Sweet Tooth Episode 1- TV Series Review

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Sweet Tooth is a fantasy TV series based on the comic series of the same name by Jeff Lemire.

The story begins several years after the 'Great Crumble', when a virus killed off a large proportion of the Earth's population. Around the same time that the virus appeared, women began giving birth to babies with the properties of other animals (eg. fur, feathers and horns), known as 'the hybrids'. Nobody knew whether the hybrids were connected with the virus, or if one event somehow caused the other, but people are afraid of them and turned against them.



Episode 1 introduces Gus, a hybrid with the ears and antlers of a deer, and his father, who are living hidden deep in the woods somewhere in America. Their life is almost idyllic, if lonely, until Gus is around ten years old and outsiders finally find their hideout.



The first episode also introduces Dr. Aditya Singh (Adeel Akhtar from Utopia and Killing Eve) who is trying to find a cure for the virus, though we haven't seen much of him so far. We also meet Jepperd, aka "Big Man" (Nonso Anozie from Game of Thrones), who protects Gus from poachers.



The series was created by Jim Mickle (director of Mulberry Street and Stakeland). The first episode is not particularly scary or violent, but if the rest of the series follows the comics closely then it will probably get a lot more confronting as it goes on, so I would be cautious about watching it with children. The fact that the plot deals with a global pandemic may also be upsetting for some viewers.

The first episode is pretty close to what I remember from the comic. The scenery is visually striking and though it isn't important to the story, I thought while watching it that the forest looked Australian, although it is supposed to be set in Yellowstone National Park. It turns out it was shot in New Zealand, so I was close. At least we didn't hear Kookaburras in the background, as used to sometimes happen in Xena Warrior Princess.

I liked the way the story of the first few years of Gus's life was told. The hybrid babies were adorable, and it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to hurt them, but I suppose it's realistic given that humans are so often awful to other animals and to each other. Overall the first episode had a feeling of hope, and I'll be interested to see whether it continues on in that vein. Sweet Tooth is currently streaming on Netflix.



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