The Pilot

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LostInTheMovies
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The Pilot

Post by LostInTheMovies »

I just watched the pilot for the first time in close to six months. That doesn't seem like a lot but considering all the work I did on the videos in between, it really feels like a long time. So many thoughts occurred to me as I watched this that I started to worry I would forget them before the episode was over!

First off, I watched Fire Walk With Me and the European Pilot (the whole thing) back-to-back, in that order. As might be expected, they did not flow AT ALL, even though the events are (roughly) chronological. If anything this approach highlighted the differences between them, and instead of offering a new perspective on the pilot it mostly just hammered home how Laura was essentially an inscrutable plot device at this early point. (One of my favorite facts about the pilot is that Sheryl Lee's name is buried between bit players like Joey Paulson and the high school principal in the end credits, even as her face fills the screen - although other notables, like the Log Lady, are similarly treated as footnotes; I seemed to remember Kimmy Robertson was relegated to the end credits too - but the blu-ray version I watched had her name in the opening...weird).

Most obvious to me, though, was the difference in style. Honestly, the pilot and the feature film feel like the work of different directors. The pilot really feels of a piece with Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, and Blue Velvet: there's a cool, aloof restraint to it which is totally gone by FWWM (I'd say it starts to evaporate as soon as Wild at Heart, Lynch's very next project). But while it's pretty commonplace to note the differences between the film and pilot, what struck me most on this viewing was how different the pilot feels from the rest of the series, even the first season. Something about the pilot holds you at a bit of a distance, which is no doubt a big part of its success: the viewer leans in eagerly, trying to figure out what's going on. Again, it's not just a matter of plot, it's everything - the camerawork, the editing, the pacing of the performances, even the soundscape/score (which is at once more stylized and more naturalistic than later episodes). There's a kind of quiet, "dead air" quality to the proceedings which is present, to varying degrees, in all the Lynch episodes (and totally absent from FWWM). And the pilot has a palpable, sensuous gloom - the way I'd describe it is that it's almost like you can "smell" what's onscreen.

Also, the pilot feels so much more "realistic" than the rest of the show. The film is realistic too, but in a completely different way - realistic in terms of internal psychology while the pilot feels realistic in terms of external behavior/gesture. Compared to what follows, as soon as ep. 1, this is very documentary-like, very observational with a little offbeat stylization layered on top. Watching it next to something like, say, ep. 16 would feel extremely jarring. This only adds to the slightly distancing quality already inherent in Lynch's early cool/aloof visual style (which is not usually "documentary"-like). But also the fundamental narrative elements of Twin Peaks - Cooper, the town, and Laura - have a bit a remove to them. Cooper, as AudreyHorne noted in another thread, isn't quite as approachable here as he will be later. He's fascinating to watch but, arguably, we don't totally identify with him yet (although his entry into the story does provide something of a way in for viewers & a relief from the air of dread of melancholy). The town is equally fascinating, but we don't really have our bearings yet and because everyone is a potential suspect we aren't sure who we can trust. And Laura, obviously, is at this point very much dead: a complete question mark, with every new fact only making her seem less knowable.

There's a rich feeling of almost feverish what's-really-going-on-here/what's-happening-beneath-the-surface which I don't think the series will ever match (or possibly even attempt to match) again. This is true even having seen the series and knowing everything that's going to happen - I still get a sense from the pilot that I'm not seeing the full picture, that I'm only peeking into a world. I like to think there's an alternate universe out there where no series was ever commissioned and the pilot became a cult classic, with endless speculation about whether or not there is a real killer to be deduced (the pilot actually does have many subtle hints that it could be Leland) or whether it's just a postmodern exercise in open-ended, inconclusive mystery to which no solution actually exists. Sort of like the debates that did take place during the first season, but without any eventual resolution on the horizon.

I think I had more to say but, as feared, I forgot it already.

