Sweet Tooth (Season 2) Review, Recap & Ending Explained: When the first season of Sweet Tooth was released back in June 2021, it took many of us by surprise with its heartwarming story, which was equal parts fantasy, drama, and mystery. It was also when the COVID19 Pandemic was in full swing, so it resonated deeply. Season 2 does more of the same, with some neat new additions in terms of new characters, exciting character arcs, new plotlines, and good emotional storytelling, even if there are some flaws along the way.
Sweet Tooth (Season 2) Recap:
Episode 1 – In Captivity
The episode begins in a vast, frozen area. A lone person perseveres despite the bitter cold, checking a cloth map to find whatever she is looking for. The individual is revealed to be Birdie, and she successfully locates that which she was searching for, removing her hefty protective gear and rappelling downwards.
When she reaches it, she finds a very old ship, severely damaged and covered by layers of ice that have formed over time. Apart from some disturbing skeletons, she also finds some purple, and she finds even more things, such as an important journal belonging to Dr. James. She heads back up, journals in tow, but finds some hoof prints near her rope.
Gus regains consciousness and discovers he is being held captive along with other hybrid children like himself in the Essex County Zoo, formerly their refuge. But now their prison as General Abbot and The Last Men has completely taken over. All of them are working hard to ensure the zoo is set up soon. Unfortunately for the children, they have been imprisoned in the pump house where escape is difficult as it was created for the specific purpose of keeping animals inside.
Despite the fact that they are all starving, they hesitate to eat the animal food that is provided to them, but they eventually decide to eat it. Gus chooses not to and converses with Wendy regarding the hybrid children. There are all kinds of human–animal hybrids present among the children, and many of them cannot even speak. Hence they use sign language.
Elsewhere at the zoo, Aditya is exhausted yet hard at work to keep his wife Rani alive, promising her that he is close to a cure for her and others, despite it being a lie and Abbot’s patience running thin. Abbot is particularly concerned about the new “Doomsday” strain of the virus and wants Aditya to give him results, without which he won’t allow him another chance to keep Rani healthy.
Bobby, one of the hybrid children and part badger mole, uses his unique abilities to help Gus and Wendy escape the pump house with help from the others so that they can contact Aimee, their mother figure. The two make it to the right place and manage to contact Aimee, but are soon discovered and put back in the pump house, with Roy, another hybrid child, being killed. However, Gus decides to lie by telling the others that he lives so as to give them some hope.
Meanwhile, Abbot wants to strike a deal with “The Three,” who are all outlaws, but they refuse even to meet him, much less hear him out, when he travels to them. They send him back, and Abbot isn’t discouraged as he believes that they will want to meet him themselves once they discover his plans.
Back at the zoo, Gus is taken to meet with Aditya, who encourages him gently to speak. Gus falsely believes that it is a safe space and speaks, but is then threatened with being given over to General Abbot, who had killed Roy when he didn’t talk.
While examining Gus, Aditya discovers that there is no belly button and forms a hypothesis that Gus could be the answer to the cure. The purple flowers are also important, somehow, but before anything else can happen, they are interrupted by the guards. Still, Aditya promises to keep Abbot away from the hybrids if Gus continues to talk. Having no other choice, Gus agrees to do so.
At Judy’s place, Becky, aka Bear, is talking with Birdie over the phone, informing her that Richard/Pubba is dead and that Gus was being protected by Jepperd before his abduction. Birdie is in possession of a cassette tape that could have some answers. At that point, the Last Men show up at the phone’s location since there is a tracker on it, and Judy sacrifices herself to let Bear escape. Gus, at the zoo, finds his old toy in the food, which means that Jepperd is coming for him.
Episode 2 – Into the Deep Woods
The episode opens with a flashback where Jepperd is desperately trying to find his wife Louisa and their son, having been separated during the early part of the Crumble, but is unsuccessful. He meets someone called Coach, who tells him to sign up with the Last Men to locate his family, which he does.
