Sugar misses the mark.
Apple TV+’s new offering, Sugar, starring Colin Farrell as slick detective John Sugar, has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it has a lot going wrong too.
The noir detective thriller stars the Irishman as an enigmatic private detective solving the mystery of a Hollywood producer’s missing granddaughter. Although he has his own personal demons to fight, he’s determined to do some right in the world.
There’s no faulting Farrell’s performance as Sugar. As usual, he’s mesmerising to watch, as he suits up as the private detective. His performance leaves breadcrumbs hinting at future reveals (although nothing can prepare viewers for one of those reveals) and elevates what could have been a slightly dull character.
The rest of the cast hold their own, too, especially Kirby (formally Kirby Howell-Baptiste) as Ruby, Sugar’s colleague who takes none of his nonsense. Amy Ryan is also a standout as Melanie, and successfully goes toe-to-toe with Farrell in playful back-and-forths and emotional scenes alike, with viewers never really knowing how much we can trust her.
There’s no doubting how visually beautiful and creative the series is, as well, paying homage to the history of noir by peppering in iconic scenes from the movies themselves. It’s unlike any other series in its aesthetic, and is also something of a love story to Los Angeles, with the city becoming another character in the story.
But that’s where the good parts end.
The story itself? It misses the mark. A slow first half contrasts an over-stacked and rushed ending, with the series ultimately trying to do too much. Sugar loses its identity along the way, a surprising result considering how strong that identity was at the outset.
Of course, some of that is intentional – but rather than a gripping switch-up, it feels more like having the rug pulled from under us.
There’s a lot we can’t talk about right now for fear of spoiling too much, but one particular moment overshadows everything, and will become the talking point of the series.
Unfortunately, it’s not for the right reasons. While it doesn’t quite come out of nowhere, it’s left-field enough that it’ll cause laughs of disbelief for some viewers, and outright confusion for others.
The remaining episodes are then forced to race to catch up with what’s just happened, attempting to pack a series full of information into a very short space of time. It’s rushed and, simply, just doesn’t quite work, resulting in a story that we just haven’t been given enough time to care about. The original story all but becomes a side-quest, immediately losing importance.
It’s a big swing and a huge risk for the show – but ultimately, it just doesn’t pay off.
Almost every part of Sugar will divide viewers, and it’ll be a shame if Apple TV+ shies away from taking more big risks because of it. While Sugar didn’t quite land, there’s no better time for the streamers to be ambitious, with large-scale epics dominating the TV landscape.
In my experience, Apple TV+ has, thus far, proven itself the king of high-production TV. With Sugar, though, it’s somewhat lost its crown.
Sugar premieres on Apple TV+ on 5th April. Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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