One other note, about the "European" ending: it seems that originally Lynch wanted to tack the entire 22-minute sequence onto episode 2. The script indicates as much, episode 3 refers to much more than was in the actual dream, and Lynch supposedly went to the network to ask for another 2-hour episode. With that in mind I have a hunch that the show was going to play it "straight," only revealing that Cooper was dreaming in the final minutes of episode 2. What a twist that would have been! (And, one imagines, what an infuriating tease!) The script for episode 2 even sets this up because there's a scene where Sarah goes downstairs right before Cooper goes to bed, which would imply that her couch scream is not part of his dream but actually happening across town. Plus the fact that the alternate ending has Cooper already in bed would have integrated perfectly with the idea that he was waking up in reality, rather than from a dream. That said, the bulk of the alternate ending is so clumsy and goofy that making the entire thing into a dream sequence (let alone one we're initially supposed to believe is real) might have backfired as a stunt.
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Re: The Pilot

Post by Audrey Horne »

quick observations before I forget them.

Not only is Robertson in the end credits, but she plays a Lucy Morgan.

Catherine is Katherine.

*I'll have to check the blu ray out -did they really change it?

For years and years and years, I always thought Sheryl Lee played yet another character -I thought she played the attendent at the bank who shows Cooper and Truman the safety deposit box. The "Oh, it fell down" girl. When I was set straight, I admit I'm always a little disappointed that it isn't the case.

*I think most know it now, but Audrey's saddle shoes are so unique because they are not saddle shoes. They couldn't be found, so regular oxfords were painted, and giving it the inverted black and white appearance versus the traditional bar of black shoe.

*The jail was filmed right across the street from the diner. I think a lot of people know that now. But also, the Briggs kitchen was also filmed in this same building- Charlotte Stewart pointed out some of these tidbits to me. I drove Charlotte and Catherine Coulson to a fest dinner once -and Kathleen Whiloitte was in tow. She was trying to keep up that one was married to Jack Nance, one was married to Jack Nance in a movie, and one lived with Jack Nance. It was pretty funny.
God, I love this music. Isn't it too dreamy?
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Re: The Pilot

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Audrey Horne wrote:I drove Charlotte and Catherine Coulson to a fest dinner once -and Kathleen Whiloitte was in tow. She was trying to keep up that one was married to Jack Nance, one was married to Jack Nance in a movie, and one lived with Jack Nance. It was pretty funny.
That's awesome (both parts)!

Just re-watched the credits for the pilot (European & regular version). Kimmy Robertson is in the credits as "Lucy Morgan" in both. Weird! I must have been thinking of episode 14, which I watched not long before (I do remember looking for her name in the opening credits of an episode because I couldn't remember if she had been added to the opening role for season 2 - she had).

Who is the "Maria Pulaski" listed in the closing credits of the pilot? I don't remember seeing Ronette's mom at all; was she cut? I seem to vaguely remember a scene with her in the pilot script. Anyway, she's listed before Ronette (and Lucy is just BURIED in the closing crawl).
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Re: The Pilot

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mangobanan posted this humorous insight on the Idle Thumbs Twin Peaks Rewatch forum:

***

"Hi! I stumbled upon the rewatch podcast through the Twin Peaks subreddit, and I have been listening with great interest. Great show, guys!

I've searched the forums and couldn't find anything about this from anyone else so: As a Norwegian, I noticed that the translator makes a little joke at the end of the first scene with the Norwegians in the pilot which he doesn't translate. Just as the scene is ending, he translates the bit about how Sven's airsacks have never felt this good, and then says "Det var bra han ikke så buksene som han jogger i!" to a round of laughter.

That translates to "It's a good thing he didn't see the pants he jogs in!"

Just a little bit of trivia for all you non-Norwegians out there :)"

***
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Re: The Pilot

Post by mlsstwrt »

I agree (as is usually the case) with LostInTheMovies. The tone of the pilot was very different to both the movie and the series. I'd always attributed that to the fact that the pilot was filmed on location. I still think that's a big part of it but LostInTheMovies identified some other reasons that I hadn't thought of.

I was 13 when Twin Peaks aired. It had been hyped in the UK during the week before it first aired and I had completely ignored it, refusing to read anything about it. At that age (probably now to an extent) I liked discovering things myself, things that were old news. I didn't bother paying attention to Twin Peaks because it was the current big thing (or about to be). I remember watching something else, forgetting that the Twin Peaks pilot was even airing then flicking over to BBC2 because I was bored. It was the scene with Donna and James talking in the woods. I was CAPTIVATED and deeply unnerved (even though that scene is innocuous compared to other stuff even in the pilot). It connected with me on a visceral level like nothing had before. When the pilot finished I was astonished because I didn't know it was a series, I thought it was standalone. And by that point I was gripped. I didn't miss another minute of Twin Peaks after that. The pilot remains by far my favourite piece of television ever and I know it will never be surpassed. Even Breaking Bad at its very best doesn't come close, for me.

