Twisted Metal – Season 2 Episode 1 'PRSRPNT' Recap & Review

The Review Geek

3 days ago

PRSRPNT
Episode 1 of Twisted Metal season 2 kicks off in San Jose, California. We're back in 1998 where we see a young Raven rock up at a graduation party with her friend (see: lover) Kelly. They're teased by the other kids as Raven goes through her tarot cards, which quickly changes the mood of the party entirely.
However, the prank the pair have concocted takes a turn for the worst when Kelly hits her head and falls in the pool. When Raven finds out, she races outside but it's too late – her friend is found face-down in the pool.
Back in the present, in New San Francisco, John Doe is kept under lock and key. John is forced to practice his driving skills (using an arcade machine playing Twisted Metal!) while continuing to eke out a living as a delivery driver. He amusingly uses the alias of John Dough but John is kept under tight wraps.
John is eventually reprimanded by Raven though, as she reminds him that he needs to get his act together. The only way out of this is to drive to survive (no pun intended) and help save Kelly.
Meanwhile, Dollface, Quiet, and the other Dolls continue to hit supply lines, desperate to take down the City. They're determined to upset the status quo and set out to destroy the Wall of the City to redistribute wealth to those outside. They way they intend to do this, as Quiet suggests toward the end of the episode, is to compete in a winner-takes-all tournament.
The idea of death and survival segues us nicely into Sweet Tooth and Stu, who we catch up with out maiming and killing. Stu is still a student in the academy of Sweet Tooth killing, and hasn't got his degree just yet, but the pair are determined to kill the more fearsome killers and claim that accolade for themselves.
On the hunt, the pair learn about the legend of Big Baby, a man who apparently wiped out an entire town in one day and is the most infamous killer in these parts. Sweet Tooth and Stu eventually catch up with this guy, who certainly lives up to his name. He has an umbilical cord with a mace attached on the end, which he use as a weapon.
While he fights with Sweet Tooth, Stu and the mum fight together. The pair easily thwart the killers… only to find out there's an even bigger killer out there called the Trash Man. He's the biggest killer this side of the Mississippi. Instead of playing whac-A-Mole and taking these killers out one at a time, Sweet Tooth leaves Stu with a plan to bring all the killers to them.
Grounded, John Doe has no choice but to sit down with some quality reading material. That, of course, stems from The Babysitters Club series. When John fails to find Volume 89, he hunts upstairs and finds the volume… carved out and stashing weed inside.
John also finds a diary with a secret map that could be his way out of this. One of the guards (who isn't the sharpest tool in the shed) helps John escape too. They switch clothes in order to do so, and John Doe manages to slip out undetected. In the parking lot, he finds an ambulance sporting Kelly inside, who's still alive but comatose and on life support.
All of these loose threads are connected together by a special broadcast set out by Calypso. He's hosting a tournament and wants everybody to attend. In a week's time it'll begin with a battle of survival. Whoever wins will get one wish granted, no matter what it may be.
As the episode closes out, John is stopped on his way out the city driving the ambulance by the dolls. On the road, they flip the ambulance and Quiet winds up shooting him in the shoulder. John is not happy when he finds out Quiet is the one who's hit the kill shot. However, in a nice little twist, it appears that Dollface may actually be John's sister.
Before leaving, he's sure to drop off Kelly and her life-support machine in the parking lot, much to the relief of Raven. Well, until she notices a ripped page from the diary in her hand.
The Episode Review
So Twisted Metal is back and this crazy comedic drama wastes no time picking up right where the action left off. The familiar comedic beats, mixed in with the gory drama, works just as effectively here as it did the first time around, with everything gearing up for this big tournament.
Understanding more about Raven's history is definitely a nice touch, while the show does well to keep things interesting – at the moment anyway – as it's unclear who's going to come out of this in one piece.
Twisted Metal has all the ingredients to be just as insane as season 1, so we'll have to wait and see where this one goes next.
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