Chris

Twin Peaks Rewatch 1: Pilot

Recommended Posts

Twin Peaks Rewatch 1:

592__header.jpg

Pilot

It's the first episode of Twin Peaks Rewatch, a podcast revisiting each episode of Twin Peaks one week at a time! This week we kick off the show with our thoughts on Twin Peaks' pilot episode, directed by David Lynch, and run through some fantastic letters from readers at home. Whether you're new to Twin Peaks or a longtime fan, join us, we're just getting started.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

To partially answer the question asked about how much of the show's central plot was pre-written (huge spoilers, obviously)

 

"In the beginning," as Lynch noted during a talk he gave in Seattle a number of years back, "there wasn't any BOB." While shooting the pilot in an Everett, Wash., home that would be used for the Palmer residence on the show, a member of the crew joked to Silva, the set dresser, that he needed to make sure he didn't trap himself in Laura Palmer's room in the process of setting up for a scene. When Lynch heard the comment, it triggered something. "In my mind," Lynch continued, "I see Frank locked in that room. And I went rushing in to Frank, not knowing why I rushed in, really." He asked Silva if he was an actor, to which Silva answered in the affirmative. "So I said, 'Frank, I think you're going to be in this scene.'"

http://www.theawl.com/2013/01/bob-terror-twin-peaks

 

I kind of disagree with the notion that Twin Peaks is about modernity coming in and corrupting a sleepy, working class town. I thought the show was a statement on how that darkness was always present. This becomes more apparent when the more mystical parts of the show start dominating the plot. 

The Black Lodge, BOB, the repeated comments about how there has always been evil in the woods around Twin Peaks, etc

. That makes Cooper this tragically naive character, because he is so easily charmed by what seems like an idyllic town and he lets it get the best of him.

 

Really good first episode, excited for more!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

OK, I have a choice I need to make and I was wondering if I could get some opinions:

 

Like Jake, I've never actually finished Twin Peaks*, but unlike Jake I stopped a lot sooner into Season 2 (only ~5 episodes in). I've been spoiled on the "big" question already (who the murderer is) so nothing in the spoiler section of this podcast was news to me.

 

But Jake got really really concerned for the wellbeing of newbie listeners during the transition between non-spoiler and spoiler. So now I'm wondering if I'm doing myself a disservice by listening to these episodes in their entirety, even if I'm already spoiled on what *seems* like the biggest thing. Am I? Should I stop listening to the second "half" from now on?

 

*This info was in the spoiler section, hopefully it's not somehow a spoiler for the show...??? Just kidding, I know that's impossible... right???

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Oh, guys: don't hesitate to enter what Chris called "overly indulgent mode". Overly indulgent mode is the best mode.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Really enjoyed this episode! Twin Peaks has been on the incredibly long list of "cool stuff released before I was born" that I need a push to look at, so I'm glad you're making this podcast. 

 

Honestly I'm surprised neither of you two mentioned the classic "zoom in on the motorcycle in the reflection in the eye" moment.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love the range of emotions I had watching the pilot: it was melancholic, mysterious, romantic, strange, funny and horrifying. The ending is amazingly effective, I had strong shivers from looking at an old lady on a sofa and a staircase! (The actress Grace Zabriskie is intense! I just saw Inland Empire where she has a small role being super menacing).

Now is a good time for a rewatch as it has been about 6-8 years since I first watched the whole series. I was seven when Twin Peaks first aired in Finland in 1991. I remember vaguely seeing some scenes and understanding that it was something adult and scary but also kind of familiar and fascinating. These childhood memories now make the already haunting atmosphere even more effective to me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I love the range of emotions I had watching the pilot: it was melancholic, mysterious, romantic, strange, funny and horrifying

 

It really does feel like the show changes genre, at every new scene doesn't it? :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That makes Cooper this tragically naive character, because he is so easily charmed by what seems like an idyllic town and he lets it get the best of him.

 

I don't think I'd characterize Cooper as naive. It's been some time since I watched the series, but from what I remember he is pretty much immediately open to supernatural possibilities, and perceptive of the darkness lurking just below the surface of the town.  As the series unfolds he seems to take the stranger revelations in stride. Even more so, at some points, than the sheriff and some of the other townsfolk, who presumably have lived with the strangeness and darkness all their lives. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The thing that stuck out to me the most is how so many shots shots linger on their subject just long enough to be uncomfortable or weird. The slow pan down the phone cord after Leland drops it. Bobby barking in the cell - initially goofy, then just enough to be unsettling. Those fucking unnerving staircase moments. It's all so slow and deliberate, and adds to the weird dreamy sleepiness of the show.

