Los Angeles is usually the place Hollywood pretends to be from somewhere else. Vancouver, Atlanta, New Mexico, and a dozen other cheaper production hubs have spent years doubling for the city, even when the story is supposed to unfold under Southern California light. So there’s something genuinely satisfying about “Sugar,” a neo-noir detective series built around Los Angeles mythology, actually staying on the streets that shaped the genre.
Season 2 of Apple TV+’s “Sugar” arrives June 19, with Colin Farrell returning as John Sugar, the private investigator and film obsessive whose latest case pulls him deeper into the city’s shadows. The series is shot almost entirely in Los Angeles—a rarity at a time when many film and television productions have left California for stronger tax incentives and lower costs elsewhere. For a detective story so tied to noir tradition, that full Los Angeles treatment feels essential.
Farrell told The Hollywood Reporter that the city itself was part of what brought him back for another season.
“I love Los Angeles. It took me a while to fall in love with the city, but over the last 23 years of living here, I have grown to love it more and more and more…most shows and most films, some that are even set here, take place elsewhere. So, to shoot on the streets of LA and have it as a character in [the show] was something that drew me back and got me just as excited about the second year as I was about the first [season].”
It is hard to imagine true film noir taking place anywhere else. “Sugar” understands that Los Angeles is not just a backdrop for this kind of story. It is the mood, the promise, the rot beneath the sunshine, and the reason the mystery has weight.
Season 2 finds Sugar investigating a new missing persons case involving the troubled older brother of an up-and-coming local boxer, while continuing his own desperate search for his missing sister. As the case widens into a citywide conspiracy with sinister intentions, Sugar is forced to confront how far he is willing to go in the name of justice.
The series stars Farrell, Jin Ha, Raymond Lee, Tony Dalton, Laura Donnelly, Sasha Calle, and Shea Wingham. Sam Catlin serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Additional writers include Gary Tieche, Christopher C. Rogers, Jonny Gomez, Michael A. Bhim, Megan Ritchie, and Sam Alper. Executive producers include Audrey Chon, Simon Kinberg, Farrell, Scott Greenberg, and Chip Vucelich. “Sugar” was created by Mark Protosevich.
“Sugar” Season 2 premieres June 19 on Apple TV. Watch the first trailer below.
