So here we are, after an entire first season and four episodes waiting for Twisted Metal to actually get to the titular tournament that all the original video games were based around. Thankfully, while a lot of adaptations that gave tried the same thing often feel like they’re not giving the fans what they’ve paid for, it’s actually been incredibly fun getting to this point as the show’s crazed sense of humour has seen it through all the way to this point.
But now, it nut up or shut up time and as all of our colourful combatants line up to give their vehicles of death that last, quick tune up, ONURMRK manages to give a last bit of breathing room to fully let our competing freaks moments to build up some zero hour animosity before the bullets start flying. But once the countdown ends and the tournament finally starts, can Twisted Metal live up to the build up and start dealing out all the death and destruction it says on the tin?
After their semi-successful attempt to steal some game-changing weapons from Diesel City, the time has finally come for John, Quiet, Dollface and Mayhem to arrive at Calypso’s hanger to prep for the big race, and while our quartet is intending to shoe a united front, it seems that literally everyone has history or beef with someone else there. For a start, John is startled to see that some of the Holy Men are participating who still hold him responsible for the death of Preacher back in season 1 – however, matters get even more weird when they reveal that they have a rather feral baby with them that they believe is their master reincarnated. Meanwhile, after Sweet Tooth and Stu rock up, Stu is shocked to find that his former best friend, Mike, is not only still alive after Sweet Tooth tried to kill him, but he’s part of a nicer, healthier friendship with professional nice guy Dave and is pissed that Stu’s been hanging with a masked lunatic while learning to kill better.
Speaking of Sweet Tooth, while he’s overjoyed to bump into John and Quiet once again, it turns out that he has a mysterious and bitter past with Mr. Grimm that dates back to the asylum they once shared. But while Dollface finds herself drawn to the jacked form of Axel after their precious meeting, John is alarmed to see that Raven, his former captor, is taking part and is mega-pissed that, after training him specifically to race for her in the Twisted Metal tournament, he just escaped to take part anyway.
However, while all this natural drama is unfolding, Mayhem hits upon the idea to create some more by wandering up to various other racers and spread rumours about them talking trash. Soon she has such dangerous racers as Vermin, Chuckie Floop and Death Warrant all ready to kill one another without taking into account that she’s inadvertently made herself a target. But after Calypso announces that first there’s going to be a qualifying round, everyone is going to have ample opportunity to air out their grievances soon enough.
While some will no doubt whine that the action sequence that closes out the episode isn’t technically part of the tournament (it’s merely a qualifier round) and ends on a cliff hanger that won’t get resolved until next week’s batch of episodes, I have to say, after waiting fifteen episodes to get to this point, ONURMRK proces to be everything I was hoping Twisted Metal would be when I first learned that it was getting a live action adaptation. The show keeps things nice and simple for the build up as it takes place entirely in one setting as the various drivers arrive and immediately start getting on each other’s nerves. Snarky dialogue flies as furiously as the pink smoke trails of Sweet Tooth’s missiles and the episode takes full advantage of the fact that virtually everyone here has at least one long standing gripe with someone. In fact, thanks to Mayhem’s plan of spreading as much misinformation and made up gossip as she can, by the time Calypso makes himself known, everyone present is even more desperate to slaughter each other than they were before.
However, one thing the episode does really well, other than have speeding vehicles aggressively try to kill the shit out of one another, is they way it gets everyone in a single place (finally) and then starts laying more and more tension between absolutely everyone like some sort of rage lattice that gets denser and denser the deeper you go. In fact, the episode even throws in some deep cuts from season 1 that I probably would have bet folding money that they wouldn’t have been heard from ever again.
Not only is Stu hit by the revelation that Tahj Vaughans’ Mike is not only still alive after his run in with Sweet Tooth, but he’s in a fact less toxic friendship despite the fact that his new best bud is actually a reformed cannibal. Jealousy hits the roof when Mike discovers that Stu not only ultimately teamed up with the hulking clown that nearly split him in two, but he’s learning to be a killer just like him. Of course, Sweet Tooth just manages to make things worse by asking Mike to keep the fact that he also killed him a secret, but the hulking psycho has his own issues with the innately strange Mr. Grimm. Hinting massively that it was Sweet Tooth who locked Grimm up in the asylum in the first place, there’s some sort of deal going on that suggests that this is incredible personal, especially considering that Grimm knows that Sweet Tooth’s real name is Marcus. Elsewhere, not only is John avoiding the daggers being glared at him by Raven, but we get a resurgence of the Holy Men – however, much like original Raven who was played by Neve Campbell, Jason Mantzoukas’ Preacher is a no-show and has been replaced with the more affordable sight of a reportedly demonic baby who contains his reincarnated soul. Of course, this not only ups the car count when things get going, but it also allows the writers to throw in jokes about lactating men, which is par for the course for this show…
However, the best part about having an episode that is mostly contained within one room is that we not only get more from Anthony Carrigan’s Calypso to remind us why we’re all here, but we get the entire motley crew all rounded up in one room for a whole episode full of trash talking. But sooner or later, the show has to let itself off the chain and even though it’s done under the pretence of an eliminator round, nothing can dull the sight of Twisted Metal finally embracing it’s source accurate roots. Simply put, it’s an absolutely fucking gorgeous sight to behold as all these weird and wonderful vehicles explode from the hanger and immediately start trying to kill one another while Rob Zombie’s Dragula pounds on the soundtrack. There are mini-plot points scattered around (Quiet sabotages Mayhem’s car to keep her safe to no avail; Stu stops Sweet Tooth killing Grimm in order to avoid the fire from others) and we even get the triumphant return of Harold the paper bag and I can’t stress how finally seeing the game done right onscreen makes me so happy.
Still, despite all this destructive carnage, we’re still not even halfway through the season yet, so there’s always that worry that the show may be peaking too soon, however, as long as everyone involved keeps drawing from the games for inspiration and delivering that jet black humour – we should be fine. It’s taken a while, but Twisted Metal has finally begun and so far it’s everything I’d hoped for, so I guess that means Calypso’s already granted my wish…
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