Sugar isn’t afraid to polarize. It’s a part of the genre-bending noir’s appeal. The damn good Colin Farrell-led show kept its cards close to the chest for most of the season, but in episode six, “Go Home,”divisive cards were laid on the table. The reveal made the season, as well as the titular character, gain more intrigue and weight.
Unsurprisingly, most networks weren’t onboard with the the successful twist.
[Spoilers Ahead]
Sugar is a detective who romanticizes the job and life. The Mark Protosevich-created show just revealed Sugar is literally playing detective. He is an alien.
In a twist that calls to mind The Hidden, Sugar is on a mission to document humanity. It’s a twist that makes all the nostalgia for old noirs more than just playful winks at the audience and genre. “There were a lot of people that loved the writing,” executive producer Simon Kinberg told People. “They loved the character, because Mark Protosevich had written a beautiful script, and John Sugar was such a unique and beautiful character. But there were a lot of places that were scared of this reveal, that it felt like the blending, or mashup of the genres, was too risky. There were some places that said, ‘Why can’t it just be a detective show? It’s a really good detective show.’”
Kinberg is right about his own project: it is a really good detective show. Sugar has all the razzmatazz — the slick dialogue, suits, and locations — we crave from noirs. The fact that an alien, Sugar, bases his identity on those classic genre films? That’s, to put it bluntly, cool.
Without spoiling anything: the finale satisfies anyone along for the ride. It’s an ambitious show, sometimes even charmingly rough around the edges, that earns its twist. The extraterrestrial reveal carries meaning, not just surprise.
For any noir fans, Sugar is more than a nostalgia trip.
Sugar is now available to stream on Apple TV+.
