Pilot (8 Apr. 1990)

An eccentric, mystical FBI agent arrives in the small Pacific Northwest town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of a young high school girl.

Director:

David Lynch

Writers:

Mark Frost, David Lynch

Stars:

Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Kyle MacLachlan	...	Special Agent Dale Cooper
Michael Ontkean	...	Sheriff Harry S. Truman
Mädchen Amick	...	Shelly Johnson (as Madchen Amick)
Dana Ashbrook	...	Bobby Briggs
Richard Beymer	...	Benjamin Horne
Lara Flynn Boyle	...	Donna Hayward
Sherilyn Fenn	...	Audrey Horne
Warren Frost	...	Dr. Will Hayward
Peggy Lipton	...	Norma Jennings
James Marshall	...	James Hurley
Everett McGill	...	Big Ed Hurley
Jack Nance	...	Pete Martell
Ray Wise	...	Leland Palmer
Joan Chen	...	Jocelyn Packard
Piper Laurie	...	Catherine Martell

Storyline

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, a mystical loner and eccentric nature lover, comes to the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks to investigate the brutal murder of a young high school girl named Laura Palmer and soon becomes entangled in most of the town's problems and situations.

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Plot Keywords:

agent | fbi | murder | investigation | motorcycle | 

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Taglines:

A Mystery That Holds Its Secret To The Very End

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Norwegian

Release Date:

8 April 1990 (USA)

Filming Locations:

534 Lewis Street, Monroe, Washington, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lynch Entertainment, Lynch/Frost Productions, Worldvision

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min 113 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Joan Chen assumed the role of Jocelyn "Josie" Packard, the character was originally written as an Italian woman named Giovanna Pasquialini Packard, with Isabella Rossellini slated for the role. This earlier version of the character appears in the first pilot script David Lynch and Mark Frost submitted to ABC. In this seminal draft, the series was entitled NORTHWEST PASSAGE.

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Goofs

In the series pilot, Laura Palmer's body is found on what is supposedly a lakeshore in front of the Packard home. During the filming sequence however, the tide lowers and the shore becomes more exposed - a highly unlikely occurrence on a lake. The scene was filmed at the Kiana Lodge on Agate Pass in Puget Sound and between takes, the tide went out.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pete Martell: She's dead. Wrapped in plastic.

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Connections

Spoofed in Max Payne (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Falling"
Lyric by David Lynch
Music by Angelo Badalamenti
Performed by Julee Cruise
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

TV phenomenon of 1990

Laura palmer (Sheryl Lee) is found dead--nude and wrapped in plastic. She was born, raised and killed in the town of Twin Peaks. The town sheriff (Michael Ontkean) and FBI Ageny Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) try to find out who killed her...and why. We are then introduced to the interesting...and very bizarre...residents of the town.

Absolutely fascinating. This exploded on TV in 1990 and was a huge hit. It led to the series which (unfortunately) was buried in bad time slots and mismanaged by the network (for instance, director/co-writer David Lynch was never going to tell who killed Laura but the network forced him to come up with a killer leading to a REAL stupid unmasking). Still, it was well ahead of its time and absolutely fascinating. It's like Peyton Place on drugs--or Peyton Place as done by David Lynch.

The opening pilot (which has an alternate ending) was released in Europe as a movie. It's just incredible--beautifully directed with a now classic movie score that perfectly fits the material. It's full of fascinating characters and images and--like most Lynch movies--has plenty of purposely strange moments--but it's never TOO obscure or disgusting (he DID have to keep in TV standards). The characters are full 3-dimensional people--weird perhaps but full characters. Also there are teenagers who (for once) are treated with respect and ACT like teenagers.

The acting is almost great across the board--but Dana Ashbrook, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sherilyn Finn, Ray Wise and James Marshall are especially good. The only bad performances are by Kyle MacLachlan (TOO strange) and Micheal Ontkean (TOO emotionless). Still this is great. Never dull and just beautifully done. A must-see. But if you don't like Lynch you might want to steer clear of this. A 10.