Set 20 years after "the fall" where a failure of electronic infrastructure lead to civil unrest and a breakdown of society, various cities have walled themselves off operating as independent city-states while those on the outside fight for resources and territory. Deliveries between cities are done by "Milkmen" drivers who traverse the roads fighting off scavengers and gangs. One such milkman, an amnesiac by the name of John Doe (Anthony Mackie), is given an offer by Raven (Neve Campbell) the COO of New San Francisco to pick up a package from New Chicago and deliver it within 10 days in exchange for citizenship in the city. As John travels eastward his path crosses with a drifter named Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz) who is on a quest for vengeance to avenge her brother's death at the hands of self appointed lawman Agent Stone (Thomas Haden Church).

Twisted Metal is an adaptation of the Sony Playstation series of the same name first started in 1995 with its last major release being in 2012. The series hails from Sony's Playstation Productions and is the third property to be adapted following the Uncharted film and the Last of Us tv series. The series features all the over the top action you'd expect from a Twisted Metal adaptation and successfully mines the premise for a fast paced and fun post-apocalyptic run through insanity.

Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz have solid chemistry as John Doe and Quiet, and their dynamic where they go from fighting each other to an alliance of convenience to back again is well done without becoming grating (even if Quiet's character is kind of purposefully abrasive in the opening episodes). Both are interesting characters and the two serve quite well as comparatively more grounded characters for the insanity of the world and characters to bounce off against. The show does a good job of incorporating characters in the show in fun and unique ways with characters such as Preacher, Granny Dread, Agent Stone, and Sweet Tooth given some fun and memorable setpieces. Sweet Tooth in particular is a lot of fun with Samoa Joe physically playing the character while Will Arnett does the voice and it's a really solid matchup giving us a memorable insane clown character who really stands out among the glut of these types we've seen before with some pitch perfect comic timing intermixed with some pretty intense and disturbing violence.

Twisted Metal is pretty much the polar opposite in tone we got from The Last of Us with the show very much an exercise in bad taste and ridiculousness that feels like Shoot 'em Up by way of Hell Comes to Frogtown. The show creates a memorable and darkly comic world of violence and insanity and while my background knowledge of this series isn't particularly deep, I suspect fans will find a lot to appreciate and eagerly await the teased second season.