Will Gus ever be reunited with Birdie or Big Man? Those are the two biggest questions lingering as we head into Sweet Tooth‘s sophomore season.
The premiere (all eight episodes are now available to stream on Netflix) begins with Birdie as she hunts for something in a frozen tundra. She hikes through snow and freezing temps to find a crevasse near some mountains she has stenciled on a map. Using a rope, she spelunks down between glaciers to find a pirate ship filled with purple flowers. But she also finds something of extreme importance: the journal of one Dr. James Thacker.
The rope pulls her back up to ground, as we cut over to Gus who’s having a nightmare from the confines of his prison at the Preserve. Wendy wonders who Big Man is since Gus has been talking about him in his sleep, but the boy remains reticent. It doesn’t matter. Jep is gone now, he says. The hybrids have already tried every method of escape they could think of, and so far everything has been unsuccessful.
Rani continues having nightmares stemming from her affliction with the Sick. Dr. Singh shoots her up with a syringe and says he’s still working on the cure. But something in the tone of his voice tells us his hope may be dwindling. General Abbot is still putting the pressure on him, despite the fact that Singh hasn’t slept in three days. Even though he’d rather be napping, Singh tells Johnny to prep the operating room.
The kids decide that their next best ploy is to try to contact their mom, Aimee, on a radio. Bobby, a cute little groundhog, digs his way outside their cell and retrieves a set of keys. Gus and Wendy then sneak to the comms room and send Aimee a brief message telling her their whereabouts. But while they hide from some goons, they see that Roy, a hybrid who was last taken, is very much dead. Johnny ends up finding them and returns them to their cell, where Gus thinks fast and lies to the rest of the kids. He says that Roy escaped, clearly wanting to keep their hopes high. Plus, the truth is almost too sad for them to bear.
Later on, some Last Men come for Gus and bring him to Singh’s lab. He’s terrified as they strap him down to a chair. Singh says if Gus doesn’t answer his questions, then some big guys will force him to open Gus up and look for answers. The boy and the doc start talking, and Singh presses him — progressively getting angrier — and when Gus tells him he’s 10, the doctor can’t even fathom it. The virus is only nine years old… but when the doctor looks further, he has a realization. Singh wants to meet Pubba, which obviously isn’t an option, but Gus does say he saw him again when he fell into the purple flowers. Singh says if Gus agrees to talk with him on a regular basis, he won’t have to hurt any more of the kids.
Gus is returned to the cell and tells the hybrids that he thinks he bought them more time. Meanwhile, a stunned Dr. Singh finds a purple flower in Rani’s room.
We jump cut to Becky on a radio. Birdie is on the other end, and Becky is able to tell her that Gus is alive. There’s a click on the line. Birdie tells her she’d better hide. The phone is being tracked and someone will surely come after her. Birdie asks if Gus found her tape. She recorded a message for him and hid it in the attic. Becky finds the tape just as Last Men storm the house. Judy, knowing that only one of them can make it out alive, locks Becky in the attic and tells her to get the tape to Gus. Judy attacks the men with a flame thrower (always nice to have one of those handy), as Becky climbs through a window and scales down the side of the house. A Last Man pops out of a window and after a scuffle, they both fall off the roof and plummet to the ground below. Becky wakes up unharmed, grabs the tape and flees.
When we cut back to the kids, more “kibble” (Wendy’s word) is delivered to their trough. But with it is Dog, which tells Gus that Big Man is very much alive… and he’s coming to save them all. “We’re getting out of here!” he tells the rest.
Will the rest of the kids escape unharmed? And what did you think of the Season 2 opener? Grade it below, then hit us with some comments!