I know it has gotten some mixed reviews, a lot of people on Reddit have a hate boner for Anthony Mackie because of Altered Carbon s2, and it had a pretty terrible teaser trailer at first, but I just spent my weekend watching the whole show and, to my surprise, I’ve had a lot of fun.

Now, don’t come looking for deep philosophical questions or high art, this is no HBO drama like the Last of Us, but if you want a crazy road trip romp littered with violence, comedy, and also some surprising chemistry and heart from the leads, Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz; or if you ever wanted to see the Twisted Metal mascot Sweet Tooth brought to life in the best way possible (an insane murderous clown that manages to separate itself from the Joker or Pennywise thanks to the surprisingly effective combo of Samoa Joe’s physicality and Will Arnett’s voice) then this show is for you.

It starts as a good background show and then managed to rope me in over time as the characters’ chemistry grew and the various celebrity and character actor cameos started passing through, each using their brief time on the screen to perfection. I would say about episode 3 or 4 is about when I started looking at my phone less and it starts to rank up.

If you’re a fan of the video games, this offers a little more nostalgia, too. I played the original games up to Twisted Metal Black, and it had a lot of the chaotic feel of those games. It made it easy for me to accept the frankly ridiculous world they build, because you always had to in Twisted Metal. It’s never really been about the world-building or story, it’s always been about the characters and cars, each with over the top nicknames and gimmicks. It also had countless references that I recognized, and some more I’m sure from Black that I didn’t. It all culmimated in a finale that had me wanting to pick up the controller and drive around shooting guns and missiles and special weapons like the old days, longing for my days as Outlaw or Mr. Slam or Twister… or Hammerhead or Grasshopper or Spectre (I had a lot of favorite characters).

I hope others had a good time, too. I’m sure some people hated it, but if you go in knowing what you’re watching, or have a fondness of the atmosphere of the original games, where it was violent but still funny and light, you can just strap in and enjoy the ride.