The post-apocalyptic action comedy series on Peacock, Twisted Metal, raises the stakes in its 2nd season by finally giving us a glimpse of the death race that is central to the videogame franchise. The season premiere last week had the protagonist, John Doe, have a heartwarming reunion with his girlfriend, Quiet, and also his estranged sister, Krista, before he decided to join the Twisted Metal race being hosted by Calypso, which had just been announced. But in order to survive, the group needed some superweapons to bring to the deadly race, in which competitors are allowed, and encouraged, to kill each other. Thus, in Twisted Metal episode 4, John and his friends head to Diesel City, where superweapons are made and sold, while episode 5 finally presents the commencement of the race.
Spoiler Alert
How does Krista intend on getting the superweapons?
As revealed at the end of episode 3, Krista does not intend to buy any special weapons from the market at Diesel City, for they simply do not have the money, and so she plans on stealing the weapons instead. Now, in episode 4, she, John, and Quiet get closer to the heavily guarded entrance to Diesel City, and Krista lays out her elaborate research about the place, along with her exact plan to steal the weapons. The very expertise of the people at Diesel City is the manufacture and sale of special weapons to customers all over the country, and this skill has now been turned into an entire industry, with the Emperor controlling the trade to a major extent.
The place usually opens up for buyers who can buy general weapons, ammunition, and other items for warfare at the bazaar inside the city walls, and this is naturally the most congested area. Customers have to submit gas at the front gate of the wall, and the gas is officially considered a donation or gift for the Emperor, while in reality, it is just a means of trade. The customers are handed tokens of Diesel City currency as per the amount of gas they have brought with them, and only this currency can be used to buy weapons from the general bazaar. Although this market is filled with hoards of weaponry that would be enough to wage a war, the real special weapons are all locked away behind a secure and heavily guarded safe, deep inside the Emperor’s inner sanctum.
Quite naturally, not everyone can purchase, or even see, these special weapons, as only selected customers, invited to a bidding party by the Emperor, are allowed access to them. These special customers are obviously the richest, with the most purchasing power, which naturally means that they are influential people who live inside the walled cities of the country. There can be no doubt that John, Quiet, or Krista will definitely not be given entry to the private auction if they try to get in, and so Krista has come up with a plan.
She wants John and Quiet to pretend to be a rich couple hailing from one of the cities, and she has even brought fancy clothes for them to wear and approach the private auction. The plan is for the couple to then make their way to the safe inside the building, while Krista will climb up the surveillance tower to reach the crow’s nest, where the switch controlling the vault doors is. Under normal circumstances, the Emperor orders his men to open the vault doors from the crow’s nest, but in this case, Krista plans on pressing the button and opening the vault in time for John and Quiet to get inside and steal all the specialized super weapons from the place. She also strictly tells Mayhem, the other new member of the group, to stay put in her car and wait for them outside the city walls so that she can act as the getaway driver if things go wrong. But quite obviously, Mayhem does not follow this order, and she actually ends up helping the protagonist by getting hold of name cards on lanyards for both John and Quiet.
How does Stu play a role in the heist?
Turns out, the protagonist and his friends are not the only ones who have come to Diesel City looking for special weapons, as Sweet Tooth and his best buddy, Stu, are also here for the same purpose. But unlike Krista, they have not made any heist plan and instead are here to just buy whatever they need. However, things don’t go this way, as Sweet Tooth always has murder on his mind wherever he goes. The clown first spends all their money on a completely useless cape, which he finds to be cool only because the seller claimed that it once belonged to Count Dracula himself. Sweet Tooth then goes on killing people by pulling them under his cape, which catches the attention of the guards who keep a strict eye over everyone at the bazaar.
Although it initially seems like Stu is taken away by the guards because of Sweet Tooth’s actions, the real reason for the arrest is soon revealed to be something completely different. Before that, John and Quiet enter the private auction and make acquaintances with the rather erratic Emperor, who does seem to suspect them to be imposters, or at least, he keeps an eye on them throughout. The couple do not place any bids and instead try to think of ways to enter the inner sanctum when the Emperor himself brings them inside the inner chambers of his palace, along with all the other customer guests, who are all representatives of the walled cities.
The epitome of the moral corruption that is associated with all the rich folks who live inside walled cities in the world of Twisted Metal, the Emperor of Diesel City actually holds extravagant sex parties where all the customers can indulge with one another with no limits. The Emperor also has a ritual of bringing one poor outsider to the party forcefully and making them get intimate with numerous people at the same time, simply as a form of cruel and crude entertainment for the rich.
As it so happens, the outsider selected for the role at this party is Stu, who had been noticed by the guards because of his and Sweet Tooth’s actions at the bazaar and was instantly picked to be most entertaining due to his physique. Therefore, Stu gets access to the inner sanctum because of this lucky selection, and he rather enjoys himself at the party as well. When he is finally released from the party, Stu stumbles upon the secret vault while trying to look for the exit, and he soon sees all the special weapons neatly stacked inside the room. He does not take long to steal all the weapons and wipe out all the shelves, meaning that he ends up spoiling Krista’s heist plan.
Can John, Quiet, and Krista steal any special weapons?
The only reason that Stu gets his hands on the secret stash of special weapons before John and Quiet can is that the couple are busy making love inside the vault during this time. Ever since the two lovers reunited in season 2 episode 1, they have not had any time to themselves, while their physical attraction towards one another only kept growing all this while. The tension literally threatens to spill over throughout episode 4, as John and Quiet first have to pretend to get intimate at the Emperor’s sex party and then actually get excited by seeing each other perform difficult actions on their way to the vault.
