Sugar's Big Twist Works, Thanks to Colin Farrell

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The wildest twist on TV this year is hiding in the least likely place –– Apple TV+’s Sugar. When the first looks at Colin Farrell’s noir drama set in Hollywood came out, it seemed pretty straightforward. Farrell plays John Sugar, an Old Hollywood-obsessed detective looking for the missing granddaughter of a famous filmmaker. Walking through the equally seedy worlds of Los Angeles dive bars and obscenely wealthy mansions, Sugar is a progressive embodiment of the noir movies he loves — and Farrell is fantastic in the role.

But the series has been keeping something just below the surface. In the sixth episode, Sugar, against direct advice from his handler Ruby (Kirby), goes to the home of a human trafficker named Stallings (Eric Lange), who may or may not have a connection to the case. Despite being a noted pacifist, Sugar ends up in a fight for his life, killing a number of assailants, including Stallings. But in the struggle, something happens — Sugar seemingly deflects a point-blank-range shot with his hand. The shock of it actually startles Stallings, enough to give Sugar the fatal upperhand. 

It would be a completely confusing moment if it wasn't the latest in a string of oddities about the detective. He can’t seem to get drunk, no matter how many shots he takes. He is having violent seizures and seeing flashes of indiscernible things. And he takes more stabs, punches and damage in this fight alone than any human would likely survive, unless you are John Wick.

The deflection of the bullet is just proof that something is going on and, by the end of the episode, audiences are validated in those suspicions. Sugar is bandaged up by his doctor friend (Justin Butler Harner), suspiciously out of sight of Melanie (Amy Ryan), who has become Sugar’s confidante. After she falls asleep, he goes into the bathroom and just admires the day's violence on his body. Then he reaches for the same crystallized syringe he was seen using in the premiere and injects himself. 

The first time he does this, we don’t see the results, but this time we do. Slowly, and shockingly, Farrell's skin starts to fade away, exposing what’s underneath — a bluish, purple humanoid alien with distinctive etchings and markings on his skin. A sense of tension, emotionally and physically, seems to relax from his shoulders and Sugar just stares at his true form. Cut to black.

This twist was teased and danced around by every review released ahead of the show’s premiere — and who can blame a critic for wanting to talk about the weird thing (aka the one thing Apple barred everyone from spoiling)? But even without the context, many of those reviews also mocked the twist, saying it was uninspired, silly, and poorly timed. I disagree. 

While there were probably a lot of ways this new element could have been deployed, the way it unfolds is actually quite important. Sugar is beaten down, he’s vulnerable, and yet he is willing to drop his guard and his literal mask in the same vicinity as Melanie. Sure, she’s in that next room and asleep, but it shows just how much this elusive character has come to value and lean on their relationship. 

Melanie is this story’s femme fatale figure, even though she and Sugar are platonic partners. She is the former stepmother of his missing target, making her invested in the outcome of his work. But she has also found a steady hand in her crazy world as a rock star, and after this episode — regardless of the twist — they need each other. Sugar learns that the fight with Stallings’ crew happened because they were tipped off by Ruby, a betrayal that Sugar still doesn’t understand. He is going to need Melanie to help him through what comes next, and this twist shows he recognizes that.

It also isn’t all that silly. Sure, seeing an alien materialize out of Farrell’s body is a new one for the noir genre. But the sci-fi leap isn’t without thematic merit. Noir detectives are Inherently outsiders. It is not a stretch — in fact, it is quite obvious to connect the character trope with something like an alien presence in the worlds they walk in. Don’t forget, detectives often struggle to push away the bad behaviors of the noir world, and we are watching Sugar actively resist and embrace the human impulses for violence the same way. Sugar isn’t the same as the hard-boiled icons like Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. He operates with a moral compass that leads with compassion, not cynicism, even if he tests that at every corner.

The twist will make plenty of headlines, and those watching to see Farrell cut his teeth as a dogged detective wading through the corruption of Hollywood might roll their eyes or even give up on the show after this new revelation. But Sugar didn’t violate any rules by introducing something strange and surprising into the mix. This new element actually doubles down on all the ways in which it appreciates the noir genre. If nothing else, an alien in detective drag is an enticing new challenge for Farrell. Let’s see what he does with it, shall we?

New episodes of Sugar drop Fridays on Apple TV+. Join the discussion about the show in our forums. 

Hunter Ingram is a TV writer living in North Carolina and watching way too much television. His byline has appeared in Variety, Emmy Magazine, USA Today, and across Gannett's USA Today Network newspapers.