Twisted - Season Finale 2014 - Recap: An Aptly-Titled Series
Recap and review of Twisted - Season Finale 2014 - A Tale of Two Confessions:
That may have been the most insanely twist-packed season finale I've seen in quite some time. Twisted has thrived as a series that takes the tropes of its genre to their limit, and "A Tale of Two Confessions" was no different. Seriously, few shows on TV have been as aptly-titled as this.
Tackling this chronologically is pretty much a zero-sum game, so let's go through this by looking at each of the big revelations, in order of importance, starting with the biggest...
(Spoilers below, obviously.)
Credit: ABC Family
Tess/Aunt Tara Have a Baby and His Name Is...
I don't think it's a small thing to say that Charlie (Jack Falahee), over the last two episodes, has completely gone off the reservation, so to speak. Of course, we know now that he was always like this, but these episodes have really gone a long way in illustrating the extent to which Charlie is psychologically broken. And yet, "A Tale of Two Confessions" paints a tragic picture, not of a sociopath out to claim the life of his old juvie roommate, but of a boy who never had the normal life a child should have, and who had his only mother figure ripped away from him at an early age. Granted, this doesn't really excuse Charlie's decision to abduct Jo (Maddie Hasson) and hold her hostage at knifepoint in his old house in upstate New York. And the show doesn't try to pretend that his past excuses anything either. None of these kids have had "normal" lives, yet you don't really see Jo or Lacey going around taking hostages. Yet the show doesn't seem to want us to completely dismiss Charlie as a lost soul either, since he apparently has had deeper motivations for his actions than just wanting to claim Danny's life.
While holding Jo hostage, Charlie reveals that his mother was Danny's late Aunt Tara. The same Aunt Tara that Vikram Desai murdered, although it was a murder for which Danny ultimately took the fall. Charlie's bitterness over what happened prompted him to steal a car in order to be placed in the same juvenile detention center as Danny, since his mission -- which he only admitted after repeated prodding from Jo -- was to seek revenge against his mother's murderer. However, once he got there, he learned that Danny didn't actually kill Tara, and that Danny actually shared his own passion for wanting Vikram Desai dead. Suddenly, Charlie found he had a kindred spirit in Danny, albeit a kindred spirit to whom he couldn't tell the truth. Over the course of their time together, Charlie began to covet the life Danny had in Green Grove, and was further compelled by Tara's stories about what a wonderful place the town was, all of which ultimately led us to this scene, as Charlie has Jo with a knife to her throat, keeping Danny, Lacey (Kylie Bunbury), and a gun-wielding Kyle (Sam Robards) at bay.
But then everything changes when Tess walks in.
Tess storms in and pleads with her husband not to shoot Charlie, since he's her biological son.
Wait, WHAT?!
Credit: ABC Family
Yes, it's apparently true. Thanks to help from Karen (Denise Richards) and a well-placed sledgehammer shot to Vikram's old desk, Tess is able to track down the doctor who delivered her child and found him a new home. Apparently, that home was with Tara. No one ever knew Tara wasn't Charlie's real mother, nor did Charlie ever know that, technically, he's Jo's half-brother. So, suddenly, we're in Game of Thrones territory now, except the incest here is accidental (and, thankfully, unconsummated). As we pan away from this scene, the screen goes black, and we hear a gunshot. But who took the bullet? And how is the knowledge that Charlie is Tess's biological son going to change the Masterson family, along with the relationships between this group of friends, all of whom are united by the shared tragedies of these secrets?
It's a positively insane reveal that is one of the more stunning twists I've seen on a show like this in some time, if only for how it throws past scenes into a new context. Earlier this season, I lamented the loss of Vikram because he provided our only window into why Aunt Tara was murdered. Granted, I added that it's actually far creepier if we never know why Vikram killed her, but I admit it would be nice to actually get an explanation behind the event that set this entire series in motion. And now, we might actually have a window into a plausible explanation, as Charlie might hold the key to some clue that might explain Vikram's motives. In essence, this is the kind of twist that opens up new avenues where there had previously only been detours. Literally anything can come of this, and that's an exciting possibility to consider.
