Online game diversifications are having a second on tv. Animated heavyweights like “Arcane” and “Cyberpunk: Edgerunners” have discovered a agency foothold on Netflix, whereas live-action juggernauts “Fallout” and “The Final of Us” are scooping up Emmy nominations for Prime Video and HBO. These collection have dominated on-line discourse, hailed as benchmarks for translate gaming narratives to the small display screen efficiently. And but, conspicuously absent from these digital water cooler conversations is “Twisted Steel,” Peacock’s gonzo, blood-soaked demolition derby of a present that may simply be probably the most self-aware and emotionally resonant diversifications of the bunch.
The ultra-violent vehicular fight comedy thrill experience is just not solely one of many few properties to truly perceive make the most of the expertise of Anthony Mackie as protagonist John Doe, but additionally permits “Encanto” and “Brooklyn 9-9” star Stephanie Beatriz to let her freak flag fly as his accomplice in havoc, Quiet. Season 1 made for some good and ugly enjoyable on the freeway to hell, however season 2 managed to move the viewers straight into the world of the video games, whereas crafting a genuinely earnest story flanked by exploding autos, a demented gamemaker with supernatural powers, and a jacked as hell man who can also be half automotive.
Every thing about “Twisted Steel” seems like the results of a 12-year-old mainlining nothing however Perspective Period-WWE promos and reruns of “The Simpsons,” however that is exactly why the present works. It embraces absurdity with out shedding sincerity, expertly balancing over-the-top gore and slapstick physicality with a guileless beating coronary heart. The present is aware of what it’s, however extra importantly, it’s assured in what it is saying with its themes of oppression underneath dystopian regimes. This makes its important and viewers reception all of the extra telling. Season 2 boasts a 92% critic rating and an 83% viewers rating on Rotten Tomatoes — considerably outperforming “The Final of Us” season 2 in viewers approval, regardless of the latter being an awards darling. The discrepancy highlights a cussed reality in leisure discourse: horror and comedy, notably when blended, are nonetheless preventing for legitimacy.
There is not any weak hyperlink in Twisted Steel
Peacock
For a collection centered round a match, the one strategy to maintain the viewers on board for a whole season is to supply characters for them to care about. John and Quiet are the right pair to information us by way of the post-apocalyptic badlands, however each episode is a present when you’ve Stu (Mike Mitchell) teaming up with Candy Tooth (Joe “Samoa Joe” Seanoa/Will Arnett), man/automotive hybrid Axel (Michael James Shaw), the bug-obsessed Vermin (the all the time sensible Lisa Gilroy), Mr. Grimm and all of his personas (Richard de Klerk), a recast-but-justified Raven (Patty Guggenheim), beginner racer Mayhem (Saylor Curda), and John’s sister Dollface (Tiana Okoye), all competing for the want promised by the devious Calypso (Anthony Carrigan).
Everyone seems to be so rattling charismatic that it is unimaginable to not root for every of them to outlive, even when blowing one another up is the secret. Season 2 episode 9’s Jaffe Campbell Excessive College (named for the creators of the online game)’s prom-themed “VAVAVUM,” could be a filler episode on another collection, however on “Twisted Steel,” it is a very important reminder that even after civilization crumbles into an explosive wasteland, we’re all nonetheless looking out for a similar issues we have been as youngsters — confidence, camaraderie, and neighborhood.
And it comes simply two episodes after all of them scattered throughout an ice rink, attempting to kill one another whereas Outkast’s “B.O.B. – Bombs Over Baghdad” performed, attempting to acquire a cross to advance to the following spherical of Calypso’s match. The episode straight earlier than the promenade? A racer named Frostbite (Katherine East) had her face shredded by the friction of a rushing treadmill belt, ending with Axel obliterating Calypso’s Apocalypse 9 faction of yellow-skinned ache junkies who resemble crash take a look at dummies (together with ripping a head off along with his naked fingers) simply to show to himself and fellow racers Stu, Mike (Tahj Vaughans), and Dave (Johnno Wilson), that he might kill with out the help of gasoline following an intervention about his substance habit. It sounds goofy, as a result of it’s, however each actor is aware of precisely the sort of present they’re making.
Twisted Steel deserves an even bigger viewers
Peacock
Whereas it might not boast the subscriber numbers of HBO or Netflix, Peacock persistently proves to be among the best streaming platforms obtainable. It is maddening that solely a small — albeit vocal — contingent (myself included) appears to be tuning into the streamer’s authentic content material, as a result of “Twisted Steel” is the sort of daring, creative, and joyfully chaotic collection that extra platforms needs to be greenlighting each quarter. It is completely solid, action-packed, laugh-out-loud humorous, is aware of precisely when to splurge on sensible results, and does not fake that folks with nothing left to lose aren’t going to spend their remaining days being absolute horndogs. And with a Rotten Tomatoes viewers rating that places many so-called status titles to disgrace, it is irritating (and admittedly a bit snobbish) what number of viewers have dismissed it with out even urgent play.
Horror continues to be probably the most common and worthwhile genres throughout movie and tv, however mainstream comedy feels prefer it’s on borrowed time. Theatrical comedies are almost extinct, community sitcoms are a dying breed, streaming platforms are axing new comedies earlier than they even discover their footing, and in 2024, when “The Bear” broke its personal file for many comedy wins in a single yr, it was paired with the controversy over whether or not or not the collection is definitely a comedy within the first place. “Twisted Steel” wears its weirdness like a neon signal and makes no apologies for being a true-to-form horror comedy present.
In the meantime, “Twisted Steel” wears its weirdness like a badge of honor — or, extra precisely, like a blood-splattered design of neon flames on the facet of a scorching rod. It makes no apologies for being a real horror-comedy hybrid, a genre-bending anomaly that refuses to suit into the algorithm-approved mould of post-Status TV. It lives by the motto that you could’t spell “slaughter” with out “laughter,” and truthfully, our lives are all the higher for it. If there’s any justice left within the streaming panorama, a 3rd season announcement needs to be simply over the horizon.
“Twisted Steel” seasons 1 and a pair of can be found to observe on Peacock.
