‘Twisted Metal’ Recap: ‘WHZDARE’

8/24/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

TWISTED METAL -- “WHZDARE” Episode 104 -- Pictured: (l-r) Anthony Mackie as John Doe, Jamie Neumann as Miranda, Stephanie Beatriz as Quiet -- (Photo by: Skip Bolen/Peacock)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Four of ‘Twisted Metal’. To revisit the previous episode, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

For the most part, dystopian stories, or stories about a post-apocalyptic world… tend to follow one of two paths. Wherein we explore the hard life of a devastated and altered world or see people trying to rise above the chaos and restore the best parts of modern society, and it makes sense why these plotlines are so commonly followed. Simply because, they allow for laser focused examinations of the human condition, the kind that can ponder upon the worst parts of us and how easy it can be to accept a dark reality or what makes humanity special and resilient and worth saving. But now and again, you run into tales in this unsettling vein that opt to do something a little more realistic, such as Twisted Metal on Peacock.

For this series opted in its next episode… to remind us of the fact that our world is never one thing or another… it’s always operating in the grey, where good happens and bad happens all at once, even at the end of everything, and it accomplished that feat by giving John and Quiet quite the unique mission. For ‘WHZDARE’ saw them be scooped up by a group of intelligent truck drivers. Who used semis and technology to create, The Convoy, a mobile civilization that never stopped and lived and died in the trailers of 18-wheelers and well… they weren’t evil folks, just people in need of a Milkman, and his services, stat. Because their leader was ill and in need of medicine and if John was willing to make a run to a nearby pharmacist of sorts, they would provide him with provisions for his trip to Chicago, and some much-needed weapons. Since EV3L1N was stripped to the bone by Stone and his lackeys.

So of course… they took up the mission and that allowed for us to see a world filled with grey. For there were roving bands of ‘holy’ rollers causing harm to people out there because they could in the name of whatever stupid reason they had in mind, alongside… scared people capable of good. Such as the pharmacist, who initially mistook Quiet and John as those monsters and nearly harmed them before offering up the medication needed for the Convoy’s leader. Showcasing a world that was firmly planted in the middle, and where people were doing their best to survive and find little snippets of peace and joy. Which oddly, John and Quiet found when they needed to hide for the night. Since they holed up in a movie theater and watched some classics and added their own lines. All of which made for a very bittersweet tale, one that didn’t let up when daybreak arrived.

For a return to the Convoy revealed, that the dear leader of this place… wasn’t in a hurry for treatment… they were ready for the end of their life. And what John and Quiet were tasked with retrieving was nothing more than end of life medication to bring peace and comfort to her final hours on this Earth. Which brought forth a somber moment in the Convoy before there was a celebration of life. One that was loud and fun and full of redemption and reconnection for some before John and Quiet were on their way. With some fine lessons in hand. In that, life is still going on in this world and they should find joy within it when they can, and it would seem they took that to heart, courtesy of the banter that played out as they returned to the road and the darkness that awaits in Topeka.

But in the here and the now, we really were presented with a vastly different type of post-apocalyptic story. One that really did showcase how in many ways, the core of modern society could stay the same in the TMU. For that fear we harbor about people roving about was present, there was still love and respect for our elders and sorrow and joy when they leave us, and there was still fun to be had, and connective moments between lost souls. Since John and Quiet did open up, and that made for a delightful story in the end. One that was a fine example of how the world is everything and anything, all at once. Plus, it was both refreshing and fascinating, and it does leave us to wonder, if the good that Quiet found here will make her less eager to enact revenge when she and John arrive at Agent Stone’s doorstep in Topeka, Kansas. Until next time.

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