created for television by
Jim Mickle
based on the DC Vertigo Series by
Jeff Lemire
As someone who quite faithfully followed The Walking Dead television series for six whole years up until the time that Glenn Rhee, the character played by Steven Yeun who first appeared in Season One and who was a mainstay of the show, died brutally at the hands of Jeffrey Dean Morgan's evil-yet-charismatic Negan, I can say with some confidence that I know a little about shows set in the apocalypse, and what makes them work well as narrative and what doesn't. No matter how cool the zombie makeup may be or how gratuitous the gore, it's always the human element that will keep the series going, and when Glenn, the single most prominent avatar of the human element in TWD was taken out of the cast, I just completely lost interest in the show.
Sweet Tooth marks my return to serialized post-apocalyptic narrative since I quit watching The Walking Dead nearly half-a-decade ago, and while it's definitely got its own issues, I really appreciated it as something hearkens back to the days when I still senjoyed The Walking Dead.
Long story short, this series takes place in an apocalypse that has followed a global pandemic (sound familiar) but this one hasn't resulted in any zombies, just as disease called--prosaically enough--"the sick" and, coincidentally or not, the sudden birth of babies that are part human, part...animal.
The main character, Gus, or "Sweet Tooth" as he is dubbed by another character, is one such hybrid. Played by newcomer, Christian Convery, he is both a boy on a mission to find his mother and a fugitive, sought after by the "Last Men" the soldiers of the shadowy quasi-government that has sprung up from the ashes of a collapsed civilization. Fortunately for Gus, he has ex-Last Man and enormous former NFL player Tommy Jepperd (Nonzi Anozie) watching his back. Still, it may not be enough.
There's a lot going on in this series, even with only eight episodes. Running parallel to Gus's story is that of Dr. Adityah Singh (Adeel Akhtar) a doctor whose wife (Aliza Vellani) has the Sick, and for whom he would do anything, even things that go against his very vows as a physician, as well as that of Aimee (Dania Ramirez) a former couples' therapist who had decided to live out the apocalypse alone, until a hybrid baby was dropped off at her doorstep. All of these stories tie together by the eighth episode.
As I said, earlier, I really quite liked this series. I liked how it juxtaposed the darkness of humanity against the light, and the innocence of Gus and the other hybrid children against the murderous intent of those who view them as nothing more than puzzles to be dissected in the relentless quest for a cure for the Sick. There are no zombies here, but humanity is arguably much, much scarier. It just makes for really compelling storytelling at this stage.
That said, I have to be frank; as charming as Convery is as Gus, I don't see the storytellers sustaining this dynamic of wide-eyed innocence versus the evils of humanity for more than a couple of seasons at most. From a story perspective, it simply isn't possible to keep beating the same drum without eventually sounding monotonous, but from a casting perspective, it's even more complicated.
Christian Convery works as Gus because, well, he's a cute kid who effectively conveys Gus' utter guilelessness. The thing is, he will grow up, the same way The Walking Dead's Chandler Rigg did. That wasn't much of a problem from a narrative perspective considering that the focus was ever and always on the adult characters like Rick, Daryl, Michonne at al, but considering that the title character is a young child, whose cuteness and charm were an integral part of the narrative for the first season, I can't help but think that a surly, hulking teenager is going to be a lot less charming than a kid, and Convery's growth spurt can't be more than a season or two away.
So either the story has to reflect his growth and somehow keep up with it, or they'll have to recast him, or, in true Netflix fashion, the showrunners will have to end the show after a few seasons.
Whatever they ultimately decide, I've been won over by this season and I hope they get at least one more.
8.5/10
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