Jepperd reawakens in the present day with Aimee, who had saved him, and she wants to team up to get the hybrid children back. Jepperd, however, wants to operate differently than what she suggested but comes around to her way of thinking when the duo is contacted by Gus via radio, which was shown in the first episode. They decide to team up.
Aimee disguises herself as a guard to infiltrate the zoo, intending to find out where the hybrid children are being held, and Jepperd is present in disguise as well, only for another guard to become suspicious of him. They are forced to knock that guard out, which alerts the others to their presence. They leave, but not before Jepperd puts the teddy bear toy in the food that Gus had found in the first episode.
Gus and Wendy talk to the other hybrids, telling them to be ready for an escape, when they are interrupted by the guard Johnny who reveals he knows that they are keeping secrets and takes Gus to Aditya. Aditya decides to use hypnosis on Gus to help him remember, and Gus sees many different places before ending up at his old home, the cabin in the woods. Aditya takes him further back in his memories to when he was at the lab where he was created and discovers something called Project Midnight Sun at an unknown location called Fort Smith. It appears that the virus was first created here.
Meanwhile, Rani talks Johnny into letting her see where the children are kept, and the hybrid children unsuccessfully attempt to remove Bobby’s tracker. Aimee and Jepperd manage to get an old truck working and escape the city despite being chased by armed soldiers, deciding to come up with another plan to free the children.
On his way back to the pump house, Gus manages to acquire some crayons, which he uses to draw his cabin in the woods, a safe haven for the hybrid children for when they are free.
Episode 3 – Chicken or Egg?
Like the previous episode, this one also opens with a flashback where geneticist Gillian Washington poses the question of what it would be like to age without the disease. She has masterminded Project Midnight Sun.
Wendy is having trouble keeping the other hybrid children calm as they begin to get jealous of how Gus keeps getting to leave confinement and their horrible living conditions. Aditya and Rani are talking, and Rani mentions the idea of karma and how many lives have been lost just for her sake. Aditya is even more tired than before but is still clinging to the increasingly unlikely hope of a cure.
Jepperd and Aimee arrive at a place called Factory Town, a free city that even has quarantine pods for those unfortunate enough to get infected. The two are looking for the Hickey Brothers for their aid but find that they are already dead due to the new Doomsday strain, causing Jepperd to become depressed. However, when someone called Vanessa denies them permission to use the phone as she wants to talk to her wife, Jepperd convinces her by being kind and compassionate. Aimee talks to someone cryptically over the phone, asking for help.
Becky is with a group of people who are being manipulated to join the Last Men under General Abbott, and one of them is actually the son of someone killed by the Animal Army – Becky’s former comrades who she used to lead. They are now led by her rival, Tiger.
Gus is taken to Fort Smith with Aditya and the guards, looking for clues. Gus finds Pubba’s old desk as a crocodile suddenly appears and starts attacking them. However, it is revealed through a conversation with Gus that it is also another scared hybrid named Peter, and it is then sedated by a tranquilizer dart.
The Last Men, led by their General Abbot, show up at Factory Town to reveal that they supposedly have a cure for the virus. Still, he is actually there to recruit more people for the Last Men, which Jepperd and Aimee immediately realize.
At Fort Smith, Aditya and Gus find an old video where they were introduced to Dr. Gertrude Miller, the lead scientist on Project Midnight Sun, presented by Washington. Birdie, who is Dr. Miller, discussed the ongoing research about microbes found in the ice that could enhance the immune system. In addition, the team has discovered something that could alter life itself, particularly through hybrid children, and Gus happens to be the first one. Although the experiments also involve chickens, Aditya realizes the significance of their eggs in the search for a cure.
Back at the zoo, a guard cruelly tells them that their friend and fellow hybrid Roy is actually dead, forcing Wendy to admit to the same. Becky finds out that Gus, along with the other hybrid children, are being held in the zoo, and she decides to go there under the guise of joining the Last Men so as to give him the cassette tape. The episode ends with a call for Aimee and Jepperd at Factory Town.
