Characters / Twisted (2013)

Main Characters

Danny Desai

Played by: Avan Jogia

• Ambiguously Evil: The show questions whether or not Danny is a sociopath. Not only do we not know if he killed Regina, we don't even know why he killed his aunt. And then there's that whole thing with him having the victim's necklace.
• The Atoner: He regrets messing up Lacey and Jo's lives and he wants to make things right with them.

• Deadpan Snarker: Particularly where his status as a murder suspect is concerned.
• Disappeared Dad: His dad fell off a company yacht while intoxicated and his body was never found.

• Informed Ability: His soccer skills. What's shown on-screen isn't exactly brimming with a wow factor.
• In-Series Nickname: "Socio".
• Jock Dad, Nerd Son: Inverted with Vikram and Danny. They apparently got on like a house on fire when it came to toy rockets and sports. Played straight with his mother, who in a moment of carelessness, accidentally reveals a lot more than she intended in front of Tess and Danny when he was younger.
  Karen: I wish I had a daughter.
  (later)
  Young Danny: You meant it.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy
• Manipulative Bastard: It's very subtle, but he does charm and manipulate people to get them to do things they don't normally do. He also has a tendency to evade questions and not quite answer them directly. Jo, by the end of the first mid-season finale, has tired of this.
• Mysterious Past: We don't know anything about his life in the past five years. Lampshaded by Chief Masterson.
  Masterson: You don't know a boy who murdered his own aunt. You don't know a boy who spent the last five years in prison. You don't know what he went through.
• The Quiet One: He's rather mild mannered and soft spoken and while he's sarcastic, he's not bitingly so.
• The Sociopath: People think Danny fits this trope. Danny is proving to be too adept at deflecting and lobbing his own curve balls when he gets uncomfortable questions though. Sociopaths are known to show a glib facility for keeping other people off-balance when it suits them.

• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: Murdering his aunt when he was eleven definitely qualifies. Subverted. He was Taking the Heat for his dad.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Flashbacks show him to be this, though see Troubling Unchildlike Behavior.

Lacey Porter

Played by: Kylie Bunbury

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Subverted with Lacey. Despite two Almost Kisses followed by a real kiss in "Fest and the Furious" she still resolves to keep her distance from Danny. And then she has sex with him and is his girlfriend for several episodes.

• Brainy Brunette: Brown-haired Lacey is quite smart and pragmatic.
• Deadpan Snarker: Usually directed at Danny.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: It's subtle, but she's slowly starting to warm up to Danny and Jo.
• Disappeared Dad: Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mom.

• Hidden Heart of Gold: Her persona as the tough popular bitch is a defense against the harassment and bullying she went through after Danny went to prison. Despite no longer being friends, she still cares for Jo and can't help but still care about Danny.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Said word for word in the pilot. She broke away from anything that reminded her of her childhood in order to survive the bullying she went through.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Despite the barbs she throws Danny's way, she's considerably nicer than Sarita.
• Only Sane Man: Despite her issues, she's still the most practical and level-headed of the three.

• Token Good Teammate: She's this in a group full of Alpha Bitches and Jerk Jocks.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Jo's Tomboy though it used to be vice versa when they were kids.
• Tsundere: Type A towards Danny and Jo mostly.
• We Used to Be Friends: With Danny and Jo before the murder.

Jo Marie Masterson

Played by: Maddie Hasson

• Bratty Teenage Daughter: A mild example. She's snarky to her parents and is starting to rebel after Danny's return.

• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Choleric.

• It's All About Me: Jo is leading heavily towards this. There is a ridiculous example in this sneak peek from 'Out With The In-Crowd! in which Jo doesn't come to school because of a 'making-out recording' that doesn't involve her because she's hurt that Danny hooked up with Lacey, when Lacey, who is one of the two recorded and still goes to the school (Danny has been expelled in episode 10) is still attending despite having every justification not to.
• Messy Hair: Something she inherited from her mom.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Rico.

• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's angry and prickly, but she warms up around Rico and Danny.
• The Snark Knight: Jo is still deeply affected by her childhood and she deals with it by dishing out quips and barbs.
• Token White: She's the only white person in her group of friends.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Lacey's Girly Girl. She's also the Tomboy to her mother's Girly Girl.

• We Used to Be Friends: With Danny and Lacey before the murder.

Rico

Played by: Ashton Moio

• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Sanguine.

• Platonic Life-Partners: With Jo.

Karen Desai

Played by: Denise Richards

• Alcoholic Mom: Hinted at when Danny finds her drinking late at night, even though Karen just says that it's her second glass. She's also Danny's mother.
• Fallen Princess: She used to rule the town's social scene, but all that changed after Danny went to juvie. The pilot also reveals that her late husband made a series of bad investments so now all their family's money is tied up in the house.
• Financial Abuse: Karen is pretty quick to start elastically interpreting Danny's distaste for being named the beneficiary of Vikram's insurance policy with her as custodian and enjoying the money. The look she gives him after he bids ten grand on a painting would've frozen him into ice if possible.

• Knight Templar Parent: She's willing to do whatever it takes to protect Danny, though sometimes she employs occasionally suspicious methods. Throwing the mysterious necklace into the lake in the dark of night, for one.

Tess Masterson

Played by: Kimberly Quinn

• Erudite Stoner: Tess has a stash that she sometimes accesses for artistic inspiration.

• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Girly Girl to Jo's Tomboy.

Kyle Masterson

Played by: Sam Robards

• Inspector Javert: Towards Danny, whom he believes is a cold serial killer.
  • He got better though and as of the winter premire, he concludes Danny isn't the prime suspect.

Recurring Characters

Sarita

Played by: Jamila Velasquez

• Alpha Bitch: She's one of the popular kids and her constant Jerkass tendencies towards Jo, Danny, and even Lacey definitely qualifies her for this.

Archie

Played by: Grey Damon

Phoebe Daly

Played by: Brittany Curran

• Former Friend of Alpha Bitch: She used to be friends with Regina until the latter betrayed her confidence.

• Odd Friendship: Used to be in one with Regina.

Regina Crane

Played by: Karynn Moore

• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Danny's reputation as a killer didn't deter her from wanting to date him one bit.
• Asshole Victim: To the point where her murder would be a case of Everyone Is a Suspect if the police hadn't latched onto Danny.
• The Dragon: Regina was apparently acting on orders from someone, when Lacey discovers an envelope of hush money and a letter from Regina saying she did as she was instructed.
• Lovable Alpha Bitch: Played with. On the one hand, she was friendly enough to Jo despite the latter's low social status. On the other hand, the second episode reveals that even her own best friend thought very little of her, meaning she may not have been quite as lovable as she appeared.
• Posthumous Character: She shows up in Lacey's dreams occasionally.
• She Knows Too Much: The police think that this is Danny's motive for murdering her: She claimed (probably falsely) to know the reason he killed his aunt when he was eleven. It turns out she also knew at least some things about Vikram's doings.

Tyler

Played by: Chris Zylka

• Documentary: He makes one about Danny, but goes to the creepy zone when he enlists some friends of his to wear masks of Danny's face and do a mock re-enactment of the murder of Danny's aunt.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: He lays on the charm with a trowel when he meets Jo's parents. Her father is not amused.

Vikram Desai

Played by: T. J. Ramini

• Abusive Parents: Murdered Danny's aunt and forced his son to take the blame.
• Disney Villain Death: Both his fake death and his real one.
• Faking the Dead: Not anymore.

• Knight of Cerebus: The show wasn't exactly sunshine and roses to begin with, but Vikram really contributes to the darkness of the show.

• Posthumous Character: Subverted. Turns out he was alive all along, but in his only proper appearance, he is killed off. And then he starts showing up in Danny's dreams like Regina in Lacey's.

Marilyn Rossi

Played by: Stacy Haiduk

• Dirty Cop: A private investigator hired to help investigate Regina's murder, later made clear she is actually framing Danny, and heavily implied that she was the one who killed Regina.
• The Dragon: To Vikram.

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