Sweetpea - Season 1 High Quality | LATEST EDITION |
As the season progresses, the audience is placed in a morally ambiguous position. We root for Rhiannon, even as her body count rises. Why? Because the show expertly frames her victims as people who represent the petty injustices of the world. From the sleazy real estate developer trying to buy her childhood home to the toxic coworker who undermines her at every turn, Rhiannon becomes a grim reaper for the bullies of the world.
Adapted from C.J. Skuse’s cult favorite novel of the same name, Sweetpea is not your typical thriller. It doesn’t ask you to solve a mystery alongside a grizzled detective, nor does it ask you to fear the monster hiding in the shadows. Instead, it invites you into the mind of the monster—and forces you to realize, with a creeping sense of unease, that you might actually like her.
However, the show doesn’t let her off the hook. Sweetpea maintains a tension between Rhiannon’s fantasy life—where she is a cool, detached avenger—and the reality, which involves panic attacks, close calls with the law, and the terrifying realization that she enjoys the release of violence. The "Sweetpea" of the title is her childhood nickname, a label of innocence that she weaponizes. She hides in plain sight, using her "sweet" demeanor as camouflage. While Rhiannon is the sun around which the show orbits, the solar system of characters in Sweetpea - Season 1 provides the necessary friction to drive the plot. Sweetpea - Season 1
In a television landscape oversaturated with true crime documentaries, gritty police procedurals, and the endless march of "girlboss" anti-heroes, it takes something truly unique to cut through the noise. Enter , the six-part Sky Original series that landed with a delightful thud, offering a refreshing, bloody, and achingly funny take on the serial killer genre.
The inciting incident of the series isn't a dramatic murder or a police raid; it’s a breakup. Rhiannon’s boyfriend, the indifferent and somewhat controlling Ryan, dumps her. It’s the straw that breaks the camel's back, shattering her fragile persona and unleashing a rage that has been simmering beneath the surface for twenty years. As the season progresses, the audience is placed
What follows is a transformation. But unlike Walter White’s descent into darkness, Rhiannon’s evolution is messy, impulsive, and weirdly empowering. She discovers she has a talent for killing, starting with an accidental murder that she covers up with surprising efficiency. This act flips a switch. Rhiannon realizes that for the first time in her life, she has agency. She has a secret. She has power. The triumph of Sweetpea - Season 1 rests entirely on the shoulders of Ella Purnell. In lesser hands, Rhiannon could have become a caricature—a quirky Dexter Morgan with a British accent. But Purnell brings a palpable vulnerability to the role that makes the character’s violence feel grounded in a twisted sort of logic.
The dry-witted, somewhat sad-sack reporter at the Gazette is Rhiannon’s foil and romantic interest. Jeff is one of the few people who sees Rhiannon, genuinely sees her, even if he doesn't suspect her true nature. Their relationship is the emotional anchor of the show. It offers Rhiannon a chance at genuine connection and normalcy, creating a stakes-heavy dilemma: can she maintain a relationship while harb Because the show expertly frames her victims as
Rhiannon is invisible. She’s the "sweet girl" next door, the one who apologizes when someone else bumps into her. She lives in a house she can’t afford, saddled with the memories of a childhood defined by tragedy—the death of her sister decades ago, a trauma that fractured her family and left her emotionally stunted.
We live in an era of the "angry young woman," but Rhiannon’s anger isn't the cool, stylized vengeance of a John Wick character. It is the anger of the overlooked. It’s the specific rage of a woman who has been told to smile, to be polite, to be quiet, and to make herself small for her entire life.
