‘Sweet Tooth’ Season 3 comes full circle as Netflix says goodbye to one of its best original shows

Every story comes to an end. But in the case of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth Season 3, the ending is just a new beginning.

Based on the comic book series of the same name by cartoonist Jeff Lemire, Netflix’s Sweet Tooth takes place in a world decimated by a mysterious flu. While the Sick wipes out humanity, a new species is born, as every newborn baby emerges from the womb as an animal hybrid. 

There were many ways to explore Lemire’s unique concept in television, but Netflix has chosen a cheerful and optimistic path, an unusual pick for a post-apocalyptic story. Still, that’s probably why Sweet Tooth became such a huge hit, as the show’s first season premiered in 2021, as the world began to heal from the COVID pandemic. Let’s be honest: no one needed a dark, gloomy TV show about a deadly virus by then. Season 3 of Sweet Tooth doubles down on that choice, for better or worse.

Season 3 starts immediately after Season 2’s finale, with Gus (Christian Convery) and his friends making their way to Alaska, where they expect to find Birdie (Amy Seimetz) and unlock the cure for the Sick. They are not the only ones with their eyes on the prize, as Dr. Singh (Adeel Akhtar) is tracking down Gus, confident that the world’s fate depends on their collaboration. Finally, Mrs. Helen Zhang (Rosalind Chao) fills the vacuum left by General Abbot (Neil Sandilands) and the Last Men, using her vast resources to ensure humanity’s continuity and the Hybrids’ extinction.

In many ways, the narrative structure of Season 3 of Sweet Tooth mimics that of Season 1. We have a band of heroes meeting allies and facing unexpected obstacles while trying to reach a goal defined from the start. Meanwhile, the villains are always looming, an ever-present threat that reminds everyone — the audience included — of the high stakes of Gus’ adventure. It’s fitting that Sweet Tooth comes full circle before the ending, as Season 3 echoes the eco-friendly message of the show louder than ever. Furthermore, Season 3 is primarily about generational replacement and how current generations deal with the responsibility of leaving a better world behind for those yet to come. 

While these ideas were always at the core of Sweet Tooth, they are stronger than ever in Season 3, as every minor arc revolves around the same themes. Season 3 even includes a couple of episodic stories that illustrate how Gus is not alone in the shattered world. Everywhere, people face the same hard questions about how to live their lives the best way they can when Nature has flipped the rules of the game upside down. 

Having heroes and villains share a common goal also allows Season 3 to avoid the mistakes of Season 2, when the party was split too thin. In the previous season, the story struggled to find cohesion because it constantly jumped between so many different characters. Now that there’s a clear target to hit, Sweet Tooth can give its cast time to breathe and grow, untethered by the need to tie too many plot threads together. 

That’s especially true for the first half of season 3, in which Gus goes through some of the best moments of his character arc and is forced to confront the end of his childhood. Yet, even when the night seems pitch black, Gus finds new ways to shine a light that dispels the darkness and warms our spirits. That’s the secret sauce of Sweet Tooth. Cruel people are committing unspeakable acts in the show. However, the story is framed through the eyes of a protagonist who embodies humanity’s ability to dream of something better instead of embracing our most destructive behavior patterns.

As Sweet Tooth approaches the finish line, the show struggles to find the right balance between dread and hope. There’s a pronounced urge to create a happy ending to please fans. Unfortunately, that comes at the price of diminishing the emotional blows of some of the most tragic twists of the final episodes. One of the main appeals of Sweet Tooth is how the Hybrids and their allies find ways to overcome the brutality of a post-apocalyptic world. Still, when said brutality is downplayed, the series risks becoming too candy-coated to deliver the gut-punching scenes the previous season had.

The final stretch of Season 3 is less satisfying than its first half also because the series needs to speed up to answer the many questions raised in previous seasons. Season 3 must explain, once and for all, the origin of the Sick and the Hybrids. It must also allow its massive cast of lovable characters to say goodbye on their own terms. Finally, the show must also address the state of the world once the final battle is fought for the future of humans and Hybrids alike. Not everyone will be happy with the answer Sweet Tooth gives in the end, as things get more convoluted as the show mixes a good dose of mysticism with the usual scientific approach to its fantastic elements.

Amidst everything, some characters draw the shorter stick in Season 3 of Sweet Tooth. For instance, Wendy (Naledi Murray) and Bear (Stefania LaVie Owen) mainly tag along on other people’s journeys, rarely standing out on their own – which makes sense since Season 2 gave them both a satisfying ending to their arcs. Plus, as interesting as Zhang and her extended family might be, they can’t match the chaotic energy Sandilands gave Abbot, failing to be as menacing or entertaining as the previous villains. 

Things get even bumpier when we consider the secondary characters of Season 3 of Sweet Tooth. Jordan is back, with George Ferrier delivering yet another painfully bland performance. Louise Jiang, on her turn, doesn’t even get the chance to fail at her job, as her Ginger is treated more like a plot device than a person. There’s also Kelly Marie Tran doing what she can to salvage her performance as Rosie, whose many layers are ignored in favor of simple solutions because the clock is ticking. Finally, newcomers Siana (Cara Gee) and Nuka (Ayazhan Dalabayeva) don’t get the screen time they deserve, given that there’s not enough time to reward the duo’s talent.

Despite its obvious shortcomings, Season 3 of Sweet Tooth remains a prime example of good television and a spectacular comic book adaptation. Nonso Anozie and Convery are still the show’s pulsing heart, and they will both be dearly missed by fans after the credits of the final episode roll. Maybe with a few more episodes or a fourth season, Sweet Tooth could flesh out the undeveloped aspects of Season 3. Nevertheless, the series ends on a high, ensuring Sweet Tooth remains one of Netflix’s best original productions.