With the recent release of a complete Twin Peaks DVD set, it’s time to revisit that out-of-touch small town coping with the unspeakable murder of Laura Palmer. We begin with the movie-esque pilot that sold ABC on this odd series.

Synopsis

Jocelyn Packard (Joan Chen) gazes in a mirror as Pete Martell goes out fishing. Behind the saw-mill he sees something wrapped in plastic - the corpse of Laura Palmer has washed up on the shore. Pete calls the sheriff, and confused receptionist Lucy Moran (Kimmy Robertson) notifies sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean). They visit the crime scene with Doc Hayward (Warren Frost) and deputy Andy Brennan (Harry Goaz), who bursts into tears.

Laura’s mother Sarah (Grace Zabriskie), calls up Laura’s boyfriend Bobby Briggs’ house, the school, and finally the Great Northern hotel where husband Leland (Ray Wise) is in the middle of some business negotiations. The Packard saw mill is about to go bankrupt and there may be an opportunity to buy the property. Benjamin Thorne, owner of the Great Northern, is selling land to some Norwegians. Sheriff Truman informs Leland that his daughter Laura has been murdered. Leland bursts into tears.

Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook) and Shelly Johnson (Madchen Amick) are driving to her house - they’re having an affair. They see Shelly’s husband’s truck in the driveway. Bobby drops Shelly off and speeds off in a hurry. It’s implied that hubby Leo must be a bad, scary dude.

At the local high school is bratty Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) and somber Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle), James Hurley (James Marshall) and Mike Nelson (Gary Hershberger). The news of Laura’s murder spreads around the school and Donna bursts into tears (repeatedly). Donna was Laura’s best friend. Andy and Thomas “Hawk” Hill (Michael Horse) come to the school to question Bobby (Dana Ashbrook).

The police visit Sarah Palmer, on the edge of a nervous breakdown. They find a diary and video camera in Laura’s bedroom. Andy breaks the news that another highschool girl, Ronette Pulaski (Phoebe Augustine) has gone missing.

Ronette’s father is an employee at the mill, so Jocelyn wants to close for a day. Catherine Packard Martell (Piper Laurie) doesn’t think this is a good idea.

Ronette appears in a daze, walking across a bridge from the woods toward town in a soiled nightgown and with ropes on her wrists. An old man says, “What the hell?” (my thoughts exactly.)

Distraught by Laura’s death, James rides a motorcycle to Big Ed’s Gas Farm. His uncle Ed Hurley (Everett McGill) comes out to reassure him. Ed’s wife Nadine (Wendie Robie) shouts at Ed about drapes.

Special FBI agent Dale Cooper is driving to Twin Peaks to lead the investigation (Kyle MacLachlan). He’s eccentric and obsessed with minute details like the types of trees in town, about which he rants to a tape recorder he calls “Diane.” He meets with the sheriff Harry S. Truman and asks to see the body of Laura Palmer.

As Cooper and Harry ride the hospital elevator, a one armed man rides with them. Cooper and Harry run into psychiatrist Dr. Jacobi (Russ Tamblyn), wearing earplugs and a red tie. He reveals that Laura was his patient.

While examining Laura’s body beneath flickering fluorescent lights, Cooper finds a small letter “R” lodged under Laura’s fingernail.

Donna visits Ed’s Gas Farm, where Ed gives her a note left by James instructing her to meet him at the Roadhouse later that evening.

Back at the police station, Cooper looks over the clues found so far. The diary has references to someone named “J.” Taped to a page is a safe deposit box key and the residue of cocaine.

Andy and a team of cops with dogs visit the location of Laura’s murder, an abandoned rail car in the rainy woods. Andy bursts into tears and Lucy tries to comfort him over the phone.

Harry and Cooper question Bobby. Cooper plays him the video tape which features Laura and Donna happily dancing around a campfire in the woods. Bobby has never seen this video before. Cooper decides Bobby is innocent.

Back at the Great Northern, mischievous Audrey walks into a meeting room filled with Norwegians, and announces that her friend Laura was killed and found on a beach, completely naked. The Norwegians watch her oddly, confused - and then decide to leave Twin Peaks. Ben tries in vain to stop them.

Donna is next to be questioned. She refuses to reveal the identity of the person holding the camera. Cooper asks if the person’s name begins with “J.” Donna bursts into tears (again). Cooper releases her. Harry and Lucy come in to talk to Cooper and mention that Mike and Bobby talked about a “biker”. Cooper pauses the video and reveals the reflection of a motorcycle in Laura’s iris.

