Twin Peaks: Pilot

 "Laura is the one..."

Oh my. That was... unlike any television pilot I've ever seen. Although it was very, well, David Lynch. This is utterly captivating stuff. I mean, I have no idea what's going on, and it'll take a couple of episodes to get a firm handle on all the characters, not least because all the main teenage characters seem to be cheating on their partners with someone else.

But the music, and the visuals, are not just a narrative but also a mood. This isrural Washington State, circa 1990, a place of sawmills, donuts and wood, everywhere you look. Wood, wood, wood, dead end jobs, wood, wood and darkness. Yes, I think I begin to understand a little more where Grunge came from.

Plot-wise... well, Laura Palmer is dead. Ronette escaped, although hardly unharmed. There was an earlier murder, elsewhere in the state. Under the fingernails of both dead girls is a letter of the alphabet!!! At the scene of the crime is necklace with half of a heart, and the words "fire walk with me". There's a primary red herring, Bobby, anda secondary red herring, James. There are hints of much, much more.

Oh, and there's the log lady. In the very first shot, just to weird us out from the very start.

I have no idea what's going on as we follow eccentric Agent Dale Cooper (name influenced by a certain skyjacker?) and Sheriff Harry S. Truman(!) on a weird yet entertaining investigation with twists and turns. But what's going on? What is this about? I have no idea, but this is so very David Lynch, and particularly redolent of the small town American weirdness of Blue Velvet. I think I'm going to like this.