Sweetpea starts from a decent premise. It's ok, but it doesn't quite work.
Ella Purnell plays Rhiannon. In her twenties, she is a downtrodden and disregarded administrative assistant at a local newspaper. As a kid at school, she was on the receiving end of some "treatment" by other girls. Rhiannon believes that this experience has ruined her life.
No spoilers, but what proceeds is an unraveling.
There is some decent drama here, and we soon find ourselves rooting for Rhiannon, even though she commits horrible acts. In this respect, Sweetpea has the same effect as Breaking Bad - we side with the bad guys because we sort of have a connection with them through our own life experience. But that's as good as it gets.
The problem with Sweetpea is that it's too much of a stretch to believe that a timid bullied schoolgirl can turn as bad as she does as quickly as she does. A lot of it trades on Ella Purnell and her big expressive eyes! She does ok with a limited script. The supporting players are ok.
Sweetpea is engaging and entertaining enough, and I will be tuning in for season 2.
