TV Review: ‘Twisted Metal’ Season 1, Episode 5
by Frank Martin
Agent Stone is a fairly peculiar character in the Twisted Metal TV series. Thomas Hayden Church plays him very stoically and without a lot of emotion. Consequently, it’s hard to connect with him as a character — not that the viewer necessarily has to. He’s the villain, so Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz) is supposed to be the protagonist who challenges him. Still, a charismatic villain helps the audience get absorbed into the story, which Stone definitely is not. And so, episodes featuring him have been Twisted Metal’s least successful. This episode was no exception.
After poisoning John Doe (Anthony Mackie), Quiet heads to Topeka in order to get her revenge on Agent Stone. Her plan doesn’t work very well. She’s spotted and engages Stone’s agents in a chase around the community. Just as she’s about to escape, Stone offers Quiet the chance to confront him directly. The two engage in a fight in their respective vehicles, which Stone ends up winning. Fortunately, John Doe arrives just in time to save the day and drive off to safety.
The vehicular fight scene between Quiet and Stone worked well and was in line with what Twisted Metal is all about. But the build up to it seemed nonsensical and merely stalling for time. John Doe had to deal with a pervert while Quiet just kind of roamed around Topeka. The only saving grace to this episode was that Sweet Tooth (Samoa Joe and Will Arnett) stormed one of Agent Stone’s outposts and liberated the people he held there. Sweet Tooth absolutely stole the episode with those scenes and even set himself up to become an unlikely hero of the series.
Twisted Metal is now streaming on Peacock.
