Sugar Season 2 review: Colin Farrell shines in Apple TV’s best detective series

Sugar returns for its second season on Apple TV this week, with Colin Farrell delivering another stellar lead performance as the highly charismatic and silky smooth private investigator, John Sugar. Set in present-day Los Angeles, Sugar is steeped in classic Hollywood nostalgiaand makes frequent cuts to films from the golden age of the American film industry that parallel Sugar’s various and eternal dilemmas. With his sharp suit and vintage 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray convertible, Sugar looks like he’s straight out of an old John Huston or Howard Hawks movie.

After the shocking revelation that Sugar is secretly an alien in human form sent from his home planet to observe humanity against the end of Sugar season 1the series abruptly adopted a sci-fi element that caught many viewers, myself included, off guard. What was once a highly stylized but straightforward neo-noir became a complex, perhaps convoluted, metaphysical drama about what it means to be human. Sugar season 2 takes this reveal and expands on it quite impressively to the point where it rivals other existential dramas like Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desireall the while cloaking itself as a smart summertime mystery series.

Colin Farrell is magnetic as the good-natured detective John Sugar

Colin Farrell is once again convincingly cool as John Sugar, a name that sounds so made-up that even characters on the show scoff at it, in Season 2 of Apple TV’s best detective series. With the cat out of the bag about his true identity, Sugar stays on Earth to crack another case in the shadows of Los Angeles, all while the looming mystery of his alien sister, Djen, looms in the background. Sugar races around LA in his vintage car with a new mission to locate the older brother of a rising boxing star, all the while drowning in his grief over the series of deadly sins he committed in Season 1 while searching for Olivia Siegel.

Farrell brings such an interesting balance of grit and empathy to John Sugar, a man who wants the best for humanity and still succumbs to his darkest vices.

Farrell brings such an interesting balance of grit and empathy to John Sugar, a man who wants the best for humanity and still succumbs to his darkest vices. Although the true magnitude of his alien powers remains mostly unclear, aside from imparting a brief moment of otherworldly bliss to humans, as he did to Amy Ryan’s Melanie in Season 1, Sugar is forbidden by his own kind to use any of his magic in the earthly world. You’d think his alien abilities would make him virtually immortal compared to his enemies and make these missing persons cases much easier to solve, but Sugar season 2 rarely leans into the sci-fi element it introduced last season.

It’s hard to imagine another A-list actor playing John Sugar at this point because Farrell is simply magnetic in this series. It would be pretty easy for any actor to overplay the cool factor of the protagonist that comes so naturally to Farrell while also conveying the inner turmoil of a man who is essentially destroying himself for a greater good. Sugar’s relentless determination to solve both mysteries in Season 1 and Season 2 comes from a place of hopeless desperation, as if he only exists to prove to humanity that good people, even angelic figures, can still exist in today’s world.

Sugar’s love of classic films is reinforced as a character device after he is revealed as an alien in season 1, which before that only added to the overall Hollywood neo-noir tone and perhaps that of the creator, Mark Protosevich (The cell, I Am Legend), own interests. But now Sugar’s status as a cinephile testifies more to his yearning to not only understand humanity, but to see and replicate the best in them. He commits to being a larger-than-life hero, as he truly is one in secret, but chooses to do so within the confines of the human condition. This alone adds integrity to the sci-fi twist that many, like myself, weren’t into last season, and Farrell proves in Season 2 that he understands this essential motivation in his character.

Sugar Season 2 strengthens its cast and classic Hollywood tone

Only a handful Sugar Season 1’s cast returns in a significant capacity in Season 2, making room for a number of new characters to either assist or confront Sugar during his latest investigation. Among the most notable cast additions are Shea Whigham, a friendly but no-nonsense government agent; Laura Donnelly as the sophisticated and mysterious Charlotte; and Tony Dalton as the formidable Ray Vega. Rounding out the Season 2 cast are Jin Ha as Danny Moon, Raymond Lee as Ji Moon, and Sasha Calle as Val, all of whom are directly involved in the story’s main mystery.

Between its refined cast and distinct cinematic style full of slow dissolves and classic Hollywood editing techniques, Sugar season 2 offers a more established vision of what season 1 felt like it was going for. The overall tone of the series has set itself, giving more room for characters to take center stage, and the flashy, sometimes over-the-top, visuals serve more as a garnish than a main course. Sugar Season 1 almost lost me with some of its redundant camerawork and pseudo-artistic editing that seemed to add dramatic flair just for the sake of it, but these aspects feel more intentional and effective throughout Season 2, creating a more cohesive product and viewing experience.

With its second season, Sugar has earned the title of Apple TV’s best detective series in my book, although I’m still keeping an eye out for Vince Vaughn’s Bad monkey season 2 when it arrives sometime in the near future. I thought Sugar Season 1 was definitely flawed, and Sugar season 2 has its murky areas, especially with its story occasionally becoming hard to follow or feeling like it skipped a few steps in its natural progression, which admittedly detracts from its overall entertainment value. Some viewers may have ignored this show entirely after the sci-fi controversy, but mainly because of Farrell’s star power and friendly nature, Sugar season 2 impressively pulled itself out of a narrative hole to give Apple TV a detective series it can rely on for the long haul.

Sugar Season 2 premieres on Apple TV on Friday, June 19, 2026, followed by weekly episode releases every Friday until August 7.