Sweet Tooth: A Timely Story of Hope during a Pandemic

This is a story of Gus. Gus is a hybrid. He is part human, and part deer. This can be seen in his physical features. Gus was born at about the same time as a growing pandemic caused by a virus otherwise known as H5G9. As the virus spreads, no human babies are born and instead hybrids like Gus starting being born. This leads into an interesting question: did the virus cause the hybrids or did the hybrids cause the virus? The question also sets up the story of Gus and the virus in this timely and heartwarming story of ‘Sweet Tooth’.

Vertigo series are truly a great source of story telling and ‘Sweet Tooth’ is another perfect example of it. The comic book was written by Jeff Lemire, and its adaptation to Netflix is as much timely as it is relevant Though ‘Sweet Tooth’ is set in a fantasy world, you could easily relate to it considering the current socio-economic landscape of the world today. People wearing masks. Fear of a virus. Fear of going outside homes. Deaths from the virus. Environmental renewal. These are all perfectly relevant themes that are also at the storytelling core of this beautiful Netflix series.

SWEET TOOTH (L to R) CHRISTIAN CONVERY as GUS in episode 101 of SWEET TOOTH Cr. Kirsty Griffin © 2021

Joining Gus on his journey is Big Man, a former hunter of hybrids who has changed his point of view. Together they form an mirrored Lone Wolf and Cub relationship that creates an interesting dynamic for the series. Later on, the pair is joined by a hybrid protector known as Bear. Both Big Man and Bear help Gus on his hero’s quest to find his long lost mother. This all happens while society crumbles around them, and the threat of the Last Men looms like a sinister shadow above their heads. The presence of the Last Men adds a further wrinkle to Gus’s quest. They represent the racist elements in society who view hybrids as a blight. As such, these Last Men hunt hybrids down in order to restore the supremacy of the human race.

In spite of the pandemic and racism present in his surroundings, Gus has continued to shine in his optimism towards life, and it can be infectious. He knows he is hunted. He knows the world out there is dangerous for him. And yet, he maintains the ray of hope that can be infectuous to those around him even with brooding Big Man, or idealistc Bear. Both characters have learned to be more hopeful in Gus’s presence, and this transformation was oftentimes restrained, but could not be denied. Gus is the hope everybody needs in this time of pandemic and racism.

By season’s end, Gus’s hopeful nature and demeanor are put to the test. He feels his world view collapse around him as a new one starts to form. This change in status quo not only affects him, but also his staunch allies Big Man and Bear. And, the series ends challenging the hope that Gus represents. Truly, is hope enough amidst the virus and hate that have overcome society? If we are to trust in Gus, it should be enough. How he continues to be guided by hope is something to look forward to seeing in future seasons of ‘Sweet Tooth’. More so, the series has given enough hope for everyone to follow Gus on his continuing journey of discovery. ‘Sweet Tooth’ is now streaming on Netflix.

Swamp Thing: Brilliant Disguise

Last episode ended with Alec Holland miraculously transforming to his human self in front of Abby Arcane. This episode, we find out that this is a result of a spore hallucinogen that just makes Swamp Thing look like Alec, but in fact his physical form remains the same.

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use.

It’s a brilliant compromise that ‘The Green’ seems to have sensed Alec needed at the time. We also find out that ‘The Green’ is more emphatic to Alec than just an image change. It can provide for all of Alec’s needs at a thought. This includes providing fruit bearing plants and healing herbs from distant places not found in the swamp. Through these instances, we can see just how powerful Swamp Thing can become if only Alec would embrace the role more. Slowly, he is growing into the role, and with good reason with the coming of ‘The Rot’.

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use.

In the a previous episode, we were alerted to the possible existence of ‘The Rot’, a Jeff Lemiere creation, because of that swarm of insects that took over a human body. ‘Brilliant Disguise’ all but confirms this, and ‘The Rot’ appears to be identified as the big baddie that ‘The Green’ is up against. This led to the creation of Swamp Thing…supposedly. We get to see just how dangerous ‘The Rot’ is as an adversary can be as it infects itself in Abby Arcane. I love the metaphor brought about here with the inner war between ‘The Green’ and ‘The Rot’ in Abby’s body: Nature vs. the corruption of it (by man?). Good to know that Swamp Thing is strong enough to fight ‘The Rot’ from Abby’s body with a bit of Abby’s willpower. This could be a foreshadowing of things to come.

