In 1990, ABC premiered a mystery-horror drama created byMark Frostand the late-David Lynchthat would go on to have a cult following many years later. That show would be calledTwin Peaks, which focused on the titular Pacific Northwest town home to a lot of eccentric residents and supernatural events, all discovered by a FBI agent (Kyle MacLachlan) who comes to town to investigate the murder of a local teenager.
While ABC pulled the plug (albeit a bit too early) on the show after its second season, it gained a massive cult following, and was instrumental in reshaping the science fiction landscape in the ‘90s. One can make an argument that, if it wasn’t forTwin Peak’sinfluence, shows in its lane like The X-Files wouldn’t have had the airspace to exist. So, to honor the late-Lynch, who, sadly, passed away in January 2025, let’s countdown the best episodes of the original series.
Twin Peaks
10“Cooper’s Dream”
Season 1, Episode 6
Much like the town itself, those who reside within it are not what they seem. Audrey isn’t the sprite she emotes, her father isn’t the wholesome businessman he’d like people to believe, Bobby isn’t as staunchly macho as he was willing to admit, and Laura wasn’t exactly the innocent damsel. Mirrors and reflections, like the one Cooper catches in Laura’s eye from that video in the first episode, further emphasis play with duality.
Looking back on the scene with Leland, where he has a visceral breakdown to the dance music, was this him trying to fight the demon secretly haunting him? Was this a realization of what he did? Was the unexpected musical track played by BOB to taunt his victim?
Season 2, Episode 6
I’ll be the first to admit I may be biased towards Lynch as donut-loving Gordon Cole, which could very well be why “Demons” made the cut. It could also be because of a brain-dead Leo’s reaction to the welcome home party after his hospital stint that was thrown for him after getting shot, leading to a face planted in the cake. It proved to be a hysterical and refreshing sequence for some of the slower plot lines.
As far as moving the story along, Cooper learns more about BOB, the demonic spirit of many faces lurking in the shadows, through the interrogation of Gerard, a host for another spirit by the name MIKE. Now, MIKE claims a religious experience prompted him to shed himself of evil by severing his left arm, while BOB did no such thing. An ominous atmosphere percolates throughout the episode, and, as it happens, with good reason — the follow-up turns out to be a big one.
Season 2, Episode 2
“Coma” doesn’t have as many twists or head-scratchers as its surrounding installments, but its legacy can be summed up in a series of images: the horror of Maddy watching BOB creep over the couch towards her (which alone ranks as one of the quintessential moments of the series), the joy of Log Lady’s return, the dichotomy of the barbershop quartet singing as Cooper uncovers more about the past, the news of mental hospital escapee Windom Earle, and Mrs. Tremond’s creepy, magically inclined grandson with a touch for cream corn, and the owl superimposed onto BOB’s face. Remember, “the owls are not what they seem.”
7“May the Giant Be With You”
Season 2, Episode 1
The Season 2 premiere picks up directly where Season 1 left us, with Cooper bleeding out on the floor of his hotel room in the Black Lodge. After an odd encounter with an oblivious room service waiter, a giant man appears before him to utter three clues to crack Laura’s case — and they all end up being true in time.
By beginning the season with this scene, it changed the game: the secret to cracking the murder of Laura was more about the phantasmic aspects of this world, rather than a simpler cop beat story that drove the early episodes. It also marks a new start for Cooper, who teetered between the worlds of the living and the spirits.Did this make us more susceptible to the other world?On a different note, if Leland wasn’t on viewers’ radars before, he was now, as he donned white hair and a new, less devastating flair for dancing.
6“The Last Evening”
Season 1, Episode 8
As Season 1 blurred into Season 2,Twin Peaksleft viewers with questions galore. Did Leo kill Laura? Cooper discovers more about his relationship with the victim, but the assailant was shot and placed in a comma after tying up his wife to burn at the sawmill. Who was the masked figure who attacked Dr. Jacoby and caused him to have a heart attack, after Donna, James, and Maddy lured him away from his office. What became of Cooper?
The agent headed back to his hotel room, but in the middle of a phone call, he was shot three times and left for dead on the floor.The episode had so much of what drew fans into the show, and the packed nature of it all was partly by virtue of the fact that the producers wanted to keep ABC interested long enough to green-light another season — which they did, so mission accomplished.
