Released last year exclusively on NBC's streaming service Peacock, Twisted Metal is a violent half-hour comedy set in a post-apocalyptic world where "couriers" run needed supplies between walled cities, braving many hazards along the way. I've never played the games on which the series is based, but it's possible that what I've just described is already a far more story-driven setting than the video games. From what I can tell, Twisted Metal was really a series of demolition derby games with some recurring characters like a psychotic clown named Sweet Tooth.
However faithful to the games the show might be, the raw elements still seem to be there. Layered over the top of them is a story of John Doe, a courier with amnesia of his own past, who falls in with Quiet, a survivor trying to get revenge for the death of her brother. Self-appointed authoritarian Agent Stone is after them, and that clown Sweet Tooth is in the mix too.
That all could be read quite seriously, but Twisted Metal is not that show. It's more of a quippy summer blockbuster broken up into little 20-to-30-minute increments. Like said blockbusters, it can be pretty dumb at times. And like said blockbusters (when done well), it's the right kind of dumb that can be pretty entertaining.
Of course, this show doesn't have the budget of a summer blockbuster, and so there's actually less action overall than you might expect. Filling in is a well-paced story line about the growing relationship between John and Quiet. Their snarky banter works thanks to solid casting: John is played by Anthony Mackie, and Quiet is played by Stephanie Beatriz. I find Beatriz particularly great, but then, after all those seasons of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, I'm happy to spend more time with a character adjacent to Rosa Diaz.
The rest of the casting says a lot about the tone of the show. Thomas Haden Church is here, suppressing any comedy in his background to play Agent Stone. Will Arnett is cutting loose as the unhinged voice of Sweet Tooth. (Wrestler Joe Seanoa performs the character on screen.) Guest stars include Neve Campbell and Jason Mantzoukas as leaders of two very different communities; if you know either from other work, you can probably guess the differences.
I enjoyed the 10-episode season one of Twisted Metal, and appreciated how it filled a niche that no other show in my rotation could. I didn't necessarily need another post-apocalypse series, but could appreciate one that didn't take itself seriously. I didn't need another violent show with (borderline) superheroics, but could appreciate one that used a half-hour format instead of an hour. All told, I'd give Twisted Metal a B.
I think not too many people I know actually subscribe to Peacock. But if you're the sort of person who might be picking it up for a month or two to watch the Olympics this summer, maybe you'd find Twisted Metal a fun diversion while you're there.
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