Airing at a time just after the world was coming out of its second Corona Virus lock-down, the highly relatable Sweet Tooth, produced by Robert Downey Jr quickly became a huge success. The exciting Netflix series, which centers around a post-apocalyptic world, had all the makings of a great show, with beautiful visual storytelling, wonderful characters, and a question of morality and good versus evil at its core.
After a major word disaster known in the series as ‘The Crumble’ occurs, in which the human race begins contracting a deadly virus that wipes out half the population and makes all pregnant women give birth to human-animal hybrid children, one brave man takes a deer-child deep into the woods and fights for their survival. Little do they know, this child will be the key to undoing the world’s devastation.
What happened in Sweet Tooth Season 1?
Gus, as the deer-child is called, grows up with little awareness and understanding of humanity and the disaster that has befallen them, until a group of hunters known as the Last Men kill his Pubba and he is forced to fend for himself. Luckily for the boy, he encounters a gruff stranger named Jepperd, who agrees to escort him to Colorado where he believes his mother may live.
Together the two of them make their way across the country, encountering an ordinary family who they indirectly put in grave danger, another run-in with the Last Men who aim to eradicate all hybrid children, and a group of teenagers who dress as animals and have taken it upon themselves to defend the innocents who are being slaughtered. This is where Jeppard and Gus meet Bear, the leader of the rebel gang who agrees to accompany them on their journey towards finding Gus’ mum.
At the same time as these highly wrought events, the series gives the back-story of Doctor Adi, a man who unwittingly inherits the research of an old friend that links the hybrid children to the virus outbreak. There is something in the children’s DNA that makes them resistant to the harmful bacteria, and they have been being used and experimented on to create a medicine that staves off its terrible effects. He is captured and forced to continue the research, and the Last Men give him a collection of hybrid children that they have captured - children that were previously being protected in a sanctuary by a woman named Aimee, before the sanctuary was attacked and the children were stolen.
Among the terrified hybrids given to Doctor Adi to experiment on is Gus, who has also been captured, and has met others like him for the first time. Like many post-apocalyptic TV shows, it poses the question of what really makes someone 'human', portraying the innocent children as more good and pure than their purist captors.
How Does Sweet Tooth Season 1 set up Season 2?
At the end of the first season, when all hope is lost, Aimee finds the injured Jeppard, and begins to treat his gun-wounds. Together, they make a pact that they will help each other rescue the hybrid children that have been stolen from them, and protect them from the terrible, torturous fate that awaits them. Bear also has a key part to play in setting up Season 2, as she reveals towards the end of the final episode that she had a little sister, born hybrid, who is also among the captured children. The sister’s name is Wendy, and she has been raised by Aimee at the sanctuary since she was a tiny baby.
It is clear that Wendy and Gus are going to stage an escape, but in order to do it, they’ll need the help of the adults who love them. And included in that list is Birdie, the ‘mum’ that Gus has been searching for since the first episode. Birdie was a researcher who helped to set up the G.U.S where Gus was genetically grown in the lab, which is why he holds the key to the humans’ salvation. Birdie also makes a shocking appearance in the finale and is in Alaska, where she has been continuing her research to reverse the apocalypse away from the prying eyes of those who would destroy her work.
When does Season 2 premiere?
With several exciting cliffhangers and questions left unanswered at the ending of Season 1, fans are hugely excited for Season 2 to go live. The post-apocalyptic fairytale has a huge following and has quickly become an iconic comic-inspired adaptation to rival all others. Trailers have been popping up in recent weeks on Netflix, with the series' official release date being revealed as April 27th. Hopefully, the season will see the children escape, and Gus reunited with both Jepperd and Birdie at various points, but no one can predict whether or not they will be able to solve The Crumble, or whether the state of the world is about to get a lot more dire as humanity gears up to start a violent war.