Why Can’t We Be Friends?: Twisted “Three For The Road” Review

It may be too early to say this, but Twisted has struck summer teen drama gold. “Three For The Road” was our follow up to the love triangle introduction, and could have easily been a catastrophic mess. Instead, episode six saw our main trio finally working together (if not begrudgingly) and the once damaged relationship between Lacey and Jo may be on its way to mending.

It gets harder to know what to think of Danny as time goes on. He charms you with Lacey and warms your heart with Jo, but with Karen he can be downright frightening. In one of the episode’s early scenes Danny discovers the necklace is gone as Karen comes home from grocery shopping. In a bit of twist, Danny aggressively confronts her rather than try to hide he knows it’s missing.

It’s easy to see this kid who just wants to be average, who just wants some redemption when he’s with anyone else, but with Karen. Danny is at his most threatening with her, something you see Karen react to as he approaches the kitchen counter. While last week may have been the first episode we strongly believed Danny was innocent – due to the mysterious letter with money – this episode put us right back at square one: D is for Dangerous.

Things are surprisingly less tense on the Jo and Rico front and as they have lunch the two try to piece together whatever it is that has Jo so vehemently defending Danny. Jo barely dodges having a Lacey moment, almost blurting that Danny is her “Best Friend” right in front of her current/old/inbetween(?) bestie. She diverts the conversation back to just wanting to help clear Danny’s name, but Rico sees how much she cares. His care for her care follows him all the way through to his chat with the Chief – which Kyle then uses against the young teen.

Rico is a barely social and utterly awkward teen who has spent most of his high school experience making pi pies and chillaxin at the diner. So when Kyle uses his position and power to manipulate both Rico’s personality and his care for Jo to find out more about Danny (instead of his daughter’s whereabouts), it’s a little heartbreaking.

While initially it may seem like Rico is to blame, he’s not the adult in the situation nor the one who holds the cards. Rico was threatened with charges (seem like a recurring theme?) and then had his arm twisted over how much he cares for Jo. Remember, Rico knows something no one else does: Danny had Regina/Aunt Tara’s necklace. That even roused serious concerns in Karen. Rico thought he was protecting Jo, even if he was only making it harder for her.

Kyle spends the episode raging about trying to find his daughter, but Tess and Karen feel more comfortable with the idea that their children are galavanting around who knows where. They are so comfortable with it, in fact, that they decide to do some pottery while they wait for their children to return. The rebuilding of the relationship between Tess and Karen gives both women a solid storyline of their own and helps strip their label of “devices” in the young trio’s plot game. Still, it seemed like a really inappropriate time to break out the clay. Oh, and did we mention there was weed?

As the missing teens were causing a ruckus at home, we were privy to something that desperately needed addressing for the series to continue on its developmental high: an explanation of Jo and Lacey’s fallout. As it turns out, their break up was about a birthday party that everyone else, but Jo was invited to. It seems harsh how it all went down, but then again, both girls were struggling emotionally after Danny was convicted. He seemed to be their “glue” if you will, and as they were two very different people they handled things very differently. That Danny glue was not strong enough to keep them together and after that party incident, the two broke off.

It was probably painful at the time as it was quite painful to hear them hash it out. However, and more importantly, Jo and Lacey finally cleared the air and repaired hurt feelings, moving them one step closer to friendship. This was wonderful development for our two female protagonists, even if it meant the male character had to be at the center orchestrating the endeavor.

Maddie Hasson, Kylie Bunbury, Avan Jogia — © 2013 ABC Family

Healing means the intense bickering witnessed in the car ride to Connecticut might be on hold, especially now that they share a secret. Danny, Lacey, and Jo took the trip to find out who sent the letter to Regina. Their sleuthing skills weren’t the best, but they were certainly the adorable trio we’ve been dying to see. When they broke out and starting singing “Here It Goes Again” your heart probably melted.

That glimpse at what could be is almost enough for us to want the mystery to be over; for this to be a regular teen show about kids growing up. Almost. That aspect of the show has certainly proved to be strong enough, but “Three For the Road’s” bombshell – that Vikram Desai was behind the mailing address of Regina’s letter – shut that desire down quickly. Can things get any more Twisted?

Here are my twists, turns, and queries for “Three For The Road.” Be sure to add your own and discuss the episode in the comments!

Twists: 1.) Tess and Vikram dated while in high school, 2.) Vikram’s address in another state was attached Regina’s letter

Turns: 1.) Instead of trying to pretend he didn’t know where the necklace was, Danny approached Karen immediately, 2.) Rico spilled the beans about Karen

Queries:

1. What will Kyle do with his new found information?
2. Is there something going on between Tess and Karen that’s more than “just friends”?
3. Should the girls tell Danny about what they learned?
4. Which aspect of the show are you liking more: the teen drama or the murder mystery?
5. Do you forgive Rico yet?

Twisted airs Tuesdays at 9:00 – 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on ABC Family.