Sugar (2024 TV series)

Sugar
Genre	Drama Detective fiction Mystery
Created by	Mark Protosevich
Directed by	Fernando Meirelles Adam Arkin
Starring	Colin Farrell Kirby Howell-Baptiste Amy Ryan Dennis Boutsikaris Nate Corddry Alex Hernandez James Cromwell
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Colin Farrell Mark Protosevich Simon Kinberg Audrey Chon Scott Greenberg Chip Vucelich Fernando Meirelles
Running time	32–49 minutes
Production companies	Protokino Kinberg Genre Chapel Place Productions Apple Studios
Original release
Network	Apple TV+
Release	April 5, 2024 (2024-04-05) – present (present)

Sugar is an 8-part American mystery drama television series created by Mark Protosevich with Fernando Meirelles directing 5 episodes and Adam Arkin directing 3 episodes. The series stars Colin Farrell, who also serves as executive producer. It premiered on Apple TV+ on April 5, 2024.

Premise

It is described as "a genre-bending contemporary take on the private detective story set in Los Angeles".

Cast

Main

• Colin Farrell as John Sugar
• Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Ruby
• Amy Ryan as Melanie Mackintosh
• Dennis Boutsikaris as Bernie Siegel
• Nate Corddry as David Siegel
• Alex Hernandez as Kenny
• James Cromwell as Jonathan Siegel

Recurring

• Sydney Chandler as Olivia Siegel
• Eric Lange as Stallings
• Anna Gunn as Margit
• Paula Andrea Placido as Emily

Guest

• Miguel Sandoval as Thomas Kinsey
• Jon Beavers as Carl
• Natalie Alyn Lind as Rachel Kaye
• Jason Butler Harner as Henry
• Scott Lawrence as Dr. Vickers
• Jonathan Slavin as Everett Roberts
• Joey Pollari
• Elizabeth Anweis as Mrs. Siegel
• Adrian Martinez as Glen
• Lindsay Pulsipher
• Txunamy Ortiz as Patricia
• Massi Furlan as Carlos
• Paul Schulze as Miller

