It hasn’t quite been two years since season one of Sweet Tooth, based on the post-apocalyptic comic by Jeff Lemire, ended, but it must seem longer to fans who’ve been wondering what happened to Gus and his hybrid friends after they were captured by General Abbott and Last Men. As this first trailer for the long-awaited second season of the Netflix show reveals, the answer is “nothing good,” but it seems rescue is on the way—if Gus doesn’t take care of it first.
You gore that bad man, adorable deer-boy!
Here’s the surprisingly lengthy synopsis for season two: “As a deadly new wave of the Sick bears down, Gus (Christian Convery) and a band of fellow hybrids are held prisoner by General Abbot (Neil Sandilands) and the Last Men. Looking to consolidate power by finding a cure, Abbot uses the children as fodder for the experiments of captive Dr. Aditya Singh (Adeel Akhtar), who’s racing to save his infected wife Rani (Aliza Vellani). To protect his friends, Gus agrees to help Dr. Singh, beginning a dark journey into his origins and his mother Birdie’s (Amy Seimetz) role in the events leading up to The Great Crumble. Outside the Preserve, Tommy Jepperd (Nonso Anozie) and Aimee Eden (Dania Ramirez ) team up to break the hybrids free, a partnership that will be tested as Jepperd’s secrets come to light. As the revelations of the past threaten the possibility of redemption in the present, Gus and his found family find themselves on a collision course with Abbot and the evil forces that look to wipe them out once and for all.”
The Great Crumble, if you’re new to the series, is basically the destruction of civilization after a plague unimaginatively if accurately called the Sick wiped out a great deal of humanity 10 years ago. It also seemingly caused the birth of animal-human hybrid kids (since they’re all 10 or less, natch), who are of course blamed by many humans like the Last Men for somehow causing the plague despite not having been born at the time.
It’s a far, far darker story than one starring such adorable animal kids should be, in my opinion, but that’s also likely the reason for its critical success. Sweet Tooth returns to Netflix with new episodes on April 27.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.