Sugar debuted on Apple TV in 2024, a neo-noir drama about a private eye tracking down a young woman who’d gone missing somewhere between the bright lights of Hollywood and Los Angeles’ grimy underbelly. But John Sugar (Colin Farrell) had a big secret. Once it was revealed, the eight-episode first season took on a whole new dimension.
With Sugar season two arriving in a few weeks, it’s the perfect time to get on board with this stylish series. It embraces classic detective tales, but it also rewrites those tropes to create its own blend of genres. Season two will set Sugar on a new case, so while you seemingly don’t need to have watched season one (though we strongly recommend you do), you do need to have an idea of what’s going on in Sugar’s world.
Who is John Sugar?
He’s a talented private investigator who specializes in finding missing people—inspired by Sugar’s sister, Djen, who disappeared some time ago. No matter the particulars of the case Sugar happens to be on, he’s driven by the anguish of not knowing what happened to her.
Sugar is also deeply empathetic and caring. He prefers to avoid violence, though it does become necessary amid the dangerous circumstances he often finds himself in. He has an unusual connection with animals; in season one, he takes on a shaggy mutt named Wiley when his owner, an unhoused man Sugar was trying to help, dies of a drug overdose. (Elsewhere, he charms his way past a pack of attack dogs.)
He can’t get drunk, though he still likes to drink, an affectation that ties into his intense love of movies. Film noir is a favorite, but he’s not exclusive; we learn he’s a fan of John Carpenter’s The Thing, for instance. He’s fond of the nicer things in life, including bespoke suits; while in Los Angeles, he lives in a luxury hotel bungalow, where he appreciates room service and the swimming pool. He also drives a vintage Corvette Stingray convertible.
Sugar speaks several languages and belongs to a society of polyglots. The show leans into his love of words with his frequent narration—also a nod to film noir—drawn both from his thoughts and from the observations he’s constantly jotting down.
We also see him injecting himself with unidentifiable drugs, particularly when he’s injured. In the first episode, he sustains a knife wound that seems to have a lingering neurological effect; his hand shakes, and he has woozy hallucinations to go with his ever-present nightmares.
What is John Sugar’s secret?
He’s an alien! And that explains most of his peculiarities.
The “can’t get drunk” thing is due to his extraterrestrial biology, as is his bond with animals. His pacifist inclinations are entwined with the peaceful culture of his home planet. (We get a couple quick glimpses of it thanks to Sugar’s memories of Djen, but we don’t learn too much about the place.)
However, the longer he’s on Earth, the more “human” he becomes. He likes people for reasons beyond their cinematic output, though that was clearly an early hook for him. (Sugar taps into his movie love by weaving clips into its action, bringing context and texture to the character’s outlook on life and his clue-gathering methods.) But he also realizes he’s developing a disturbing dark side, too.
He’s also not a lone traveler. The polyglot society members are all fellow aliens. We meet a few of them, including Sugar’s handler, Ruby (Kirby), who looks out for him and tries to rein him in when he goes too far. We also meet Henry (Jason Butler Harner), whose cover while on the mission is being an anthropology professor—much like Sugar’s cover is being a private investigator.
Their shared mission, by the way, is breathtakingly simple: to observe the human race. That’s it.
What happened in Sugar season one?
After successfully recovering a kidnapped child in Tokyo, Sugar returns to his preferred home base of Los Angeles for a new case: finding Olivia (Sydney Chandler), the missing granddaughter of a legendary movie producer (James Cromwell, whose own L.A. Confidential gets a thematic wink along the way).
Ruby doesn’t want him to accept the job, but Sugar’s drawn in not just by its Hollywood association but also because Olivia reminds him of Djen.
Along the twists and turns of his search, Sugar befriends Melanie (Amy Ryan), Olivia’s former stepmother, who also happens to be a former rock star. He uncovers some unpleasantries being concealed by Olivia’s scandal-averse family and eventually finds his way to a sadistic killer who uses his position of power to conceal his crimes.
Complicating matters, the killer belongs to a shadowy group of elites who know about the aliens and have threatened to expose them. (This is why Ruby didn’t want him to take the case.) Sugar, of course, refuses to look the other way, even when he’s told it’s for “the greater good” and will mess up the mission. This guy lives by his own code, and saving Olivia is his only concern.
Where did Sugar season one leave off?
Olivia gets rescued. Melanie happily adopts Wylie. On the verge of being unmasked, the aliens evacuate Earth. But two remain behind. One is Henry, who all this time has been shadowing the killer. He never once intervened or tried to stop any of the atrocities he witnessed; he just took lots and lots of notes. Ruby was aware, but she didn’t approve.
The other, of course, is Sugar, who has unfinished business—made even more urgent when Henry, now outed as a total sicko, leaves him a taunting sign that he was somehow involved in Djen’s disappearance.
What will Sugar season two be about?
The season two trailer teases Sugar’s next case, which sees him searching for a boxer’s missing brother—and getting drawn into another sprawling conspiracy. Also, perhaps a hint of romance? There’ll be a new supporting cast (Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, Sasha Calle, and Shea Whigham), but it seems possible some of season one’s characters might pop back up. Henry’s still out there, after all!
Season two will also make some behind-the-scenes changes; co-showrunners Mark Protosevich (who created Sugar) and Simon Kinberg have stepped aside for new showrunner Sam Catlin, who co-wrote multiple season one episodes. Season two will also see a variety of directors (including Catlin), whereas season one traded off between just two, including Oscar nominee Fernando Meirelles.
Beyond the new case, we’re hoping to learn more about the powerful people with all the alien intel. How did they find out? Will they be chasing after Sugar or helping Henry? And speaking of Henry, what does he know about Djen’s disappearance? Is there a chance that she’s still alive?
Without Ruby running things behind the scenes—helping gather intelligence on suspects and so on—will Sugar have a tougher time doing his job? The Corvette appears in that season two trailer, but is he going to struggle financially without assistance from the homeworld? Does he have a way of communicating with them if he needs to?
If he gets banged up in a fight—a regular occurrence, if season one of Sugar is anything to go by—he won’t have an alien doctor standing by to help him any more. He can’t exactly go to a hospital and get help. What will he do?
Also, the alien reveal and learning about the mission were crucial parts of what made season one such a thrilling mystery box. How will Sugar‘s storytelling change now that viewers are now fully aware of its sci-fi secret?
We’re ready to find out and enjoy some more movie references too. Sugar season two arrives June 19 on Apple TV.
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