Well, if you’re looking for something to fill the void in your life left by the departure of Willow’s Bay this week, look no further than a few scrolls over on Apple TV, which boasts a genuinely stunning amount of great content now.
The show is Sugar, led by Colin Farrell, who does not need to put 50 pounds of Penguin makeup on his face for the part, this time (well, once more for The Batman Part II). Sugar certainly was not one of Apple TV’s heaviest hitters or buzziest wins, but there really isn’t quite like it on TV, and now, season 2 has hit with a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic score. That’s up from the 81% of season 1, though reviews are still coming in.
Sugar is a noir-styled mystery, with season 1’s Farrell (Sugar) hired as a private detective to investigate the disappearance of a Hollywood producer’s granddaughter. Now, he’ll tackle a new case in season 2.
I’m going to have a non-spoiler section here, and a spoiler section after.
Non-Spoilers: It is genuinely hard to describe what makes Sugar unique without spoiling it, other than to say you have to see it to believe it, and you also need to be paying very, very careful attention as the episodes play out for a glimpse at what may be coming by the end. I promise that you don’t want me to get any more specific than that.
Spoilers: Well, season 2 is certainly going to be interesting, a big switch from the first, given that we know Sugar is an alien from the jump, rather than a big reveal to be found. He’s staying to help protect Earth from danger, and also other violent versions of his kind, as we saw at the end of last season. That was two years ago now, so it’s a bit fuzzy. I do remember distinctly Sugar saying he can’t get drunk because he metabolizes alcohol instantly and then deflecting a bullet with his watch.
I am probably not going to rate Sugar in Apple TV’s Top 10 list, at least not season 1, but that’s not a dig at the show, rather a reflection of just how enormously good so many of Apple TV’s shows are, past and present. But mostly present, honestly. So, so many of its best series are still ongoing, from Severance to Pluribus to Widow’s Bay to Shrinking to well, even Ted Lasso is coming back somehow. Apple is on fire, and a new 100% Rotten Tomatoes-scored season of a series starring an A-lister? Just what they need.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.