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Colin Farrell’s extraterrestrial P.I. tackles Los Angeles corruption on Apple TV+

‘Sugar’ releases a new episode each Friday through Aug. 7 on Apple TV

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The second season of “Sugar” releases a new episode each Friday through Aug. 7 on Apple TV

Colin Farrell has had the chance to portray a memorable cast of characters as he’s moved from genre to genre during his career.

When it comes to the Apple TV show “Sugar,” which he stars in and executive produces, he’s enjoying the simple complexity of his character.

Farrell says the story stays true to the path of a private investigator — John Sugar — as he tries to stem the tide of corruption through his own moral compass.

“He lives alone and doesn’t have a lot of friends,” Farrell says. “He doesn’t have much of a life outside of whatever case he’s working on, therefore, whatever case he’s working on is a source of great obsession for him.”

The second season is currently airing a new episode each Friday through Aug. 7 on Apple TV.

According to Apple TV, Sugar, revealed in the Season 1 finale to be an extraterrestrial, returns for a new case, tracking the troubled older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer as his search for his beloved missing sister continues. As the investigation expands into a citywide conspiracy with sinister intentions, Sugar must reckon with himself to answer the question — how far will he go to do what’s right?

Joining Farrell for Season 2 are Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, Sasha Calle and special guest Shea Whigham.

Farrell says at the end of Season 1 an emergency directive recalled Sugar’s entire group of friends — his support system — back to their home planet.

Defying the summons, Sugar chose to remain on Earth, determined to discover what happened to his beloved sister, Djen, played by Mireille Enos, who had gone missing shortly after he had arrived.

After solving the case of the missing granddaughter of legendary Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel, played by James Cromwell, Sugar searched for his friend, Henry, played by Jason Butler Harner, who he believes knows something about what happened to Djen.

“This second season’s story is much bigger and more complex,” Farrell says.

Season 2 showrunner, executive producer and writer Sam Catlin was a writer on Season 1, and the new storyline was conceived by Catlin and his Season 2 writers’ room.

“The fact that there is more humor this season is a product of Sam’s writing,” says Audrey Chon, executive producer. “If you look at his work on ‘Breaking Bad’ — and his writing in general — there is a very specific tone. There is a sense of humor and playfulness. So one of the differences between Seasons 1 and 2 is this tone. When you first meet Sugar in Season 1, he’s a more bright-eyed character who has arrived in Los Angeles, a place he has romanticized, and is taking it all in. This season we wanted to explore the underbelly of Los Angeles.”

Farrell says “Sugar” was always meant to be — and always designed to be — something of a love letter to the complexities of Los Angeles, a city very much populated by immigrants.

“It’s incredibly multicultural as well as being full of glitz and glamour, but it also has its share of violence and danger,” Farrell explains. “This season, there are more characters and different storylines — one with the Moon brothers, another with the sheriff’s department, a couple of murders that have taken place, as well as a storyline of institutional corruption within the governing bodies of the city of Los Angeles. I hope we threaded the needle and have the consistency of love that Sugar has for Los Angeles as a city.”

Adrian Gomez is a freelance writer for the ϼ. He works for the New Mexico Film Office, focusing on industry research.