Therefore, when Krista opens up the vault doors from the crow’s nest, the couple cannot hold back their urges anymore and make love uncontrollably inside the vault, and they do not even notice when Stu enters and steals all the weapons from the place. On the other side, Krista had fought numerous guards on her way up the surveillance tower, and she was joined by Sweet Tooth midway. The clown had also been looking for some murderous action, and so he too had started climbing up the tower. While Sweet Tooth initially helps Krista in the fights, and he even expresses his wish of becoming friends with her, his demeanor completely changes when they reach the crow’s nest at the top of the tower.
Along with the switch to the vault doors, the room also holds a very important superweapon, perhaps the best among all the special weapons being offered at Diesel City, as there is an EMP grenade there. The EMP grenade would be immensely useful in the death race, as it can be used to completely shut down the opponents’ cars and weapons. Thus, both Krista and Sweet Tooth want to get hold of it, with the former eventually getting her hands on it. Although John and Quiet fail to get anything from the heist, Krista manages to get hold of the most important weapon they could have thought of, and she is also helped by Mayhem, who had once again sneaked into the facility.
Who are the contenders in the race?
Ultimately, John and his friends drive over to the spot determined to be the starting point of the race, and Calypso finally makes his entry. Along with this, we get introduced to all the contenders in the Twisted Metal race as well. First off are, of course, John and Quiet, who intend on winning the race to get rid of all the walls around the cities so that the outsiders are not deprived of resources and facilities anymore. Mayhem had already made her intentions of participating clear, and nobody can talk her out of her plan to win the race and significantly improve her life. Now, Krista also announces her decision to participate in the race, mainly because she wants to play a direct role in protecting John, Quiet, and Mayhem and ensure their safety. Her plan is to let her friends drive by her and then use the EMP grenade to disable all the other cars so that they can win as a team.
Back in season 1, we had seen a cult group called the Holy Men, led by a man named Preacher, whom John had managed to bring down. The Holy Men are back, this time as a contending team in the race, and they even carry around a baby boy in a cot at all times, even during the race. The Holy Men believe that this baby is actually the reincarnation of their leader, Preacher, and so they keep him entertained at all times, as a sort of service for their leader. Axel, the man who had been turned into a car himself by attaching gigantic wheels to his hands, now thanks Krista for having freed him from the evil scientist now revealed to be named Zemu in Twisted Metal season 2 episode 3. Because of her act of generosity, Axel promises to help out Krista during the race, but only on one instance, and states that he will attack her once they are on level terms. Very soon, Krista starts to develop an attraction towards Axel, which is bound to play a role in the episodes to come.
A woman named Vermin is introduced, who happens to be a part-time pest exterminator and full-time racer and outlaw, although she is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Stu’s previous best friend from their time working for Agent Stone, Mike, is back as well, although he was earlier thought to have died. It is now revealed that Mike had actually survived Sweet Tooth’s attack, and he had been helped by a man named Dave, with whom he will now be competing in the race. But the joyous reunion is soon marred when Mike realizes that Stu is now best friends with the murderous Sweet Tooth, the very man who had almost killed him. This feud between the former best friends, who are both disgruntled at the fact that they have both found new best friends, will also come into play later on. Raven also now joins the race herself, after having been turned down by John, as she wants to win the tournament and help her best friend recover.
A professional mechanic named Billy Ray Stillwell joins the race with his specialized tow truck, Junkyard Dog, which has a wrecking ball with metal spikes attached to its towing crane. There is also a young man named Chuckie Floop, who seems to be a prankster but with great driving and shooting skills. A bounty hunter from Dallas, named Death Warrant, is also one of the contenders, with a fierce habit of cutting off strands of hair from his targets’ heads and attaching them to his own mane. Lastly, Mr. Grimm joins the show, with him being poised as the main antagonist in season 2, as Quiet and Krista already hate him for having killed their friends Ashley and Jeremy, who had been members of the Dolls.
Does Mayhem survive the race?
At the beginning of the Twisted Metal race, Quiet secretly sabotages Mayhem’s car to ensure her safety, as she does not want the young woman to even participate in the dangerous race. However, since the race entails a lot of violence, one of the drivers had been instantly shot dead by someone in the first few seconds, and so Mayhem now desperately takes over his car to join the race. The exact nature of the competition, designed by Calypso, is also now revealed, as each of the driving teams will basically have to deliver a package each to the customers of Calypso, who all can be reached only after a treacherous and long drive through the dangerous outlands. The drivers also have to ensure that the integrity of the package is maintained, and if the boxes are significantly damaged, missiles will be immediately fired on the vehicles, and the drivers are eliminated from the race, as well as killed.
Despite the supremely difficult circumstances of the race, John and Quiet ultimately decide to go help out their friend, Mayhem, at the end of Twisted Metal season 2 episode 5. It is especially heroic of them because the lights on the package they have been entrusted with have already turned yellow from green, indicating that they are just a few bad moves away from being eliminated and killed. Nonetheless, Quiet is evidently affected when she sees Calypso in trouble, as Chuckie Floop starts attacking her, and although she does not spell out her emotions, John understands what she wants and immediately turns the car around.
Mayhem would not have survived the attacks alone, as the only weapon she has is literally a useless flare gun, but now that John and Quiet rush to her help, she will definitely survive. We do not see what happens to Mayhem, which confirms that the next episode will pick up right from the middle of the action, and it will be interesting to watch how the whole race pans out in the episodes to come.
