Sweetpea’s First Kill Explained: Why Rhiannon Becomes A Killer

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for episode 1 of Sweetpea.

Sweetpea's premiere provided the perfect blend of comedy and drama, which culminated in Rhiannon killing her first victim after plenty of build-up. Starz's new limited series centers around Rhiannon Lewis, a seemingly normal and innocent girl whose life quickly unravels, resulting in her becoming a killer. The series is led by Ella Purnell, who has been part of some excellent projects over the past few years and once again delivers a thrilling performance. Her involvement in Prime Video's Fallout is perhaps her biggest role to date, yet Purnell's Sweetpea role is the complete opposite of Fallout's Lucy.

While both characters start out as kind, good-hearted people, Rhiannon doesn't manage to maintain her soft nature. Instead, Sweetpea's cast of interesting characters pushes her further and further down a dark path, leading to her taking her frustrations out on a complete stranger. The brutal incident makes the rest of the season even more exciting, as seeing how Rhiannon reacts to her life-changing decision alongside her attempts to go about her normal life will be fascinating. Interestingly, the murder wasn't planned, but Sweetpea's opening episode thankfully revealed all the key factors leading to Rhiannon taking her first life.

Rhiannon Killed A Man After He Disrespected Her In Sweetpea Episode 1's Ending

Rhiannon's Frustrations Reached A Bolling Point When A Stranger Urinated On Her

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Rhiannon's first kill happened by a canal, where she murdered a man who disrespected her. Already upset and near her breaking point, the final straw for the protagonist proved to be a man urinating on her. Having felt invisible most of her life, things hit a boiling point when the stranger began aiming towards Rhiannon, claiming he didn't see her. In response, she scolded the man before kicking him between the legs, but this only made him more aggressive, as he walked towards her full of anger while hurling threats at her.

Instinctively, Rhiannon plunged her knife into his neck before repeatedly stabbing him. She then proceeded to dump his body in the water before putting the murder weapon in her bag and casually headed home. Her first kill was messy, and while the stranger disrespecting her definitely prompted a fit of rage, it wasn't the only reason she attacked him. The man simply happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing the wrong things, and Rhiannon brutally murdering him was a huge shock and shift of tone, proving why Ella Purnell's Sweetpea's review scores are so good.

How Rhiannon's First Kill Was A Culmination Of Her Life Up To That Point

Plenty Of Previous Events In Rhiannon's Life Pushed Her Towards Her Breaking Point

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Although Rhiannon's kill was completely unplanned, it proved to be a culmination of numerous factors driving her towards a moment of unhinged brutality. Her usually timid and friendly demeanor would indicate she wasn't the type to hurt anyone, let alone kill them, but years of feeling invisible caused her to finally snap. Sweetpea episode 1 featured plenty of big reveals about Rhiannon's life, but perhaps the biggest one was being bullied at school. A girl named Julia used to torment her by pretending she was dead, causing Rhiannon to lose her self-esteem and begin pulling her hair out.

Her past had a massive impact on her adult life, as she rarely stood up for herself or challenged those who ignored her. As a result, Rhiannon is often disrespected and disregarded in her working life and doesn't have much of a social circle. With her mother walking out on her when she was younger and her sister living abroad, Rhiannon was only really close to her dad and her dog, both of who died in the opening episode.

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With her sister not only wanting to sell the house Rhiannon lives in but also hiring Julia as the estate agent, her frustration only continued to grow. All of these factors combined to essentially break Rhiannon, and the man by the canal was the thing that finally triggered this darker side. The protagonist may have been drunk and grieving when she stabbed her victim, but it was a whole life of feeling invisible combined with losing two loved ones that pushed her over the edge, creating an unlikely killer.

What Rhiannon’s Kill In Episode 1 Means For The Rest Of Sweetpea

The Man At The Docks Could Be The First Of Rhiannon's Many Victims

Episode 1's ending will have huge ramifications going forward, as Rhiannon's first kill could be the start of many more. Sweetpea's promotional material indicated that the protagonist may wind up killing multiple times, and now that she's got a taste for murder, more violent scenes could be on the way. The series will likely force Rhiannon to balance her everyday life with her sinister secret, creating a compelling story going forward. She may have to get more creative with each kill and work harder on covering her tracks in order to evade the police who will likely begin an investigation.

New episodes of Sweetpea are released every Friday on Starz.

Finding out who her next victims are and what connections they have to Rhiannon will be interesting, but her bloodlust could also impact her relationships. It may change how people see her, resulting in those around the protagonist noticing her strange behavior and becoming suspicious. Therefore, they could also be potential victims, alongside those that Rhiannon already hates, with Julia at the top of her list. The kill by the canal will undoubtedly change Rhiannon going forward, making it a crucial scene that will inevitably shake up the plot and the protagonist's personality as Sweetpea continues.