Summary
Episode 2 brings a growing sense of adventure, benefitting from the strength of the first chapter and capitalizing on the story.
This recap of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth season 1, episode 2, “Sorry About All the Dead People,” contains spoilers.
The previous episode was a brilliant world-builder, so it is no surprise that episode 2 benefits from reeling the audience in.
Episode 2 introduces the audience to Aimee’s (played by Dania Ramirez) story with a soft narration; before “The Great Crumble,” she struggled to connect to people, despite being a couple’s therapist. She lived a mundane life. During one of her therapy sessions, an emergency broadcast system is implemented. She locks herself in her office as chaos forms around her. She stayed in her office for weeks and became a prisoner. Eventually, she went outside into the barren city. A herd of elephants stampede past her, and she’s in shock, so much so, she laughs — she felt awake for the first time in her life; she knew where she needed to go. Aimee heads inside a bird sanctuary and takes on a new life.
Gus will not give up Colorado
And then we return to where episode 1 left us, with Gus (played by Christian Convery) screaming, “Big Man” at Tommy Jepperd (played by Nonso Anozie). He’s adamant that they are going to Colorado and Big Man tries to tell him that Colorado blew up. Gus senses it was a joke, so he carries on following him with persistence. Big Man becomes irritated when he realizes Gus is nocturnal. The pair slowly but surely get to know each other, but eventually, Big Man gets sick of Gus and tells him to go home when he runs out of food. Gus points to a Visitor Centre at the top of a waterfall and tells him there will be food there.
Finding a family
Sweet Tooth season 1, episode 2 brings context on what humans are doing who serve no harm.
Big Man sends Gus up to the visitor center alone while he scopes his weapon from afar. Gus sees a deer head on the wall, which freaks him out, and then he’s caught in a trap. A young boy (Rusty) walks out and sees Gus and calls for his father. Rusty’s family brings Big Man and Gus in for something to eat. Gus tells Rusty’s mother that he’s looking for his mother in Colorado. Rusty’s parents tell them that their son is the last of humankind before the Hybrid. Gus wants to play with him, and they reluctantly let him.
Rusty’s father recognizes Big Man as Tommy Jepperd, the football player, but he’s worried about the attention they will bring. Big Man tells him they will only be staying one night and insists they are not here to make trouble. Outside, hunters lurk, while inside, Gus and Rusty enjoy playing together, which is rare in the human world now — children do not have much social life.
Gus has never heard music before, so Rusty and his mother play him some, and he’s overawed by it, jumping everywhere — this was a beautiful moment, but mostly because of the efforts of the creators to make the audience understand Gus’s sheltered life.
Back to Aditya Singh
The narrator then draws attention back to Aditya Singh — the doctor we learned about in the first chapter while the world fell apart. While playing scrabble with his wife, Aditya notices Rani’s finger shaking a little, which is a sign of the virus; Aditya grabs medicine and injects her. He feels the medicine is running low, so he tells her he is heading out to see Dr. Bell for a refill.
Dr. Bell wants Aditya to carry on her work
Aditya gets on a horse and heads to a secure estate that has suffered a lot from vegetation. He heads inside the medical center, and there’s an eeriness to the place — this isn’t the usual visit to the doctors. Eventually, he meets Dr. Bell and asks for a refill — he explains each dose lasts 28 days for Rani, and then “the Sick” returns. Dr. Bell asks Aditya to help keep track of her progress against the virus. She has a wad of documents detailing all the results on Rani. She has cancer and will die soon and wants Aditya to continue her work. She believes it’s his fate, as there’s nothing that he wouldn’t do for his wife.
When Aditya returns home, he’s emotional that he has to take on Dr. Bell’s work and the treatment for his wife. He doesn’t believe he can do it, feeling it goes against everything they believe in. Rani looks at the documents, and she is shocked — Dr. Bell clearly used methods that they disagree with.
Big Man thinks the family should take in Gus
Late in the night, Rusty’s mother asks Big Man how many people he has killed as she realizes who he is. Big Man assures her that he isn’t that person anymore and did what he had to do to survive. Rusty’s mother explains that Gus thinks he will look after him and wonders why he saved him. Suddenly, Big Man asks Rusty’s mother to keep Gus as she will be the closest thing he will ever have as a mother.
Until the next few scenes, it looked like Rusty’s mother was considering taking in Gus — she sensed an expansion on her family after seeing her son play with him. It’s sad that Gus, or the family, has never had the opportunity of a normal life. Hybrid, or not Hybrid, the world has lost out on a lot from division,
Home invasion
During the night, Gus can see Big Man leaving, and he gets upset. However, outside of the home, hunters surround the place — Big Man looks at how many bullets he has left and looks panicked. The lead hunter wakes up the family and says that they have the right to enter their home and ask them to turn Gus over because they believe he is a hybrid. Big Man shows his fighting skills and begins taking out the hunters one by one, leaving plenty of dead men in his wake. However, one of the men gets inside the home while the others hide.
Gus uses his slingshot on the man, which is highly ineffective, but he charges at him and hurts the man with his antlers. Gus stands across the man, who is distracted by a massive deer behind him. Big Man sneaks up behind the man and kills him — hence the episode title, “Sorry About All the Dead People.”
The ending
The next day, the family’s father tells Big Man that they need to protect their family, so Gus cannot stay. Gus and Rusty say their goodbyes — an emotional moment for two young boys who found friendship in rare circumstances. The family helps Big Man and Gus on a cable car, and they leave for good. Gus tells Big Man that he will look for his mother on his own. Big Man tells him he will help him get to the next town, but then they will be done.
Aimee is still at the sanctuary, enjoying her life, but then she hears something outside. Tentatively walking on the road with a gun, Aimee sees a crate — inside is a baby hybrid.
Sweet Tooth season 1, episode 2 brings a growing sense of adventure, benefitting from the strength of the first chapter and capitalizing on the story.
