Sunday, July 4, 2021

The Two Best Things About The Netflix series Sweet Tooth...

... are Gus's ears. You just can't stop watching them. The way they rise and droop to show what's going on in his fireball mind. They are also a large part of why it's so easy to suspend disbelief that hybrid children do exist. It helps that Christian Convery has been abundantly blessed with the natural beauty some kids just have. It's equally fascinating to observe his interactions with other animals - such as the way he draws deer to him in moments of high emotion. All these things contribute to making him more than just an adorable little boy with antlers. The world of Sweet Tooth is a surprisingly relatable dystopia, especially in the time of Covid. As we do, many of its people mask up and stay home in the hope that it will keep them safe. Luckily we do not observe some of their more extreme rituals - such as immolation of the infected, but we could all imagine a pandemic going that bad - a totalitarian police state where fear makes people do terrible things. In a way, the characters represent the various points at which integrity, compromise and survival intersect. We can empathise with the difficult choices Dr Singh faces, but the ruthlessness of Last Men represents the emergence of humanity's darker side. It would have been nice to see more of Bear's bold animal army - they deserve a spin-off series - although the plight of that poor tiger in the container crate worries me. Aimee perhaps represents the best in humanity, even as General Abbott represents the worst. For Big Man and for Bear, meeting Gus represents an invitation to confront their demons and change. But it's mostly Gus that we're rooting for, because Gus represents our longing for freedom, our hope at finding that Brave New World beyond the sadness. I can't wait for Season 2 to be available. This has been awesome.