Ask any television lover in your life and they will tell you that no one is having a year quite like Ella Purnell is.
Purnell has working steadily for a decade and change at point — you may remember her as the star of Sweetbitter, or one of the members of the outstanding ensemble cast of Yellowjackets — but there’s no denying that her career has leveled up in 2024. Her incredible talent has been on display both in front of the camera (to wit, her leading role in Prime Video’s wildly successful Fallout adaptation) and as a voice actress (Invincible, Arcane), but it’s her latest project that has truly cemented her as not just an actress to watch, but as one of her generation’s leading ladies.
In the new Starz original series Sweetpea, Purnell plays Rhiannon, an overlooked and underappreciated wallflower who cannot speak up for herself, even when her father’s life is on the line. The series follows her character — a clerical worker at a local paper in England — who has big dreams of being a reporter, but positively no guts to act on her goals. She takes the daily abuse from pretty much everyone around her until one day, after everyone has either laughed at her or made her feel wholly invisible, she snaps and begins a killing spree. Morally okay? Absolutely not. Understandable based on the truly wild situations — including being bullied so badly she pulled out chunks of her hair for years– she has been through? Hell yes.
Purnell definitely caught my attention for her role as Jackie in Yellowjackets, but in Sweetpea, she defies gravity, logic, and reason to become a murderer who you cannot help but root for. The true genius of the show — and the role — is that Rhiannon uses her position within the local paper to investigate the crimes being committed (by her) and gain a sense of confidence that palpates to her coworkers and through to the audience. It’s like if Dexter Morgan decided he wanted to rise through the ranks of the Miami Police Department by finding his own victims and deciphering their murders… although that situation doesn’t exactly correlate because Dexter would have to out himself as their killer, but alas.
I think that’s what makes this show so enjoyable, though. It’s not just your average story of someone losing it and becoming a killer, but a story of self-redemption and finding your voice, even if it does come in the form of, well, murder. Aside from the obvious appeals mentioned above, the show does not attempt to waste the viewers’ time, something so few shows on television have the common sense to do.
With just six episodes that clock in at less than 45 minutes apiece, Sweetpea manages to quickly tell a complete and actually interesting story without dragging things out, providing unnecessary exposition, or treating the audience like children who can’t keep up. It’s a sight to behold in today’s TV landscape.
Unfortunately, because the aforementioned TV landscape is so vast and diverse these days, Sweetpea also happens to be a show that is going unjustly overlooked. The irony of this is not lost on me; after all, Purnell’s character consistently being ignored is what leads to a murder spree in the first place. But I hope that this piece serves as a notice to anyone out there not to just simply scroll past the Sweetpea tile as they are scanning for their next thing to watch.
With drama, murder, and a surprising number of laughs for an otherwise dark and serious series, Sweetpea is one of the most underrated series of 2024. Act accordingly!
The first five episodes of Sweetpea are currently streaming on Starz. Episode 6, the first season finale, releases on Friday, Nov. 15.
