Season 1 of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth picks up right after a phenomenon known as The Great Crumble, whilst unraveling the mystery of hybrid children and the origin of the H5G9 virus. Based on the eponymous comic book by Jeff Lemire, Sweet Tooth touches upon the pathos inherent in a post-apocalyptic world, and how it shapes the lives of the primary characters involved, most vitally that of the 11-year-old protagonist Gus.
While the preliminary threads of the source material remain intact, the show takes on a distinctly fairytale approach while dialing down the comics’ inherent grimness – crafting more jovial characters, cutting down on the violence and bloodshed, and generally tailoring the series to have a more whimsical tone than its fairly dark ancestor. This said, even the show has to have some relatively somber moments, due to it having to cover the details of the world’s apocalyptic event: The Great Crumble.
From a temporal perspective, Sweet Tooth is set ten years after The Great Crumble, which is basically the absolute disintegration of human civilization as we know it. This extreme outcome is triggered by the onset of the H5G9 virus, which can be best understood in terms of the current coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world at large. Due to the utter chaos wrecked by the virus, humanity descended into chaos, plunging the world into literal and metaphorical darkness. Apart from battling the inherent trauma of the outbreak, the survivors also had to deal with acute lawlessness, which inevitably branched into human cruelty and a socio-political vacuum.
The Great Crumble also harkened with it the complete collapse of societal structures, including any semblance of a humane administrative system. This power vacuum paves the path for the Last Men, lead by Douglas Abbot, who are a brutal militia responsible for the hunting and killing of hybrid children like Gus. There is a sinister undercurrent of specism as the Last Men believe in preserving the “true humans”, implying that the hybrid children are considered inferior and disposable via the lens of traditional morality. This manifests in the torture and experimentation of these children, with General Abbot ready to go to any lengths in order to further his own ego-fueled agendas.
While the exact specifics of what went down during The Great Crumble are not crystal clear in terms of the show, it is hinted that the creation of the hybrid children and the virus that kills those who are not hybrids are linked – as is indeed the case in the comics, where the ancient Inuit god of hunting Tekkeitsertok is shown bringing a similar plague eons before the events of Sweet Tooth. Trapped within a slowly-decaying wasteland with no distractions, the characters in Sweet Tooth succumb to their dire circumstances. This can be best understood in terms of the actions carried out by Pubba, who despite his best intentions, is unable to prepare Gus for the stark cruelties of the real world. Moreover, as the Great Crumble eradicated entire populations, the nexus of power kept narrowing, allowing characters to cross paths and widen their covert ambitions.
