Sorry About All the Dead People
Episode 2 of Sweet Tooth Season 1 begins before The Great Crumble as we switch focus and look at Aimee, another survivor. She works as a relationship therapist but the mundanity of her life takes a turn for the worst. This viral outbreak forces her to stay in her office too, stuck inside this self-made cage. Hours become days and Aimee becomes a prisoner in her work office, visually showcased through a really impressive, slick montage. Venturing outside in the midst of this post-apocalyptic world, she passes some elephants and decides to hang out in the zoo. While she does, she lets an eagle soar overhead as we cut across the landscape and check in with Gus and the Big Man, Jepp. The latter is obviously none too happy with Gus tagging along and tries to ditch him any way he can. However, Gus’ enthusiasm and desire to get to Colorado is too much. Jepp eventually begrudgingly agrees to keep him around. While he sleeps, Gus winds up eating all of Jepp’s food. He even accidentally burns his map too. With no resources left on him, the Big Man wakes up and immediately starts to panic. Gus however, believes there’s food inside the visitor center, and he’s sent on alone to investigate. Well, that immediately goes wrong when he walks right into a trap. The Big Man eventually arrives to help, finally seeing who’s inside the center. It’s a normal family, as it turns out, and they give Gus and Jepp food and refuge. While the adults talk, Gus and Rusty (the child of this couple) head off and play. They talk and act just like normal kids; a bittersweet reminder of what was. It’s here we find out The Big Man’s name is actually Tommy. He used to be a football player, hence his muscly demeanour. After these pleasant introductions, he demands they let im stay for the time being. While that in itself would be fine, trouble is brewing outside. Scavengers (whom we later find out are called the Last Men) find remnants of the camp fire and trace it back to the visitor center. Back inside, Tommy tries to encourage Bev to keep hold of Gus. He’s doing his best to get rid of him and believes this is the way to do it. In the bedroom, Gus tucks in for the night and prepares to sleep. When Bev arrives, she looks at the photo of Birdie and mentions how it appears to be Red Rocks – a vital clue for where his Mother may be. Meanwhile, far away from Yellowstone, we return to Adita Singh, the doctor who opened the first episode. Rani is sick, with her hands shaking and very little vaccine left. Singh decides to head off and find Dr Bell. This quaint refuge seems to be a living, breathing human settlement – is it the last one? Anyway, numerous men and women wear masks while a bar has been changed to a makeshift hospital. Bell has stage four cancer, as it turns out, and this bombshell reveal leads her to hand over a book of her work. She wants him to continue her work when she’s gone, doing whatever it takes to document Rani’s progress and come up with a cure. Back at the cabin, disaster strikes. Tommy looks set to leave in the middle of the night but they have a problem. These scavengers find the visitor center and remain hell-bent on collecting Gus. Tommy heads outside though and fights them off single-handedly. One soldier remains, and this falls on Gus to distract him. Tommy eventually kills the man, who’s entranced by the appearance of a stag in the distance behind Gus. This encounter paints a target on Gus’s back as he realizes he can’t stay and endanger this family. With supplies all packed up, Gus and Tommy both take off in a cable car, ready to begin the next leg of their journey. Tommy promises to bring him to the next town across, as this unlikely partnership continues. Only, new dangers are brewing. As the episode closes out, we cut across to Aimee again over at the zoo. A package suddenly shows up in the parking lot, sporting a hybrid child inside.
The Episode Review
The second episode of Sweet Tooth expands the world as we follow several different survivors. Aimee’s literal and figurative story about being kept in a cage is a nice touch, and her story’s next leg sees her sport a hybrid child too. Who brought it to her though? And what does this mean for the future? I’m sure we’ll find out over the course of the season! Meanwhile, Tommy and Gus continue to sport the unlikely duo angle. There’s an air of The Last Of Us or even Th Road here with the way this has been presented, and the pair will undoubtedly form a bond across the season to come. This episode also serves to show Gus will not be safe in a “normal” life and he’s too far removed from his current home to go back now. This sets up an interesting leg of the journey to come, as Gus and Tommy continue on. It seems like they’re going to be hunted by these strange scavengers outside now though, leaving things ominously open for the season ahead.
