I’ll admit, I entered the world of Twin Peaks only within the past month. I knew the name and the faces behind it (David Lynch and Mark Frost), but I wanted to watch the original series so when the revival premiered I wouldn’t be left twiddling my thumbs at the proverbial water cooler (which nowadays in New York City has become happy hour or brunch with friends as we scramble to see if any of us are, by fate, watching the same shows).

I only knew the basics: there was an FBI agent named Cooper, played by Kyle MacLachlan, who was best known to me as Paul Atreides in Dune and Charlotte’s husband for a hot second in Sex and the City. (That should give you some sense of my entertainment sensibilities.) He came to the remote town of Twin Peaks, Washington to solve the murder of Laura Palmer, the local homecoming queen and seemingly all-American girl.

I also heard rumblings about supernatural elements and remembered some of the signature images that made their way into promotional materials for the new revival on Showtime: Cooper’s glass-shattering breakdown, a little person with some unique dance moves, a woman who could make a knot out of a cherry stem with her tongue, Lynch eating a donut, and that llama.

As it happened, my first episode of Twin Peaks coincided with my first ranked listical. Yes, this is the first time I’ve ever ranked anything online, which for a entertainment writer in the digital space seems to be quite a feat. I tried to avoid it, the same way I prefer to avoid rating anything: many will preemptively ignore a TV show or movie if there’s an average-to-low score attached. Nevertheless, my ranking of the original episodes was an experience, but one that shouldn’t negate any installments that didn’t make the cut. (Note: Sometimes the Pilot is considered Episode 0, sometimes Episode 1; in this list it's the latter, so always default to the episode title when heading for your re-watch). Spoilers obviously follow.

So here it is. Agree or don’t, as long as you want to go back and watch. [Editor's Note: You can also check out our Twin Peaks Guide for a refresher that's safe for newbies and long-time fans]

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?

9. “Demons” - Season 2, Episode 6

twin-peaks-season-2-demons-image
Image via CBS

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 plant in the cake. It was 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.

8. “Coma” - Season 2, Episode 2

twin-peaks-season-2-coma
Image via CBS

“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 from 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

twin-peaks-season-2-may-the-giant-be-with-you-image
Image via CBS

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 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

Image via CBS

As Season 1 blurred into Season 2, Twin Peaks left viewers with questions galore. Did Leo kill Laura? Cooper discovered more about his relationship with the victim, but the assailant was shot and placed into a coma 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

Image via CBS

The mystery of Laura comes to a finish. With an impressive performance from Ray 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 in control of Leland was BOB exactly? His final moments as he comes to grips with what he committed was 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 believe Twin Peaks should’ve ended there.

4. “Beyond Life and Death” - Season 2, Episode 22

twin-peaks-saeson-2-beyond-life-and-death
Image via CBS

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 it’s 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 in Twin Peaks has 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 head butting 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

Image via CBS

This was the moment when everything began to click and I realized the true strangeness that was Twin Peaks. Cooper’s Tibetan rock exercise was a sight to behold: he throws 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 try 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 to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, laid groundwork for the psychological horrors that awaited beyond.

2. “Lonely Souls” - Season 2, Episode 7

twin-peaks-entire-mystery-blu-ray-1
Image via CBS

It became difficult to watch Twin Peaks alone 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 as to whether 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 with 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.”

1. “Pilot” - Season 1, Episode 1

It may be lame to label the first episode as the emblematic example of everything Twin Peaks had to offer, but it was a damn good pilot. What it lacked in supernatural oddity 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 firs as we watch these now-classic characters reveal themselves.

Twin Peaks will return with Season 3, May 21st on Showtime.