Ghostwood Radio: Episode 1 "Pilot" • Twin Peaks • Television

Grab some of that damn good coffee, folks — we’re headed into Twin Peaks! Join us for our new series, “Ghostwood Radio,” in which we’ll be discussing the wildly influential show from David Lynch and Mark Frost. J is a longtime fan of Twin Peaks, a show which in many ways changed the landscape of television in the 90s. Meanwhile, I have next to no knowledge of the show beyond its existence. With the recent conclusion of Twin Peaks: The Return, we thought it’d be fun to wind back the clocks and start at the beginning.

In the feature-length pilot episode, we begin with the death of a young woman named Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). Through this lens, we’re introduced to a litany of characters who comprise the denizens of Twin Peaks. A quirky FBI agent named Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) soon arrives in town to investigate the murder. He immediately befriends Sheriff Truman (Michael Ontkean) and together they start working the case.

I find it fun to watch shows from the 90s. Despite the groundbreaking work done in Twin Peaks, there are some undoubtedly antiquated trappings scattered throughout the show. Still, there’s certainly an air of gripping tension and Lynchian surrealism that keeps the show feeling fresh even with a modern perspective. And, as J and I both point out, there’s a dark humor that raises its head throughout the episode. I enjoy this aspect; it gives the show an absurd bite that helps break some of the more dour components of the show.

The episode concludes with a nod to the supernatural as Sarah Palmer (Grace Zabriskie) has a POV vision of the murderer. As a complete novice to this world, I’m curious to see where Twin Peaks takes us from here.

~ Søren

As always, you can subscribe to our podcast feed (including all episodes of “Ghostwood Radio”) using iTunes/Google Play. You can also copy this link into your RSS reader. Alternatively, you can check out the episode online or download it here. Happy listening!