 

I also get little twinges of high school nostalgia whenever Laura's Theme is playing, because I listened to a lot of Moby in high school.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great first episode guys! I'm a series newcomer, so I'm excited to be following along.

 

I think you're both dead on about Sarah Palmer being superbly performed. The whole sequence of Leland finding out, the phone call, identifying the body and then the cops at the house was really well done. In fact, it was a bit too good - I attended my uncle's funeral three days before watching this and that was also a shocking (although not mysterious) death, so watching what I had just seen in real life play out in front of me was kind of tough. In retrospect, I probably should have waited to watch it. But that just speaks to how good the performances and directing are. Sure, it's a bit melodramatic, but that's what grief is. And the continual shots of the staircase, as though Laura's just waiting up there, sleeping in because she doesn't want to go to school, were brilliant.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Man, really looking forward to rewatching this with a post-episode "Double R" debriefing.

 

I could've sworn I heard a story that the bank clerk's "It fell over." line about the deer head was another improvised moment like the morgue attendant saying his name (the prop having actually fallen over before the scene started) but I can't seem to find anything on Google now.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Fun first episode! I looked it up and I am about an hour and a half drive from the Twin Peaks cafe, Twedes Cafe http://www.twedescafe.com/

 

I may just have to make a trip down and get some photos for the forums.

 

One of my goals in life is to make a trip to all the Twin Peaks pilot filming locations.  I spent this afternoon (through a fluke of traffic signals) walking straight down the middle of an empty 6th Avenue in midtown New York City and I am extremely geographically jealous of you.

 

Also Grace Zabriskie does an excellent job in My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?  It's a Werner Herzog film produced by David Lynch—two kinds of weirdness in one movie!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great first episode! 

 

My favorite line in the pilot is probably "Give me a donut." Though the "Holding a small box of chocolate bunnies" and "Oh, it fell" are also favorites.

 

I'd be interested in hearing what you think about the use of music in the show. I feel like it's rare to see a show where the music is as pervasive as it is in Twin Peaks.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest Gesadt

just wanted to post lil something many new people or even RR twins might have missed- watch Sarah's mother scream scene at the end, there might be someone or something in the mirror...

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

just wanted to post lil something many new people or even RR twins might have missed- watch Sarah's mother scream scene at the end, there might be someone or something in the mirror...

 

This post just freaked me the hell out and the fact that I didn't even know you could make guest posts on this board makes it even creepier.

 

I'm definitely not going back to the episode to check.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

just wanted to post lil something many new people or even RR twins might have missed- watch Sarah's mother scream scene at the end, there might be someone or something in the mirror...

ugh i went and looked as i'm about to go to bed and ughhhhhh guess i'm having nightmares tonight

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The translator is speaking Norwegian btw. His pronunciation is also very good, but, BUT his tone of voice or pitch is quite off, which is probably what makes it sound strange. Words can get a different meaning if you change the pitch, so it sounds pretty weird. It's almost as if they hired a Norwegian and asked him to sound like an american? It is absurd. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

just wanted to post lil something many new people or even RR twins might have missed- watch Sarah's mother scream scene at the end, there might be someone or something in the mirror...

 

Damn, well spotted

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey everyone, first time poster and watcher of Twin Peaks here.

 

This was an excellent first episode (of both show and podcast). What really surprised me going in was the frequency of humourous moments in the show, some of which the guys mentioned on the podcast, and obviously that stuff just constantly flows from Agent Cooper. His "let me stop you in the hallway" line absolutely floored me, simply because it's the character directly commenting on something that happens in countless shows. It's like the character relishes his job as an Agent to such an extent that he over plays and over explains everything he's doing (mainly through the medium of his tapes to Diane), especially clichés, to the point of almost breaking the fourth wall. He's masterful.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The pilot available on Netflix is the American version. I read that the international version is longer, so I tried to acquire that and watched it. Thing is, the international version was cut into a stand-alone TV movie that reveals the ending. Guess which I ended up watching?

 

I've seen most of the series previously and my partner had seen all of it, so no real damage done. Odd way to start a rewatch though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now