Did Apple Spoil Sugar’s Huge Twist 2 Years Ago? This Theory Completely Changes The Show

Warning! This post contains spoilers for Sugar.

Apple TV+ might have already spoiled Sugar‘s biggest potential twist two years before its release. Starring Colin Farrell, Sugar follows the crime-solving endeavors of its titular detective character who takes a keen interest in finding the missing. He is a calm, collected man, who hates hurting people and holds himself to a strict moral code. However, something about his perfect demeanor seems off, hinting that the Apple TV+ show is setting the stage for a big twist.

After only two episodes, it is hard to predict what this twist will be about. Since the first two episodes only establish the overarching mystery and reveal the main character’s moral inclinations and purpose, one can only speculate about the narrative direction Sugar will eventually take. However, Apple TV+ might have already given away some crucial details surrounding the show’s future by revealing the truth behind its overarching genre.

Apple TV Announced Sugar As A Sci-Fi Drama

There’s no Sci-Fi in episodes 1 and 2.

Apple TV+ was initially promoting Sugar as a science fiction drama (via Apple TV+ press) instead of calling it a mystery thriller that unfolds like a typical detective series. This is surprising, because in its first two episodes, Sugar seems nothing like a sci-fi series. It does not have a futuristic setting, and even the technology it portrays seems to be in tandem with that of the present world. Even when it comes to the show’s character beats and story elements, there are no scientific undertones in the first two episodes, except for a few references here and there.

In episodes 1 and 2, Sugar keeps featuring visuals of the moon, which seems to be a subtle nod to Georges Méliès’ work. One of its characters, Melanie (played by Amy Ryan), also mentions she loves sci-fi movies in one scene. Even the main character, Sugar (played by Colin Farrell), exhibits strange behavior that makes him different from most detective characters portrayed on the small screen. However, none of these elements qualify the series as sci-fi, hinting that Sugar may switch and bend genres in its future episodes.

Sugar’s Reviews Have All Teased A Major Twist

There’s something big coming in Colin Farrell’s TV show.

After the first two episodes, it is hard not to see Sugar as a typical crime drama in which the central titular character will gradually solve the overarching murder mystery and save the day. However, as the show’s reviews suggest, there is more to it than meets the eye. As predictable as it may seem in its opening episodes, Sugar is setting the stage for an unpredictable twist that will change what the show is on a fundamental level. For instance, Screenrant’s Sugar review mentions that its “various twists set it apart from many of its [genre] counterparts.”

Another review (via IGN’s Rafa Sales Ross) mentions that Sugar’s finale pay-off “is one of the wildest twists in prestige streaming TV of recent years.” Similarly, almost every review seems to hint at how the series surprises one with a mind-boggling story change in its closing arc, completely changing how one perceives its overarching narrative. Another common theme in most of these reviews is that all of them mention Sugar brings its twist a little too late, suggesting that its genre-bending sci-fi reveal will likely come in season 1’s final arc and set the stage for season 2.

Could Sugar’s Mystery Really Be Science-Fiction?

What would it mean for the show?

Considering how Sugar has eight episodes in its first season, it may be a little too soon to conclude it cannot be sci-fi. After episodes 1 and 2, Sugar can take myriad narrative avenues that will set it up as a science fiction drama, drifting it away from the typical mystery thriller elements it seems to adopt in its opening arc. For instance, future episodes could reveal that John Sugar is not human at all. Something about him already seems off because he is a little too good at his job.

While the Apple TV+ show is seemingly conforming to genre conventions by portraying the titular character as a genius detective, even something about its whole worldbuilding seems strange and mildly discomforting. This makes it hard not to wonder if the show is setting up a Truman Show or Shutter Island-esque twist where, like the main character, even the viewers are being manipulated by half-truths. Simulations are common narrative tropes in the sci-fi genre, but they have rarely been explored in detective shows, which could potentially make Sugar more intriguing if executed well.

Theory: Colin Farrell’s John Sugar Is Really A.I.

There are some big clues.

Several clues in the opening arc of the series raise another possibility: John Sugar is A.I. In the opening Japan prologue, Sugar puts his razor-sharp reflexes on full display by catching a housefly with chopsticks. The fact that he does it effortlessly shows he cannot be a regular human. He also speaks multiple languages fluently throughout the first two episodes, which is not unusual but adds a layer of intrigue to his overall personality. In several other scenes, Sugar easily detects when someone is lying to him just by looking at them, hinting at how he may be “programmed” to detect social cues.

He also takes one look at a homeless man and concludes he is a good guy. His first interaction with Melanie also reveals that, no matter how much alcohol he consumes, he cannot get drunk. Many of his mannerisms and behavior are also inspired by movie characters he adores, establishing that he is constantly self-programming himself to become more human through observation and media consumption. In Sugar‘s episode 2, the Colin Farrell character also asks himself why he is feeling angry when he shouldn’t feel anything, which is arguably one of the biggest giveaways of AI nature.

Colin Farrell’s John Sugar also seems to have an unknown disease, which gives him strange, disturbing visions. Whether these visions are “glitches in the matrix” or manifestations of his flawed programming remains unknown. However, story elements like these in Sugar‘s first two episodes make it evident that nothing in the series is as it seems.