Twisted (2013) (Series)

Twisted is an ABC Family series starring Avan Jogia, Maddie Hasson, and Kylie Bunbury. The pilot premiered on March 19, 2013, after the Season 3 finale of Pretty Little Liars. ABC announced as of August 2014 the series would not be renewed.

The series revolves around Danny Desai, a sixteen-year-old boy who returns to his hometown after doing a five year stretch in prison for murdering his aunt. He tries to reconnect with his old friends, but he's met with suspicion, especially after a new murder takes place and he becomes the prime suspect.

This series contains examples of:

Almost Kiss: Danny and Lacey in the pilot. Then again in PSA de Resistance. Then the real deal in Fest and the Furious.
Alpha Bitch:
- Regina comes off like this, though she doesn't openly mistreat people as much as one would expect from this character type. Nor will she, since she dies in the Pilot.
- Phoebe looks like she's angling to take Regina's place.
  - Phoebe is more of a Lovable Alpha Bitch after episode 2, as she's nowhere near as mean as Sarita and doesn't seem to be quite as popular as Regina was.
- And then there's Sarita's behavior.
- Regina's Mom. Seems the apple didn't fall far from the tree as far as Regina goes.
Arc Symbol: The necklace that both Regina and Danny's aunt had. It's somehow related to their deaths and Danny, falling into his possession after Regina's death.
- Danny claims that the necklace is actually a family heirloom that went missing, which is why he's suspicious of how Regina came to own it. Karen is visibly shocked when she finds it, so she decides to toss it into the lake. Unfortunately, Rico witnessed her doing it and the police end up finding it.
- It is later revealed that Regina's mother planted the necklace with the help of Marilyn, Vikram's fixer.
Armoured Closet Gay: Samuel, Lacey's father. He has a clandestine relationship and doesn't want to publicize it.
Awesomeness by Analysis: For all that the Green Grove Police Department has limited resources and personnel, Chief Masterson has a keen eye out for even relatively minor details and has already righted some injustices as a result.
Blackmail: Mutual between Danny and Principal Tang.
Blatant Lies: During the interrogation scene:
Chief: It looks like we'll have to finish this up another time.
Danny: Sure. Anything I can do to help.
Dark Secret: Tara apparently found out something and was going to use it to destroy her brother's family. Danny claims that this is why he killed her.
Deadpan Snarker: Danny has some touches of this:
Danny: (in response to his mother's prying for information about the interrogation) Well, the chief's repainting his office, and he wanted a second opinion.
- Upon reading the article about himself in the paper:
Danny: At least they used a cool picture. "Menacing" does wonders for my complexion.
- After seeing an interview about him from Tyler's movie:
Danny: Wow. Almost wet his pants, but didn't. After hearing that rave review, the school board wouldn't dare expel me.
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.
Every Man Has His Price:
- Danny uses his newfound money to make a donation to the school soccer team, after which the coach not-so-coincidentally decides to give Danny the "Gentleman's C" (an undeserved A grade, actually) instead of failing him on his history test. However, Coach Wasserman gets the last shot in, when he says, "if that's what your father would have wanted," in an Ironic Echo of Danny's own statement. The coach's disgust at the Faustian bargain is barely hidden.
- Lacey realizes this after Danny's extravagant dinner and offer of an expensive necklace. She acidly points out that he's effectively bribing her to try and stop her asking him questions about what happened to his dad.
- Danny later gets a Heel Realization about what he's been doing, and tells the coach to reinstate his "F" grade. But Danny still is willing to use his newfound money to help and protect those he cares about, including hiring a very expensive lawyer for Jack.
Fetish: Exhibited in the series by Principal Tang, who's shown to have a tendency to express his sexual desire for Karen Desai at work, and when rebuffed on that front, expresses a very fervent desire to brush her hair. He even sniffs the hairbrush when she tells him to knock it off.
In-Series Nickname: "Socio" for Danny.
Inspector Javert: Chief Masterson, who's convinced that Danny is guilty and belongs in jail. Later on, averted as he realizes there's way more to the Regina Crane case than at first glance.
Ironic Echo: Considering Danny's a convicted murderer and has probably become a bit of a prison hard-case: "I just can't believe my mom would hurt somebody."
