Twisted Metal kind of came out of nowhere, but is streaming on Peacock. I don’t really remember the original game, but I knew of it. I went into this series blind, apart from one trailer.
Overall, Twisted Metal wasn’t all that bad. The series stars Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz, with other cast members moving in and out of different episodes. The main one was Joe Seanoa as Sweet Tooth, who was great fun. The story:
Follows a motor-mouthed outsider offered a chance at a better life, but only if he can successfully deliver a mysterious package across a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The Main Story
John Doe, played by Mackie, is a milkman, he delivers things for people, usually from one city to another. Cities are primarily on lockdown and outside of them, is a wasteland full of raiders, gangs and other undesirables. Being a milkman is a dangerous job.
Joe is offed a home in San Fransico if he makes a very dangerous run across the country. In the city, he will have a home, safety and no more living a dangerous life. He obviously takes the job and heads out. Along the way, he meets Quiet, played by Beatriz.
She, and her brother, are outlaws stealing what they can in the wastelands. They are caught up with by Agent Stone, played by Thomas Haden Church. He believes he is the law for the wastelands and ends up killing Quiet’s brother.
The Characters
Joe and Quiet team up, Joe to make his run and Quiet to get revenge on Stone. I’m not going to break down each episode, but overall, they are pretty good. The main participants are a good couple, both are funny and you’re happy to go on the journey with them.
Sweet Tooth is a lot of fun. I didn’t realise until later, that Seanoa plays him, but it’s Will Arnet that does the voice. He is completely nuts, but reasonable at the same time. I liked his character, although he didn’t seem to die at all. That annoyed me a bit.
Stone is a good villain, he thinks he is in the right, but he’s just serving his own purposes. He gets people to join his crew by not killing them. Haden Church plays him well.
Overall
Twisted Metal isn’t going to win any awards, but it was fun. The other thing is each episode is only 30 minutes. There’s no padding, no drawn-out conversations where you get bored, it all gets right to the point.
OK, so the entire thing is formulaic, Joe has car trouble, someone tries to steal his car, and he has to get it back. He meets up with old friends, there’s an incident, and he has to help out. You know the drill. But, as I said, I have fun with it. Joe is cool, I know Beatriz from Brooklyn 99, so to see her in something else was good. The rest of the cast is all fun.
I’m going to give Twisted Metal a solid 3 out of 5 stars. It’s nothing new, but there are fast cars, big guns and explosions. I was happy to binge it.
It looks like the series has been very popular on Peacock, so I expect to see a second series. They have set one up, but who knows these days?
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