Very good observation about Cooper having a different aura in the pilot by the poster who first mentioned that a long while back. He definitely had an edge to him, especially in the interview with Bobby. His final words to Bobby in that interview were an acerbic, 'You didn't love her anyway' (or something very close to that). Even Bobby was left speechless. And Bobby DID love her. Laura had just kept pushing him away until he stopped loving her.

As I said above Twin Peaks unnerved me. I found Leo Johnson legitimately scary, especially because at that stage he was at that stage a genuine suspect in Laura's murder. But within the space of that 1 hour 30 mins or so of television (I watched the repeat in full) I was haunted, terrified, bewitched, devastated all at the same time. Even just thinking about it now gives me chills.
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Re: The Pilot

Post by Jonah »

One of my favourite episodes alongside 8, 14, and 29. Unbelievably iconic. A stunning debut. Fantastic mise-en-scene, production, cast, everything. Probably the best pilot I've ever seen.
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Re: The Pilot

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In the beginning of the movie, am I crazy or is there a slight reference to salvador dali?
Having breakfast at the Brigg's household, the phone rings. It's Sarah palmer looking for laura.
When the camera pans from Mr and Mrs briggs to the telephone, there are two figures on the refrigerator that very much resemble salvador dali's "theangelus". It actually has a longer title, but correct me if you think I'm wrong.
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Re: The Pilot

Post by Jonah »

I always come back to revisit these episode threads and I'm surprised the Pilot doesn't have more comments. All the big episodes like 14, 29 go on for two or more pages, but very few posts on the episode that started it all. Weird! So I just wanted to add my random and meandering thoughts on the Pilot!

LostInTheMovies wrote: Honestly, the pilot and the feature film feel like the work of different directors. But while it's pretty commonplace to note the differences between the film and pilot, what struck me most on this viewing was how different the pilot feels from the rest of the series, even the first season. .
- Just read your opening post here again. You make a lot of great points on the pilot. And I agree it's very different than the rest of the show.

You know, I'd actually rank it higher than all of Season 1 - and I'd rank it higher than FWWM, too, though for different reasons.

When I think of "Twin Peaks", I tend to think of my favourite aspects being the first stretch of episodes in Season 2 (8 - 14, mostly, though if I'm feeling generous I might throw in 15, which I really like, and at a push possibly 16, which I like a lot but have problems with) followed by 29, then the Pilot, then either Season 1 or FWWM (hard to decide - I love both in flashes, but neither worked entirely for me) and the weaker episodes (e.g. 28) then the "bad" ones (e.g. 17, etc.) , in roughly that order.

As much as I love the OTT and disturbing supernatural Lynchian deliciousness of Season 2's opening stretch (being for me at least the REAL "Twin Peaks") and for much the same reasons, also why I love 29 so much, the restrained low-key but very realistic and beautifully shot (the weather and locations are practically palpable!) Pilot ranks higher than FWWM or Season 1. I'm not sure why this is as I probably navigate generally more to the latter half of Lynch's career (the wilder, weirder, more overtly supernatural and narratively overblown movies such as "Mullholland Drive", "Inland Empire", et al - of which Episode 29 and FWWM seem to be a part) more than, for example, the "Blue Velvet" part of his career (of which the Pilot definitely feels like it belongs). But the Pilot always works for me in a way that much of Season 1 (though there are many moments I love) never quite did.

I think everything works so well in the Pilot - the location scenes, the weather, the acting, the central mystery. It doesn't have the same warm, fuzzy feeling some of Season 1 and 2 have, but there is that distance you mentioned - a sense of everything being at a remove, of things hidden beneath the surface. I find it all fascinating.

I enjoy watching the European cut too (which for a long time, was the only TP available to rewatch on VHS before the DVDs came out - I never could track down the episodes here on VHS) at times, and seeing how the Red Room fits into this world. While in my mind the Red Room always belongs more to the Episode 29/FWWM camp, it should feel at first that it doesn't fit at all into this more restrained Pilot/Blue Velvet camp, yet it really does - almost like both halves of Lynch's career forming an early nexus here. I'm probably not explaining this very well, but I think it's a fascinating way to see different sides of Lynch emerging and creatively expanding. Fascinating, too, to think the establishment of the Red Room began here even if it wasn't included in the original cut!

