Abhiroop Das
The second season of Peacock’s ‘Twisted Metal’ centers around the eponymous, life-threatening racing tournament, with the winner rewarded with any wish of theirs being granted. This attracts many skilled, eccentric drivers to take part, including the protagonist, John Doe, and his team of Doll Gang members, Quiet, Mayhem, and his sister, Dollface. Although John has amnesia and does not remember much of his childhood, his bond with Dollface goes beyond words, and the two soon grow into a formidable pair. They enter the race with the same goal in mind, but the challenges quickly overwhelm them, forcing Dollface to take a stand. Her actions in the first round are crucial to dictating the tone of the show going forward, as well as moulding the psyche of her brother and her teammates. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Dollface Sacrifices Herself to Keep the Race Going
Episode 6 of ‘Twisted Metal,’ titled ‘MKAW1SH,’ is marked by Dollface’s tragic death within the first round of the racing tournament. Initially, everything seems to be going according to plan, with John and Quiet taking the lead and Dollface using an electromagnetic pulse generator to neutralize the rest of the competition. However, things go south when Mayhem joins the race. This forces the protagonists to take a U-turn and rescue their youngest ally, which in turn delays Dollface’s role and pushes her back in the most dangerous sections of the game. Things get worse when she realizes that the EMP device does not work, and in that moment of distraction, she is impaled with a spear by one of the participants’ cars. Upon crashing out of her quadbike, Dollface finds herself surrounded by rivals hungry to end her life. However, instead of accepting defeat, she voluntarily disqualifies her package, calling in an airstrike and taking out everyone around her in the process.
Dollface’s death is more than just an act of dying on her own terms; it also has a tactical purpose. With her original plan having failed, she decides to cull as many participants in the race as she can and pave the way for John and Quiet to win. To begin with, Dollface’s participation was never the intended strategy, and as such, she was always acting as a springboard for the real players, that is, the protagonists, to win. This is affirmed by her dying words, where she asks her partners to win the tournament. Although she dies, her vehicle, the quadbike, slowly crawls its way to the finish line, with nothing but her mask placed on top of it. This can be interpreted as Dollface symbolically accompanying her brother and her teammates on the rest of the journey, empowering them in the process.
Dollface’s Death Prompts Different Reactions From Quiet and John
Dollface’s death has serious consequences that ripple throughout the rest of the narrative. At first, John, Quiet, and Mayhem are all in disbelief at the turn of the events, but the stakes force them to get back to their senses and regroup, following which all drivers are given a day of rest. As a member of the Doll Gang, Quiet is personally affected by her leader’s passing as well, but instead, she chooses to embody the gang’s motto and spirit. Prior to this, we learn through Dollface that the gang does not mourn the passing of one of their members. Instead, their mask lives on, and it becomes their friends’ responsibility to keep the fire going. In accordance with that, Quiet finds her closure and places the mask on the car’s dashboard, making it a permanent reminder of their shared goal of bringing down the walls.
However, being Dollface’s brother, John has a drastically different reaction to her passing. Although the duo did not spend much time together, their bond left an indelible mark on the protagonist’s psyche, and in the present, he grows restless in the memory of his sister. While he understands that Quiet has her own way of coping with the loss, their paths diverge when Callypso introduces the wishing well, where one can note down their winning wish. As the rules state that any wish imaginable can be fulfilled using this supernatural mechanism, John goes behind his partner’s back and secretly wishes for his sister to come back to life. While his wish is well-intentioned and driven by his desire to reunite with his family, this will likely have dire consequences. Dollface’s resurrection could result in a twisted outcome far from what John envisioned while making the wish, and this possibility frames the rest of the narrative in shades of gray.
Tiana Okoye Might Still Have a Role to Play in Twisted Metal
Dollface’s death hints at the likelihood of actor Tiana Okoye’s role in the series thinning out considerably. However, it doesn’t outright confirm her absence, as even after her death, Dollface reappears in the narrative in the form of a flashback. To that end, there is always a chance that the character can manifest as a hallucination or yet another flashback, making it possible for Okoye to reprise her role as the leader of the Doll Gang. Additionally, the protagonist’s twisted wish strongly points to Dollface returning to the fray in some capacity if her brother wins. However, whether that outcome will be to anyone’s liking is still up in the air. In prior interviews, Dollface has shown her love for the story and her interest in doing more action scenes, which strengthens the possibility of her making a reentry.
Notably, while Dollface’s death is strongly suggested, the actual moment is never shown, and we observe the explosion from a distance. Given that the target of the airstrike is the package, and not the vehicle or the person themselves, there is a chance that she survives and escapes the scene. Although she is still gravely injured, this idea boosts the possibility of her survival. In this scenario, she might continue to work from behind the shadows, potentially fixing the EMP device and coming back to the race in a key moment. However, the arc that has already been established is dependent on her death, as are the emotional beats. Thus, even if Okoye makes a return to the narrative, it is unlikely to be in the traditional sense.
Read More: Twisted Metal Season 2 Episode 4 and 5 Recap: Is The Baby Preacher Dead or Alive?
