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[Netflix] Sweet Tooth


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I mean... if it weren't for the fact that my wife watches a lot of the Chinese content I'd probably cancel Netflix. Most of the shows I watched on it left for other streaming services, and their originals have become them throwing anything and everything at us in the hopes that something might get the kind of viral popularity that Tiger King did.

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Personally, I like it when writers and creatives push traditional genre norms and find a non-standard mix that works. It's no easy task, so this teaser gets zero humbugs from me. Honestly, the hybrid 'fairy tale' creatures remind me of those from the network show Grimm that finished its run a few years back. Now Grimm had a completely different mood but I thought it was a lot of fun so I'll give this show a chance based on that proximity.

If it really grabs me, I'll have to seek out the source like I did with The Expanse, The Umbrella Academy, and Shadow and Bone. 

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This went up on Netflix yesterday and I decided to catch a couple episodes today. The thing is, I ended up marathoning the entire first season.:o

Anyway, this adaptation gets a strong recommend from me. The trailer and teaser only scratch the surface. I mean, the story still starts out as a by-the-numbers hero's journey with a few dashes of cross-genre fantasy and science fiction elements, but in time it turns into something with more depth and intrigue. The characters are well-written and multi-layered too, even some of the single scene side-characters that the audience meets along the way.

It's worth noting that the same narrator from the teaser narrates the show. Depending on your threshold for that sort of thing (for instance, did you like Harrison Ford narrating Blade Runner?), this could be no big deal, or disappointing. I got used to it, so it wasn't a big deal for me.

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On 6/5/2021 at 8:35 PM, technoblue said:

This went up on Netflix yesterday and I decided to catch a couple episodes today. The thing is, I ended up marathoning the entire first season.:o

Anyway, this adaptation gets a strong recommend from me. The trailer and teaser only scratch the surface. I mean, the story still starts out as a by-the-numbers hero's journey with a few dashes of cross-genre fantasy and science fiction elements, but in time it turns into something with more depth and intrigue. The characters are well-written and multi-layered too, even some of the single scene side-characters that the audience meets along the way.

It's worth noting that the same narrator from the teaser narrates the show. Depending on your threshold for that sort of thing (for instance, did you like Harrison Ford narrating Blade Runner?), this could be no big deal, or disappointing. I got used to it, so it wasn't a big deal for me.

Also started watching it. I actually watched the first ep alone, liked it, so I watched it again with a few more eps with the wife. Enjoying it, including the narration, whose character I'm sure we'll meet somewhere along the way. Def paints a less than favorable, yet realistic portrayal of humanity, as history, both old and recent, can attest.  Looking forward to completing the first season.

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13 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Also started watching it. I actually watched the first ep alone, liked it, so I watched it again with a few more eps with the wife. Enjoying it, including the narration, whose character I'm sure we'll meet somewhere along the way. Def paints a less than favorable, yet realistic portrayal of humanity, as history, both old and recent, can attest.  Looking forward to completing the first season.

Cool. It will be interesting to see what you all think, @M'Kyuun, as more of the season one layers are revealed later on.

I've started a watch party for season one here and we've been keeping to one episode a week (two, if everyone has the time for it). We've currently made it through episode three, so it's giving me time to take a closer look at the story again. The narration does fit, as you say, and the story is really holding up for me this go around.

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I'm on episode 7 and yup, really, really enjoying this series. The world-building, characters, all very enjoyable, the production values are solid, the performances are good all around, it's a very fun new series, I recommend it as well. 

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Finished S1 tonight with the wife. When a promo for another show instead of the next episode came up, signifying we'd completed first season, it was an 'aw, man' moment. Good series that takes you on a journey. Of course, there are some revelations, but where it leaves off keeps you wanting to see where the story goes, to continue the journey. Well done show for sure. Some of the CGI looks like CGI from the early 90s, but I agree that the actors all put in good performances, and kudos to the makeup team. Then there's Bobby.:unknw: Hoping his story will be told in S2. Nice to see the circle closing concerning the principles- you know that's gonna happen, but it's fun to see how it comes about.

Spoiler

One thing we noticed , and that's made obvious in the show, is that the purple flowers show up wherever the virus manifests, yet there seem to be no studies conducted on them to determine their relationship beyond their appearance wherever there's an infected person. While the two prominent doctors in the show are taking less than ethical actions to find a treatment or a cure, my guess is that there'll be something in the flowers that can be used that they seem to be ignoring all along. Just a guess, but the show does seem to relish in humans taking inhumane actions against each other and the Hybrids thus saving a potentially humane treatment to be discovered later after many deaths and atrocities. Just have a feeling that's how it's going to play out.

 

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10 hours ago, M'Kyuun said:

Finished S1 tonight with the wife. When a promo for another show instead of the next episode came up, signifying we'd completed first season, it was an 'aw, man' moment. Good series that takes you on a journey. Of course, there are some revelations, but where it leaves off keeps you wanting to see where the story goes, to continue the journey. Well done show for sure. Some of the CGI looks like CGI from the early 90s, but I agree that the actors all put in good performances, and kudos to the makeup team. Then there's Bobby.:unknw: Hoping his story will be told in S2. Nice to see the circle closing concerning the principles- you know that's gonna happen, but it's fun to see how it comes about.