Cooper visits to the rail car where Laura Palmer was murdered. He finds a hammer and half of a gold heart locket and a pile of dirt. A piece of paper has the words “Fire walk with me” written in blood.

(It’s revealed to us that the motorcycle belongs to James, and he also has the other half of the necklace.)

Cooper and Harry open the safe deposit box to find ten thousand dollars cash and a a copy of Flesh World (adult magazine) . Inside is a sexy photograph of Ronnette Pulasky, and a truck - which belongs to Shelly’s husband, Leo.

Leo (Eric Da Re) orders Shelly to turn off the television, complains about strange cigarettes in the ashtray, and threatens to break her neck if the house isn’t clean. He’s a brute and treats her like a child.

At Big Ed’s Gas Farm, waitress Norma Jennings (Peggy Lipton) calls up Ed for a secret rendezvous (they’re having an affair) at the Roadhouse.

Cooper calls a town meeting, where he reveals the previous murder of a Teresa Banks in another town. He believes the same person murdered Laura and nearly killed Ronnette. He believes the killer lives in Twin Peaks and the crimes occur at night.

A traffic light changes from green to red.

Doc Hayward tells his wife Eileen (who is wheelchair-bound) about the necklace the police found. Donna overhears her parents’ conversation. As night falls, she sneaks off to the Roadhouse to meet James.

Bobby and Mike drive up in a car to the Hayward’s house and ask Doc if Donna is home. Bobby is drinking and pretending to surf on the hood of the car. Doc goes upstairs to find his daughter missing. Mike and Bobby drive off to the Roadhouse where they suspect Donna is. Doc Hayward calls the police. Harry and Cooper are parked in a police car right outside the Roadhouse, hoping Donna will lead them to the mysterious biker.

Inside the Roadhouse, Ed and Norma are meeting over drinks as Julee Cruise performs a retro song. We learn Norma is married to Hank who’s in jail. Bobby and Mike enter and sit down at the bar as Donna enters the Roadhouse. Mike shouts out to her. They used to be an item, but Donna is resistant. A fight breaks out between various men. A friendly biker offers to take Donna to James. They ride off on a motorcycle together.

James is waiting for Donna, deep in the dark woods. He tells her that Laura was like a different person recently, ranting about Bobby having killed someone. Laura was involved in some deep, scary stuff that not even Donna knew about. James starts to cry. Donna tries to reassure him as they kiss (perhaps a romance is beginning between them). Donna tells James that the police found the other half of the heart necklace. James digs a small hole and buries his half of the locket. They drive off on his bike.

Cooper and Harry see James and Donna drive by. James is arrested as a murder suspect. As James is escorted to a cell, Bobby and Mike peer at him from an adjacent prison. They stare and bark like angry dogs while James fumes.

Harry shows Cooper a table in the station laden with donuts and coffee. He sets Cooper up at the Great Northern hotel for what will likely be a long stay in Twin Peaks.

After work, Harry pays a late night visit to Jocelyn up at the mill - they’re having a secret romance, too. Catherine calls an unidentified person and says “He’s here, again.”

We then see Sarah Palmer lying on a couch, nervous. She screams. Someone in the pitch-black night is digging up the buried half-locket.

Thoughts

• The small-town characters are dorky yet endearing in their strangeness and ordinariness. They blend in seamlessly with the retro-cheesy environments - garish dark colors, wood, red kitchen cabinets, and green linoleum.
• The show is about a character who is already dead.
• My favorite moment was the final scene where Sarah, through some sixth sense, knows that someone has dug up the locket. Scary stuff on the level of Kubrick’s The Shining.

Laura Palmer clues:

• Ronette says “don’t go there.”
• Laura Palmer was a patient of Dr. Jacobi.
• Cooper finds a small letter “R” beneath Laura’s fingernail.
• Laura had a safe deposit box containing 10 grand and a copy of Flesh World.
• A sexy photograph of Ronette and another of Leo’s truck appears in the copy of Flesh World.
• Laura’s diary has traces of cocaine.
• Donna Hayward cries many, many times.
• Leland Palmer cries many, many times.
• Audrey Horne is a brat.
• At the crime scene is half a heart locket and a piece of paper with the words “Fire walk with me.”
• James had the other half of the locket and filmed Laura and Donna in the woods.
• Ben Horne wants the Packard land.
• Harry and Jocelyn are having an affair.
• Ed and Norma are having an affair.
• Bobby was Laura’s boyfriend but he’s also having an affair with Shelly.
• Bobby killed someone.
• Leo is a total asshole.

Next Episode: Traces To Nowhere

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