Also, side note, while I feel a lot of Frost's touch on Season 1, I don't feel it very much here in the Pilot strangely! (Apart from perhaps the hint of Peyton Place/soap opera homages/parodies - though they are much more understated here than they would become.)
I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.
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Twin Peaks Out of Order #5: The Pilot

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Re-watching Twin Peaks from my least favorite to favorite episode...

Previously: Episode 8 (http://www.dugpa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=44108#p44108)

More than any other part of Twin Peaks aside from Fire Walk With Me, the pilot is its own beast. It looks, feels, even seems to smell different from the rest of the series. This isn't unusual with TV pilots, often shot under different circumstances than subsequent episodes, closer to the form of a film production, on existing locations rather than a soundstage set, and with different actors playing the parts (a fate Twin Peaks does not share, except for minor roles like Johnny Horne or Ronette's father), or the same actors with different hairdos (bingo! - and all the more noticeable since the following episode is supposed to take place the very next day). With Twin Peaks there are additional factors to consider. The locations are not just real but also far from Los Angeles: the gray, moody ambiance of the Pacific Northwest is a palpable presence in every scene. For example, notice the visible scenery outside various windows, whereas on the series these panes will often be filled with bright light or large out-of-focus photographic backdrops. Additionally, David Lynch - whose entire experience up to this point had been in film production or one-off projects like music videos and TV commercials - is fully in charge of the pilot in a way he never was during the series. "Fully in charge” is not to say fully responsible because Mark Frost is clearly an equal partner here, given the pilot's clockwork revelation of its world. It’s merely to point out that Lynch, as the on-set director of a story written beforehand with his full involvement, was carefully managing and toying with every little detail. Once the narrative train pulled out of the station, Lynch was more like an occasional tour guide than a full-time conductor and when it became a runaway train he was gone altogether. This Twin Peaks, however, feels as polished as Eraserhead or Blue Velvet, if also more lo-fi and unglamorous in its presentation (this may be very cinematic television for 1989, but it's still more television than cinema). Most interestingly, the pilot exists in a state very likely shared by no other episode: the killer of Laura Palmer is undetermined, the nature of the darkness surrounding her life remains ambiguous, and anyone onscreen could be the culprit. Obviously the creative team maintained that sense of uncertainty for fourteen more episodes but even an episode or two after this you can start to feel the options tighten and the direction become more certain. Yet even when we already know the show's secrets, the pilot sustains a mood of eerie openness (maybe because, by Frost’s admission, he and Lynch did not yet know the answer themselves). Anything is possible and that freedom is as unnerving as it is exciting. I sometimes imagine that an alternate universe exists in which the series wasn't picked up by ABC, leaving this one unfinished yet self-contained fragment behind, forever unresolvable, a portrait of anguished grief and eccentricity and sudden terror and sadness with no name. Perhaps this is what Lynch means when he says that the killer never should have been revealed? The pilot certainly deserves to be called one of the best episodes of Twin Peaks, arguably its most perfectly-constructed and executed. A good case can be made for ranking it, bare minimum, in the top three. But this is a favorites list, and I admire the pilot much more than I am moved by it. My enjoyment is detached, cerebral - especially during the first third, devoted almost entirely to the town receiving the news of Laura's death. While I consider Laura Palmer one of the greatest characters in fiction, and the film devoted to her life an absolutely devastating piece of cinema, these early scenes in Twin Peaks do not really reach me on an emotional level (an occasional exception being Donna's reaction to the girl who runs screaming across the courtyard). I always breathe a big sigh of relief when Cooper arrives to lighten the mood and move the investigation forward. I have also noticed a bit of a generation gap when it comes to this episode. Younger viewers tend to be a bit alienated or confused by the soap-operatic intensity of the music and performers, wondering if they are supposed to feel weird or if these stylistic tics are relics of an earlier era. Older viewers remember how radical this pilot appeared in the context of network television of 1990, noticing the realistic touches while also appreciating how the air of slight exaggeration makes it purposefully surreal. Perhaps for these reasons, and the different methods of viewing, original viewers seem more likely to rank it as a high-water mark that the series never or only occasionally reached again, whereas first-time viewers in 2015 often regard this as a memorable introduction which hasn't quite hit its stride yet. For me personally, there’s another factor to consider: Lynch's first-stage films (Eraserhead through Wild at Heart) impress me but are not among my all-time favorites, whereas his second-stage films (Fire Walk With Me through Inland Empire) overwhelm me on a visceral level. The pilot belongs very much to the Blue Velvet phase of his career, whereas the finale feels closer to Mulholland Drive. This is a great beginning, but there's so much more to Twin Peaks and David Lynch and I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface yet.

