)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1