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 Speech Tea Time: Andie Dang's speech, penned largely by Rico, goes over rather less well than expected.
Love Dodecahedron: Okay. Lacey, who was with Archie, goes out with Danny and sleeps with him. Jo, who is in love with Danny, dates Tyler and sleeps with him. Rico is in love with Jo. The only thing left to complete the loop is if any one of the aforementioned ends up sleeping with Rico.
Never Found the Body: Vikram Desai fell off his yacht after a night of drinking. He is, in fact, alive and collaborating with Tess.
Oh, Crap!: Spoken by Jo.
Pervert Dad: Whitney's mom's boyfriend seems to have boundary issues.
Prophecies Are Always Right: Rico warning Lacey that Eloise holds grudges.
Stalker with a Crush: Charlie, as it turns out, seems to have an unhealthy level of interest in Jo. Not helped by him suddenly appearing from behind a tree while Jo's walking along the sidewalk, in "A Tale of Two Confessions".
Take That!: This conversation from the Pilot:
Regina: They let you watch Glee in prison?
Danny: It was part of our punishment.
- Second episode, Danny says that after all the craziness with the investigation blows over, he and Jo can talk about normal things like popular culture:
Danny: You can tell me who the Kardashians are, for instance.
Jo: You don't want to know.
- During the grief counseling scenes, one girl mentions things that brought her and Regina together:
"...fashion, the Jonas Brothers...back when they were, you know, still relevant..."
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: In a recent episode Danny and Chief Masterson were working together to find out if Danny's mother actually killed Regina,they even searched through her computer....with some interesting results
The Sociopath:
- People think Danny fits this trope, but it remains to be seen whether or not he actually does. Danny is proving to be too adept at deflecting and lobbing his own curve balls when he gets uncomfortable questions. Sociopaths are known to show a glib facility for keeping other people off-balance when it suits them.
- It is very likely Vikram had sociopathic tendencies; when he forced Danny to take the rope he'd used to kill Tara, he gave no thought to what he was going to put his son through and rationalized it to himself by claiming Danny would only do a few months in juvie, clearly unaware of the actual lengths of sentences that can be handed down to young offenders.
- And if anything, Charlie is far more likely to fit this trope than Danny, considering the extent to which he has manipulated situations in Green Grove to make himself look good in comparison to Danny.
Token Trio: Danny (half-Indian), Jo (Token White), and Lacey (black).
Trailers Always Spoil: The promo's for Home Is Where the Hurt Is show us that Charlie, the new boy in town, (who appears to be stalking Lacey), knew Danny in Juvie.
Verbed Title
Wham Episode:
- "Poison of Interest": Danny gets expelled from school and the video of him and Lacey together gets leaked throughout the school.
- "Danny, Interrupted": Danny confesses to killing his father in self-defence and Jo also finally admits she was there with him. Also, Charlie accidentally reveals to Jo the extent of his obsession with her.
- "A Tale of Two Confessions":
  - Charlie kidnaps Jo, and then later admits that he's actually related to Danny because his mother was Danny's Aunt Tara.
  - Jack and Whitney's conversation reveals that they're working some kind of plan to at least get at Karen's money.
Wham Line:
- At the end of "Doc-Trauma":
Karen: It was me. I killed Regina Crane.
- "Dead Men Tell Big Tales":
Danny: Because he did it before. I didn't kill my aunt.
- "Danny Indemnity":
Tess: Before Jo, I had another baby.
(in a later scene)
Danny: You know I killed dad.
- "A Tale of Two Confessions":
Tess: You can't hurt Charlie. He's my son!
Wham Shot:
- The shot of Danny holding the necklace that belonged to the murder victim at the end of the Pilot. Though given that the show is scheduled for at least a season, there's probably an explanation for how he got it beyond "He killed her and took it."
- It has since been revealed that he found the necklace left in his locker after the murder. And it didn't belong to the current victim. It belonged to Danny's aunt.
- Another Wham Shot would be the apartment directory. They trace Regina's hush money letter to its return address, an apartment complex, room 413...But the guard on duty says that room's occupant died months ago. Jo locates the directory on a computer and the former occupant's name is...Vikram Desai. Danny's "dead" father.
- Vikram Desai is indeed alive and Tess Masterson is collaborating with him.
- Vikram enters the abandoned house Danny is in: "Hello, son."
- Vikram Desai falling to his death.
- Someone finding Vikram just as Tess finishes her call to him.