His suits remain immaculate.
Sugar S2
The first episode of Season 2 debuts globally Friday, June 19, on Apple TV. New episodes debut every Friday. I've seen all eight episodes, as well as the entirety of Season 1, which is now streaming.
The biggest secret of Season 1, namely, that series protagonist John Sugar (Colin Farrell) is an alien from outer space, sent to Earth on a secret mission, is dispensed with in the very first scene in Season 2.
After all his fellow aliens were recalled to their home planet at the conclusion of Season 1, John decided to remain behind on Earth. He resumes his search for his missing sister, who disappeared some years in the past, but he is now friendless and incredibly lonely.
Sure, John Sugar, P.I., has a silly name. Still, he is wealthy, drives a fancy classic sports car, and dresses from a closet full of stylish suits. Even so, he could really use a new client to keep him busy. A new sidekick would be nice, too, since he left his former companion, a dog, with a friend when things got dicey in the concluding episode of Season 1.
A new client, rising boxer Danny Moon (Jin Ha) falls into his lap. Danny's younger, ne'er do well brother Ji Moon (Raymond Lee) has gone missing, and may have fallen into the hands of a criminal gang. John Sugar is a private detective who specializes in reuniting missing people with their loved ones, so it's an ideal case for him to investigate, even as he continues searching for his long-missing sister and deals with a serious case of the blues.
John's sidekick need is met when he encounters Val (Sasha Calle). She asks for a cash payout to return his sports car, which she just stole, and John is (platonically) smitten. He is also smitten by Charlotte (Laura Donnelly), a businesswoman he meets in the bar of the luxury hotel where he is staying.
The aliens have been instructed, however, that they should never become romantically involved with any humans, lest they become "assimilated." Increasingly, though, John contemplates breaking all the rules he was taught; after all, if he's the only alien left on Earth, why not?
Created by veteran screenwriter Mark Protosevich (The Cell, 2000, Poseidon 2006, I Am Legend, 2007, Thor, 2011, Oldboy, 2013), the first season of Sugar featured extensive film-noir references, with frequent mini-clips from classic noir films inserted intermittently, which were so extensive that they almost became irritating. Now that we know John Sugar is an alien, it makes sense that his every move was influenced by the movies he watched to learn about human beings: their behavior, their manner of speech, their dress and grooming.
Thus, Season 2, now under the oversight of showrunner Sam Catlin, who co-wote the final three episodes of Season 1 and brings with him experience as a producer and writer on Breaking Bad and as a showrunner on Preacher, tones down the constant film-noir references, expanding the river of influences to include classic non-noir films about Los Angeles, as well as private-detective films in general. (And, yes, Humphrey Bogart remains a major influence on John Sugar.)
Showrunner Catlin also taps into a broader writers' room, which means more individual episodes are credited to different writers, and several directors. All the new creative voices contributing to the series means that Season 2 becomes more ambitious as John Sugar fights assimilation among the humans, even as contemplates breaking more rules.
As I noted in my review of Season 1, published in April 2024, John Sugar is "unfailingly polite, gentle and caring to strangers, and considerate of the needs of others. ... [he] never takes advantage of anyone, even as he himself is driven by an overriding desire to find lost souls and reunite them with their loved ones."
I enjoyed watching each episode, yet I concluded: "Sometimes there's not enough meat to justify the running time, often getting the job done in well under 45 minutes. That left me always wanting more, which applies to the series as a whole: it's tasty, yet I couldn't help wishing for more substance to accompany the full-throated homage to film noir."
Season 2 continues this trend, even though showrunner Sam Catlin steers the series more towards the type of hard-bitten noirs that became more prevalent in the 1950s as the decade progressed. More of the stories take their cues from boxing noirs of the period, which means that John Sugar gets beaten up more and more throughout.
Though the production includes plenty of nighttime shots that illuminate the natural beauties of the Los Angeles cityscape, a myriad blurry lights dancing in the distance, just as many scenes are set in the bright, harsh sunshine, which injects a sobering reality into the proceedings.
John Sugar remains as cool as a cucumber, as dandy as fine wine. His suits are so sharp that they cut through the mediocrity of real life. Who cares if he solves the crime when he looks so good? John Sugar cares, and that's all that matters.