The first “episode” of Twin Peaks was actually a 90-minute TV movie-type thing. It was not nearly as odd as I was expecting, but I assume it was just hinting at things to come.

The death of Laura Palmer is of course what triggers the story. Her body washes up on a shore, and she’s wrapped in plastic. This messes up the whole town–everyone is hugely affected. The school principal breaks down into tears and closes the school, even though he did not appear to know her. Local lumber factory shuts down in memorial. Who knows how they’re all connected, or if it’s just the shock in a small town.

The small town, of course, is what makes the film. Twin Peaks is a quirky place, stuck in a bit of a timewarp. I had to look this up to be sure, but the story is actually set in 1989. They sure don’t act like it though, as everyone speaks and looks like it is the ’50s. Weird old phrases and old cars and all that.

Except the out-of-town FBI Agent, who drops in, and is a bit of a fish out of water. So far is the strangest character yet… narrating everything to a Diane in his handheld tape recorder, and commenting on the wonderful, local cherry pie and the awesome trees everywhere. He is a great investigator though.

That’s what the pilot set up–the town being shaken, and the FBI agent coming in. I look forward to more episodic tales into the town. Everything is fairly mysterious as of yet, so hopefully there will be much to try to figure out. (Like the Log Lady.)

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 1st, 2009 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Twin Peaks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.