Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS ahead for Sweet Tooth series finale!
Summary
- Sweet Tooth producers Amanda Burrell and Susan Downey, alongside creator Jim Mickle, have different viewpoints on the ending of the show and if Big Man survived.
- Burrell believes that he did die, an experience that's important for Gus' story to end with. Downey believes Big Man survived emotionally, symbolically staying with Gus.
- Mickle finds the open ending to Big Man's fate as the beauty of interpretation in Sweet Tooth finale.
Sweet Tooth season 3 ends with Gus burning down the antler tree to let nature decide the course of things, with his friend Big Man accompanying him up the mountain. However, after he sustains an injury that could be life-threatening, it's made unclear as to his survival, or if Gus simply wanted to give him a happy ending in his story.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Burrell, Downey, and Mickle revealed their interpretations of Sweet Tooth's ending, as well as whether Big Man really survived at the end. Burrell and Downey have different viewpoints about if he survived and for how long, while Mickle believes the level of interpretation itself is what makes the moment so special. Check out what Burrell, Downey, and Mickle had to say below:
Amanda Burrell: I don't know what this says about me [chuckles], but I really firmly believe he did not make it down the mountain. For me, it's important that Gus really goes on that journey, and has to experience death again, and that it's really full circle, and that's what the journey is set out from. But I think that Jim was so inspired to have that final moment where you could still maybe believe.
Susan Downey: Yeah, so emotionally, I believe he made it down, because he's eventually gonna die. It's gonna happen, so he's still dealing with that reality, and so I want to believe it. Now, technically speaking, if you look at what he's wearing, he really hasn't worn that in a really long time on our show, so it probably lives in Gus' memory, and it is saying he is still there with him.
Amanda Burrell: He is always with him.
Susan Downey: He is going to always be with him, and I think, honestly, that's the more emotional and poetic version of it. But as I'm watching it, I'm not gonna believe it. That they just left him up there like a climber on Everest? No! [Laughs]
Jim Mickle: I honestly don't know, I've gone back and forth myself so many times. I think that's kind of one of the best parts of it is that it works either way. I have my opinion of what it is, but I don't want to put it out there and spoil it for anybody. [Chuckles]
Did Big Man Die At The End Of Sweet Tooth?
It Seems To Be The Most Likely Outcome
As evidenced by the responses from the show's creator and producer, the fantasy series leaves Big Man's final fate open to interpretation. While it appears his final moments were designed to make it seem like he's probably dead, they also open the door to a more hopeful interpretation of what happened on the mountain. However, after Zhang stabbed him, he ended up slowing down considerably, making it understandable why Burrell and Downey interpreted him as dying in different ways. While other Sweet Tooth characters got definitive endings, his is left up to the audience.
Due to how both producers believe that, at some point, Big Man died after the injuries he sustained, it seems like his death is the most likely outcome of his injury. This would make his final appearance something that comes from Gus' memory as he narrates his tale, giving it a hopeful spin that doesn't necessarily line up with what really happened. It offers a bittersweet sendoff to his character since, despite possibly succumbing to his injuries in the end, he still lived on as an important figure in the main character's memory.
Sweet Tooth Season 3 Review: The Netflix Series Sticks The Landing With Death-Defying Final Season
Sweet Tooth season 3 continues Gus's voyage to Alaska in hopes of finding his mom and the cure for the Sick, with a fitting ending to the series.
However, there's also the more hopeful interpretation that Big Man actually did survive, his appearance in the end signifying how his journey has come full circle. While this appears to be a less likely scenario given the common interpretation between the show's creatives, Sweet Tooth presents it in a way where audiences can still have their own belief about what really happened. While different interpretations can be considered, the most likely answer does, unfortunately, involve one last character death at the end.
Sweet Tooth
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2024-00-00
- Showrunner
- Jim Mickle
- Directors
- Jim Mickle
Cast
Will Forte
Christian Convery
WHERE TO WATCH
Based on the comic series of the same name, Sweet Tooth is set in the not-too-distant future, post-apocalyptic United States in the wake of a devastating viral pandemic. After the disease decimated the world's population, some children began to be born with human and animal hybrid characteristics. Many people are afraid of the hybrids, believing them to be the cause of the virus. When his father is killed, a young deer hybrid named Gus (Christian Convery) embarks on a quest to find his mother with the help of a traveler and loner named Tommy Jeppard (Nonso Anozie).
- Writers
- Jim Mickle
- Seasons
- 3
- Streaming Service(s)
- AppleTV+
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