Next: Episode 9 (http://www.dugpa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=44273#p44273)
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Re: The Pilot

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Audrey Horne wrote: For years and years and years, I always thought Sheryl Lee played yet another character -I thought she played the attendent at the bank who shows Cooper and Truman the safety deposit box. The "Oh, it fell down" girl. When I was set straight, I admit I'm always a little disappointed that it isn't the case.
I always thought this as well and to this day I'm still doubting it. Are we a 100% sure that this isn't Sheryl Lee? If I remember correctly, there is no one in the credits that could be assigned to the girl in the bank.
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Re: The Pilot

Post by Romalotti »

Just finished watching the pilot. Did anyone ever notice when Bobby and Mike enter the Roadhouse, one of the bikers says 'oh what a wonderful world'? This links to Louis Armstrong's song that plays in the Palmer house when Maddy announces she is going back to Montana (right before she is murdered).

I mean, it may or may not have been on purpose. But I can't help but make the connection.
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Re: The Pilot

Post by Snailhead »

It's quite likely that it contributed to the use of the song in Episode 14. Lynch seems to think quite highly of the pilot and probably would revisit it when preparing for his other episodes in the series. Assuming it was his idea to use the song, that is.
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Re: The Pilot

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LostInTheMovies wrote:I just watched the pilot for the first time in close to six months. That doesn't seem like a lot but considering all the work I did on the videos in between, it really feels like a long time. So many thoughts occurred to me as I watched this that I started to worry I would forget them before the episode was over!

First off, I watched Fire Walk With Me and the European Pilot (the whole thing) back-to-back, in that order. As might be expected, they did not flow AT ALL, even though the events are (roughly) chronological. If anything this approach highlighted the differences between them, and instead of offering a new perspective on the pilot it mostly just hammered home how Laura was essentially an inscrutable plot device at this early point. (One of my favorite facts about the pilot is that Sheryl Lee's name is buried between bit players like Joey Paulson and the high school principal in the end credits, even as her face fills the screen - although other notables, like the Log Lady, are similarly treated as footnotes; I seemed to remember Kimmy Robertson was relegated to the end credits too - but the blu-ray version I watched had her name in the opening...weird).

Most obvious to me, though, was the difference in style. Honestly, the pilot and the feature film feel like the work of different directors. The pilot really feels of a piece with Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Dune, and Blue Velvet: there's a cool, aloof restraint to it which is totally gone by FWWM (I'd say it starts to evaporate as soon as Wild at Heart, Lynch's very next project). But while it's pretty commonplace to note the differences between the film and pilot, what struck me most on this viewing was how different the pilot feels from the rest of the series, even the first season. Something about the pilot holds you at a bit of a distance, which is no doubt a big part of its success: the viewer leans in eagerly, trying to figure out what's going on. Again, it's not just a matter of plot, it's everything - the camerawork, the editing, the pacing of the performances, even the soundscape/score (which is at once more stylized and more naturalistic than later episodes). There's a kind of quiet, "dead air" quality to the proceedings which is present, to varying degrees, in all the Lynch episodes (and totally absent from FWWM). And the pilot has a palpable, sensuous gloom - the way I'd describe it is that it's almost like you can "smell" what's onscreen.

