The Sweet/Vicious season 1 finale just finished airing, bringing us the conclusion to Jules and Ophelia’s stories — for now.
Sweet/Vicious season 1, episode 9, “An Innocent Man,” picks up right where episode 8 left off, which was with Harris catching Ophelia in a lie big enough to prove she’s involved with the vigilante. O defends her choice to keep him in the dark because she knows it goes against everything he believes in. Despite Harris knowing what happened to Jules, he can’t justify their means of getting justice. “We’re done here,” he says, as he storms out.
This scene hits so hard because friendships on this show are so real and deep. Evan, for example, isn’t jealous of Ophelia and Harris’ relationship. Instead, he’s rooting for them to be friends again, and truly believes they will be. Kennedy, meanwhile, goes face to face with Nate in order to deliver the summons directly to his hands. That couldn’t have been easy for her, but she did it for Jules as much as she did it for herself.
Jules apologizes to Ophelia for what she said last week and tells her she’s going to give the process a chance so she can move on, and just like that, despite what happened, Ophelia accepts the apology. What’s going on with Jules is so much bigger than an argument the two of them had while Jules was in a bad place.
“Let’s talk about the night of April 23,” two counselors from the school tell Jules, Nate, and the various witnesses they’ve gathered. As is shockingly common, Jules’ character comes under question more than Nate’s — what was she wearing? Was she drunk? Did she go up to his room on her own? Did she ask for this? Worse yet, the girls from Zeta are passively blamed for leaving her there to begin with, and they feel horrible for it.
When they finally get to Jules and Nate’s testimony, the tone of the stories couldn’t be more different. Where Nate started off as a guy who just made a bad decision, he’s now actively going out of his way to paint Jules in a certain light that will guarantee he’ll get off the hook. Accepting he did something wrong would’ve been the first step toward doing the right thing, but Nate’s not even attempting to do that anymore.
Again, sticking to familiar stories, we see both Nate’s coach telling him he’ll take care of everything, as well as a picture of Jules going live that slut shames her. The one saving grace here is Tyler’s reaction. He’s supportive, gentle, understanding, and apologetic for never guessing what happened between Nate and Jules. I love seeing females supporting females, but I also think it’s so important to have male allies. It’s easy to forget they can be victims, too, and it’s easy to forget that not all men are as predatory as Nate.
Unfortunately, Tyler can’t control his reactions, and he punches Nate outside where Jules will find out the outcome of her hearings. “I asked you to be there for me, but not like that,” Jules says. Luckily, Ophelia and Kennedy are there for her, and for once it seems like justice has been served. Nate has been found guilty of sexually assaulting Jules.
Naturally, Ophelia is a little confused. They beat up a lot of people based on the theory that the school wouldn’t get all those girls justice. Unfortunately, the girls celebrated too early. Nate’s family went directly to the president of Darlington, who overturned the verdict despite the fact he hadn’t even met with Jules or heard her story. And this, ladies and gentleman, is what the girls have been fighting against.
But Jules and Ophelia have other problems to deal with, too. Tyler tells Jules he’s filed a missing person’s report on Carter, and now it’s Ophelia’s job to figure out what the police know. It turns out they know a lot more now, like the fact that Carter’s probably dead. This new development drives Ophelia to turn herself in. Her reasoning is that Harris is too good to go down for her, but he’s also too good to let her go down at all, so he and Jules saves her from doing something stupid. “You’re a pain in my ass,” he tells her, “but you’re my ride or die.”
Harris does warn Ophelia against doing anything rash, but both she and Jules decide that it’s about time they taken down Nate. And they’re not the only ones who are looking to confront him. After hearing some real talk from Kennedy, Miles can’t help but question his friend about what happened that night. It’s clear he has his reservations.
Although it’s a minor part of the episode, I think it’s important to point out Ophelia’s conversation with Evan before things really kick into high gear. It sounds like this was setting up a lot more than it appeared on the surface, not only about survivor’s guilt, but about mental illness in general. Ophelia admits she’s a dark person, and she also admits she feels bad for having dark thoughts in her head knowing what Jules went through. I hope this is something Sweet/Vicious will explore if it’s renewed.
But the end of the episode overshadows this conversation. After Tyler apologizes to Jules, the two of them have sex for the first time. It’s a time of celebration, especially for Jules, but it’s cut short when the police come to arrest Tyler for the murder of his step-brother.
Sweet/Vicious season 1, episode 10, “Pure Heroine,” feels tonally different compared to the other episodes, but in the best possible way. Despite ending on a low note in the previous episode, the finale has an upbeat vibe to it and plenty of humor to combat the seriousness of what goes down.
Jules and Ophelia decide to scroll through a sex offender registry to find someone really terrible to frame for the murder of Carter. Meanwhile, they’re still working on taking down Nate with Operation IntimiNate, especially now that they’re officially being called #SweetVicious. “We’re coming for you, Nate,” the girls promise, and it seems like half the campus is in on getting revenge.
After the pedophile is framed and Tyler walks free, Operation IntimiNate steps it up a notch. “Sweet dreams” is scrawled on the wall in white paint while Nate’s floor is littered with pictures of him sleeping. The girls attempt to get his fraternity brothers to drop him, but it’s all a ploy on Omega Theta’s part. They set a trap for the vigilantes, but Jules and Ophelia can handle their own, despite it being nine against two.
One Omega Theta brother who’s not interested in keeping Nate’s reputation squeaky clean is Miles. He’s racked with guilt over what happened to Jules, and he doesn’t attend the takedown of the girls. Juphelia use this to their advantage and even though they need an “Oh my gosh, sidebar” moment, they end up getting some useful information out of Nate’s friend. The next day, he gets a letter and hangs out with Nate in order to set him up.
It all comes crashing down for Nate in an epic public humiliation. He’s been caught on tape snorting coke and talking about how girls deserve what they get, walking around in those tight skirts and all. “I’m gonna let everybody know, I’m Nate Griffin,” he says. “If I want it, I’m gonna take it.” The video ends with a slick logo for S/V and a forum for Darlington students to report injustices. Even Miles can’t help but rub it in Nate’s face as he’s escorted out of the room.
But it’s not all smooth sailing from here on out. Kennedy and Jules talk about Nate and how K can’t help but miss him, and thereby feel guilty for doing so. Jules understands and is accepting of her friend’s feelings, telling her she needs to mourn and get closure. “This doesn’t define you,” Jules says. “You are a strong, beautiful woman, and nothing can break you unless you give it permission.”
Evan’s former date was sexually assaulted a few days ago, and he confesses his guilt and horror to Ophelia, who leaves him a note as the S/V vigilante. Meanwhile, Harris spots 26 unreported sexual assault cases that were either mishandled, dismissed, or completely unattended by the DA’s office. He wants to help, despite being too sophisticated for “that ninja shit.” It seems like the girls have another inside man they can count on.
Tyler and Jules admit that they love each other, and even though it’s a sweet moment, there’s a bit of a bitter aftertaste. One of the vigilante’s former victims tells Nate they have a common enemy, and Kennedy follows up on an internship that will allow her time away from Darlington. Worse yet, however, we see fabric from Jules’ torn backpack in the garage, where the police (or Tyler) will surely spot it sooner or later.
But at least we leave Sweet/Vicious season 1 on a high note. Ophelia and Jules set up the S/V forum for people to start reporting injustices, and it begins to blow up in a big way. “Looks like we’re gonna be busy,” Ophelia says.
Here’s to hoping for a season 2.