Short cuts and alternate routes are vital when it comes to crossing the finishing line – but it’s also fairly smart to pit stop every now and then abd after a season premier that visited old friends and introduced new threats, the notoriously energetic Twisted Metal has decided to pace itself and take a quick breather on the way to the titular tournament. After all, we’ve some lost ground to catch up on and even though John Doe managed to finally escape New San Francisco and run into some important figures from his past, he hasn’t seen his ball pit companion, Quiet, in seven months or his long lost sister Krista in over twenty years. Needless to say, there’s some catching up to do.
But with a gaggle of weird and wonderful new characters just aching to take the spotlight, is it so wise to tale a step back from the main plot so soon and bench such eccentric looneys such as Calypso, Raven, Axel and, of course, Sweet Tooth? Ease up on that clutch fellow racers, the show knows what it’s doing.
After escaping New San Francisco after discovering that Raven was grooming him to be her driver in the upcoming Twisted Metal tournament, John found himself in the clutches of the Dolls, a predominantly female gang that crosses the dystopia landscape trying to stop the increasing divide by the Insiders living the life of Reily inside the walls of the Mega-Cities and the Outsiders scrabbling a meager existence everywhere else. A quick flashback reveals that their leader, Dollface (aka. Krista) got the who ball rolling when she discovered that it was the women of various establishments and gangs who kept the trades moving while the menfolk were having (literal) dick measuring competitions and promptly staged a bloody coup.
But what does this have to do with our friendly neighbourhood amnesiac John Doe? Well, for a start, his former friend/companion/fuck buddy, Quiet, has since joined the Dolls since John’s been staying at New San Fran; but secondly it turns out that Krista is his lost sister from decades ago. Unfortunately, meeting her and discovering that his real name is Lionel doesn’t actually help John’s memory return and much to Dollface’s surprise, he has no interest about hearing about his family either as he’s trying to save himself from the pain. More drama builds when he discovers that Quiet has no interest in running away with and insists that her place is with the Dolls to the point that she’s volunteered herself to ride in Calypso’s tournament in order to win the wish that hopefully will equal the playing field between the haves and have nots. In an attempt to protect her, John races against her to take her place, but matters are made even more complex by the arrival of bratty youth, Mayhem who, alongside being an utter thief, seems to be a complete shit magnet to boot.
However, while John and Quiet settle their differences on the track, yet more bizarre racers are getting invites to attend Calypso’s grand race – such as the unsettling Mr. Grimm.
As we’ve now got twelve episodes to contain the crazy, it’s no surprise to find that Twisted Metal is pacing itself rather than roaring right into the main event, so while the usual selection of withering put downs and random lunacy is still ever present, episode 2 manages to limit the screen time of the more out-there characters to establish some necessary bedrock. That means it wastes no time in properly introducing us to the long teased Dollface who turns out to be John Doe’s long lost sibling, but instead of diving headlong into tearful reunions and reminiscing that helpfully fills in some background gaps, the show chooses to keep the relationship between Krista and John (aka. Lionel) frosty and awkward. It sort of feels like a let down, presumably because it’s supposed to, and the show simply just give up all of its goods with ten whole episodes still in the clip – but while this long hinted at reunion is obviously going to have to take time to heat up, thankfully the reconnecting of John and Quiet is far more perky.
One of the greatest strengths of the first season (other than virtually every second spent focused on Sweet Tooth), was the snappy back and forth that emerged between Stephanie Beatriz and Anthony Mackie, and it’s gratifying that it’s still in full effect here even if the dynamics have changed somewhat. You see, the seventh months John spent playing video games and trying to escape didn’t really effect his Star Lord style sense of arrested development at all, but while he’s still the boyish man child he always was, Quiet’s time spent in the company of a gang of warrior women has greatly increased her skills and confidence. In fact, now that she’s a hatchet flinging, bisexual, roadster who can kick sizable amounts of booty, she’s kind of offended that John still sees her as his friend (with ballpit benifits) that he has to protect.
Similarly, John is hurt that Quiet isn’t willing to run away with him and instead has an actual cause to fight foe even if a lot of her comrades are as messed up as a lot of the rest of the population living on the roads. Yes, there’s no trace of Sweet Tooth to be found here and no sign of arch villain, Calypso either, but while the previous installment took its time laying out the basics, DOLF4C3 busies itself with nicely rebuilding the old animosity that John and Quiet their relationship with and then spends the whole episode grinding it back down into the friendship we left them with.
Even though we are bereft of any screentime for the other, larger than life ensemble, we are introduced to a new character in the form of the young, scrappy scavenger, Mayhem, who seemingly is a whole new character with no obvious ties to the original games, but while she seems to be a throwback to youthful, 80s, wildcard sidekicks in the mold of Molly Ringwald’s character from Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone (how’s that for an obscure reference?), I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if she turns out to be a whole lot more when it’s all said and done.
However, while there’s a whole bunch of worldbuilding and jokes to be had here (behold the hopelessly emasculated Jeremy), the show doesn’t forget to include some of the car-based destruction that’s supposed to be the entire point. OK, the final act scrap with a couple of primitive cave people may feel a bit ropy, but the race to determine which of the Dolls will go through and compete for Calypso’s wish is fast, furious and contains all those cool, candy-coloured explosions I absolutely adore that look like a highly lethal gender reveal party gone nuclear.
While there’s a distinct feeling that Twisted Metal is merely revving it’s engine in preparation for the big stuff, season 2’s continued dedication to its main cast of characters will no doubt pay off in the long run. Of course, we continue to get further teases of the other nutballs that will eventually be trying to kill them with the introduction of skull helmeted motorcyclist, Mr. Grimm. But as the momentum builds, I hope that when it all kicks off, it’s as spectacular as I’m hoping for.
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