Episode 4 – Bad Man
The episode opens at Factory Town with the residents celebrating the false revelation made by Abbott, that of the cure. Jepperd and Aimee are there, too, as Aimee meets with mercenaries called the Air Lords. They are both taken away in a van outside the town.
In the zoo, Gus admits to the other hybrid children that he lied about Roy’s death but claims it was only to protect them. However, they don’t believe his explanation and see him as different since he keeps getting to meet with Aditya and decides to escape without him. Bobby, though, mentions to Gus privately that he trusts him and is able to remove his tracker using things Gus brought back previously and escapes.
At his lab, Aditya is hard at work to find the cure and seemingly finds one when Rani appears to check on him. He happily informs her of the creation of the cure, but Rani is disturbed when she sees blood on him, and it is revealed that he killed a hybrid child to achieve his result.
Dolly, the leader of the Air Lords, introduces herself to Jepperd and Aimee when they are brought before her and ignores Aimee’s emotional appeal for help with rescuing her children, as they are mercenaries who require something in return. Jepperd then steps in, revealing that there is much to be captured at the zoo, including a powerful tank which is enough to convince Dolly to help them out.
Jepperd is constantly irritated by Rufus, who also belittles Aimee while they plan together. As a result, Jepperd eventually erupts and physically attacks Rufus, causing Dolly to intervene by threatening him with a gun and forcing him outside. Jepperd’s deep-seated anger stems from his past as a Hybrid Catcher who separated families, which haunts him to this day. When Aimee discovers this truth from Jepperd, she becomes upset and walks away from him.
Becky arrives with the other new recruits for their training and keeps the cassette hidden all the time while impressing the new recruit trainer Lou with her skills. Abbott returns to the zoo and is angry about everything that happened while Johnny was in charge. Johnny reveals to a shocked Rani that he is Abbott’s brother.
When Aditya informs Abbott that he has succeeded in making the cure, Abbott still refuses to let him go and confiscates the cure. He further invites him to dine with him that very night, and Rani invites Johnny too, though the atmosphere is very tense. The dinner is interrupted by news that The Three want to meet with Abbott now. Rani is horrified by Abbott and thinks he is unhinged and is even more horrified when Aditya mentions that he is starting to agree with him.
As the guards insult and attack the hybrid children, Gus manages to escape but runs into General Abbott, who mentions he is pleased to meet him. Bobby manages to escape the sewers and decides to travel for help.
Aimee decides by herself that Gus is better off without Jepperd in his life and leaves via helicopter for their rescue operation. When Jepperd finds out that he’s been left behind, he decides to follow them in a van.
Episode 5 – What It Takes
The scene opens with Jepperd in another flashback, capturing hybrid children. Despite his actions, he appears unhappy and becomes frustrated with Coach’s slow progress. Jepperd expresses his discontentment with working for the Last Men and also expresses his desire to find Louisa, but Coach entices him to stay with the promise of a lead on his family. In the present, the van Jepperd is on breaks down, and he has to run the rest of the way while carrying whatever equipment he can.
Abbott and Gus talk about each of their perspectives, and Abbott recognizes Gus’s fear and coldly promises he will realize that he shouldn’t fight back. He continues by saying that hybrids are the key, and to make an example of Gus, he cuts off one of his antlers. Later, in the pump house, Gus is scared but is comforted by Wendy, who tells him his antler will grow back stronger than before, which is a metaphor for themselves as they, too, will be stronger than before.
In the meantime, Aditya receives some devastating news that the virus has indeed been detected, and there is no available cure, which means that the upcoming meeting with The Three will likely not go well. Rani, on the other hand, suggests that they use this information to their advantage by exposing the General’s deceit and causing chaos, giving them an opportunity to break away from Abbot’s control. However, this plan depends on Adi taking the risk and making the first move.
As for Becky, the place where she thought there would be hybrid children turns out to be where the Animal Army led by Tiger now is. Tiger is planning to attack Abbott’s army directly, which Becky believes is a suicide, but Tiger is knocked out by Jordan, one of the Last Men, before they can conclude matters.