5“Arbitrary Law”
Season 2, Episode 9
The mystery of Laura comes to an end. With an impressive performance fromRay Wise, “Arbitrary Law” unequivocally reveals that the unhinged Leland Palmer killed his daughter while under the possession of BOB. The demonic entity laughs in delight at the impending death of his host body, trapped in an interrogation cell. But the story also plays with the question, how BOB is in control of Leland?
His final moments as he came to grips with what he committed were truly distressing. Prior, Wise plays with the movement around an encounter with Donna, similar to his motions while killing his more recent victim. With the exception of the finale, the rest of the second season doesn’t match the energy of this episode, which is probably why there are many who believeTwin Peaksshould’ve ended there.
4“Beyond Life and Death”
Season 2, Episode 22
Speaking of the finale, the magic of Season 2 came back when Lynch returned for “Beyond Life and Death.” Too bad it was also the series finale. The episode felt like its own self-contained made-for-TV movie that left plenty of cliffhanger questions (What happened to Agent Cooper? Did Audrey survive the explosion?), dazzled with alluring shots as Cooper fell deeper into the madness at the Black Lodge. Its lasting effect is a major reason why interest inTwin Peakshas continued for as long as it has.
A friendly reunion of phantoms turned into a battle for Cooper’s very soul, as all the clues planted in previous episodes led down this twisting road to Cooper headbutting his face into a mirror and seeing BOB’s bloodied face laughing back, dementedly. The finale stands the test of time and, depending on where we pick up in the batch of new episodes, could potentially establish the arc for the revival.
3“Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer”
Season 1, Episode 3
This was the moment when everything began to click, and I realized the true strangeness that wasTwin Peaks. Cooper’s Tibetan rock exercise was a sight to behold: he threw rocks, each one signifying a different person, at a glass bottle sitting on a stump. The one that breaks the glass is supposed to determine the identity of Laura’s killer.
His colleagues attempt to go along with this totally serious strategy, but we’re still left wondering what the hell Cooper’s getting at. Equally peculiar is Nadine’s soundless drape runner and, of course, the final dream sequence that introduced the supernatural elements. The pattern on the rug and all the prior Native American imagery in the hotel, perhaps an ode toStanley Kubrick’sThe Shining, laid the groundwork for the psychological horrors that awaited beyond.
2“Lonely Souls”
Season 2, Episode 7
It became difficult to watchTwin Peaksalone at night because Lynch and Frost knew when to bring the horror. “Lonely Souls,” the episode where the identity of Laura’s killer is heavily implied to be her father, reminded me of that. Ignoring his wife’s cries, Leland knots a necktie in the mirror, but it’s Killer BOB staring back. While this instantly poses all sorts of questions whether-or-not Leland is BOB, possessed by him, or merely influenced by him, the character offered one of the more terrifying moments when he viciously murdered his niece, Maddy, in a chilling sequence involving slow-motion, a spotlight, and dancing.
It’s a moment that will be forever burned into my psyche. Sadness spreads throughout the town as they feel the loss of Maddy, Donna’s flirtatious glances at James turning to tears. The episode also marked the return of the tall man from Cooper’s visions, appearing on stage at the Roadhouse to utter the line now iconic to fans: “It is happening again.”
Season 1, Episode 1
It may be lame to label the first episode as an emblematic example of everythingTwin Peakshad to offer, but it was a damn good pilot. What it lacked in supernatural oddities, it captivated with visuals and intrigue. Beginning with the babbling streams, churning factories, frost-tipped mountains, and Big Ed’s gas station, the series introduced a town, five miles south of the Canadian border, where neighbors know each other by name and nothing too out of the ordinary happens.
This image is shattered when the explosive incident ricochets throughout the community, and we learn the town is not what it seems. The fan spinning above Laura’s mother mimics her emotionally twirling state as she tries to find her daughter. The camera then pans down the twisting telephone chord, visualizing her downward spiral to despair. The episode also set the strange tone for the two seasons, sprinkling in Cooper’s bizarre fascination with Douglas first as we watch these now-classic characters reveal themselves.
