Stream It Or Skip It?

The first season of Twisted Metal, especially in the early going, felt tiring and empty to us, like Smith and his writers were trying to cram in funny asides and lots of violence and forgot to actually make his characters into, you know, actual characters. There was definite hope that the problem was addressed by the end of Season 1, and now Season 2 seems to have a good balance between funny stuff, character arcs, and car chases.

TWISTED METAL SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA. 1998.” A young Raven (Halle Tator) drives like a maniac with her best friend/love of her life Kelly (Morgan Douglas).

The Gist: The two of them play a prank on some annoying classmates, but teenage Raven is distraught when Kelly slips off the roof of the house they’re at and plunges into the pool, hitting her head on the way down.

Back to the apocalyptic present in New San Francisco, Raven (Patty Guggenheim) — the real raven, who controlled the Raven avatars that worked for her — is busy supervising the “inside” life of former milkman John Doe (Anthony Mackie). He’s delivering pizzas — his card says his name is “John Dough” — and keeping his driving skills sharp on video games. He’s also in his childhood home. But the more he tries to escape, the more restrictive Raven makes his existence.

John finds solace in The Baby-Sitters Club book series. When he looks for a missing volume, he goes into the room he and his sister used to share, and finds his sister’s journal, which includes a map of the sewers he made. This gives him an idea, and he convinces Chester (Chris Yule), the lead guy guarding him, to help him out — while he’s in the shower — knowing that Chester will rat him out to Raven.

Meanwhile, Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz) has been with Dollface (Tiana Okoye) and her crew, and she’s started to bond with them as the gang tries to get medicine and other supplies for outsiders. But she’s not sure trying to invade a walled city, which is Dollface’s big plan, is a good idea. But Dollface hates that the “insiders” get all of the advantages, and resents that her long-lost brother — John — is inside the walls.

Also roaming around the outside is Sweet Tooth (Will Arnett, Joe Seanoa) and Stu (Mike Mitchell), killing all the killers that seem to have a more ruthless reputation than he does.

Right as John is about to escape — he sees a comatose Kelly in the ambulance he wants to steal, which means Raven has kept her alive this whole time — a countrywide notice comes through all electronic devices from a guy named Calypso (Anthony Carrigan), announcing a tournament pitting the best drivers against each other. The prize? One wish that will be granted, no matter how big or who it affects.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Twisted Metal, created by Michael Jonathan Smith, David Jaffe and Rhett Reese and based on a popular PlayStation game, has always reminded us of a more violent Miracle Workers.

Our Take: One of the keys to Season 1’s improvement was Quiet connecting with Dollface and her crew. That opened up a lot of story possibilities, because Dollface knows John is her brother, but John has no memory of his family, so there are definite emotions and frustrations there that will surface as soon as Episode 2. It’ll also be interesting to watch the real Raven and her somewhat irrational love for Kelly play out, along with Quiet’s mentor-mentee relationship with a girl named Mayhem (Saylor Bell Curda), who finds her way to the Dollfaces’ camp to steal some medical items.

But the tournament is going to be a unifying plotline for the season, and we’re looking forward to seeing how Quiet and John’s relationship survives the competition and how Sweet Tooth manages to beat all of the other killers he’s wanted to kill. But we’re mostly interested to see how Carrigan, who was so great in Barry as NoHo Hank, fits into this ensemble. One of the things we’ve always liked about Twisted Metal is that its cast gets the most out of the material they’re given, especially Beatriz and Mackie, and we know that Carrigan can make hay of both funny and serious material.

Sex and Skin: This show is more violent than sexy, and it’s pretty violent.

Parting Shot: After the Dollface gang chased the ambulance, thinking it has supplies in it, Quiet shoots John — again — and Dollface herself realizes she’s found her brother. That still doesn’t keep one of the more violent members of Dollface’s crew from knocking him out.

Sleeper Star: We like Patty Guggenheim as a more emo and outwardly ruthless Raven than the version played last season by Neve Campbell.

Most Pilot-y Line: “The insiders are living it up while we’re living in hell,” Dollface says to Quiet in one of those overwritten lines that sounds clever until it’s said out loud.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Twisted Metal has improved because it remembered that character development is as important as anything else, and it makes the show a lot less mentally tiring to watch.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.