At Abbot’s Zoo, The Three – Zhang (or Helen), Voss, and Dutch – arrive for a meeting. Abbot presents his proposal for a sanctuary named Evergreen, an unfinished housing development from his time in the army. The sanctuary is very large and has high walls to keep out external threats, and it can act as a self-sustaining refuge. Abbot offers to provide 150 of the best men from each community represented by The Three, with the remaining individuals being left with the Sick.
The General believes that everyone needs to work together to make Evergreen a success, which hinges on using the nonexistent cure. Aditya points out the deadly nature of the new virus strain and that it cannot be contained; he lies and tells The Three that more processing of the cure is necessary for it to be effective.
In the meantime, the hybrid children collaborate and overpower one of the guards, locking him inside. As they make their escape, Gus spots a flare in the sky and assumes it is from the Big Man. The other soldiers also see the flare, and Johnny decides to send a team to investigate. With most of the soldiers outside, there are only a few remaining inside.
Gus volunteers to be bait, and he interrupts General Abbot during his meeting. He no longer wants to hide and brings attention to the fact that hybrids are dying for Abbot’s supposed cure. Gus asserts that the real enemy is the virus, not the hybrids. However, just as Abbot is about to act, Johnny intervenes and allows Gus to go.
Zhang decides to eliminate the competition by having all the leaders killed so that all the spots at Evergreen are hers. With no other choice, the two groups join forces. Meanwhile, Jepperd tries to negotiate with the Last Men by offering to trade Aimee and her guards for Gus, but he is recognized by Bobby and captured.
Rani expresses her opposition to the cure and her desire to return to the way things were before to Aditya, but he persists in that there is no going back and continues to work on the cure. Gus reunites with Jepperd while he is imprisoned, and they share a moment before being interrupted by the sound of a helicopter. A radio phone with the message “Knock Knock” is airdropped for General Abbot as the episode ends.
Episode 6 – How It Started, How It’s Going
This episode opens with yet another flashback, this time on Aditya and Rani. The couple is taking their first trip together in an isolated country house. When a bat somehow comes in, Aditya manages to get it out without killing it, which marks the beginning of their growing love for each other.
In the present, Abbot is contacted on the radio, which was sent to him by Aimee. She makes bold demands for Abbot to vacate the zoo and ridicules him, questioning why he required an entire army to subdue her and the twelve kids. She teases him with the mention of bug bombs, claiming that they are all she needs to turn the tables as barrels containing purple flowers are dropped, which terrifies Abbott. The soldiers desperately try to leave and retreat to Evergreen.
While driving out, the trucks are attacked by helicopters dropping things like fridges and furniture by Dolly and her mercenaries. One of them hits Becky’s truck, and she uses it as a distraction to free Tiger and escape with her. The two somehow make amends.
As the zoo is under attack, Johnny takes a very agitated Aditya to Rani but stays behind himself as he thinks his brother, Abbott, needs him. Rani speaks honestly to Aditya, claiming that their way of life in the past nine years has not truly been living but rather delaying the inevitable. Her desire now is to live the remainder of her days in joy with him.
Gus and Jepperd reunite, but instead of leaving, Gus suggests they should search for the other kids, considering them as family. Aimee arrives at Aditya’s lab and is furious to see how the Last Men and their scientists have treated the hybrid children. She sets fire to the lab before leaving the place, as Gus and Jepperd act together to save the other hybrid children from the guards.
Wendy, however, is alone, wandering in the flames though she soon reunites with Aimee, her mother. The entire group manages to leave on a bus, as Abbott realizes that they had been tricked and that the purple flowers were all fake.
While leaving, Aditya finds Gus’s previously cut antler and has a flash of inspiration to continue working on the cure. A disappointed Rani leaves him behind as he goes back to his lab, only to find it in flames. The episode ends with the revelation that Aimee is infected.
Episode 7 – I’ll Find You
The episode opens with more flashbacks that show Gillian pushing her research at Fort Smith to dangerous limits. However, it is Birdie who makes the breakthrough discovery when she detects a heartbeat in one of the unfertilized eggs, which eventually sets off a chain of events that culminate in Richard/Pubba rescuing Gus from the compound.
