WEBSERIES REVIEW
Sweet Tooth is a Netflix series that premiered in 2021,
based on the comic book series of the same name by Jeff
Lemire. The show is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a
virus (The Great Crumble as they begin to call it) has wiped out
much of humanity, and children are born as hybrids with animal
features. The series follows a young deer-boy hybrid named
Gus (Christian Convery)as he embarks on a journey with a
former football player named Tommy (Nonso Anozie) to find
his mother and discover the truth about his origins.
The series features Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel
Akhtar, Stefania LaVie Owen, Dania Ramirez, Aliza Vellani,
Naledi Murray, Neil Sandilands, Marlon Williams, Christopher
Sean Cooper Jr. and Yonas Kibreab as well as narrator James
Brolin.
Jim Mickle served as showrunner, executive producer, writer
and director. Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Amanda
Burrell and Linda Moran also executive produced alongside coexecutive producer Evan Moore.
Season 1
The first season of Sweet Tooth consists of eight episodes,
each roughly an hour long.
Together, they set out on a journey to find Gus' mother. As they
travel through the post-apocalyptic landscape, they encounter
various groups of survivors who are struggling to survive in a
world without technology or infrastructure. They come across a
scientist named Dr. Singh (Adeel Akhtar), who is searching for
a cure for the virus and sees Gus as a potential key to that
cure. They also meet Aimee (Dania Ramirez), a woman who
runs a sanctuary for hybrids and becomes an important figure
in Gus' life.
Throughout the season, Gus and Tommy face a myriad of
challenges and dangers, including hostile humans, dangerous
hybrids, and the harsh realities of a world without modern
conveniences. They also face internal struggles, as they
grapple with their own prejudices and assumptions about the
hybrids.
As the season progresses, we see Gus grow and mature,
learning more about the world and his place in it. We also get a
sense of the larger forces at play in this post-apocalyptic
world, including the ominous threat of a looming environmental
disaster. Most importantly, they are avoiding being hunted
down by the Last Men, a group of humans eager to rid the
world of hybrid beings, blaming them for the virus.
Sweet Tooth Season 1 set up a rich and complex world with
many intriguing characters and plot threads leaving audiences
eager to see what happens next and setting the stage for a
second season that promises to be just as exciting and
emotional as the first.
Season 2
Similar to the first season, the second season consists of eight
episodes with each episodes of roughly an hour long.
In Sweet Tooth Season 2, a deadly new wave of the Sick is
bearing down on humanity. Gus and a band of other child
hybrids are held prisoner by the villainous General Abbot (Neil
Sandilands) and the Last Men, a violent group of mercenaries
who hunt hybrids. Abbot uses the children as fodder for the
experiments of captive Dr. Aditya Singh (Adeel Akhtar); Abbot
wants to find a cure and amass power, Dr. Singh simply wants
to save his infected wife, Rani (Aliza Vellani).
Gus, always a hero, agrees to help Dr. Singh, thus beginning a
dark journey into discovering his own origins. He may also learn
more about his mother, Birdie’s (Amy Seimetz) role in the events
leading up to the Great Crumble. Elsewhere, Jepperd (Nonso
Anozie) and Aimee Eden (Dania Ramirez ) team up to free the
hybrids, creating a partnership that will be tested as Jepperd’s
secrets come to light.
While the plot can be heavy at times, the show still manages to
maintain its charm and whimsy, thanks in large part to the
adorable and endearing hybrids that populate the
world. Convery once again shines as Gus, delivering a
nuanced and heartfelt performance that captures the
character’s innocence and bravery.
REVIEW OF ‘SWEET TOOTH’
Cast: Christian Convery, Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, Stefania
LaVie Owen, Dania Ramirez, Aliza Vellani, Naledi Murray, Neil
Sandilands, Marlon Williams, Christopher Sean Cooper Jr. and
Yonas Kibreab
Director: Jim Mickle
Sweet Tooth is executive produced by Jim Mickle, Susan
Downey, Robert Downey, Jr., Amanda Burrell, and Linda
Moran. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Television.
In the series, the world has been devastated by the Sick, a
virus which sprung up and rapidly spread right at the same
moment when babies started being born with animal features.
In the absence of any other explanation, these “hybrids” are
seen as dangerous vermin, routinely incarcerated or just killed
by fearful humans.
Sweet Tooth follows the adventures of Gus (Christian Convery)
— part deer, part boy — who leaves his home in the forest to
find the outside world ravaged by a cataclysmic event. He joins
a ragtag family of humans and animal-children hybrids like
himself in search of answers about this new world and the
mystery behind his hybrid origins.
As a deadly new wave of the Sick bears down, Gus (Convery)
and a band of fellow hybrids are held prisoner by General
Abbot (Neil Sandilands) and the Last Men. Looking to
consolidate power by finding a cure, Abbot uses the children as
fodder for the experiments of captive Dr. Aditya Singh (Adeel
Akhtar), who’s racing to save his infected wife Rani (Aliza
Vellani). To protect his friends, Gus agrees to help Dr. Singh,
beginning a dark journey into his origins and his mother Birdie’s
(Amy Seimetz) role in the events leading up to The Great
Crumble.
When the adults do appear, we are reminded that this is a
series for older kids only: any viewer younger than Gus would
find the violence of the post-Sick world too scary. Those
hybrids are locked up because oddball mercenary General
Abbot (Neil Sandilands), an arresting Gaimanesque visual
creation with his bald head, huge grey beard and red-tinted
John Lennon specs, wants to experiment on them to help him
find a cure.
Big Man, meanwhile, has teamed up with Aimee (Dania
Ramirez), formerly the manager of a haven for hybrids that
Abbot has now retooled as a prison. Their pairing, one of them
motivated by loss to save the kids and the other by guilt, is not
the only bit of heavy character drama skillfully woven into the
grand adventure. When we get to know Johnny (Marlon
Williams), Abbot’s ineffectual younger brother, the
psychodrama that develops about contrasting siblings bonded
by trauma is certainly one for the grownups.
The miracle Sweet Tooth performs is in keeping everyone
happy. It’s a brutal post-apocalyptic drama that successfully
harnesses the cute innocence of children, but is also a fantasy
series grounded in the harshest of truths about what adults can
do when times are tough, so it never falls into the trap of
making the viewer feel as if nothing is real and nothing really
matters. Sweet Tooth builds skillfully to a showdown with
several bravely uncompromisin payoffs, delivered in a way that
its younger viewers can easily appreciate, not least because it
tends to be grownups who meet their fate. Sweet Tooth knows
that kids – with or without horns, paws or tails – are not to be
underestimated.
https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/sweet-tooth-releasedate-news-photos
https://collider.com/sweet-tooth-season-1-recap/
https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/sweet-tooth-premiere-dateprovides-season-2-first-look-1235553900/
https://deadline.com/2023/05/sweet-tooth-renewed-third-ampfinal-season-netflix-1235354830/
CONCLUSION
At one point in the series, we hear Jepperd say, "How far is one willing to go for the ones they love?"
That perhaps is the essence of Sweet Tooth, where most characters are trying to save the one they
love against all odds and most have a backstory that goes back to before the Great Crumble. Now
left with hard and ethical choices, it's a brutal world out there. Christian Convery is the heart and soul
of the series and yet again delivers a fantastic performance. Nonso Anozie and Stefania LaVie Owen
are also remarkable in their roles.
On the whole, there is enough intrigue, magic and wonder to keep one going in this fantastical series
about power tussles, humanity and the intrinsic nature of existence.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/webseries/reviews/english/ahsoka/seriesreview/102336263.cms