Episode 2 (Twin Peaks)

"Episode 2"
Twin Peaks episode
Dale Cooper's vision of Laura Palmer and The Man from Another Place in the Black Lodge featuring backwards speech and a mysterious shadow moving along the wall.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 3
Directed by	David Lynch
Written by	David Lynch Mark Frost
Production code	1.002
Original air date	April 19, 1990 (1990-04-19)
Running time	48 minutes
Guest appearance(s)
Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer David Patrick Kelly as Jerry Horne Miguel Ferrer as Special Agent Albert Rosenfield Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly Wendy Robie as Nadine Hurley Kimmy Robertson as Lucy Moran Jan D'Arcy as Sylvia Horne Mary Jo Deschanel as Eileen Hayward Gary Hershberger as Mike Nelson Michael J. Anderson as The Man from Another Place Robert Bauer as Johnny Horne Frank Silva as Killer BOB Al Strobel as "The One-Armed Man"
Episode chronology
← Previous "Episode 1" Next → "Episode 3"
List of Twin Peaks episodes

"Episode 2", also known as "Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer", is the third episode of the first season of the American mystery television series Twin Peaks. The episode was written by series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and directed by Lynch. It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and introduces Michael J. Anderson as The Man from Another Place, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield and David Patrick Kelly as Jerry Horne.

Twin Peaks centers on the investigation into the murder of schoolgirl Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), in the small rural town in Washington state after which the series is named. In this episode, Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlan) tells Sheriff Truman (Ontkean) and his deputies about a unique method of narrowing down the suspects in Palmer's death. Meanwhile, Cooper's cynical colleague Albert Rosenfield (Ferrer) arrives in town, and Cooper has a strange dream that elevates the murder investigation to a new level.

"Episode 2" was first broadcast on April 19, 1990, on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network, and was watched by an audience of 19.2 million households in the United States, equating to roughly 21 percent of the available audience. "Episode 2" has been well-received since its initial broadcast, and is regarded by critics as a ground-breaking television episode. It has since influenced, and been parodied by, several subsequent television series. Academic readings of the episode have highlighted its depiction of heuristic, a priori knowledge, and the sexual undertones of several characters' actions.