Sweet Tooth season 2's BTS teaser hints that the show has at least one more season in the can, which means its pacing will do justice to the source material. The show's early hook comes from its familiar pandemic setup, which first depicts the collective sense of grief that has dawned upon a post-apocalyptic world. However, as it progresses, it slowly turns into a whimsical coming-of-age tale that thoughtfully examines the ebbs and flows of identity, love, and morality. With a palette replete with lush colors, Sweet Tooth portrays its end-of-the-world narrative with childlike wonder, breathing new life into the sub-genre.
Sweet Tooth season 1 is set a decade after "The Great Crumble," a pandemic that killed many and also led to the strange emergence of half-human, half-animal babies. This mysterious appearance of the hybrids at the pandemic's onset raised paranoia and, as a result, turned many humans hostile toward them. Far away from this bleak world, a hybrid deer-boy named Gus stays well-protected in a forest home for ten years. However, his guardian's death inspires him to join forces with a violent drifter and set out on an adventure to learn more about his origins. Sweet Tooth season 1 initially takes time to flesh out its characters but later races in the second half to resolve some of its underlying mysteries before the season's coda.
Considering how the first season's approach works out so well, it is likely that Sweet Tooth season 2 will retain most of its elements without falling into the common pitfalls of other hastily paced fantasy dramas. Sweet Tooth season 2's BTS teaser affirms this in a tiny segment in which the narrator reveals, "But this isn't the end of their story, and I can't wait to see what happens next." If season 3 is indeed underway, season 2 will probably pace things out to give the audience more time to get emotionally invested in the characters and leave the rest of its plot developments for another season. This way, not only will Sweet Tooth avoid jampacking 46 comic book issues in two seasons, but it will also avoid leaving any loose threads in its character arcs.
Given that Sweet Tooth has a vast roster of characters, it is not surprising that its slow-burn trope is intentional. As executive producer Amanda Burrell explained (via The Verge), the show's pace lingers in its crucial moments because it allows "the audience to be with these characters and not removed from them.” With this emphasis on pace and characterization, Sweet Tooth carves its own path and rises well above many other fantasy adaptations that attempt to hustle their storylines straight to their source material's slambang moments and climactic revelations. Treading a similar path, season 2 will avoid prematurely concluding its story and instead will delve deeper into Dr. Aditya Singh's ambiguous morality, Tommy "Big Man" Jepperd's hidden kindness, and Gus' incredible rite of passage while leaving a few stones unturned for season 3.
Netflix's Sweet Tooth already seems to have all the makings of a successful franchise, and it will possibly become one if it manages to preserve its extensive imagination, colorful aesthetic, political undertones, and most of all, steady character beats in the upcoming season. Apart from these, Sweet Tooth's future also depends on how it will further traverse the comic book's grim tone into the show's feel-good aura while holding on to its recurring theme of finding opportunity and hope in adversity. With so much to look forward to, Sweet Tooth season 2 will hopefully be on par—if not better—than its predecessor.