Welcome back, Multiversity readers, for season two of Netflix’s hit show, Sweet Tooth. There’s a lot to remember since it’s been nearly two years. Gus finds out that not only was his Pubba not his birth father, but the woman he thought was his mother was a scientist; things have gone wrong. He got kidnapped by The Last Men, put into a prison camp made inside a zoo, and separated from Thomas Jeppard, AKA Big Man. There were a few more things left from last season, but we’ll get to that below!
1. Wendy And The Kids
This season starts with introducing Gus to his new companions during this part of the journey with Wendy, the pig-nosed girl, and her adopted siblings, that have all been captured by The Last Men. They’ve all been captured and put into this vast space that was once used for animals, when it was a zoo, to sleep, so while there is a lot of room, being under lock and key is never fun. As Gus is introduced to the other kids, he learns about sign language and how some of the kids perhaps weren’t taught the ability to speak or don’t have the ability. Gus had a sheltered way of growing up, and thankfully for the crash course from the first season, he has opened his eyes and mind to different things.
2. Operation Escape
Now with the new group of kids involved, it does mean some new tips and tricks for Gus to work with, which comes into play quickly. After finding out about the radio in the zoo that the kids’ Mom, Aimee Eden, used to listen to updates and news on the world, Gus comes up with a plan to get the kids to that room. Bobby, a hybrid child with a groundhog, digs underneath the cell to get through to other parts of the zoo and gets close enough to some guards to snatch their keys. The children’s age and maturity quickly remind the audience of why they hadn’t thought of that before because they did try to escape, but the outside walls have thick walls of concrete, so they were unable to get through. Maya, a hybrid child with a monkey, uses her tail to use the keys to get the cell door open and let Wendy and Gus go through the zoo quietly. They pull off some impressive sneaking-around tactics that even Ethan Hunt would applaud. It’s a small victory as the kids get a message out to the world, but with no answer and getting caught, they have no idea if it was heard.
3. Dr. Singh
Dr. Singh is beginning his dark arc this season as he is held captive by General Abbott to come up with a cure that he doesn’t have, or else his wife will die. The only medicine that the two have managed to come up with comes from blood from the hybrid children, and even though it saves his wife, it comes with a mental toll on him for having to do it himself now. In this episode, Singh does get a one-on-one with Gus and quickly realizes that he is older than the disease and doesn’t have a belly button, so he may have more to offer than just his blood. Gus gets Singh to promise not to hurt the other children if he can continue to answer his questions, but his naivety may come into play again because the doctor is under a microscope from Abbott, with his wife having to pay the price. Singh still considers himself a good husband but can see where the line for being a good person is starting to blur.
4. Becky/Birdie
Now while this episode did primarily focus on Gus and Wendy, rightfully so, we did also get a check-in with Becky, AKA Bear, who had become a vital part of Gus’ journey in the second half of the last season. In the documents with Gus’ origin story, a phone also allowed her to call Birdie, Gus’ Mom. We’re not quite sure where she is, somewhere in the Arctic perhaps, still searching for some answer or clues in hopes of finding a cure for the deadly disease in the world. The conversation is quickly pushed to the side as Birdie tells Becky that the phone has a tracker activated after it was turned on, and she needs to run from The Last Men, who will surely be there soon. Again, we get a little taste of some action with Becky fending off a soldier by stabbing him in the arm and throwing him off a room, combined with Judy using a flame thrower on the soldiers surrounding the house. This show has many moments to pull at the heartstrings but also balances the ones that get it pumping with some action.
5. Hope
Hope is a dangerous element in this opening episode because it comes up after Gus and Wendy return to the cage knowing that one of the kids taken by the men was killed. Instead of telling the truth of his demise, Gus lies and says he escaped. Wendy questions why he would lie when their Mom never did, and he says it’s to give them hope that, at the moment, they barely had. While the kids are still trying to devise a new gameplan for escaping, Gus’ old stuffed animal Dog is found in the kibble provided by the guards, and one of the kids notices it has their Mom’s scent on it too. Hope is alive and well now, with their guardians trying to get them out too. This opener came out hot and right in the middle of everything, so we shall see what will come out of it.
