Sugar: Olivia

April 6, 2024 12:25 PM - Season 1, Episode 1

After solving a case in Japan, private eye John Sugar returns to LA to help find a missing woman with ties to a Hollywood legend. Streaming on Apple TV

"This world has more than enough suffering without extra contributions from me."

A job and an old friend in Tokyo. Mirembe, feline seductress. A missing granddaughter to Hollywood royalty. Glenn Ford's gun and a Nassau Blue '66 C2 Corvette Stingray. A case full of secrets. A child actor and his incompetent goon. Why drink when you can't get drunk? Falling asleep to The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946). A body in the trunk. Cinematic syncope leads to the contents of a mystery box.

posted by Molesome (9 comments total)

Is it good? I could not tell you, this show is so my thing that I could not be trusted to tell you. I'm enjoying it a lot.
posted by grandiloquiet at 12:29 PM on April 6 [5 favorites]

I knew within 30 minutes I was loving it. The conceit of an LA noir detective who knows his lore and aspires to be like his heroes with Dream On (1990)-style visual asides and VO to the audience is so fun to watch. Yes he seems a little too competent but I suspect his dump stat is going to put wrinkles into the narrative.
posted by Molesome at 12:44 PM on April 6

I’m already seeing my people on twitter asking “Aliens, coma world, or the Matrix?” Oddly enough, these days I’m fond of engaging with the world as it is, so any hint of Gothic/Gnostic/seekrit-messages-from-the-demiurge-to-the-dozing means I’m out.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:44 PM on April 6

There is something going on under the surface here. I enjoyed the show, I loved the oddity of the entire feel. But I suspect that much of this perfect, suave, hyper empathetic and intelligent person is not real. No one could write/produce a Gary Sue character like that these days without some HUGE other side.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:08 PM on April 6

I'm enjoying it a lot.

Ditto!

Gary Sue character

The other side is that he's an old hard boiled movies nut.
posted by porpoise at 9:32 PM on April 6

I had never heard of this show until a Facebook friend posted that they'd bounced off it about 30 minutes in. Based on their description of the show up to that point, my assumption was that the main character had to be some kind of supernatural entity.

I may end up watching it, or I may just follow you guys to see if I'm right.
posted by Naberius at 9:32 AM on April 8

Saw the first episode tonight and really enjoyed it. Like grandiloquiet said, it’s so my thing I can’t be trusted to tell you if it’s good or not. I wasn’t sure it was my thing until after the black and white sequence in the Tokyo apartment; I immediately liked it more when it switched to soft 1960s style Technicolour in the Tokyo bar. But after that—yeah! I really like it. Plus I just enjoy having real estate envy looking at those gorgeous Case Study style mid century LA houses…ah.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:33 AM on April 9 [1 favorite]

Well, it's certainly a very pretty show with a lot of talented actors.

I gave it a try and I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to watch more than the first episode. It's neo-noir but a version of noir where the protagonist is the coolest guy in the room and good at everything and rich and universally liked, which when you look at it that way isn't noir at all.

There's clearly more going on here than what is being shown on the surface but I'm tired on mystery boxes that never pay off to the extent they promise. Maybe if once it concludes I hear that it has a satisfying explanation I'll revisit it, but if I was a gambling man I wouldn't put much money on that happening.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 12:18 PM on April 15

So, as he slides to the shower floor his reflection in the mirror stays standing.
Interesting.
posted by fullerine at 10:59 AM on April 21