Extraterrestrial private eye John Sugar (Colin Farrell) finally reunited with his sister Djen (Mireille Enos) in the second season finale of this sci-fi/detective drama shot in a style that pays tribute to film noir classics.
The siblings had been sent from a distant planet as part of a research group with a directive to “observe and report” on Earthlings and “not assimilate.” Djen had gone missing years before, and Sugar feared she was dead but continued to search for her. Warning: Spoilers for the Sugar Season 2 finale ahead!
Turns out the only thing that was dead was the old Djen. During the time she was out of touch with Sugar, she’d broken the rules and secretly created a technology that could control Earth’s weather; then, she allied with a group of elite humans and sold out the rest of her kind, who fled home to save themselves. Sugar stayed to look for her.
“Finding out that his sister, not only is she still alive, which is beautiful, and there’s a sense of release, a relief with that, but then finding out that she’s not who he remembers her to be and there’s been some change that he can’t quantify or fully understand, it’s a lot,” Farrell told TV Insider. Watch the video above for an interview with the cast and creators about the season finale and what to expect next.
Apple TV
Their reunion was organized by Charlotte (Laura Donnelly) — who broke Sugar’s heart in the finale when it turned out their relationship had begun with her spying on him for Djen — at a fancy nighttime event for the rich and powerful in a hillside LA mansion. Djen and her team made it rain, snow, and then turn to daylight, all in a small area over the luxe property.
When it became clear to Djen that Sugar was not enthusiastic about what she billed as her planet-saving tech, she signaled to Charlotte to knock him out by blowing cinnamon in his face. The spice is the aliens’ kryptonite.
Donnelly recalls shooting the scene: “I think it might’ve been powdered chocolate, but I had to do it a few times. It was at the very end of a very, very long night shoot. So, we didn’t want to keep putting him through that.” As for what Charlotte put Sugar through, Donnelly says, “It’s really devastating for Charlotte because she is aware of just what level of betrayal this is, and yet she doesn’t mean it that way. This [relationship] was real for her. [The deception] was something that she found herself participating in more and more against her will.”
Before he passed out, Djen whispered the chilling line to Sugar, “It’s not for them, it’s for us.”
Enos has a guess as to what she meant: “I think she’s imagining this space, this planet, as kind of a wonderful second home for her race. Potentially. She loves her little brother, but I think her own ambition is number one on her priorities, and if he is willing to be a part of that, that would make her very happy, but his needs do not come above her ambition.”
When Sugar woke up, everyone was gone and he was alone — again.
Farrell conjectures that Sugar will pursue Djen, saying: “I don’t know how long he can sit on knowing that she’s here on planet Earth and not try to sit down with her again and find out exactly what she’s doing and why she’s doing it. He has very daunting suspicions as to what her intention may be now that she can wield this powerful technology that couldn’t have been created unless she shared some of the technology from our planet in a way that she wasn’t supposed to.”
For the short term, Sugar seemed to accept his fate. He got his dog Wiley back, put on a fresh suit, and headed out for his next chapter in his forever home, Earth.
As the finale shrunk to black through the classic noir technique of a shrinking circle, known as an “iris out,” the comms device Sugar used to keep in touch with other extraterrestrials flashed in his empty hotel room, indicating someone was trying to reach him.
Watch the video to see who Farrell hopes is calling Sugar and for more from the cast and executive producers Sam Catlin and Audrey Chon. As for us, we’re placing a call to Apple TV for a third season.
Sugar, Seasons 1-2, Streaming Now, Apple TV