Summary
Twisted Metal Season 2 gets off to a rapid, chaotic start in a three-part premiere that speeds in the direction of the titular tournament without forgetting a good helping of character drama and development.
Start your engines, ladies and gentlemen. Twisted Metal is back for Season 2, and it’s bigger and better than ever. This might not be immediately apparent in Episodes 1-3, since by the end of this three-part premiere, the titular tournament still isn’t underway. But fear not. We’re getting there, and we’re getting there at considerable speed, albeit with a few valuable diversions for supplies and vital character development along the way.
As disappointing as it might be, then, given that the entire first season was largely a prologue for this one, you should consider the premiere as a table-setting exercise. It’s here to introduce some fun new characters — Mayhem chief among them — and establish the central premise, which it does both admirably and with welcome economy.
Episode 1, “PRSRPNT”
If you were worrying that Twisted Metal Season 2 would keep John Doe and Quiet apart for too long, fear not — it only takes the first episode to reunite them. But it isn’t exactly a romantic reconciliation, and there’s the small matter of a dangerous vehicular tournament to consider. The premiere is about laying the groundwork for that, and reintroducing the key characters we’ll be following through it.
One is Raven, who’s a different Raven than in Season 1, but thankfully, there’s an in-universe explanation for it. This one is keeping her friend Kelly on a life support machine after a tarot-related accident in their youth, and is adamant about keeping John in New San Francisco to race for her. Given that he escapes in a single episode with the help of one of the guards, she’s not doing a very good job of that. But her motivation is strong.
Sweet Tooth and Stu, meanwhile, decide to enter the tournament instead of facing the logistical difficulties of devising one of their own. Sweet Tooth is trying to wipe out all the most fearsome killers in the land — including one encountered in this episode, Big Baby, who has a mace attached to an umbilical cord and is still breastfeeding deep into his 30s; RIP — and it’ll be easier to do that if they’re all in the same place.
Dollface, Quiet, and the Dolls, meanwhile, see the tournament as an excuse to liberate the Outsiders from the tyranny of the Insiders, since the prize for victory, promised by Calypso, is a granted wish. They can wish for all the walls to be brought down. It’s the Dolls who catch John fleeing New San Francisco in an ambulance, setting up not just his reunion with Quiet, but also his long-lost sister, whom he can’t even remember.
Episode 2, “DOLF4C3”
Unsurprisingly, given the title and the events at the end of the premiere, Episode 2 of Twisted Metal Season 2 focuses primarily on Dollface, her original formation of the Dolls, and now her relationship with John, which, unfortunately, he can’t remember. For now, John’s amnesia allows the show to focus on his relationship with Quiet, who is determined to enter the tournament and achieve liberation for the Outsiders.
A new character named Mayhem is also introduced here, a mouthy adolescent who immediately strikes up a bit of a combative relationship with Quiet. She also almost gets Quiet and John killed in a silly fight against some “primitive” cave people she had stolen from and is supposedly left behind with the Dolls at the end of the episode, but we know better. It’s worth pointing out nice and early that Mayhem is by far my favourite character in Season 2.
The obligatory race sequence sees John, Quiet, Ashley, and Jeremy competing for the honor of who will enter the tournament on behalf of the Dolls. Quiet wins, largely thanks to her car, but she invites John to join her anyway, and Dollface and a few Dolls tag along to escort them to Diesel City to acquire some deadly special weapons.
At the end of the episode, in Blackfield Asylum, Mr. Grimm is invited to participate in the tournament. We’ll get to this guy in a minute.
Episode 3, “T2STDRV”
The best episode of the season thus far gives us a proper introduction to Mr. Grimm, who is either a supernatural soul-stealer or a mental case — there’s evidence for and against (just like in his various interpretations in the games.) It also allows John and Dollface to develop a sibling bond while Quiet and Mayhem build one of their own, and both angles are very effective.
After Quiet tricks John into spending some time with Dollface, they take a detour to a drive-in they used to visit every summer as children, where they’re attacked by Axel and his mad-scientist creator, Dr. Zemu. They kill the latter in a very funny exchange that implies he might be racist, and let the latter go — he goes on to save Quiet and Mayhem from Mr. Grimm, who kills Ashley and Jeremy, neither of whom will be especially missed. Axel is a thoroughly ludicrous figure and is exactly the kind of weirdo this show — and this season especially — excels in bringing to life.
In the meantime, Quiet teaches Mayhem to drive. Mayhem’s easily the best thing about this season thus far, and her presence allows Quiet’s character development to continue while John is occupied with Dollface and his past. With everyone having bonded, the episode ends on the border of Diesel City, with a special weapon heist coming right up.
RELATED:
