One of the best moments of this new drama is at the end, when the special agent tries to flee the town only to find he's hemmed in by miles of electrified fence and red warning lights.

The reason this was such a good scene is because the preceding hour had been crammed with tantalising, teasing, surreal aspects which made the viewer question themselves or, at least, question the perceptions of FBI Agent Ethan Burke, whose story we are following. We had seen him stumble from a car crash, so maybe this was all some concussed dream? But when he discovers the electrified fence we're left in no doubt: there is indeed some weird stuff going on here and it's OK to join Burke in his bewilderment.

Wayward Pines is a new drama from Fox, and is quite a big deal, being directed by M Night Shyamalan and starring Matt Dillon and Juliette Lewis. Everyone says it's the new Twin Peaks or The Prisoner, but I haven't seen either so was free to relish its strangeness, unsullied by the nostalgic elbowings of other weird shows.

Ethan Burke is searching for two of his missing FBI colleagues, one of whom he had an affair with. Travelling up through Idaho, he and another agent are involved in a horrific car crash and when Burke regains consciousness he's in a silent hospital in a little town called Wayward Pines. The nurse, who simply cannot shift the crazy rictus grin from her face, keeps dismissing his questions and won't bring him his mobile or wallet, saying they've been taken to the sheriff's office. Feeling irked and increasingly uneasy he staggers out of hospital and into a local bar to phone his wife, but the call won't connect and neither will the calls he makes later from his shabby hotel room. Disorientated and sore, he orders a cheeseburger (on the house, as the damn sheriff apparently has his wallet!) and the waitress (Lewis) shares his unease about this strange town, and passes him a note with her address. But this isn't a flirtation: she's giving him her details in case he needs help. Strangely, the note also tells him there are no crickets in Wayward Pines, something he tests later when he's outside, reaching into a chirruping bush to pluck out a tiny speaker.

When Ethan finally gives up and goes to the waitress's address for help he finds the tortured dead body of his missing colleague lying on her bed, but it's in a house which clearly hasn't been inhabited for years.

This is all very weird, and would be maddening were it not for the fact that Ethan is sharing our frustration. He's mad that he can't ring his wife. He's annoyed that he doesn't know where his wallet is. He's infuriated that, when he finally steals a car and tries to drive the hell out of Wayward Pines, that the road keeps looping back and taking him into the town again. We feel his anger and his increasing anxiety, and this is all capped spectacularly when he finally sees that he is a prisoner in the town, locked in by an electrified fence.

I'll be eagerly watching the rest of this series, not just to find out what on earth is going on, but for the weird, unsettling atmosphere of the creepy little town of Wayward Pines.