Twisted - Winter Premiere Recap: Cliffhanger
Recap and review of Twisted - Episode 12 - Winter Premiere - Dead Men Tell Big Tales:
Twisted is a mystery drama of considerable complexity, relying on the readiness of its audience to believe that there has to be more going on beneath the surface, that the solution can't really be as simple as Danny Desai (Avan Jogia) having killed Regina Crane just like he allegedly killed his aunt five years ago. But in proving that there's more beneath the surface, the show has gone too far in the other direction, as we now have Vikram Desai (TJ Ramini) back from the dead to frame his son for yet another murder, all while possibly being in collusion with Tess Masterson (Kimberly Quinn). Yet while these complications seem unnecessarily melodramatic, I find that, quite simply...well, I don't care that it's over-the-top. I love the hell out of this show. It bathes in the kind of gloriously excessive drama reminiscent of the best primetime soaps of The WB era, but with a much better central premise, one that comes out more in "Dead Men Tell Big Tales" than in previous episodes: how much can you really know about a person? Sure, there are all the surface details, and even shared experiences from the past to inform your opinion. But everyone has secrets, their own personal mysteries that inform whom they've become. The sooner you deal with the past, the sooner you can stop being defined by it.
Credit: ABC Family
Unfortunately for Danny Desai, his past as a killer has now been replaced with his present...as a killer. In the reveal that many fans predicted when the show first started, Danny explains that he never actually killed his aunt five years ago. Quite the opposite: it turns out he got home early and walked in on a murder scene, his father standing over the body of his aunt with the tell-tale jump rope in his hand. Vikram guilted Danny into taking the blame, rationalizing that that the choice was between enduring a few months in juvie, or losing his father forever to the prison system. So Danny went along with the plan, compelled by love for his father; but Vikram's prediction that Danny wouldn't receive more than a few months in juvie turned out to be unfounded, as Danny was sentenced to five years. When he came under suspicion for Regina's murder, Danny knew he was being framed, he just didn't know who was doing the deed. But now that he knows his father is alive, it's easy for him to put two-and-two together.
Credit: ABC Family
It's a revelation that comes out in the first half of "Dead Men Tell Big Tales", as Danny remains on the run following the events of the summer finale, hiding out at Rico's (Ashton Moio) until he can plan his next move. Learning the truth about Danny is what finally convinces Jo (Maddie Hasson) to give him a second chance, as she spends the first act trying desperately to avoid all Danny-related talk. She even goes as far as to scream for her mother when Danny appears in her room to apologize for hurting her, and to beg for her help. Of course, while Jo was less-than-welcoming, Lacey (Kylie Bunbury) still has Danny on the brain, even mistaking new-kid-in-school Charlie for her on-the-lam love interest. It doesn't take long for Jo to deduce that Lacey knows where Danny is, after a painfully awkward encounter at the diner clues her in to where Danny is staying. With the trio reunited, they work together to find out where Vikram Desai might be hiding, and why he's decided to frame Danny for a second time.
Credit: ABC Family
But we don't know for sure that Vikram is actually behind Regina's murder. Not definitively. However, we do have plenty of evidence, which is mostly compiled by Sheriff Kyle Masterson (Sam Robards): turns out Marilyn Rossi (Stacy Haiduk), the private investigator hired by Mayor Rollins to get to the bottom of the Regina Crane murder, might be involved herself. Kyle finds a money trail that suggests that Vikram may have been blackmailed by Regina in the weeks before her murder, and that Marilyn might have information about it. Jo even investigates the lead on her own, and, in talking with Marilyn about Danny's possible whereabouts and the return of Vikram Desai, convinces her to contact whomever it is she's been allied with all this time. The idea of a wider criminal network bearing responsibility for Regina's death opens the possibility of a show beyond Regina's murder. Much like The A Team on Twisted's Tuesday night companion, Pretty Little Liars, a wide-reaching conspiracy allows the show to continue on once the central mystery has been solved, or once a main villain of the show has moved on. This approach immediately comes in handy in this episode's climax, as one of the potentially huge villains of the series is dispatched with in the closing moments...
Credit: ABC Family
Danny not only tracks down his father, but he also confronts him face-to-face. Avan Jogia delivers some of his best work of the series here, as Danny absolutely lays into Vikram for betraying him as a child, and lying to him. Instead of succumbing to the despair of his situation, Danny channels his pain through outrage. Sure, his eyes are filled with tears, but he keeps those tears at bay with sheer anger. Vikram tries to reason that he had to fake his death and go into hiding, since the unnamed criminal network was after him, and was intent on killing him. He tries to, once again, play on Danny's love, suggesting that they run away together and start a new life as father and son. But Danny doesn't want to hear any of this, and he definitely doesn't want Vikram addressing Jo, who happened to come along to this confrontation (and then refused to leave, because Jo is nothing if not stubborn).
Credit: ABC Family
The final moments essentially turn into a horror movie, as Vikram notices Jo dialing for the cops, and flips his lid, leading to a struggle in which Danny is nearly knocked unconscious. Vikram chases after Jo through the woods, and although it seems like Jo just might get away, she eventually finds herself cornered at the edge of a cliff. Vikram tries to wrestle the phone away from her, but in storms Danny, who fights with his father. Danny loses the upperhand and resorts to a desperate shot with a piece of wood -- a shot that sends his father falling backwards and over the edge of the cliff. Vikram Desai is dead...for real this time. And with him goes one of the only chances Danny has of proving his innocence, not only of Regina's murder, but also his aunt's. And that's not even the worst of it, as a mysterious figure has apparently seen this all from the shadows. So Danny's past innocence has been revealed, only to be replaced by his present guilt. Yes, he killed his father in self-defense, but is the law really going to believe a convicted killer?
Credit: ABC Family
The climax is pretty terrific, and it anchors an episode that continues to challenge what we know about these characters, and what the characters know about each other. There were a series of subplots this week: Tess continuing to leave voicemails for Vikram; Karen (Denise Richards) meeting with an old flame (Ivan Sergei) to track down her late husband; and Lacey talking to Charlie at the horse stables and spying a photo of Vikram and Regina's mother. But the most effective moment unrelated to Danny directly was Jo's confession to Tess that she slept with Tyler (Chris Zylka). Lost in all this talk about over-the-top mysteries and melodramatic romance drama is just how effective Twisted can be at simply portraying the confusion and self-doubt that accompanies being a teenager. Jo tearfully admits to her mother that she now has to live with the knowledge that her first time was a mistake, since she did it with "the wrong guy" and for "the wrong reasons". It's a reaction that feels fairly authentic for someone in Jo's place, storming forth into womanhood (or a facet of it, anyway) before she was ready. And Tess's reaction is great too, a mixture of sympathy, empathy, and maybe a hint of disappointment to which she'll never admit. She comforts Jo and tells her everybody makes mistakes, and it could very easily be a reference to her own dealings with Vikram.
Credit: ABC Family
"Dead Men Tell Big Tales" is pretty much a perfect way for the show to return from break, as Twisted reestablishes the stakes by reintroducing Vikram, only to change the entire narrative of the season going forward by having Danny and Jo become complicit in his death. Now Danny really has committed a murder, and he and Jo are in this together, once and for all. I wonder if they'll let Lacey in on their secret, or if they'll play it close to the vest in much the same way Danny and Lacey hid their romance from Jo? It should be an interesting second half of the season.