It features series regulars Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Ray Wise and Richard Beymer; and guest stars Grace Zabriskie as Sarah Palmer, Chris Mulkey as Hank Jennings, Miguel Ferrer as Albert Rosenfield, Don S. Davis as Major Garland Briggs, and Victoria Catlin as Blackie O'Reilly.

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 (FBI) Special Agent Dale Cooper (MacLachlan) is visited by The Giant after being shot by an unknown assailant.

[4] During the investigation, Cooper has been shot in his hotel room by an unknown assailant and Audrey Horne (Sherilyn Fenn) has begun working undercover at One Eyed Jacks, a brothel and casino on the Canadian-United States border, to gather information.

In Twin Peaks, Leo Johnson (Eric Da Re) has been shot by Hank Jennings (Chris Mulkey), Jacques Renault (Walter Olkewicz) has been murdered by Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), and The Packard Sawmill has been burnt down.

FBI Special Agent Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) arrives at the scene and Deputy Brennan, while alerting Cooper, steps on a loose plank, revealing an abundance of cocaine.

Leland Palmer enters the room, singing "Mairzy Doats", and both women are shocked to discover his hair has turned white overnight.

Maddy later meets Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle) at the Double R Diner and tells her about Leland's hair and sudden upbeat mood.

Sheriff Truman visits Pete Martell (Jack Nance) about Josie Packard (Joan Chen)'s disappearance following the mill fire.

[10] It was the most-viewed episode of Twin Peaks' second season and following its broadcast, the series ratings dropped a considerable amount—which lead to its eventual cancellation.

[12] AllRovi's Andrea LeVasseur has noted that "Episode 8" "features turning points for some major characters as well as several occurrences of supernatural visions", rating it four out of five stars.

Rich added that "almost immediately, however, one can sense creators David Lynch and Mark Frost starting to buckle under the weight of their own success.

For their big return, they seem to be ratcheting up the weird to give the people what they want--more shots of donuts, more coffee, and even worse, they started to indulge more in goofball humor that didn't really play out all that well.