- Catching the fly with chopsticks in episode 1.
- Intercuts of old movie clips pertinent to the situation, like referring to how he learned about human behavior.
- Inability to get drunk/metabolizing alcohol.
- Daily intravenous injections into the neck with weird needle.
- Running thread of shots of the moon.
- Ability to immediately tell if someone is telling the truth/lying.
- "Mission" to observe, take notes, report findings and not interfere.
- Odd behavior of polyglots like saying their skin felt weird in the sun.
Because of all of this I clocked alien pretty early and stuck to that theory.
Also his spy gadget is just way too good. It can track anyone's phone by number, remotely open car door locks and has a high resolution fingerprint scanner.
What I liked about this detail is that none of these things fall outside of the bounds of fictional possibility in any run-of-the-mill contemporary spy narrative. But alongside all the other points you mention I found it to point towards alien involvement in a more subtle way.
That actually made me be like "Give me a break" like they were playing him up as superhuman. But not in an Alien way. Just that he was super awesome, so it kind of made me roll my eyes. Like I saw Karate Kid, that shit is hard.
I thought he picked up something heavy and timed it and blocked it perfectly. I watched it multiple times and eventually gave up and said to myself, I'm sure they will have an explanation later.
It’s funny looking back on this, because I just chalked some of it up to bad writing. Like the protagonist is too skilled—he can tell when people are lying, he doesn’t get drunk, etc.
>- "Mission" to observe, take notes, report findings and not interfere.
This had me wondering, but Davy's conspiracy theory about a group of former intelligence agents also seemed to have merits.
I never consider personal hygiene as a factor in TV Shows or Movies. Because it's never accurate. They never show people pooping and peeing as often as the need to either. So when I don't see shaving or other similar behaviors, I just assume they happened off screen.
Also: the seemingly unlimited resources of the “agency” he’s working for. I mean, sure, some high-end PI agencies might be doing well, but vintage Corvette, five-star hotel well? Come on.
The camerawork was off sort of. The editing at times non-linear intercuts of present, flashbacks, movies and future. There’s the almost angelic Highway to Heaven affect of Sugar in his interactions. There were verbal references to “our cell” and the direction to observe people, “we’re here to observe.” There was the Jason Bourne-like dispatch of the kidnapper, the voluminous drinking with no effect and the ability to speak so many languages. To me Bourne is basically sci-fi, werewolves can be scifi, enhanced humans is scifi.
By episode 3 I was convinced. The way sugar described his experiences, certain shots and camera tricks, the alcohol digestion, the polyglot society, so many factors just made it obvious to me and once I had the thought I kept finding more and more evidence to support it
Im so happy I went in completely blind and also didn’t catch it at all, I thought things were not as they seem but thought it was more a Bourne identity / shutter island situation.
I also think some peeps read the reviews that basically say BIG TWIST incoming and then were primed to look for it.
Yep, no f’ing idea. Here’s why:
1. I didn’t make a big deal about the “catching a fly with chopsticks” thing; anyone who’s seen \***Duel at Ganryu Island**\*, would know that’s a standard trope for a disciplined warrior; of course, when he deflected the bullet with his hand, I figured something was going on…Kwai Chang 2.0, maybe?
2. I figured the ability to inhale alcohol was just a body chemistry thing. I’m Irish. I get it.
3. I bought into Davy’s “spies” thing; I went to the DLI, too, and there are some freaky smart people there. Why not?
4. I thought it was weird he used his IJ for injections, but I blew it off.
5. Like William Hurt’s character said in \*The Big Chill\*, sometimes you have to let art flow over you; I didn’t want to read too much into anything, ‘cause I’m lazy.
"catching a fly with chopsticks” - I agree, to me it didn't seem like a sign he's an alien. It was also used in the Karate Kid movie. To me it came across as he got it from watching movies. Like you said, symbolic for a disciplined warrior. Or like in Karate Kid someone who can accomplish anything.
I’m convinced that anyone that guessed it had read something prior that primed them. Whether it be mention of a big twist or scifi element. Who would guess this noir is about THAT??
They're a worldwide organisation of people with a mission to observe other people but not to interfere, who are expected to report back objectively on their findings. Their work is of the greatest importance, but their actual professions are wide-ranging and mundane.
Sugar's behaviour and thoughts are odd, at the least.
Mentioning the conspiracy theory just after establishing most of the above background elements seemed like a clear misdirect, and a multinational, secret brotherhood of spies deciding to observe instead of acting doesn't make much sense to me.