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Olivia"	Fernando Meirelles	Mark Protosevich	April 5, 2024 (2024-04-05)
John Sugar is a private investigator who is recruited to investigate the disappearance of Jonathan Siegel's granddaughter, Olivia. Sugar investigates Siegel's family and is suspicious as to why Olivia's father and half-brother are so suspicious about Sugar himself. The episode opens in Tokyo where Sugar is on a mission to recover a kidnapped boy, Yuma, from a man named Hideo, suspected of the kidnapping. After successfully rescuing Yuma, Sugar learns the boy's father is a Yakuza leader who had hired him. Sugar then receives a new case and heads back to Los Angeles. There Sugar is contacted by Jonathan Siegel, a legendary film producer whose granddaughter, Olivia, has gone missing. Despite her history of drug-related disappearances, her lack of contact this time concerns her grandfather deeply. Sugar begins his investigation at Olivia's apartment, where he encounters her stepbrother David and his bodyguard, who are suspicious of Sugar's motives. Sugar's investigation leads him to discover a dead body in Olivia's car and a suitcase of Polaroid photos that may hold clues to her whereabouts. These photos, showing Olivia's biological mother, Rachel, in compromising poses, suggest that Olivia was digging into her mother's past. The episode ends with Sugar experiencing severe neurological pain, complicating his efforts to solve the case.
2	"These People, These Places"	Fernando Meirelles	Mark Protosevich	April 5, 2024 (2024-04-05)
Detective John Sugar meets with Bernie Siegel, Olivia's father, who appears indifferent about her disappearance, assuming she's on another drug-fueled escapade. Bernie denies any involvement in the compromising photographs of his late wife, Rachel Kaye, found in Olivia's possession, and becomes defensive when questioned. Meanwhile, Sugar's hotel room is broken into by David Siegel and his bodyguard, Kenny. Sugar cleverly thwarts their attempt to spy on him by misleading them with false information. Sugar also meets again with Melanie Mackie, Olivia's stepmother, who remains evasive about Olivia's frequent recent visits and their discussions. Like Bernie, she dismisses the urgency of Olivia's disappearance, suggesting it's just another one of her disappearances. Sugar identifies the dead man found in Olivia's car as Clifford Carter, a criminal linked to the recent murder of Carmen Vazquez, whom Olivia had been visiting. It's implied that Olivia may have killed Clifford in retaliation or defense related to Carmen's murder, and subsequently disappeared. The episode concludes with goons breaking into the home of Carmen's sister, Teresa, searching for Clifford, indicating a larger conspiracy.
3	"Shibuya Crossing"	Adam Arkin	Mark Protosevich and David Rosen	April 12, 2024 (2024-04-12)
Melanie Mackie, a key figure and volunteer at a shelter for women, finds herself in a dangerous situation orchestrated by a gang led by Byron Stallings, seeking information about Clifford's whereabouts. John Sugar, having been tipped off about Melanie's suspicious movements, manages to rescue her and Teresa from Stallings' aggressive interrogation. In the process, Sugar disguises himself as a law enforcement officer to deceive the gangsters and ensure Melanie and Teresa's escape. Melanie then reveals to Sugar that Olivia killed Clifford in self-defense after discovering him with Carmen Vazquez's body. Olivia, fearful of scandal tarnishing her family's name, persuaded Melanie not to report the incident. Despite her knowledge and involvement, Melanie asserts that she doesn't know Olivia's current whereabouts but is deeply concerned for her safety. The episode also introduces a mysterious secret meeting involving international spies, suggesting a broader conspiracy at play. Ruby, Sugar's handler, expresses frustration with his emotional involvement in cases and warns of potential repercussions for his continued investigation into Olivia's case. Meanwhile, David and Kenny escalate their efforts to undermine Sugar by investigating his personal background, planning a trip to Arizona to pressure Sugar through his supposed family connections, based on misled information.
4	"Starry-Eyed"	Adam Arkin	Mark Protosevich and Donald Joh	April 19, 2024 (2024-04-19)
Private investigator John Sugar continues his search for missing Olivia Siegel. He learns from Melanie Mackintosh about Olivia's friendship with Taylor, who reveals David Siegel's blackmailing. Sugar informs Jonathan Siegel at a screening party, where David's offenses are exposed, leading to Jonathan falling ill. Sugar suspects a connection between Rachel Kaye and Jonathan Siegel. Meanwhile, David Siegel and his bodyguard visit Sugar's fake mother in Arizona, while David receives a threatening call from Byron Stallings. Stallings leaves for the mexican border, but has a locked door at his home (behind which he says is his special project), and his girlfriend is seen with Olivia's necklace, suggesting his involvement in her disappearance.
5	"Boy in the Corner"	Fernando Meirelles	Mark Protosevich	April 26, 2024 (2024-04-26)
Sugar visits David, who is being consoled by his mother. He tells him that Olivia connected with one of the women he has abused, and she was threatening to reveal everything. David revealed this to Stallings, thinking he would scare her into being silent. He gives Stallings' address to Sugar. Meanwhile, Ruby meets with another member of their organization called Miller, who tells her to stop Sugar from looking more into the case, using any means necessary. Melanie arrives home late and finds one of Stallings' henchman in her flat who tries to threaten her into revealing who Sugar is, she locks herself in the bathroom, and Sugar arrives to save her just in time - he beats up the thug but lets him go. Sugar invites Melanie to stay at his hotel room. Stallings arrives at TJ and meets human traffickers, forcibly separating some of the mexican women from their families. At his home, David shoots himself in the head.
6	"Go Home"	Fernando Meirelles	Donald Joh and Sam Catlin	May 3, 2024 (2024-05-03)
David is rushed to a hospital and is declared alive, but brain dead. Sugar has Charlie stake out Stallings' home who warns him that he has arrived back. Sugar calms down Stallings' vicious doberman dogs by just talking to them, and then approaches what seems to be a bound Olivia, but is revealed to be Stallings' girlfriend, and is ambushed by her, Stallings and another thug. They reveal they have been tipped off about his arrival and beat him up, planning to murder him. Sugar pleads with them to stop the violence, saying he does not want to kill them, but when the thug does try to shoot him in the head, he somehow deflects the bullet with his wrist, and then kills him and the woman, who manages to stab Sugar deep in the stomach. He interrogates a wounded Stallings who refuses to tell anything, and executes him. Unable to contact Charlie, Sugar lets the arriving thug go but takes his phone, after checking Stallings' phone and realizing it was Ruby who warned him. He checks behind the locked door in the basement, but finds only caged dogs. Meanwhile, Bernie visits a recovering Johnathan, who comforts him about David's death. Sugar asks Melanie to contant a friend of his, who is a doctor, he arrives and stitches him up, and gives him a transfusion of a mysterious black shimmering liquid. A partially recovered Sugar confronts Ruby at her home who refuses to reveal her reasons for warning Stallings and says he needs to stop investigating. When she leaves to give him aspirin and Sugar finds aspirin in the drawer she just checked, he leaves abruptly. At his hotel room, he injects himself in the neck with the drug again, and transforms into a blue-skinned humanoid form in front of the mirror.
7	"The Friends You Keep"	Adam Arkin	Donald Joh and Sam Catlin	May 10, 2024 (2024-05-10)
8	"Farewell"	Fernando Meirelles	Donald Joh and Sam Catlin	May 17, 2024 (2024-05-17)

Production

It was announced in December 2021 that Apple TV+ had won a bidding war for the rights to the series, which had Colin Farrell attached to star. Farrell would officially join the series in June 2022, when it was given the greenlight from Apple TV+. In August 2022, Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Amy Ryan, Dennis Boutsikaris, Alex Hernandez and Lindsay Pulsipher joined the main cast, with Anna Gunn and James Cromwell cast to recur. In September, Nate Corddry, Sydney Chandler, Miguel Sandoval, Elizabeth Anweis and Jason Butler Harner were added to the cast.

Production for the series began in August 2022, which was expected to extend into in the fall, delaying another project for series star Farrell.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 66 critics gave the series a positive review, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A modern noir steeped in the classic tradition, Sugar could use stronger clues to go along with its ample style, but Colin Farrell's cool performance keeps things compelling." On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 67 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

External links

• Official website
• Sugar at IMDb