Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | August 13, 2026
I watch a lot of television, but I cannot get to everything immediately. Last year, I couldn’t get to Apple TV’s Sugar, starring Colin Farrell, before I’d already been spoiled on the big reveal. I work here, so everything that’s written comes across my desk, so to speak, and I read a lot of criticism. It was kind of unavoidable, and when I heard about the spoiler, my immediate thought was, “Oh, that’s dumb,” and I decided that I was never going to watch Sugar.
But largely by virtue of professional osmosis, I’ve been hearing, in its second season, that Sugar is, actually, good. People were still watching it even after that dumb reveal, and they were enjoying it. Even Chris’s recap of the second-season finale, ultimately, didn’t take issue with the big spoiler, but with all the unanswered questions, and my gentle read on that is this: If you’re bugged by unanswered questions, you must care about and/or like the show enough to want them to be answered.
I got laid up in bed earlier this week because of the side effects to a vaccination (side effects that are very much worth the alternative, which is to get very sick for a much longer period of time, ahem), so I took the opportunity to watch Sugar. I watched the first season in a day, and loved it so much that I watched the second season the next day (even though I was healthy by then).
A big reason I liked it as much as I did is because I already knew the reveal. There was no mystery to get invested in for six weeks only to be disappointed by the revelation. I could ignore that part, and just enjoy the rest of Sugar for what it is, which is basically an old-fashioned private detective show set in contemporary Los Angeles. John Sugar (Farrell) is a private eye. He is obsessed with old movies. He solves missing persons cases that are usually tied to larger, culturally relevant conspiracies.
It’s basically The Lincoln Lawyer, only with a private eye instead of a lawyer. Oh, and here’s the spoiler: John Sugar is an alien.
Yeah. An alien.
But honestly, it’s surprising how little that plays into the central mysteries, and how — when it does — it’s to their benefit. Basically, John Sugar — and a number of other aliens — came to Earth, took on occupations of their own choosing, and were tasked with simply observing and reporting. Their alien race is kind and empathetic, which makes Sugar particularly good at his job. They don’t like violence. They can’t get drunk, and otherwise, he has very modest superpowers: He can quickly heal (but can still die); he has enhanced strength (but not super strength); he can speak a lot of languages and communicate with animals, and there’s some sort of mild telekinesis going on, which mostly manifests itself in an ability to tell if people are lying.
But they’re not really the point of Sugar. The point is the season-long mystery (which is good in both seasons) and the series-long mystery involving his own missing sister, Djen, which is the one with all the unanswered questions. Thematically, it kind of reminds me of Doctor Who in the sense that John Sugar falls in love with the human race, but also recognizes its many, many faults. And he’s trying not to assimilate, but it’s harder than he expects because sometimes, unfortunately, violence is the only way out of a situation that involves a true monster. But John Sugar is not comfortable with that.
But otherwise, it’s mostly a straightforward, multilayered missing persons mystery with a phenomenal cast of supporting players: Amy Ryan, James Cromwell, Jin Ha, Raymond Lee (somehow even hot as a blonde), Laura Donnelly, Shea Whigham, and even a couple of Breaking Bad universe vets, Anna Gunn and Tony Dalton. It’s good stuff, and even better if you go in knowing he’s an alien instead of being surprised by it. Because in the grand scheme of Sugar, it’s NBD and, more often than not, works as a benefit to the series instead of a detriment. And I’d like some more folks to jump on the bandwagon, because — like Chris — I’d love a season three so I can find the answers to those dangling questions.