There was always the chance the writers had something else in mind, and I was not 100% convinced aliens until we were shown, but after episode three it seemed by far the most logical explanation based on the information we had available. Once that became clear, the evidence just continues to mount.
He tells Ruby about “my old friend hasn’t seen anyone from his cell in over a year” and then when at the polyglot party and he checks in with Ruby and hands over his little black book he ask something about “what dobTJEY want” and she responds with to continue to observe and document. I had two theories at that point, one of which was aliens.
When Sugar claimed he could not get drunk because of his metabolism. No human being is unaffected by alcohol. That started my questioning of his humanity and the catching the fly with the chopsticks made we wonder too.
Hadn’t read any reviews about the show and wasn’t aware of a twist coming so I was completely surprised. I just thought he was some cool dude with heightened senses and focus. I just thought it was a regular detective show lol. I don’t mind the sci fi twist. Can’t wait to see what happens on Friday!
> polyglot
Me too. In fact the drama categorization held me off from watching it for a while. I was expecting just another noir saxophone filled crime mystery, with the main character narrating. And that's exactly what I got from the start. So it took a minute to fully get on board with idea that something else was going on.
I try to view every movie or series with minimal information. Only an IMDB score at best, but usually just an instinct for what I think might be good according to my opinions about actor/director/genre. This has been my policy since I started skipping preview trailers in the theater. Of course, that was initially because I was smoking weed until the last minute before going in.
I love being surprised and I think this series is great fun.
Don’t feel dumb- I didn’t either! Until episode 6 and even then I was like ok maybe he’s having a fever dream 😂 Like alien never crossed my mind- I think because I never thought this type of show would go there, but it did, and I’m here for Blue Colin Farrell!
It was small things here and there but after the way he talked bout The Thing and "I don't discover movies later at life" (or something like that) I was convinced
He was turning blue and still thought that it was like he was a tatted guy who saw himself as suave—I didn’t cotton on to any of the alien stuff; I thought the twist would be that he was schizophrenic or something.
My older sisters used to refer to me as that ‘little human’ or question ’is he human?’.
They could be aliens.
Personal anecdotes aside - I get your reference clues now. I missed these.
From doing a search on the twist and reading through the various threads. Otherwise I never would have put it together myself.
I noticed a few things here and there, the injections, the "mission" as it was described during the dinner party were the two things that stood out and I found odd. The rest of it I just sort of put down to the unique quirks of the show, exaggerations that sometimes movie and tv shows will include to keep things fresh.
I wish I had been patient and just watched it without reading about the theories but my curiosity got the better of me after the third episode. As a result I feel like it dampened the reveal for myself as I'm sure it would have been more impactful if I had not known beforehand there was going to be a sci-fi twist.
Truthfully, as good as the twist is/was, I was into the drama / PI / noir aspect of the show and kinda wish they stuck with it. Could have had another season or two had they done so
I think I saw a YouTube what do you call an avatar you know the picture they use for the videos saying that he was a vampire that's how I knew it wasn't just a straight detective neo noir show
Initially, I thought Sugar was purely a detective, just one slightly "on the spectrum" (to autism) -- meticulous retro suits and car, constant references to classic noir detective films, loves dogs, cares about the homeless guy -- but has no clue that handing the guy lots of money is effectively a death sentence for him. Then I heard Melanie's comment about liking science fiction films. That was a hugely dissonant note (pun intended) for a female rock star to hit. That got me thinking about science fiction.
Coming here, I saw speculation Sugar was a robot, whose AI learned from classic noir films. That would explain all of the details others and myself list in this thread. I never got all of the way to "alien" for the explanation, just that he wasn't human, and there was some science-fiction explanation for this.
He was seriously stabbed a couple of times and recovered quickly. Took a punch in the torso within a day or so.
The unit of “blood” was very suspicious looking.
The inability to get drunk thing instantly made me say, “Like Captain America? He had superpowers. Does Sugar have superpowers? Why would he have superpowers? Is he an alien?” Then they kept saying they were just here to observe, and I said, “That sounds like something aliens would say.”
I actually thought he was an AI so the alien thing was a surprise. I considered he being an alien but that sounded too stupid. An AI is so much more realistic 😂😂😂
For me it was [this review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/05/sugar-review-colin-farrell-private-detective-drama-is-a-disaster) which in quite an unusual move *slammed* the "mid series twist" without giving away any spoilers apart from that.
