Sugar

Episode Reviews

Apr. 5, 2024—S1, E1: “Olivia”

After rescuing a boy from ransom-minded kidnappers in Tokyo, Sugar returns to Los Angeles to take on a case that his assistant, Ruby, begs him to turn down: the disappearance of 25-year-old Olivia Siegel, granddaughter of legendary film producer Jonathan Siegel. But the case quickly takes some unexpected turns—including a dead man found in Olivia’s car.

One of Sugar’s first stops is to interview Olivia’s former stepmother, Melanie, who spends her days swilling top-shelf bourbon at a local dive. She and Sugar spend what appears to be several hours drinking at the bar, during which Sugar reveals that his metabolism won’t allow him to get drunk. Melanie can and does, though—convincing Sugar to take her home and practically begs him to sleep with her. Virgos like Sugar, she says, are “very compatible with Taurus women, especially when it comes to sex.” Sugar does take Melanie home, but he gently lays her on the couch, tucks her under a blanket and quietly leaves.

Sugar drinks elsewhere, too, clearly enjoying the taste of alcohol even though it doesn’t affect him. (He tells Melanie he likely drinks for “the romance of it,” inspired by the movies he loves.) He does take another substance, though—injecting something straight into his neck that apparently counteracts his twitching hands and hallucinations. “I have to,” he repeats in narrative mode, suggesting that the substance is an illicit one, and that perhaps Sugar is countering symptoms of withdrawal. We also learn that Olivia was a longtime addict. (“Once a junkie, always a junkie,” her half-brother, David, says.)

Sugar uncovers some Polaroid pictures of Olivia’s mother (a famous actress), where she appears topless and where her hands barely cover her breasts. Sugar is sometimes seen without a shirt. Olivia’s apartment includes a flier for a performance of the feminist band Vanilla Whore; the group is apparently playing at an establishment called the Zipper Club.

In Tokyo, a man slices open Sugar’s arm with a knife, and in turn Sugar breaks his attacker’s arm and renders him unconscious. Sugar later seals the grotesque cut with glue, but the wound seems to open up later—dribbling blood on some photos and soaking through Sugar’s suit. Sugar rushes to a bathroom shower and apparently passes out before reviving and discovering the whole scene was a hallucination.

Sugar finds a dead, bloodied body in the trunk of a car. A Japanese gangster confronts the kidnappers of the gangster’s son, and he advises Sugar to leave the room before things progress. A chauffer asks about his sick, vomiting son over the phone. (Sugar gives the man his doctor’s number, suggesting that he give the doctor a call.)

We hear several f-words, most of which occur during an obscene closing song. The s-word, “b–ch” and “d–n” are also heard. God’s name is misused three times, once with “d–n.”

Apr. 5, 2024—S1, E2: “These People, These Place”

Sugar interviews Olivia’s father, Bernie, and again attempts to talk with her ex-stepmother. He suspects that both are hiding something important and that neither want Olivia found. Meanwhile, Bernie orders his son, David, along with another man, to spy on Sugar. And while Sugar finds their efforts pretty amateurish, he clearly has something to hide himself. “I can’t have him digging into my past,” he muses in narrative mode. “No, that won’t do at all.”

A man and woman kiss beside a pool. Sugar shows some near-pornographic photos of Bernie’s ex-wife (and Olivia’s mother) to Bernie, asking him if he took them. Bernie says he didn’t and storms off, uttering a cloud of profanities. We learn that David has been accused of harassing or assaulting several women (though seven of eight of the victims were paid to sign nondisclosure agreements).

Melanie invites Sugar to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, where she confesses that she started “drinking like a fish” two weeks ago. She was so drunk that she “brought a total stranger in my house and that’s something I haven’t done since I was in my 20s.” But that man, Sugar, didn’t take advantage of the situation; and she admits that he might’ve been “sent to me by my higher power,” or that he was possibly gay. “What matters is how he made me feel,” she adds. “And he made me feel like I deserved a second chance.” In flashback, we see her pour her liquor down the drain.

Sugar discovers a homeless man, whom he tried to help last episode, dead of an overdose in a hotel room. (He and another guy, perhaps the dead man’s dealer, get into a tussle.) A bad guy threatens to punch a woman in the face. Sugar discovers the identity of the dead man he found in Olivia’s trunk: “a man wanted for “assault, rape and human trafficking.”

We see news stories about how a woman was recently raped and killed. Sugar recites a litany of misdemeanors that Bernie and Melanie committed shortly after they were married. “H— of a honeymoon,” Bernie quips. David breaks into Sugar’s hotel suite. Clips of old movies include one where a man floats, dead, in a pool.

Characters say the f-word 15 times and the s-word another six. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “g-dd–n” and “h—.” Jesus’ name is abused once.

June 19, 2026—S2, E1: “Home Away From Home”

Sugar’s still in L.A. But without his alien support structure, business has been hard to come by. That changes when he’s contacted by Danny Moon, an up-and-coming MMA fighter whose brother, Ji, has gone missing. The last message Danny received from Ji suggested that someone, for some reason, was hunting down Ji.

In flashback, we see Sugar confront his Season 1 nemesis (and fellow alien) Henry Thorpe. Thorpe—who turned into a serial killer on Earth and whom Sugar suspects may be responsible for his sister’s disappearance—has slashed his own wrists and is bleeding out his last when Sugar finds him. He expires in Sugar’s clutches, and his eyes turn electric blue—one of the characteristics of the alien’s true form. Later, Sugar covers the body with a blanket, and we see Henry’s now-blue arms sticking out from the cover. Sugar then pours gas on the body and burns down Henry’s hovel. (Sugar tells us that “suicide is unheard of on our planet,” but his race can be deeply impacted by the cultures on other planets.)

In another flashback, someone gets shot in the head. We see some online fighting footage of both Ji and Danny (both professional fighters), and we hear that Ji had fallen into heavy drug use. (When Danny and Sugar listen to Ji’s phone message in the present, Danny mentions that his brother is “high, obviously.”)

Ji works with a hospital nurse (and possible romantic partner) to sneak into the hospital and swipe a lot of pills. Sugar visits several of Ji’s typical hangouts, including an addict-filled street, and he watches as an overdose victim, now dead, is loaded onto the back of an ambulance.

Sugar causes a tennis ball to levitate, charming a number of nearby dogs. Someone steals Sugar’s car, and someone else retrieves it—for a price. Sugar and others drink alcohol. Old movie clips show a brutal boxing match and characters consuming champagne. Characters say the f-word nine times, the s-word seven times and utter both “a–” and “h—.” God’s name is misused once.