‘Twisted Metal’ Episode 11 Brings Iconic Moments from the Game to Life — Joe Seanoa Weighs In

[Warning: The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for Twisted Metal Season 2 Episode 11, “OHLYNTE.”]

In Twisted Metal, Season 2 Episode 11, “OHLYNTE,” longtime gamers who were waiting in anticipation to see their beloved game come to life on the small screen were finally rewarded not just with the tournament of their depraved, deranged dreams, but with so much more as Sweet Tooth finally stepped up to plate to become all that he could be: the fiery fiend from favorite gaming franchise.

In the penultimate episode of Season 2, the surviving players reach the final leg of the tournament. Sweet Tooth (voice performance by Will Arnett, physical performance by Joe Seano) trades barbs with Mr. Grimm (Richard de Klerk) at the omelet station — each now forced to face the world without their longtime inner voices — before the clown is distracted by the salsa bar. The show then highlights what’s at stake: John Doe (Anthony Mackie) and Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz) reflect on their odds (slim), Raven (Patty Guggenheim) longs for her comatose dream girl Callie, Mike (Tahj Vaughans) mourns Dave’s (Johnno Wilson) death after his cannibal relapse, and Stu (Mike Mitchell) consoles his former best friend. But when John and Quiet try to let Mayhem (Saylor Bell) down easy about being cut from the contest, they and the other competitors are suddenly abducted and dropped into a familiar open arena straight from the Twisted Metal games.

In front of an audience made up of the haves and the have-nots, the vehicles are all lined up and ready for battle in a live-action version of a scene straight out of the video game. “Welcome to the final round,” Calypso bellows.

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Fans cheer and jeer as Mayhem is forced to sit beside Calypso while the Master of Ceremonies reveals the stakes, playing Quiet’s wish to tear down the walls as the wealthy sneer in her general direction. “To win your wish, you must be the last driver standing,” he declares. “This day will be remembered as the Day of Twisted Metal!”

Let the games begin! The racers run back to their car and begin to murder each other for sport.

The chaos begins in earnest as the events match the mayhem of the classic PlayStation games. As the vehicles thrash around the arena, launching projectiles and equipped with special features like smokescreens and rocket launchers. Quiet and John lure Mike and Stu into a tunnel, trap them by shooting out the windshield, and thus claim the tournament’s first victim: Mike.

Sweet Tooth attempts to kill Raven, but she has a force field around her car. She destroys the ice cream truck (but not its driver) with grenades as Calypso screams: “Cheat codes! Pathetic,” in a nod to the game where shields were a common cheat code. He uses his magic to dispose of Raven’s defenses, allowing her to become a sitting duck for John and making her the game’s second casualty.

And then we come to the moment we’ve all been waiting for: John shoots Grimm off his bike as Sweet Tooth crawls out of his truck and approaches the fallen soul stealer. The Clown Without Pity douses himself with gasoline as he screams, “Time to settle this, Grimm. Once and for all!” He strikes a match and sets his head ablaze, calling forth the classic Sweet Tooth look players have come to expect from the game. It’s a look viewers have seen briefly before in Season 1 — it’s Sweet Tooth in his final form.

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The scene beckons back directly to the games, where a darker Sweet Tooth is cursed by hell with a flaming head. It’s the version gamers know and love — and the one the series finally delivers. TV Insider talked to actor Joe Seanoa about this pivotal moment in the episode.

“Obviously, the igniting of the hair was a penultimate moment,” said Seanoa. “I think everybody was like, ‘Finally!’ You’re finally getting Sweet Tooth and in his full form.”

Seanoa discusses his version of Sweet Tooth compared to the game and how the two differ.

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“This version of Sweet Tooth is based on the Twisted Metal 2 version, where it is a bit more tongue-in-cheek. It is a bit more hilarious. But when he does switch and becomes the psychopath Sweet Tooth, it’s Twisted Metal: Black,” said Seanoa. “It’s the duality of those two things. Obviously, seeing Needles Kane [Sweet Tooth’s civilian name] as the unrelenting, almost Terminator-like, psycho killer that just keeps going after his victims, and won’t rest until he’s got the whole family, well, that’s just one side of this character. It’s his most violent, darkest side. Whereas the Twisted Metal 2 version of Needles, he’s a showman who’s out there to entertain the fans, and unfortunately, his instrument of choice is murder.”

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“I was looking forward to Sweet Tooth towards the end of the season, [when] you see Sweet Tooth battle, and it is bada**,” laughed Seanoa. “I love seeing a Sweet Tooth be brutal. Cracking jokes and then ripping people’s spines out. I love it.”

Back in the arena, fans erupt as searing Sweet Tooth clashes with Mr. Grimm, head-butting him, shattering his scythe, and finally hurling him into the path of a speeding vehicle — the tournament’s third casualty.

It is then that a twist is unveiled: Minion is set free in the game. A locked character from the video games, covered head to toe in red armor, Minion is fast, indestructible, and terrifying. The figure makes quick work of Sweet Tooth, stomping the clown into the tournament’s seemingly fourth casualty, at least for now.

John and Quiet flank Minion, but Roadkill is blown apart, ejecting John. Quiet rams the creature, leaps clear before the explosion, and rushes to John, unconscious on the ground. With all cars destroyed except one, there is a clear winner…

Stu wins Twisted Metal.

An explosion erupts from the stands, seemingly killing many of the spectators as Calypso looks on with a smile.

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