This time, the scene is viewed from Birdie’s perspective as she breaks back into the lab, dodging guards and taking as much equipment as possible. As Richard leaves with Gus, promising to find him, Birdie remains determined to locate him. The microbe that Birdie and Judy were studying has been released, as confirmed by the latter when she calls from a secure location. Judy is apprehensive, fearing the worst, while Birdie finds the envelope for Yellowstone and decides it’s time to start packing. Unfortunately, Birdie is caught by several guards who show up at the door before she can do so.
The bus navigates through a chaotic scene of burning cars caused by Dolly and her mercenaries, but their progress is abruptly halted by an attack from a tank belonging to the Last Men. However, to their surprise, the Animal Army arrives on motorcycles, led by Becky and Tiger, and it is revealed Rufus and Bobby, both hybrid children, are controlling the tank. While Tiger leads the Animal Army into battle against the Last Men, Becky stays with the kids on the bus.
Gus has a conversation with Aimee outside. She discloses to Gus that she is infected but doesn’t want the children to find out just yet. She covers her mouth with a cloth and insists that they should focus on making their road trip enjoyable and reaching the cabin before it’s too late. Eventually, they arrive at Yellowstone and take shelter in Gus’s cabin.
Jepperd goes to see Gus and hands him the cassette tape given to him by Becky. The tape reveals that the pandemic began due to Gillian’s hubris and not from bats. Gillian infected herself in an attempt to advance science, but this led to the world’s downfall. The tape also mentions Gillian’s grandfather, Captain James Thacker, who had a rare degenerative disease and set off to find the “fountain of youth” that could cure him.
Gillian has been searching for this cure as well and believes that Gus is the solution to closing this Pandora’s Box and saving everyone. Birdie allowed Richard to raise Gus and keep him safe, explaining why she never came looking for him: she went to Alaska to continue James’s research and find a cure for the pandemic.
General Abbot is still after the kids, and he successfully captures Tiger and her Animal Army friends with the aim of locating the cabin where all the children are currently staying in Yellowstone.
However, Gus has other plans, as he wants to head to Alaska to find Birdie. Jepperd persuades him to stay and help protect the kids, especially with Aimee’s condition deteriorating. During the night, Jepperd hears someone leaving for the woods and discovers it’s Gus. Together, they sit and admire the beautiful Northern Lights illuminating the sky.
Tiger manages to escape in time to warn the hybrid children of the fact that Abbott is coming after them to Yellowstone as the episode ends.
Episode 8 – The Ballad of the Last Men
The season finale doesn’t open with flashbacks, instead opening with Aditya upset as he has been left behind by Rani. He goes into the room with the purple flowers, breathing them in as he has visions where he sees a frozen lake, amongst other things. When he regains control, he finds that he still has Gus’s cut antler from earlier.
At the same time, Becky provides solace to Tiger, who is still deeply affected by recent events. Johnny is also reeling from the destruction he witnesses and is called upon by General Abbot. After surveying the ruins of the zoo, Johnny goes to Rani’s room. He initially prepares to leave, leaving his gun behind, but Abbot intervenes and reminds him that they don’t abandon family. Abbot hands Johnny his gun again.
In Yellowstone, Aimee addresses the children and tells them that General Abbot won’t give up. He will continue to pursue them, and Tiger’s warning has given them a slight advantage. Jepperd advises Gus to stay safe but also assures him that they will stick together. Becky provides Aimee with some words of encouragement and expresses gratitude for her role in keeping the children safe.
With her army gone, Becky becomes responsible for watching over the children and ensuring their safety instead. The children bid a tearful farewell to Aimee before departing via a gondola, leaving some of the others behind to prepare for Abbot’s imminent arrival by preparing traps and the like.