Credit: ABC Family
Jack and Whitney and Charlie: Triple Threat
Except one big mystery surrounding Charlie remains unanswered -- mostly because it has only just been introduced in this finale.
Basically, Whitney (Brianne Howey) is threatened with being dragged back to Manhattan by her mother, who comes to collect her after Jack's (Ivan Sergei) case doesn't seem to be improving, despite Danny and Jo's respective confessions. Whitney's mother also doesn't buy her story about her boyfriend making a pass at her, and so she comes to take her home. But Lacey stands up for her new friend, saying that she believes Whitney is telling the truth. It's at this point where Whitney's mother drops a bombshell: Whitney is basically a pathological liar, and has been her entire life. She got kicked out of boarding school for getting caught skinny dipping with the son of the Dean, a revelation Lacey is hearing for the first time. Lacey is upset that Whitney lied about only ever having been with girls before, yet Whitney insists that she only did it to gain access to a day pass. The damage, however, has already been done to their friendship. It isn't so much that Whitney has been with boys before, but that she lied about it in the first place. As Lacey notes, she can't really put up with lying right now, and so she pretty much cuts Whitney out of her life.
But Whitney isn't actually going anywhere yet. Jack is released on bail when a judge hears wind of Danny and Jo's confessions, and so he comes back and claims Whitney, refusing to let her leave. Ultimately, Karen decides to take father and daughter in, particularly after she learns that Jack really did move Vikram's body as a way of protecting Danny. Karen and Jack make love, only for Jack to come downstairs in the middle of the night for a secret meeting with Whitney. Apparently, this has all been a sham, a ploy to get "in" with the Desais. Whitney notes that Charlie has been compromised, and Jack states that he never felt comfortable "working" with Charlie anyway.
So what is this conspiracy between Jack, Whitney, and Charlie? Why do they want "in" with the Desais? Did they somehow know about the money even before the Desais themselves? It's clear from Whitney's mother, along with other people in town having memories of them years ago, that Jack and Whitney really are father and daughter, so that's not a facade, at least. But to what end are they partnering with Charlie? And why has Charlie made no mention of accomplices? It's a titillating mystery, and one that I don't think will be easily resolved, especially if this is a far-reaching criminal conspiracy of some sort.
Credit: ABC Family
Miscellany
The rest of the episode isn't nearly as fretfully dramatic as the above, but some of it still has merit. Danny confesses his feelings to Jo, finally cutting to the heart of a matter that has been brewing for longer than perhaps even the show realizes (I think Jogia and Hasson have decent chemistry. Maybe not as much as Jogia and Bunbury, but there's something there between the characters, and has been for a while). Jo notes that she wanted to hear those words come out of his mouth for so long, yet now she doesn't know what to do with them. While it might seem a bit out of place in the story, I still feel it was an arc that needed addressing, even though the show has largely gotten away from its "grand love triangle" ambitions in recent weeks. The Charlie kidnapping ultimately puts a pin in the conversation until next season (fingers crossed), but I appreciated the show's willingness to address how much both characters have changed in their estimation of one another. It's far more compelling than watching Rico (Ashton Moio) fret over showing up late to dinner with Andie (Cynthy Wu) and her super-strict parents. We're given the impression that Rico has completely blown it by choosing to listen to Jo's full confession of the issues she's been withholding all these weeks, instead of choosing to be there for Andi. Neither Andi nor her parents are all that happy, and while it leaves me feeling lousy for Rico (and for Andi, don't get me wrong; it's clear he's not exactly over Jo), I found myself wondering what this really has to do with anything, particularly in an episode with so much more going on. But then, I do like Rico, for what it's worth, so I don't exactly hate getting to spend time with him.
And really, that narrative stumble in no way diminishes the effectiveness of "A Tale of Two Confessions" or the first season of Twisted, both of which I found to be fairly stellar throughout. Good mystery dramas are hard to come by, and they're even more difficult to pull off against the context of high school years and teenage intrigue (if such a thing can be said to exist). In short, I was exceedingly impressed with this season, and I'm really hoping we get another one. I'd argue Twisted has done more than enough, creatively, to deserve it.