Twisted Metal – Season1 Episode 5 “CRZSRDS” Recap & Review

CRZSRDS

Episode 5 of Twisted Metal begins with Quiet and John arguing over John’s decision to run a vulture off the road to get his precious CDs back. They are on their way to Topeka, where Quiet will exact her revenge on Stone.

Before they leave, Quiet proposes they have a drink. Unbeknownst to John, she puts some of Granny’s medicine in his drink and he falls unconscious. She does not want him to come to Topek. She then takes off on foot, by herself.

Meanwhile, Stone sits in his HQ in Topeka (which is in pristine condition, by the way) and practices a new word for the day: “loquacious.” He gets an update from his officers, Jaime and Carl (a brother-sister cop duo) that the fugitives still haven’t been caught yet. He reprimands their lackadaisical attitude and gives them a deadline; Friday night.

Sweet Tooth, who has taken his show on the road, happens upon the Dam. When the guard asks for his ORL, Sweet puts a grenade in the guy’s mouth and blows him up.

We see someone dragging John’s body from the road. Quiet has hidden herself in a control vehicle to silently enter Topeka, which is heavily guarded. She attacks the officers in the vehicle when they make it inside. As she drives on, waves of self-doubt inundate her in the form of her dead brother. Quiet thinks she will end up “just like him.”

John has been dragged off the road by a delinquent pervert, who thought he was dead. John suddenly wakes up and takes his knife from the side. But when he throws it at the man, he misses. John is still able to charge at the guy and kill him though.

John picks up a letter that Quiet left for him. She explains that she lied about Topeka being a sanctuary city and that is why she dropped him outside. “Be the first Milkman without an expiration date,” Quiet writes to John. But he is determined to find her and help her kill Stone.

Quiet imagines Loud is in the vehicle. The next moment, Stone, Jaime and Carl happen upon her. She races forward and evades them for now.

Sweet has killed all the lawmen and set free the men who were being held hostage. Stu is among them. As they wander around the dam, he spots Mike cowering behind some cartons. But he doesn’t out him, staying true to his character. 

The imagined Loud laments Quiet wasting the second chance he gave her by dying. And she finally realizes her mistake. Although Quiet decides to leave, Stone communicates with her on the radio. He gives her a choice: either be confronted or have a chat with him at the office. She decides to do the latter.

Sweet asks Stu to tag along with him and he agrees. Stu tells them about many outposts like that one along the Midwest that would give Sweet “Fans for life,” if he frees the prisoners. Sweet is excited and acts on the idea. Many people he freed also come along with him.

Stone and Quiet engage in a car battle at a theme park where she is taken down by him with a missile. As he heads for the final blow, John blows up Stone’s car with the red missile that Watts gifted him. He picks up Quiet in his arms, who is now motionless. 

The Episode Review

Using a dead loved one to navigate the present for a character is a dated trope. The makers could have definitely avoided that and made Quiet’s entry into Topeka more taut.

Even though the buildup and stages of the sequences were decent in this episode, the final punch faltered without a fight. All of it seemed convenient, without the quality writing required to make it believable. While episode 5 continued the show’s take on pop culture, its own identity continued to remain somewhat unclear. 

At times when Twisted Metal fails to follow through with substance, the show compensates for it with style. The mismatch results in vitiating the viewing experience and stunting the realization of the story overall. There is a lot of potential in its cinematic universe but for some reason, it only comes out in a limited manner.