Sorry For Your Loss – As the opening episode of Sweetpea begins, Rhiannon complains about Manspreader (Matthew Hawksley) on the bus. Rhiannon Lewis (Ella Purnell) talks about Donna at the supermarket. Rhiannon insists Donna is never happy to help. At work, Norman (Jeremy Swift) annoys her for failing to acknowledge her potential. Rhiannon also complains about Jeff and everyone at work. She is upset with her sister, Seren (Alexandra Dowling), for not responding to her text messages. She also mentions her mom for leaving and not telling them where she went. Julia Blenkingsopp (Nicole Lecky) is at the top of her list for bullying her when she was younger. Julia made Rhiannon pull so much of her hair out that she had to wear a wig. Rhiannon says she’d kill her dad for leaving her to deal with everything alone.

At the hospital, her dad, Tommy (David Bark-Jones), pretends to be dead to prank her. He tells Rhiannon that she needs to learn how to stand up for herself. She worries he sounds worse and wonders if anyone has been in to see him today. Rhiannon admits she blames herself for being so helpless without him and for letting him down again. She watches her father pass. Rhiannon gets upset in her vehicle and admits she’d like to kill everyone. After the intro, Rhiannon takes her dog to her dad’s funeral. The pastor ends up messing up her name. Andrew (Alexander Bellinfantie), Craig (Jon Pointing), and Shaun (Elliot Cable) are in attendance. After the funeral, Rhiannon notices Julia and her friends walking toward her. Rhiannon gets out of there as quickly as possible. She finds out that they’re throwing away the stuff from the funeral including Tommy’s picture.

She speaks to Aunty Brenda (Polly Kemp) next. Brenda tells the others that Rhiannon doesn’t work at the pub. Rhiannon tells Craig it was nice of him to come. They talk about getting coffee or something at a later time. Rhiannon tries to tell him about Craig, but he doesn’t hear her and she doesn’t repeat it. Julia complains about the food. Seren asks Rhiannon if she sent them her dietary requirements. Julia speaks to Rhiannon and pretends like nothing happened back then. Later, Seren runs into Rhiannon outside. She invites her sister out for a drink with the others. They talk about Julia. Seren believes they need to sell the house and business property. Rhiannon argues that she lives in the house. Seren reminds Rhiannon she could always buy her out. Rhiannon says she’s an admin assistant and can’t afford to buy her out. Seren says she and Xav want to buy a place.

Rhiannon invites her sister and Xav to move in with her and Tink. Seren already has an estate agent and Julia is doing it. Rhiannon tries to convince her not to do it, but Seren isn’t willing to listen to her. Before long, Rhiannon begins thinking about the people she’d like to kill. She starts with Julia who ruined her life. Rhiannon makes it home where she washes her dad’s knife. She goes to work at the Gazette. She thinks she can be so much more than a coat rack. Rhiannon notices an ad for a job opening as a junior reporter. She speaks to Norman about being considered for the position. Rhiannon tells him about some story ideas she has. Norman questions whether she has the killer instinct needed to do the job. He tells her to learn first and they’ll talk again. Before long, AJ Pierce (Calam Lynch) comes in and speaks to Rhiannon who is at her desk. He says he’s there to see Norman.

Norman yells at him to come through. AJ thanks Rhiannon before he goes on. Later, Norman tells everyone that AJ is going to be their new junior reporter. Rhiannon gets upset when she hears that news. She follows AJ out and calls him a nepo-baby. Rhiannon follows him into a dark tunnel. It appears she intends to kill him until she cuts her hands. Rhiannon gets more information from him as a cover. AJ asks if he took her job. Rhiannon insists it wasn’t her job. Later, Seren messages Rhiannon to say she’s serious about selling the house. She’s arranging a valuation for tomorrow. Rhiannon looks up and sees a billboard for Julia’s business. She ends up pulling hair out of her head. While she’s distracted, her dog Tink gets hit by a vehicle. Rhiannon takes the dog home, gets drunk, and digs a hole. She buries Tink. Rhiannon calls Seren to leave a message pleading with her not to sell the house.

Rhiannon is going to tell Julia that she’s not going to ruin her life again. She goes to the SQR Club to confront her. Rhiannon asks her to stay out of her house. She tells Julia to stop pretending like she doesn’t know what she did. Rhiannon claims her life is crap because of Julia. Julia reminds her she’s not in her life so that’s not on her. She claims it’s like Rhiannon is obsessed with her and it’s creepy. Rhiannon claims Julia made her this way. She overhears Julia accusing her of always making stuff up and being lonely. Rhiannon leaves and finds a place to get out of the rain. She pulls the knife out of her bag. A drunk man ends up urinating on her. Rhiannon gets upset and kicks him. The man threatens to end her until Rhiannon stabs him. When he comes towards her again, Rhiannon stabs him repeatedly. She rolls his body into the water.

Rhiannon goes home and screams in front of the mirror.

 

Sweetpea Review

The opening episode of Sweetpea didn’t do a lot to really tell us what is exactly going on here or what to expect. That’s a little concerning since this is only six episodes, but the goal may be to get renewed above all else. We just don’t know. However, the episode was interesting enough to justify watching one or two more.

Although this is billed as a dark comedy, it really doesn’t hit the target in the comedy area because nothing about the episode was funny. It also feels like they moved too slowly before moving too quickly with the death of Rhiannon’s dog. A bit more explanation of Rhiannon’s state of mind and the abuse she experienced could’ve helped.

There was never a sense of empathy for Rhiannon although that was likely the goal. Despite this, the episode was made well and acted well. The story has just now grown legs so the potential is there for so much more. At least, the episode was good enough to justify watching a bit more. The opener scores a 6 out of 10.

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