🤐 SPOILER ALERT 🤐

Sweet Tooth Season 1 ended on a note that was part grim and part hopeful — something of a hybrid, if you will. After a long journey together, in which they had more than one close escape from death, Jepperd (Nonso Anozie) and Gus (Christian Convery) share a tender final moment. Big Man tells Gus that he lost a son and wife during the Great Crumble. Fighting back tears, he says, “Don’t make me lose you, too.” 

It’s just moments later that the duo is torn apart: Gus kidnapped by the evil General Abbot (Neil Sandilands) and the Last Men; Jepperd shot in the chest and left for dead. Grim.

But there’s hope, because Gus is imprisoned with Wendy (Naledi Murray), Bobby the Gopher and several other hybrid kids who are warm and welcoming despite the dire conditions. Meanwhile Jepperd is cared for by Aimee (Dania Ramirez), who encourages him to rest up before they take action to rescue all the hybrid children. 

But before any of that happens, Season 1 introduces us to a dystopian world, populated by characters who experience joy, pain, drama, ethical dilemmas, budding friendships, mysterious twists and stunning revelations, all with a purple flower garnish. Below is a recap of the most important stuff you’ll want to remember before Sweet Tooth Season 2 drops on April 27.

How do Gus and Jepperd meet?

We begin Season 1 by meeting Gus and his Pubba (Will Forte), who live an idyllic if solitary life in Yellowstone Park. But after Pubba’s untimely death, Gus is left to his own devices, which proves dangerous when hunters try to kill the deer-boy. Luckily, Jepperd intervenes to save Gus, who throws caution to the wind and leaves his home campsite to follow Jepperd — and track down Birdie (Amy Seimetz), the mother he’s never met, who he was sure lived in Colorado. The unlikely pair survives several dangerous scenarios and Big Man’s hard shell softens as he begins to take personal responsibility for Gus — aka Sweet Tooth. 

Working closely with Anozie was an invaluable and “incredible” experience for Convery. “I learned a lot from Nonso because he’s such an experienced and talented actor,” Convery tells Tudum.  “And for Gus because he’s going on off on an adventure and Jepp’s teaching him about the world.”

OK, but how did Gus and Jepperd get into this big mess?

Here’s the thing — Gus is a 10-year-old who goes from living a sheltered life to having complete freedom, so he’s prone to making naive, bold, irrational decisions. Sometimes, those choices can be costly, and in the finale they are. Gus travels all the way to Colorado with Jepperd and their new foe turned friend, Bear (Stefania LaVie Owen). Then Gus endures the brutal double blow of finding out that his mother was not in Colorado and that he was, in fact, created in a lab by scientists. Gus has a justifiable meltdown and runs into the woods to process this new information. It’s there that he stumbles upon an abandoned aircraft and uses its radio to contact the Preserve, a place advertised to be a safe haven for hybrids. This is a mistake, though, because the Preserve is freshly overrun by the hybrid-hating General Abbot and his Last Men, who promptly show up and take Gus away in a cage, leaving Jepperd behind — and bleeding out.

 “It seemed like they were starting to build this newfound family,” Anozie tells Tudum about the heartbreaking ending. “He’s slowly falling in love with Sweet Tooth almost as his adopted son and to be separated from him, that’s tragic.”

What does General Abbot plan to do with all the hybrid children?

From his first appearance in Episode 5, General Abbot proves to be power-hungry and more than willing to spill blood, killing Dr. Gladys Bell (Sarah Peirse), who’s done extensive research on the H5G9 virus that causes the Sick and is responsible for the Great Crumble. He tracks down her colleague, Dr. Aditya Singh (Adeel Akhtar). General Abbot wants sole ownership of a cure so that he can decide who lives and who dies, which is why he forces Dr. Singh to work tirelessly to discover a cure. What’s the key element to a potential cure? Hybrid children. And since General Abbot has no problem slaughtering hybrids, he certainly doesn’t flinch at the idea of experimenting on these kids to acquire his coveted cure.

How did Dr. Singh get roped into this?

After taking out Dr. Bell, General Abbot seeks out her closest colleague, Dr. Singh. It’s quite fortunate for Dr. Singh and his wife, Rani (Aliza Vellani), that Abbot shows up when he does, because their neighbors had tied up the couple in plastic wrap. The neighbors were going to burn them alive after finding out Rani was infected with the Sick. Unfortunately for the couple, General Abbot only preserves their lives so that Dr. Singh can use the kidnapped hybrids to concoct a cure, an immoral act that Singh had previously refused to take part in with Dr. Bell. However, with Abbot holding Rani prisoner, Singh now seems willing to compromise his morals and kill a child in search of a cure.

“He’s falling down a rabbit hole of his own moral sanity,” Akhtar tells Tudum. “His motivation is well intentioned, but his application is questionable.”

Wait, so what happened with Bear?

After a falling out with her Animal Army — an insurgent group of kids who want to protect hybrids and defeat the Last Men — Bear (Stefania LaVie Owen) joins Gus and Jepperd on their quest for Colorado. The three of them stick together all the way to Birdie’s house, where they meet a welcoming woman named Judy (Jodie Rimmer), an old friend of Gus’ mom. Shortly thereafter, the whole Gus-learning-he-was-created-in-a-lab thing happens and when he bolts into the woods, Jepperd goes to search for him while instructing Bear to wait at the house in case he comes back. It’s a good thing she did because, as you’ll recall, Jepperd got shot and Gus got kidnapped.

So, how exactly did Season 1 of Sweet Tooth end?

Having avoided the fates of Gus and Jepperd, Bear remains at Birdie’s old house, having a deep conversation with Judy. She shares meaningful personal details — her real name is Rebecca Walker, she has a younger, hybrid sister who was taken away and her parents were killed by the Last Men. During this chat, a phone begins to beep and reads, “Powering on…” In the very last scene of the season, a call connects to a phone somewhere in snowy Alaska. Someone covered in arctic weather gear enters and uncovers their face: It’s revealed to be Birdie. She answers the call with Bear eagerly waiting on the other end.

That’s right, Birdie is still alive! Now imagine how she’s going to react when she learns that Gus is looking for her. Brace yourself, Season 2 is coming.