Another element of Swamp Thing lore looked at again is ‘The Conclave’ introduced by Len Wein. Here we have a businessman representative of the group in the form of Nathan Ellery. Ellery was contacted by Avery Sunderland to pitch his new regenerative discovery courtesy of Dr. Jason Woodrue. We already saw how this discovery worked on Daniel Cassidy. In spite of the side effects, the idea was pitched by Maria in Avery’s absence (more on that later) with the help of Dr. Woodrue. Jason is more than happy to see this project go to fruition because of the Alzheimer’s his wife is now experiencing. This is all big money for the Sunderland’s. So where is Avery?

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use.

Well, it looks like Avery’s luck caught up with him in a bad way. Maria and Sheriff Lucilla Cable conspired to murder Avery. Sheriff Cable even involved her son, Matt, to finish him off. The mother-son team lured Avery out to the swamp with the presence of hunting down Alec aka Swamp Thing. On that note, we also find out that Matt is the son of Avery. This sneaky bastard really has a lot of skeletons in his closet for him and everybody else in Marais. This is most probably the reason why Maria and Lucilla combined forces to get rid of this manipulative character. But, Avery survives the ambush in the swamp screaming. So, not everything went according to Maria and Lucilla’s plan. With the current state of Avery, something tells me that he might be the champion for ‘The Rot’ in the same way Alec is to ‘The Green’.

In ‘Brilliant Disguise’, we not only see how Alec is learning to adapt to his new persona, but we also see a bit of SWAMP THING’s advocacy. The episode highlights the forces at battle in Marais and the possible outcome. In all this, humanity plays an important role in the environment’s survival. ‘Brilliant Disguise’ provides a timely message and SWAMP THING shows both the danger and beauty of nature gone wild.

Swamp Thing: He Speaks

As the title suggests, Swamp Thing aka Alec Holland speaks to Abby Arcane and confirms that he is Alec. He has no idea how it happened, and has little memory of it as well. What we do know is that Abby gets an idea from Alec as to how to stop the virus. Alec tells her that the ‘virus’ is not invasive but is actually fighting back.

In ‘He Speaks’, instead of fighting back the virus with antibiotics, Abby decides to use immunosuppresants. She experiments on this with Harlan who has now fallen ill to the virus. The gamble pays off, and, at least for now, the virus is under control.

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use

Also in the episode, we get a cryptic meeting between Madame Xanadu and Daniel Cassidy. From this meeting, we learn that Dan has his future set in stone according to Xanadu’s cards. That is, until Abby came into the picture. Now his cards are reversed. This prompts him to seek out Abby to find out why. Let’s see how this translates in future episodes.

Moving on, Lizzy Tremayne plays an important role in this episode. She discovers that Avery Sunderland is actually drowning in loans from banks to support his accelerant research. She also finds out from her girlfriend, Margaux, that Alec’s boat was actually shot after fishing out remains of his boat from Skeeter Cove. So his death wasn’t an accident. Some mysteries are coming more and more to light in Marais.

Image is not mine and used for review purposes under the conditions of free use

But, we have more mysteries to come starting with Avery. Aside fro the revelation that Avery is bankrupt, we also find out that he is part of a mysterious organization known as The Conclave. Who or what is The Conclave? I did a bit of research, and actually found three mentions of Conclaves in DC continuity. One is a mystical group of heroes that makes its appearance in Fate comics issue 5 that came out in 1995. Though that would make my heart jump for joy because that includes Zatanna on its roster, it’s most unlikely that this is the Conclave referred to here.

Then, we have a ‘Conclave of Twelve’ who form part of Aquaman lore. Unless Aquaman would make an appearance or Swampy heads to the sea, this is more unlikely than the magical group with Zatanna. That leaves the third Conclave which is the most likely. This Conclave made its first appearance in Swamp Thing 1 in 1972. It’s a group of greedy businessmen who want to acquire wealth through any means necessary. Now THAT fits more the background of Avery. The reference digs deep into Swamp Thing lore from the Len Wein stories. I won’t be surprised if we’ll be learning more about them in future SWAMP THING episodes.

Another interesting comic book reference is that pile of bugs animating the body of murdered Munson from last episode. If I’m not mistaken, that’s The Rot from Animal Man #1 of 2011. It’s a very new character created by Jeff Lemiere. The Rot is a creature of decay and death that seeks to destroy life. There’s not much to go by just yet, but looking at the way the insects moved around and animated the corpse of Munson, this just might be that creature.

