Sugar season 2 puts Colin Farrell’s alien detective under human pressure
Farrell told The Verge the Apple TV series can now focus less on secrecy and more on John Sugar’s emotional changes.
By Hana Yoshida · Markets Reporter
3 min read
Colin Farrell says the second season of Sugar changes the burden around Apple TV’s detective series after its first-season twist became public. Speaking with The Verge, Farrell said the show can now spend more time on John Sugar’s inner life rather than guarding the fact that the private detective is an alien.
The new season begins streaming June 19 on Apple TV, according to The Verge. It follows a first season built around a midseason reveal that recast the show’s noir setup as science fiction.
For readers avoiding first-season details, the central twist is that Farrell’s John Sugar is not human. The character, a Los Angeles private investigator with a taste for classic movies, spent much of the first season presenting as an unusually mannered detective before episode six disclosed his extraterrestrial identity.
Farrell told The Verge that promoting the first season required caution because he knew an early slip could damage the show’s mystery. With that reveal now out, he said he feels “unburdened,” though he added that some season 2 developments still remain off limits.
A detective left behind
At the end of the first season, Sugar’s fellow aliens left Earth after their presence became known and their safety was threatened, The Verge reported. John chose to stay, partly because of unresolved questions about his sister, who disappeared on his home planet.
The character also remains attached to people on Earth. The Verge notes that his affection for humanity, his old Hollywood ideals and even his 1966 Corvette Sting Ray help explain why he does not leave with the others.
Season 2 gives Sugar a new investigation involving the missing brother of a rising boxer, according to The Verge. The case draws him into parts of Los Angeles connected to the city’s underground drug trade.
At the same time, Sugar keeps trying to reach his own people through an alien communication device, but receives no answer, The Verge reported. That isolation forces the character into experiences the show frames as new to him, including loneliness, violence and romantic love.
Farrell says the alien premise serves the character
Farrell told The Verge that Sugar’s alien background was designed as a way to examine human behavior. He said the second season keeps the character’s established foundation while placing him in situations that reveal new sides of him.
Those tests include conflicts with his own beliefs, according to The Verge. Sugar remains a skilled investigator and a devoted friend, but the season also shows him making bad choices and crossing lines in attempts to help other people.
The season will also address parts of Sugar’s extraterrestrial origins, The Verge reported, though the details remain undisclosed. Farrell’s comments focus more on the character’s emotional shift as his distance from his own species grows.
One small wardrobe change underlines that shift. The Verge describes a scene in which Sugar appears in jeans and a sweatshirt instead of his usual suit-and-tie detective look, a moment Farrell said felt “a little bit strange” and “a little other” after so much time inhabiting the character’s formal style.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.