Yeah. There was some aged Jumanji-level CGI that unfortunately stood out in key scenes.

Spoiler

The scene with the stampeding elephants and Bobby's introduction (well, every scene of his really) are great examples that come to mind. That isn't to say I didn't catch what the writers were trying to show as more hybrid children were given screen time. It was clear from the start that there was different degrees of the mutation. I mean, when Gus first encounters the hybrid hunters at his home in Yellowstone we learn that few if any hybrids can talk. That said, characters like Bobby left me wanting for more practical effects (even something Henson-like) to get the same point across.  

 

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10 hours ago, technoblue said:

Yeah. There was some aged Jumanji-level CGI that unfortunately stood out in key scenes.

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The scene with the stampeding elephants and Bobby's introduction (well, every scene of his really) are great examples that come to mind. That isn't to say I didn't catch what the writers were trying to show as more hybrid children were given screen time. It was clear from the start that there was different degrees of the mutation. I mean, when Gus first encounters the hybrid hunters at his home in Yellowstone we learn that few if any hybrids can talk. That said, characters like Bobby left me wanting for more practical effects (even something Henson-like) to get the same point across.  

 

If only they held on to the "Dark Crystal" crew, and produced another season...

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On 6/15/2021 at 11:13 AM, technoblue said:

Yeah. There was some aged Jumanji-level CGI that unfortunately stood out in key scenes.

  Hide contents

The scene with the stampeding elephants and Bobby's introduction (well, every scene of his really) are great examples that come to mind. That isn't to say I didn't catch what the writers were trying to show as more hybrid children were given screen time. It was clear from the start that there was different degrees of the mutation. I mean, when Gus first encounters the hybrid hunters at his home in Yellowstone we learn that few if any hybrids can talk. That said, characters like Bobby left me wanting for more practical effects (even something Henson-like) to get the same point across.  

 

Spoiler

Judging by the somewhat herky-jerky movements of Bobby, I got the sense he was an animatronic puppet, so I think he's a practical effect. But sheesh, you think they'd clean up his movements a little in post to make them look smoother and more organic. But it is interesting to see that there's potentially another level of mutation that veers further from human and more towards animal. The bad CG that really stood out to us was the scene where they were going to feed Big Man to the tiger- that tiger was like pre-Jurassic Park level bad. That scene also bugged me b/c you have Gus, who's part deer, i.e. a tasty prey animal, causing the tiger to back down. I was like- no way, man. Any normal tiger, especially a hungry pissed off tiger, would have been straining at the chains to get to him. 

 

Edited by M'Kyuun
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You could be right, @M'Kyuun. I was thinking the odd movement of characters and objects was due to budget CG in the same scenes. I expect if the show does well as a whole, we may get a brief behind-the-scenes documentary similar to what was done for The Dark Crystal series or what Disney will do for its own live-action series (Marvel and Star Wars). 

Spoiler

If nothing else, it shows inconsistency. The effects they use on Gus are almost seamless. For instance, how his ears twitch and flick about reacting to the environment.

I do agree with you about Bear and Tiger's power struggle, where the "real" tiger was brought out to execute Jeppard. I think the show is trying to inform the audience that Gus (and by proxy maybe all hybrids?) have a bond with nature that pure humans lack. We see something similar at the visitor's station when the adult buck steps up ready to defend Gus before Jeppard steps in. The thing is, although Gus's connection to deer is logical we haven't been given a reason to believe that he has the same connection to other animals in the wild (or in captivity). It's almost like that scene needed a hybrid tiger child to create calm in Gus's place.  

 

Edited by technoblue
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Spoiler

With Gus' origin revealed, and a still murky connection to the Sickness (I wonder if the Sickness is trying to mutate regular humans, but the genomes are too different to allow it to reach efficacy, and humans die from it instead), there's really no reason to believe Gus would have any special influence over other animals, yet he's being portrayed as such. He is, after all, a "very special boy". There's certainly a mystical quality being established to show that he's more than just a kid with horns. My guess is he's being portrayed as a messianic character, perhaps the deliverer of the Hybrids, or maybe everybody by nullifying the Sickness somehow, or he's going to be a unifier between the two species. It's a bit too early to tell what role he's going to play, but it's going to be historically important within the Sweet Tooth Universe.

And yeah, the effects used to give Gus his antlers and his constantly moving ears is seamless and realistic. It's a bit jarring, then, to see stuff like the aforementioned tiger scene for the differences in quality. But, Gus is the pivotal character, so it makes sense that his effects be top notch to sell the character.

 

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6 hours ago, jvmacross said:

Just finished watching the show.....just when I thought I could get rid of Netfix.....looking forward to Season 2 :good:

Indeed. I finished a second, slower pace viewing with friends this weekend. It held up well, which is always good sign.

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