Commentary: The Success Of ‘Twisted Metal’ Means It Should End

A lot of shows are built around a singular premise. Sometimes, it plays out over the course of the entire show. Although the pacing would be slow, it allows the premise to breathe and reach completion by the end. However, some shows fulfill their entire point in one season. This leaves the show scrambling to reorient its premise going forward. Think of Prison Break, which had to figure out how it would move forward after the prison break was complete. Twisted Metal is in a similar circumstance, and because it was so successful with its premise last season, it should end rather than continue.

Inspired by the video game of the same name, the series is about a demolition-derby-style tournament held in a post-apocalyptic future. The event is hosted by a mysterious man named Calypso (Anthony Carrigan), who promises to grant a single wish to the winner. The series features popular characters such as Sweet Tooth (Will Arnett/Samoa Joe) and Mr. Grimm (Richard de Klerk), many of whom perished during the second season, which featured the entire tournament from start to finish.

And now that it is over, several main characters will be going after Calypso for revenge in season three. Unfortunately, the tournament was the main draw of both the show and the game. Without it, the story faces the potential to meander without a clear direction. As long as there are viewers, the series will try to drag on and justify its own existence. As popular characters are killed and the unique mayhem style of the tournament is finished, it will be hard to pick the momentum back up again. There’s always the chance it will do well, but it would probably be better to end the show on a high note than try and keep the storyline going.

Twisted Metal now streaming on Peacock.