It's too quiet out there. But not for very long.
Twisted Metal S2
The first three episodes begin streaming July 31 on Peacock TV. New episodes premiere every Thursday through August 28. I've seen all 12 episodes.
The advantage of a videogame series as source material is that the adapter(s) can pick and choose which elements and characters work best in a movie or television series, no matter where or when that element or character might have first appeared.
Created by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Jonathan Micheel Smith, Twisted Metal took the original 1995 vehicular combat videogame's premise and some of its characters -- drivers competing against each other with weapons and speed -- but, instead of settings in and around Los Angeles, the first season featured a cross country race, an idea suggested by the second and third games in the series, with locations from around the world. Season 1 ended with protagonist John Doe (Anthony Mackie) reaching New San Francisco, winning refuge behind the city's secure walls, but losing the romantic friendship he had formed with fellow driver Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz).
Season 2 picks up with John Doe discovering that peace and security isn't so great without any loved ones to share it with. Meanwhile, Quiet joins up with a masked group known as the Dollface Gang, who all wear the same mask, and share Quiet's desire to bring relief to everyone who is locked out from the walled cities. (If you're inside the walls, you're an Insider; if you're outside the walls, you're an Outsider.)
The first three episodes, which debut together, catch up on John and Quiet, and how they're doing in their new environments. It also checks in on a few other surviving supporting characters from Season 1, notably the cheerfully deranged, mass-murdering clown Sweet Tooth (Joe Seanoa in the flesh, voiced by Will Arnett) and his not-quite-as-deadly accomplice Stu (Mike Mitchell).
Raven, the leader of New San Francisco played by Neve Campbell in Season 1, is now played by Patty Guggenheim. (It's explained that Raven is a title, not a name.) Season 2 also introduces John's sister, who is now a member of the Dollface Gang. And once things get rolling, a character named Mayhem, performed very adroitly by Saylor Bell Cuerda, plays a key role.
John suffers from amnesia, which robbed him of a huge chunk of his early years. That helps to explain his stunted emotional growth and why he sometimes acts like an early teenage girl or boy, reacting childishly to certain joys that he's never enjoyed before in his post-apocalyptic life.
His character gets more fleshed out than Quiet's, which leaves things a bit unequal. Yet Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz are always enjoyable to watch, even as their relationship fluctuates throughout developing events. They are good anchors for the wild action and unapologetic bloodletting, as the body count rises rapidly.
For viewers who enjoyed Season 1 of Twisted Metal, Season 2 happily delivers more of the same unhinged vehicular and interpersonal combat action. When the motors stop running, the dramatic scenes are less engaging, for the most part, because the supporting characters are less developed and, frankly, less interesting than in the past.
The motors don't stop running very often, though, allowing Twisted Metal to get as twisted as it wants.
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