Not your average ‘meet-cute’.

You read the title of the episode and thought this was going to be a romance? Nope.

For all the predictability of some of the events in Sweet Tooth, this penultimate episode snuck up on me and said: ‘boo’. We stay with Gus’ story as we find out more about ground zero for the virus.

Well it had to be nefarious scientific research didn’t it? Or at least, research that was begun for noble reasons but was taken over and effectively weaponised by the military. Birdie, one of the genetic scientists working on the vaccine project in question, described it as something that could either save a lot of lives or kill millions in the wrong hands – no prizes for guessing which of those two transpired or why. ’Twas ever thus: humans find something new, shiny and wonderful and someone somewhere will want to find out how to use it to kill people.

Somehow from the moment we saw ‘Gus’ Mum’ from the photo he carries in a laboratory scene in the flashback, I knew there was a possibility she was still alive – Pubba clearly withheld certain truths from Gus in a flawed attempt to protect him. Suddenly Gus’ belief that his mother is still alive starts to seem not as far-fetched, as the scepticism that we, the audience, have shared with Big Man and Bear all along, is burst like a balloon.

Further busting of the ‘meet-cute’ trope unfolds as Pubba and Birdie’s ‘date’ seems to contain Easter eggs as to Gus’ parental origins (she has a sweet tooth) and they do seem to be getting on well… but there’s more to it than that as Gus’ world of hope crumbles round his ears. It’s heart breaking as he’s left in the dark, but this is the best episode yet.

Verdict: I do like a good subversion of expectations. Bring on the finale. 9/10

Claire Smith