‘He Speaks’ provides clues to existing mysteries in SWAMP THING while providing new story threads to discover. This is not a simple tale of Abby Arcane and Alec Holland. Far from it. SWAMP THING continues its complex storytelling on its environmental advocacy while blending in comic book references with a splash of true suspense and horror. If you haven’t yet, it’s time to discover SWAMP THING and the intriguing mysteries that accompany it.

Viewing Review: Doom Patrol 13

This post contains spoilers for ‘Flex Patrol’, Episode 13 of DOOM PATROL. There’s a lot of juicy stuff here that even Mr. Nobody would love to see. If he doesn’t know about it already.

As I mentioned last episode, Vic apparently kills his father, Silas Stone during the breakout from the Ant Farm. ‘Flex Patrol’ confirms that Silas is not in fact dead, but just brutally injured and is left stable at a hospital after a quick escape by Flit, one of Crazy Jane’s personalities. But, Vic and company do not leave alone. They take with them cellmate 722. This is the person who lives beside Vic’s cell. This is also the person who lived beside Larry’s cell when he was incarcerated in the Ant Farm. Why is this guy important? If last episode I had my suspicions of who he is, “Flex Patrol’ substantiates that he is Flex Mentallo. This is another character created by Grant Morrison during his Doom Patrol comic book run. And according to Danny the Street, he is the important to finding The Chief.

So everything appears to be going well for our group, right? It’s not. When the Doom Patrol return with Flex to Doom Manor they discover two things. One, that Dr. Stone needs serious medical attention and so Flit sends him, Vic and Rita to the nearest hospital. And two, Flex has no memory of his past and has clearly been brainwashed by the Ant Farm. Thus, the team gets divided into two to sort both these problems out.

In the hospital, Vic is stuck with a conundrum. He doesn’t want to activate Grid back in his system, but it’s the only way to track the Beard Hunter who has an idea where Niles is. After some convincing by Rita, he finally decides to reinstall Grid, but tells Rita that the team is on its own to find The Chief.

More importantly, Rita gets a chance to reconcile with her past by talking to some old guy who can barely walk. She shares with him that she actually sets up young actresses for a meeting with big time producer, Gene Stanton. Gene, though only hinted in Rita’s story, has his way with the young starlet who gets her career boosted. This favor also helps Rita survive in show business as she gets new offers after each meeting. It was all going smoothly until Marybeth Wooten came along. Marybeth actually got pregnant, had a baby and committed suicide. The whereabouts of the baby are unknown to Rita. Ironically, it was with Marybeth’s meeting with Gene that Rita gets her role in ‘Forbidden Congo’…where she got the accident that made her into the ‘freak’ she is today. This cathartic moment helps Rita realize that a ‘bully only has power over you if you give it to him.’ With renewed conviction, Rita returns to Vic to find The Chief and face the bully, Mr. Nobody.

There’s a hitch though. The old man that Rita has been talking to all along turns out to be Mr. Nobody. Which is weird. He doesn’t want the Doom Patrol to find him, yet he motivates these characters to overcome their insecurities and become, in his terms,—a superhero team. Mr. Nobody also narrates that all the character driven drama is just sheer meandering to this point. Of course, Mr. Nobody might just be stating the obvious just to emphasize that DOOM PATROL is a very different kind of superhero series. It is and that’s what makes it so good.

In Doom Manor, Larry finds out, or rather recalls, that he was the cellmate beside Flex Mentallo. Flex offers to free both of them and his energy form, but decides not to do so. Yes, Larry was a wimp in 1964. Instead, Flex gets brainwashed, his wife used as collateral for his obedience which leads us to the current problem of Crazy Jane and Cliff: trying to restore Flex’s memories of himself and his powers. However, it is in this memory that Larry gets the idea of finding Dolores to help Flex out.

While Larry is sorting out his past, Jane and Cliff try everything they can to jog Flex’s memories. Only when they decide to retrieve an aging Dolores (a converted agent of the Bureau of Normalcy) with Flit through Larry’s prompting does Flex remember anything. Happy ending? Not so fast. There is a price to be paid for this reunion. Dolores reveals that if she ever goes looking for Flex, she will die. Dolores starts to disintegrate before everyone’s eyes. Dolores’s death restores Flex’s memories and he now knows how to use his ‘muscle mystery’ powers.

Rita then returns to Doom Manor without Vic, and she knows where The Chief is. Everything is set for the Doom Patrol to face Mr. Nobody and find Niles Caulder. Yet, one very important question remains. What’s Flex’s part in finding The Chief?

