Post-apocalyptic stories keep on getting darker and grittier as time goes on, but Netflix’s Sweet Tooth has always managed to find some light at the end of the tunnel.
With the smash hit fantasy series returning for its second season this coming Thursday, the stakes have been raised significantly for Christian Convery’s Gus and the rest of the hybrids we last saw being held captive, never mind the human protagonists trying their best to make their way through the wasteland towards salvation.
Ahead of season 2 landing on Netflix, We Got This Covered had the chance to speak to stars Nonso Anozie, Adeel Akhtar, and Dania Ramirez about the returning fan favorite, and their thoughts on Sweet Tooth maintaining an upbeat worldview in spite of the story unfolding in the ruins of human civilization.
For Akhtar – who plays the conflicted Dr. Aditya Singh desperate to find a cure for the plague that ravaged humanity, he always ensures his performance remains rooted in human nature.
“Yeah, I mean… I don’t know. I’m speaking out of turn, speaking for myself and this character. I think ultimately, when you get down to the depths of how hard something is, I think it’s in human nature to reach out for the hope, and something positive. It’s an easier choice to make. When you’re really pessimistic and fatalistic about stuff, it’s an easy choice to make a really dark ending. It’s actually quite hard to end with something that gives people a little bit of hope. It’s a harder thing to pull off. So yeah, it’s important to have more of those stories out there.”
Anozie – who plays “Big Man” Tommy Jepperd – he credited the writers for making sure the balance between the dark and light was always perfectly struck.
“Yeah. But “I think one thing that the writers have done a really good job of, is that the moment you feel like it’s got a bit too light, or it’s got a bit too funny, they’ll bring in some of that darkness. And the moments where it gets a bit too dark, you feel a little bit depressed, they’ll bring some hope in there as well. So they do such a good job. I think this season, we’re cranking up the pace of the of the show, it’s definitely much faster, it zips along this season. But also, they do a great job of doing the pattern between the light and the dark. I think that’s purely down to the writers and, and Jim, our showrunner, who’ve done such a great job of setting the tone for the show.”
Ramirez has a challenging arc this season as Aimee Eden, a former therapist who created her own safe haven for the hybrid children, only to see it taken over by the nefarious Last Men, and she explained how the tone of the show deftly deals with such complexities.
“I think also because you’re dealing with children and it’s such a hopeful perspective, no matter how dark the moments get, the most complex things are the most simple, and children are able to find the simplicity in everything. So the show being told from Gus’ perspective – and having now in season 2 all the other hybrids – really allows you to find humor, to find lightness in these really dark moments. And it really drives the adults to a different path and a different place because of it.”
If the first season was any indication, Netflix subscribers will be bingeing Sweet Tooth in its entirety when it finally returns after a two-year absence later this week, and we’ll have much more to come from the cast and crew, including star Christian Convery’s thoughts on how Gus would fare against Cocaine Bear.