This Sort of Thing Needs Some Feminine Energy – As the second episode of Sweetpea begins, Rhiannon Lewis (Ella Purnell) appears to be happier when she gets up in the morning. She finds the knife and other evidence. Rhiannon rushes to clean up her clothes to conceal the murder. She hears someone at the door. Craig (Jon Pointing) asks if she’s changed anything because she looks different. Craig says Seren told him she was open to offers. He gives her a business agreement for Tommy’s Transformations. He wants to buy it. Rhiannon retreats inside. Once alone, she picks up the knife and relishes the murder. She tries to sanitize the knife. On the bus, Rhiannon notices a police presence at the scene of the murder. At work, she tries to find out more. Before she can, AJ (Calam Lynch) brings her a cup of tea.

Norman (Jeremy Swift) comes in to talk to everyone about ideas for the first page of the newspaper. Jeff (Dustin Demri-Burns) comes in and tells him about the body that was just pulled out of the canal. Rhiannon tells them it was a murder and the police were there this morning. She mentions that the victim was stabbed. Later, Jeff returns to the office and confirms that the victim was stabbed 14 times. Norman and the others begin theorizing that it was gang-related and multiple people were involved. Norman wants everyone on the case. Rhiannon takes Jeff’s notebook and tries to look through it. AJ interrupts. He asks if she’s going to shred it. Rhiannon asks if he can read shorthand because she suspects there might be more details in there. They talk about whether the killer will be caught. Back at her desk, Rhiannon reads what people are saying about the psycho who killed the victim.

She takes a call from Jeff who wants to speak to Norman. Jeff reveals that the man’s name is Ryan Lloyd. After the call, Rhiannon tells Norman everything and says she’d like to get the quote. AJ ends up tagging along. On the way, Rhiannon tells AJ about her dad and her dog dying. They talk about whether she’s holding it down. Rhiannon confesses she’s been getting really angry lately. She saves it all up and it all comes out at once. AJ believes that’s normal. Once they arrive, Rhiannon sees a man sitting inside the residence. Mrs. Lloyd comes to the door, but she isn’t eager to speak to them. AJ suggests doing some sort of tribute to Ryan. They manage to convince Mrs. Lloyd to give them five minutes. Mrs. Lloyd says she’d rip the skin off of whoever did this to Ryan. Rhiannon learns about his nephew, Logan. Ryan was his hero. Logan even told his teacher he wanted to work in a call center because of Ryan.

Ryan worked there until they sacked him because he wasn’t aligned with their ethos. Al was ready to go down there with a baseball bat and show Dave Ferris what’s what. Rhiannon goes to the bathroom and instead looks around Ryan’s room. She finds a restraining order against Ryan. Rhiannon returns to AJ and says they should get going. In the car, she tells AJ that she wants to visit David Ferris. Ryan got dismissed for inappropriate conduct. David got a restraining order against him. Rhiannon wants to find out whether Ryan deserved to die. They visit Dave to ask him about Ryan. Dave (William Andrews) says it started small and he’d make little comments. Then, Ryan started hiding his stuff and sending him nasty links. Ryan said he was into little girls and they even searched his computer. Dave confesses that Ryan made him disappear inside himself. Rhiannon believes Ryan was a bully and Dave didn’t deserve that.

In the car, Rhiannon and AJ discuss which story they should use. Seren messages Rhiannon to say Julia is going to the house for the valuation. Rhiannon makes AJ take her there so she can clean up. Jessica (Nicole Lecky) arrives with a friend, Stella. Rhiannon tells her that she just wanted to tidy the place. As they look around the house, Jessica tells Rhiannon that her hair is looking lovely these days. They want to move everything out so the photographer can come in. Rhiannon goes back to the office. She tells Jeff and Norman about Ryan terrorizing a colleague. Norman isn’t sure they can use the restraining order because it’s too unsavory. Rhiannon convinces Norman to do it although Jeff gets to keep the story. Norman invites her out for a drink with the others. She goes out with them and talks to AJ. He tells her that he approves of her underhanded tactics that tick off Jeff. Norman tells AJ that he has to do a song.

A bit later, Rhiannon notices Craig in the pub. She recognizes a man nearby before Craig comes over and interrupts. Craig asks if she’s read the business agreement. Rhiannon isn’t sure she can trust him with her dad’s business. Rhiannon decides to sing a song as well. Midway through the song, she sees the police and becomes concerned. She rushes to the bathroom to collect herself. She finds graffiti calling Ryan a bad name. Rhiannon believes whoever wrote it was right. The detective, Marina (Leah Harvey), comes into the bathroom. Rhiannon remembers the rude man from the hospital. He’s now bothering the bartender. Rhiannon decides to follow him out. Rory (Nitin Ganatra) tells her to be careful until they nail this guy. Rhiannon follows the rude guy and eventually asks for his help.

She lures him over and convinces him to look under the bin. The man agrees to do so. Rhiannon attacks and kills him. She stops on her way home to look at a picture of Julia.

 

Sweetpea Review

The second episode of Sweetpea was interesting although the series is so similar to Obituary. Both shows featured a main female character who was secretly killing people they believed deserved to be killed. They also both worked at a newspaper office and used the killings for stories.

It is hard to ignore these similarities because they’re so jarring. In addition to this, the shows have even more in common. In fact, even Rhiannon looks a little like Elvira Clancy. It’s interesting because RTE’s Obituary was released less than a year ago and it’s already been renewed for a second series.

Sweetpea doesn’t really do anything better or worse than Obituary, but it also feels a little like a copycat too. Both shows also wanted to be comedies, but neither of them exceled in that category. As a result, Sweetpea should’ve gone grittier and darker to set itself apart.

It’s watchable overall, but it’s also just going through the motions like Obituary. Some viewers will love the subtle comedy and will find themselves cheering for Rhiannon though. The episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of Sweetpea can be found here.

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