The pilot of Sweet/Vicious, entitled “The Blueprint” introduced us to the two girls who are singlehandedly trying to take back the night, by any means necessary. This show is not going to be pulling any punches, both literal and metaphorical, and the pilot was a clear indication of that. It tackles the subject of sexual assault with respect and care while also having a hopeful, comedic tone on the whole that creates a perfect balance. Here is what went down in the premiere.
The episode opens with a figure in black sneaking into a window of a frat house, as you do. The figure sneaks up on a boy who is working at his computer and smashes his head into the desk, sending him scrambling to his feet. The figure doesn’t give him a chance to get all the way up however, and she kicks him through his closet door. She shows him a picture of a girl on her phone and after a persuasively placed knife-flick, he admits to knowing her. She tells him to think about what he did to the girl, and if he ever does anything like that to anyone else, she’ll be back. She tells him to call 911 for his leg wound…and then proceeds to give him said leg wound by jamming her knife into his thigh. She is kind enough to remind him not to remove it, lest things get messy, and bolts out of his window. She hops a wall outside of a sorority and removes her mask to reveal her true identity, Jules (Eliza Bennett).
One month later, Ophelia (Taylor Dearden) wakes up in her apartment passed out next to a gentleman caller. Her friend Harris (Brandon Mychal Smith) arrives bearing the gifts of coffee and being caught up with Game of Thrones. He reminds her of her meeting with the school counselor later that day. She reminds him (and us) that her parents are big donors to the school and she has a perfect GPA so no worries should be had. Jules misses a sorority house meeting and her friend Kennedy (Aisha Dee) is starting to worry. This isn’t the first activity she has missed and the list is starting growing quickly. The sisters fill her in that the party they were hoping to have that weekend has been cancelled due to complications with the locale. Jules pitches that they could just have the party here and points out that it would be safer for the sisters to party in their own house.
After her meeting (that did NOT go well), Ophelia takes a much needed ‘herbal siesta’ but is spotted by campus police. The officer gives chase and Ophelia tries to ditch him by running into an alley. Instead she stumbles across Jules, as her vigilante alter-ego, beating the snot out of another guy. She grabs Ophelia and pins her against the wall but Ophelia tells her she supports her decision to whoop this guy (she recognizes him as a guy who assaulted a girl in her dorm). Jules goes back to finish her ‘discussion’ with the guy on the ground but they both turn to hear the officer closing in. Ophelia tells Jules to run and she does. Ophelia notices a necklace on the ground and pockets it just as the officer turns the corner.
At the station she begs the officer not to report her and they agree to both look the other way on each other’s behalf. Ophelia sneaks back later to sneak a look at the guy from the alley’s file and gets the name of the girl he assaulted. She goes to the girl’s dorm only to find out that she dropped out of school last semester. Kennedy catches Mackenzie (Skyler Day) snooping through Jules’ mail and finds a letter from the school saying that Jules is on academic probation. Kennedy and Jules go on a walk and she confronts Jules about not telling her she was having trouble. She offers to set up house study nights to help Jules. Kennedy’s boyfriend, Nate (Dylan McTee), shows up and Jules suddenly becomes very closed off and uncomfortable.
Two of Jules’ sorority sisters, Gaby (Victoria Park) and Fiona (Lindsay Chambers), show up at the record store where Harris and Ophelia work to buy weed from Ophelia. She notices their necklaces (the same as the one she found in the alley) and asks them where they got them. They tell her those are their Zeta necklaces. She informs them she will have to drop off their ‘product’ later so they give her the time and place of the party. At the party, Jules is with Kennedy when Nate shows up and in trying to get away, Jules rushes inside and collides with Tyler (Nick Fink). He tries and awkwardly succeeds at flirting with her but before he can get her name Gaby drags her away to deal with a party-mascot situation. Ophelia arrives at the party and asks around for whomever is missing a necklace. They point her to Jules who shoves her into the basement and threatens her with certain doom if Ophelia continues to interfere. Ophelia manages to slip Jules’ phone away from her and put tracking software on it (as you do). She goes home and hacks Jules’ network, going through her search history. She comes across a lot ‘research’ on a Carter Fischer, a former baseball player accused of assaulting several girls. Later, she gets an alert on her phone that Jules is on the move and follows the signal to a garage.
Jules has gone to the auto shop where Carter works and attacks him from behind. Unfortunately, Carter gets the jump on her and pins her to the ground, choking her, and sending her into a PTSD flashback of her own assault at the hands of Nate. Carter punches her, knocking her out. He tells her he is going to kill her but is suddenly struck on the back of the head by Ophelia and drops to the ground, dead. Ophelia pukes on his body for good measure, just to be safe. Jules wakes up next to Carter’s dead body and understandably freaks out. Ophelia wants to call the police and tell them it was self-defense but Jules refuses, saying they need to clean it up and get rid of his body. They wrap Carter’s body and put him in the trunk of Ophelia’s car. To help with the awkward “we just killed someone” silence, Ophelia puts on some tunes. The first song is a bit too on the nose for comfort so she skips to “Defying Gravity” and they do what you have to do when a song from Wicked comes on; they BELT it.
Once their performance is over, they pull into a bar because Ophelia needs a drink (or ten). They bond over drinks and learn more about each other’s specific skill sets. The boy from the party, Tyler, comes in, spots Jules, and comes over. He introduces himself and he and Jules talk while Ophelia retreats to the bar for round two. He tells Jules he is waiting on his step brother who is running late. A much more inebriated Ophelia returns and tells Jules it is time to go and prompts Tyler to ‘get them digits’. Jules takes his phone to put in her number and notices his lock screen is of himself and the very guy they have stashed in the trunk outside. The panic begins again and they go to leave only to find an empty loading zone where Ophelia’s car (and Carter’s body) used to be.
OTHER THOUGHTS:
• Lebong James is a beautiful name for a bong. Dare I say, artistic.
• When did party mascots become a thing and who in the name of all that is holy chooses a goat?
• Harris has sexual dreams about Ruth Bader Ginsberg…are we not going to talk about this??
• True Fact: Robin IS a bitch.
So what did you think? Are you as hooked on this show from one episode as I am? What do you think of Jules and Ophelia as partners in vigilante justice? Let us know in the comments below!
Make sure to watch Sweet/Vicious Tuesdays at 10/9c on MTV!