Well, if you look at the entire episode, one of Flex’s powers is to open portals to different places. It could be that when they find The Chief, this ability will be important. Remember that Mr. Nobody lives in a pocked dimension where I assume he also keeps The Chief. Could Flex’s powers allow the Doom Patrol to transport to this pocket dimension? We’ll just have to wait and see.

‘Flex Patrol’ reveals a comic book fan favorite character and restores him to his full glory in DOOM PATROL. This series is filled with so many character driven plot lines that another one just adds more to the DOOM PATROL’s charm. But, there is a more important issue that is highlighted in ‘Flex Patrol’. If last episode dealt with inclusivity, ‘Flex Patrol’ deals with bullying. This is yet another strong message of DOOM PATROL. The only way to beat a bully is to take away his power over you. The next episodes of DOOM PATROL will be about taking that power back after realizing how much power you really have. I cannot stress enough just how excellent this show is. Ignore it at your own peril.

Viewing Review: Doom Patrol Episode 12

This post contains spoilers on ‘Cyborg Patrol’, episode 12 of DOOM PATROL. If you fear the Bureau of Normalcy, time to turn away…

Speaking of the Bureau of Normalcy, this episode we get to explore the inner workings of their sanctum, The Ant Farm. The Ant Farm first came up in comics in ‘Agents of SHADE’ written by Jeff Lemire. Comparatively, it’s the shows version of Arkham Asylum, a place where the bureau keeps its assets. In one cell of the storage facility they even have a collection of living butts. Yes, ravenous man-eating butts. This is the bureaus way of keeping the world normal.

In the Ant Farm, Vic is incarcerated after being captured by bureau agents last episode. He is being kept there to research his tech even though they have an upstanding relationship with Silas Stone, Vic’s father, and STAR Labs. The reasoning is, by doing so, they can live without STAR Labs research if they can unlock Vic aka Cyborg’s secrets. Unfortunately, Vic is useless to them because he removed his operating system aka Grid and placed it in a separate computer back in Doom Manor. As if Vic’s capture wasn’t enough, he is now seeing things in his head through his onboard viewing files that makes him question not only his origins but also his relationship with his father. This pisses him off no end.

Back at Doom Manor, Crazy Jane reveals that Vic was captured by forces unknown. Larry verifies that these are agents from the Bureau of Normalcy and that Vic is probably in their home base the Ant Farm. Larry describes the Ant Farm as a combination of Area 51 and Dante’s Inferno. According to Larry, there is no getting out once you are inside.

Luckily for the Doom Patrol, they get unexpected help from the most unlikely of people: Silas Stone. Silas goes to Doom Manor to look for Vic because he was alerted that Vic was in trouble. He goes there to find Vic missing and Grid no longer in Vic’s cyborg body. Of course, Rita and Jane don’t trust Dr. Stone with what Vic shared with them about his father on separate occassions. Nevertheless, the group agrees to work with Silas for Vic’s rescue. The plan? A prison break!!!

Silas Stone’s plan was to go to the Ant Farm with the pretense of giving up the Doom Patrol in exchange for Vic. Rita being the lynch pin, hid inside Cliff’s Robot body to come out once everything was set and clear. While this was happening, Silas would see Victor with the exchange, and Rita would break out the rest of the captured Doom Patrol members. The plan worked to near perfection…Karen makes an appearance to save Jane which wasn’t part of the plan. The Doom Patrol even managed to free all the other inmates of the Ant Farm. But, there was one important glitch in the system…

…Vic kills his father Silas in the break out. He is instigated by memories of his father’s manipulation on his creation. Vic believed that Silas Stone intentionally knew that the nanites in his system would transform him slowly to a machine. Vic goes berserk in the escape and apparently beats up his father to death. This is where Mr. Nobody shows up and reveals to Vic that he implanted some memories in his head that mixed with the truth. This was enough to lead Vic into killing(?) his father. Vic shows remorse, but the deed is done.

‘Cyborg Patrol’ expands on the world building of DOOM PATROL by introducing another part of the DC Universe. It’s a scary place that matches with the tone of the series. Also, ‘Cyborg Patrol’ shows that there will be people who will not accept you because you are different. They will even go to extremes to enforce their standards on you. The message against those beliefs is clear in this episode. No one has the right to do that to anyone no matter how different you are. In this episode, DOOM PATROL shouts out to the world that we should be more accepting of the differences people have.