Also, the pilot feels so much more "realistic" than the rest of the show. The film is realistic too, but in a completely different way - realistic in terms of internal psychology while the pilot feels realistic in terms of external behavior/gesture. Compared to what follows, as soon as ep. 1, this is very documentary-like, very observational with a little offbeat stylization layered on top. Watching it next to something like, say, ep. 16 would feel extremely jarring. This only adds to the slightly distancing quality already inherent in Lynch's early cool/aloof visual style (which is not usually "documentary"-like). But also the fundamental narrative elements of Twin Peaks - Cooper, the town, and Laura - have a bit a remove to them. Cooper, as AudreyHorne noted in another thread, isn't quite as approachable here as he will be later. He's fascinating to watch but, arguably, we don't totally identify with him yet (although his entry into the story does provide something of a way in for viewers & a relief from the air of dread of melancholy). The town is equally fascinating, but we don't really have our bearings yet and because everyone is a potential suspect we aren't sure who we can trust. And Laura, obviously, is at this point very much dead: a complete question mark, with every new fact only making her seem less knowable.

There's a rich feeling of almost feverish what's-really-going-on-here/what's-happening-beneath-the-surface which I don't think the series will ever match (or possibly even attempt to match) again. This is true even having seen the series and knowing everything that's going to happen - I still get a sense from the pilot that I'm not seeing the full picture, that I'm only peeking into a world. I like to think there's an alternate universe out there where no series was ever commissioned and the pilot became a cult classic, with endless speculation about whether or not there is a real killer to be deduced (the pilot actually does have many subtle hints that it could be Leland) or whether it's just a postmodern exercise in open-ended, inconclusive mystery to which no solution actually exists. Sort of like the debates that did take place during the first season, but without any eventual resolution on the horizon.

I think I had more to say but, as feared, I forgot it already.

One other note, about the "European" ending: it seems that originally Lynch wanted to tack the entire 22-minute sequence onto episode 2. The script indicates as much, episode 3 refers to much more than was in the actual dream, and Lynch supposedly went to the network to ask for another 2-hour episode. With that in mind I have a hunch that the show was going to play it "straight," only revealing that Cooper was dreaming in the final minutes of episode 2. What a twist that would have been! (And, one imagines, what an infuriating tease!) The script for episode 2 even sets this up because there's a scene where Sarah goes downstairs right before Cooper goes to bed, which would imply that her couch scream is not part of his dream but actually happening across town. Plus the fact that the alternate ending has Cooper already in bed would have integrated perfectly with the idea that he was waking up in reality, rather than from a dream. That said, the bulk of the alternate ending is so clumsy and goofy that making the entire thing into a dream sequence (let alone one we're initially supposed to believe is real) might have backfired as a stunt.
This is true. I mean so much of that maybe because the pilot captures the raw emotion of a small close nit town slowly discovering that someone close to them as died. Because there are so many characters, you then get that experience drawn out so beautifully across the episode. Think the pacing is really careful in that regard. I'm guessing that's why it was a extra long episode. It is establishing the world of Twin Peaks, and its emotional reaction to such a shocking event. One really powerful thing is how us a viewer have to watch as Sarah Palmer frantically searches for information about Laura's whereabouts and yet we already know the truth. Once it has done that, then it gets to the more playful (but also dark at times) business of subverting expectations and showing what's really going on with everyone in the town. That's when the more fragmented approach probably works better. I see your point about Cooper being more distant in the movie, but then I think that is just down to him not having as much screen time and being on the outside of the town for most it. Think Lynch made a big effort to totally create a different and tone for FWWM. As if he was marking the close one chapter and a switch to another, and to a different medium.
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Re: The Pilot

Post by asmahan »

Just was re-watching this on Showtime the other day and realized in the scene where Harry breaks the news to Leland when he's on the phone with Sarah that Leland asks Harry "is this about Laura" and then announces to Sarah she's dead, without Harry actually saying so. An early indicator of his guilt, perhaps?
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Re: The Pilot

Post by OrsonWelles »

Am starting to rewatch Twin Peaks. Also noticed some of the points made above. Especially the different nuances in Dale Cooper's personality. The way he assertively tells Harry the bureau's in charge, he's crude remark at Bobby, which seems more snarky than season 1 and 2 Cooper. There are plenty of bits that capture the weirdness of Twin Peaks. Bobby and Mike barking in prison, the introduction of Dr. Jacoby, Cooper's obsession with Douglas Firs, the mayor. And there's very crude emotion, especially by Sarah Palmer. I can't help but find some of the overacting a bit annoying, especially James' swooning faces, but that's nothing new.
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