Following the bleak Pilot and the colorful first episode, this odd and entertaining piece of the Twin Peaks puzzle is a sort of mixture of the two distinct styles and moods of its predecessors. It has a much more light feel to it than the Pilot, but it's also filled to the brim with disturbing visuals and dramatic moments. Lynch returns as director, so, naturally, the episode certainly isn't lacking in the surrealism department. As a matter of fact, it contains one of Lynch's most memorable and widely referenced surrealist sequences: Cooper's twisted, comic, and enigmatic dream. It is a masterpiece of cinema in its own right, even when separated from the Twin Peaks franchise, and it also marks the first appearances of The Man from Another Place and the Black/White Lodge (a.k.a The Red Room), both of which have become key figures in the Twin Peaks universe.
Aside from the wild surrealism, there's also tons of great character moments, most notably the material surrounding the Hornes. Audrey does her famous and crushingly seductive dance while her uncle is introduced in a hilarious moment in which Lynch seems to be singing the praises of French sandwiches. This episode is most definitely one of the most successfully funny in the series even if it is not among the most consistently comical. Lynch is just a natural at absurdist humor and, therefore, whenever he's behind the camera, things are bound to get mind numbingly hilarious at some point.
I could go on and on describing the episode's great scenes and celebrating its genuine craftsmanship in terms of cinematography, scripting, character development, etc., but it's best that anyone who hasn't seen this one yet to watch it as soon as possible. If you're just getting into the series now and don't love it yet already, this classic might just change your mind!
