When we were introduced to Big Man in the very first episode of “Sweet Tooth” Season 1, we realized instantly that there was a lot brewing inside him. Big Man had located where Gus was staying, and though he had come there with a very different intention, he ended up saving Gus’ life by killing the poacher who wanted to capture him. Big Man’s real name was Thomas “Tommy” Jeppard and his quiet demeanor and remorseful eyes told us that the pandemic had taken a lot from him, and he was still coping with all the grief that he had been left with.
Spoiler Alert
In “Sweet Tooth” season 1, when Big Man saw Gus and his fascinating settlement, which Richard had made into habitable space, amidst the woods, he was amazed for more than one reason. Firstly, he hadn’t seen a hybrid that was able to talk so efficiently, and secondly, he had no clue that a family had been hiding in the woods for such a long time. Big Man noticed that Gus was petrified just by looking at him, and he wouldn’t answer anything he asked him. Big Man realized that the place was not in good shape: the water pipes were leaking, and the little garden where Richard used to grow plants and crops was also in a bad condition because, obviously, Gus was too small to maintain the entire setup and look after all the things on his own. During that little amount of time, somehow Gus’ intuition told him that this man was trustworthy, and he decided that he would ask Big Man to take him to Colorado, where he believed his mother was staying. Big Man turned down his request as he was in no mood to take on the responsibility of a kid, and that too a hybrid. He knew how Abbot’s men were hunting down the hybrids, and he was not ready to risk his own life to help Gus find his mother, whose chances of still being alive were quite bleak. But Gus was stubborn, and he was not going to let go of this opportunity. For his entire life, Gus had stayed in the forest, and he knew that he needed somebody to take him to Colorado and that is why he followed Big Man and went outside his safe space for the first time in his life.
What Had Happened To Big Man’s Family?
Before the outbreak of the H5G9 virus, Thomas Jeppard was a famous football player who played for the Guardians. His wife, Louisa, had been pregnant, and she went into labor at the time when the H5G9 virus had just started spreading and the scenario had quickly descended into chaos and mayhem. The people didn’t know what was happening to them, and they just ran to the hospitals in the hope that the doctors would be able to help them somehow. The hospitals were flooded, and there was a shortage of manpower. To make matters worse, at that point in time, the doctors had no clue what kind of virus they were dealing with, and surely, they didn’t have any remedy for it.
Big Man had reached the hospital with his wife, begged the doctors to take her in, and told them that she was not infected and that she was pregnant. It took a lot of convincing and requesting, but the doctors did take her in. To Big Man’s horror, his baby was born a hybrid, and he just couldn’t deal with that. Hybrids were considered abominations; they were considered to be the reason behind the spread of the virus because people didn’t have a complete understanding of how they worked. Big Man went down the elevator because he didn’t want to look at his newborn, and he didn’t know how he would face his wife. At this point in time, Big Man bumped into Dr. Adtiya Singh, who worked in the same hospital, and the conversation he had with him made him realize that he could not just abandon his family because his child was born as a hybrid. Big Man went up once again, but to his horror, his wife and child were nowhere to be found.
It was still the early days of the pandemic, and the foundation of the Last Man Legion was being laid. Big Man joined Abbot’s army in the hope that they would locate his wife and child, but nothing of the sort happened. Big Man reached a point where he told his superior that he wouldn’t work for them unless and until he got some information about his family. His superior agreed and asked him to meet his contact, who would tell him more about his family’s whereabouts. In episode 5 of “Sweet Tooth” Season 2, that contact gave Big Man a bag that contained the skeletal remains of his wife and child. Big Man held the bag close to his chest, and he wept like a small child. Big Man blamed himself for his loss, as he believed that had he not abandoned his family, they would still be alive.
Will Big Man Find Birdie In ‘Sweet Tooth’ Season 3?
Big Man had started feeling emotionally attached to Gus over the course of time, something that he had always avoided after he lost his family. His personal tragedy and Gus’ heart-melting behavior, both played a crucial role in making him lose his hard exterior and embrace the little guy as his family. Becky’s animal army had noticed that Big Man had a marking on his chest that made them realize that he was one of the Last Men. They would have killed him, but Gus made sure he vehemently took Big Man’s side and made them realize that he was not a bad man. Big Man noticed that Gus could have easily abandoned him, as Becky would have helped him reach Colorado nonetheless, but instead, he chose to stay and protect him. Big Man had lost his family once, and he didn’t want to lose out on it again. Big Man realized that there were a lot of similarities between him and Gus, as both of them had lost their families and didn’t have anybody whom they could call their own.
From wanting to leave Gus at Andersons’ and abandoning him to planning a rescue mission with Aimee Eden to launching an attack on Abbot’s army, Big Man had come a long way, and in the process, he found somebody whom he could call his family. Big Man and Aimee were able to rescue the hybrids and bring them to Gus’ old house in the woods, where he stayed with Richard. Though Big Man was not somebody who would undertake reckless missions and risk his own life, he decided to take Gus to Alaska to find out about his mother. Big Man knew that he would never be able to get his family back, but Gus still had a chance, and as long as that hope was alive, he wanted to carry on his quest, no matter how futile and far-fetched it might seem at times.
Now that Big Man, Wendy, and Becky have decided to accompany Gus to Alaska, they might find the secrets that were hidden there and also be able to reunite Dr. Gertrude Miller with Gus. Becky had found the exact location of the outpost that was marked in the papers belonging to Fort Smith, on which Richard had made his illustrations. This piece of information will give the group some leverage in “Sweet Tooth” Season 3, but it cannot be denied that finding someone who has been missing from the scene for the last 10 years and who additionally does not want to be found, is not going to be an easy task. We believe that Big Man and Gus would also play a pivotal role in finding a cure for the virus, and maybe their arrival will help Dr. Miller get that missing link that she hadn’t been to find up until then.
