REVIEW: Sugar – Season One [2024]

Rating: TV-MA | Episodes: 8 | Runtime: 40 minutes
Release Date: April 5th, 2024 (USA)
Studio: Apple TV+
Creator(s): Mark Protosevich

I don’t like hurting people. I really don’t.

The first two episodes of “Sugar” are fantastic. Series creator Mark Protosevich is an obvious lover of film noir and he imbues his lead character John Sugar (Colin Farrell) with that same romantic affinity. This private detective is constantly thinking about movies to either help process his current predicament, enthrall his latest audience, or crack his next clue. So, not even Sugar’s inner monologue can conceal the excitement of discovering that his next client is Hollywood royalty in producer Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell)—whose granddaughter (Sydney Chandler’s Olivia) has disappeared.

It’s a cool premise with the enjoyable stylistic choice of splicing in scenes from classic cinema like The Third Man, Double Indemnity, and Night of the Hunter. Sugar is as nerdy as any cinephile, gushing over his proximity to a legend and constantly trying to share his love for the medium (later regaling his doctor with a description of the chest cavity scene from The Thing). It’s an obsession that complements his more general eccentricities—including a level of empathy for the less fortunate so earnest that only a man of his physical prowess can get away with it. Because while Sugar doesn’t like to hurt people, he will.

The noir beats, sweetly quiet performance from Farrell, and intrigue of the case make the show’s start utterly enthralling. The Hollywood types are pitch-perfect (Jonathan’s stature and respect from the world makes him a flawed figure at home, Dennis Boutsikaris as his son Bernie is a mediocre facsimile producing third rate titles while keeping his junkie daughter and spoiled son out of the tabloids, and said son David, played by Nate Corddry, is an entitled rich kid who never learned better yet doesn’t earn our sympathy to use it as an excuse). So, when Bernie and David actively try to sabotage Sugar via their indifference to Olivia’s plight, we wonder if they’re somehow involved.

I love Sugar’s code of morality—a stark contrast to the Siegel clan—that goes further than just non-violence. He doesn’t merely seek to do no harm; he’ll go out of his way to fix the harm others have done. He always remembers the names of those who serve him, never pretends to be above another soul, and always pays his wealth (accrued from finding missing persons for powerful, often dangerous people) forward to those in need. It leads to some genuinely heartfelt exchanges and commendable acts. It’s no surprise everyone enjoys his company whether his equal or “the help” (besides Bernie and David, of course). Sugar has an easy charm and honest demeanor. He’s a protector through and through.

And while he never wavers from this personality, the show does soon muddy that charm a bit by giving us a reason for why Sugar is the way he is. First it starts with the tease of a bigger conspiracy at play (one that forces us to question allegiances with people like Kirby Howell-Batiste’s, now credited simply as Kirby, handler Ruby) and then a full-blown table toss of a genre-bending reveal that can’t help overshadowing the simpler noir nature of the main plot. That’s not to say it doesn’t all work or that the explanations are convenient rather than relevant. Protosevich and his team know what they’re doing—it’s just a lot to process and a big shift in scope.

It’s also completely unnecessary. This “twist” adds nothing to the whole beyond a reveal for viewers to talk about at the water cooler. Because it’s not a “twist” at all. It’s crucial information about Sugar and the world in which he lives that has simply been kept from us. I’d argue the show would prove much better if Protosevich led with this detail and let us enjoy the character choices through that motivation. If I watched the season again right now, knowing what I do, I’m almost one hundred percent certain I’ll enjoy it more because I won’t be forced to reconcile a rug pull that does more to halt momentum in its faux profundity than it does to add to it.

By allowing me to engage with the smaller focus and truly cherish it as a salve to the very dark places this case goes only to then widen the aperture to the point where Olivia becomes a MacGuffin instead of the key to the puzzle, you ensure I’m kept at arm’s length. You have me feeling disappointed rather than energized—like the show bit off more than it could chew when it’s really the decision to hide context hamstringing the whole from just being allowed to be itself. I do therefore hope a second season is on the horizon, because I’d like to know where things go without any cheap narrative manipulations in a bid to trend on social media.

Regardless, I still really enjoyed “Sugar” and Farrell’s work within. Step back from that structural misstep and there’s a ton to like from the production value, classic cinema angle, and impressive cast. Amy Ryan steals the show for me as Melanie, the one member of the extended Siegel family with a heart, because she effortlessly matches Farrell’s performance beat for beat to foster a wonderful rapport and trust. Boutsikaris earns a memorable scene in the penultimate episode to steal some thunder for himself and the supporting cast that includes Anna Gunn, Eric Lange (playing a heavy with welcome humor), and Jason Butler Harner never falters. It’s truly a solid season of television with the potential to get even better.