The General and his troops notice the smoke and quickly gather, ready to attack. However, Johnny surprises them all by turning against Abbot and holding him at gunpoint. Johnny declares that the fight is futile since there is no cure, and they should let the kids and himself go. He gives up, but Abbot is determined to win and ignores Johnny’s plea. Eventually, Abbot agrees to let his brother go, but as Johnny turns his back to him to leave, Abbot kills him.
Upon the guards entering the area, Jepperd quickly eliminates the guards, with the help of Gus and Aimee, who take out the remaining Last Men. With the first wave of attacks completed, Abbot grabs a handgun and proceeds to enter the fray himself, only to encounter Jepperd. Jepperd manages to overpower and injure General Abbot, leaving him in a vulnerable state.
However, Wendy returns and rushes into the woods just as the gondola is about to depart. While Jepperd is grappling with Abbot, the latter mentions that Jepperd’s wife and child perished while awaiting his return. He takes advantage of Jepperd’s distraction to knock him to the ground and flee.
Sweet Tooth (Season 2) Ending Explained:
At the cabin, everyone decides to act so as to keep Gus safe and hidden while Aimee confronts the General with her shotgun. However, Wendy’s unexpected appearance catches Aimee off guard. Fortunately, Becky arrives just in time to save her, killing the guard and revealing that she has been searching for her sister, Wendy. Wendy is taken aback by the revelation.
Despite learning that Aimee is terminally ill, Abbot turns his attention away from her momentarily, giving her the opportunity to stab him in the neck and subdue him. But it’s not enough to kill him, and he manages to grab a shotgun and chase after Gus, who has emerged from hiding. Gus screams for Abbott to stop, causing a stampede of animals to seemingly crush Abbott to death.
As the fight ends, Wendy listens to Aimee tell her that she will be going to the stars and that Wendy should look to the skies and remember her should she feel lost. Just before dying, Abbott manages to shoot Gus in the back with a crossbow.
As Gus is in tremendous pain, the scene changes to the children at Aimee’s funeral, barely keeping it together and then crying as they say their farewells to their mother figure. Gus, meanwhile, is alive but unconscious and is dreaming about Birdie, who is apparently stuck in a cave in Alaska and needs rescuing. When Gus finally regains consciousness, he relays his dream to the others, and everyone decides to head to Alaska to help Birdie.
Aditya is also close to their location, and he discovers that the group is heading to Alaska. Zhang learns that Abbott has died and comes into possession of a tape of Aditya’s, which she wants to be translated, as the episode ends.
Sweet Tooth (Season 2) Review:
There are a lot of shows about the virus which has caused the apocalypse, leaving very few humans behind, and the most famous of these is the brilliant The Last of Us on HBO Max. While Sweet Tooth isn’t quite up to those standards, it is nonetheless a compelling fairytale-like story centered on children who are different and the adults who want to harm or protect them.
In terms of its location, this season is more focused as the majority of it takes place in the zoo and allows characters such as Johnny to grow in a slower-paced season. Aditya has a darker character arc, with his descent into evil building gradually, and this coming across visually as well was a nice touch. Throughout his journey, we find ourselves asking how far we will go to save our loved ones.
The main characters, though, are still very much Gus and Jepperd, who unfortunately don’t get that much time together. Instead, we learn much more about Jepperd’s shameful past as a hybrid catcher, which puts a neat spin on his strong desire to protect hybrids now, particularly Gus. He is paired a lot with Aimee this season, as the two have disagreements galore.
Becky/Bear, meanwhile, doesn’t have a lot to do until late into the season, with most of her screen time feeling like a wasted opportunity despite the character being well-written and acted.
There is a strong tonal inconsistency throughout the show, however, which holds it back from becoming something truly special. Children are murdered in the name of scientific and medical advancement, while these same children come up with almost comical ways of breaking free of their kidnappers. This same inconsistency is also present in the pacing, with more than half of the season being slow and methodical before suddenly speeding up as it nears the finish line, which can be a bit jarring despite how good these parts were individually.
Overall, though, Sweet Tooth’s second season is a strong comeback, with good acting, decent writing, and respectable special effects and production, making for a generally wholesome viewing experience.
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