Apple TV+ has been churning out star-studded TV shows at lightning speed. While they have been a hit and a miss, there’s always something captivating about their premise, their central character, or the plot they follow. In their latest tryst with the detective genre, Colin Farrell stars as John Sugar, a sauve, movie-loving detective who is basically a nice guy but also a great detective who solves high-profile missing person cases.
The reason why he chooses to put these cases on priority is kept under wraps for the initial episodes, but one can gauge the reasons being pretty personal. His latest case – the disappearance of Olivia Siegel (Sydney Chandler), granddaughter of Hollywood royalty Jonathan Siegel brings those reasons even closer, and in spite of his handler Ruby (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) warning him to stay away, Sugar gets involved. Oh, and there’s a visible chance that John Sugar is not completely right on the health front – his hand twitches every now and then, and it’s not a good sign for someone with his particular set of skills and social circle that would often involve violence.
The show, unlike other recent ventures from Apple TV+, doesn’t move at razor speed to unveil the central mystery or its character’s motivation. In fact, the first two episodes focus almost entirely on John Sugar’s personality. When the first episode opens in Japan with a black and white tint, you are thrown into this modern-day noir, but without making it feel like it wants to truly make a statement. Creator and writer Mark Protosevich offers numerous hat tips to the golden age of noir cinema, most of which feel like they are movies that Sugar would watch and rewatch on his off days.
Olvia’s disappearance is the central plot here, and there are many people who come under the microscope of one John Sugar. For instance, Olvia’s father – the movie producer Bernie Siegel (Dennis Boutsikaris), and David Siegel (Nate Corddry), feel like the obvious suspects because they plan to jeopardize Sugar’s plan to investigate. However, from Sugar’s handler, Ruby, to Olvia’s stepmother, Melanie (Amy Ryan), all feel like they are hiding something in plain sight. However, you are always aware that Sugar will be able to pin down the mystery sooner than later.
Of course, Colin Farrell’s turn as John Sugar is the highlight of the show. For instance, when the show dips or doesn’t necessarily give you enough clues for the mystery to remain mysterious, Farrell’s rendition of this character always keeps you invested. We are always at arm’s length from knowing all about him, but the cards that he opens up quite early, like the one sequence with the homeless man or the other with a really drunk Melanie, make him instantly likable.
That said, while the show promises to lay bare a few issues that plague modern-day Hollywood, most of it doesn’t substantiate anything grander. The entire arc of human trafficking and the missing person’s involvement in it is far from the most interesting thing here, which is why the noir vibes don’t necessarily lead to something truly groundbreaking.
That said, Sugar is a binge-worthy new addition to Apple TV+’s library. If not for anything, watch it for how effortlessly and believable Colin Farrell makes John Sugar look.