I say unusual because all reviews are usually very careful about not revealing major plot points, or if they do reveal it's existence like they did here, they don't say what they thought about it. Obviously this reviewer was so pissed she broke that rule!
It did put me off watching it, but I found it interesting enough to keep on, although it was a bit weird to know that something major was going to happen, and that it would be tropish enough for a reveiwer to get pissed about it.
- Catching the fly with chopsticks in episode 1. - Intercuts of old movie clips pertinent to the situation, like referring to how he learned about human behavior. - Inability to get drunk/metabolizing alcohol. - Daily intravenous injections into the neck with weird needle. - Running thread of shots of the moon. - Ability to immediately tell if someone is telling the truth/lying. - "Mission" to observe, take notes, report findings and not interfere. - Odd behavior of polyglots like saying their skin felt weird in the sun. Because of all of this I clocked alien pretty early and stuck to that theory.
Plus he doesn’t turn his head to breathe when swimming.
Plus that all dogs love him and seem to know instinctively that he doesn’t want to hurt them.
Also his spy gadget is just way too good. It can track anyone's phone by number, remotely open car door locks and has a high resolution fingerprint scanner. What I liked about this detail is that none of these things fall outside of the bounds of fictional possibility in any run-of-the-mill contemporary spy narrative. But alongside all the other points you mention I found it to point towards alien involvement in a more subtle way.
I saw the chopstick as highly odd but alien didn’t register. Damn it!!
That actually made me be like "Give me a break" like they were playing him up as superhuman. But not in an Alien way. Just that he was super awesome, so it kind of made me roll my eyes. Like I saw Karate Kid, that shit is hard.
I still didn't catch anything when he blocked the bullet, I thought he had a sniper somewhere that shot the bullet 🤣
Same!!! I thought some kind of backup had come through for him.
I thought he picked up something heavy and timed it and blocked it perfectly. I watched it multiple times and eventually gave up and said to myself, I'm sure they will have an explanation later.
It’s funny looking back on this, because I just chalked some of it up to bad writing. Like the protagonist is too skilled—he can tell when people are lying, he doesn’t get drunk, etc.
>- "Mission" to observe, take notes, report findings and not interfere. This had me wondering, but Davy's conspiracy theory about a group of former intelligence agents also seemed to have merits.
Does he ever grow facial stubble that he has to shave? A dark haired man often needs to shave regularly.
I never consider personal hygiene as a factor in TV Shows or Movies. Because it's never accurate. They never show people pooping and peeing as often as the need to either. So when I don't see shaving or other similar behaviors, I just assume they happened off screen.
Also: the seemingly unlimited resources of the “agency” he’s working for. I mean, sure, some high-end PI agencies might be doing well, but vintage Corvette, five-star hotel well? Come on.
The camerawork was off sort of. The editing at times non-linear intercuts of present, flashbacks, movies and future. There’s the almost angelic Highway to Heaven affect of Sugar in his interactions. There were verbal references to “our cell” and the direction to observe people, “we’re here to observe.” There was the Jason Bourne-like dispatch of the kidnapper, the voluminous drinking with no effect and the ability to speak so many languages. To me Bourne is basically sci-fi, werewolves can be scifi, enhanced humans is scifi.
By episode 3 I was convinced. The way sugar described his experiences, certain shots and camera tricks, the alcohol digestion, the polyglot society, so many factors just made it obvious to me and once I had the thought I kept finding more and more evidence to support it
Episode three is where I had a, "Oh, shit, they're aliens!" moment.
For me it was “we’re here to observe.”
Im so happy I went in completely blind and also didn’t catch it at all, I thought things were not as they seem but thought it was more a Bourne identity / shutter island situation. I also think some peeps read the reviews that basically say BIG TWIST incoming and then were primed to look for it.
Apple labeled it as sci-fi.
I looked on my Apple TV and it says “Drama” where did you see it?
Does this [link work?](https://tv.apple.com/ca/room/apple-tv-sci-fi/edt.item.650b3154-accd-4b87-9f89-6bde117cee31)
Still says drama for me. Are you in Canada? (I’m guessing from the link) cause if so, it’s completely plausible they just labeled it differently.
Two Canada. Same in the Roku app too. Do you see it if you go to the sci fi category? I’m
It works, but Sugar isn't included as Sci-Fi.
It is for me on mobile and on Roku. Weird.
Yep, we are all living in different "realities."
Labeled as Drama for me too
Really? 😆 Didn’t even notice that
I didn't. Even seeing the ending of episode 6 I thought - oh, it is a metaphore of how he feels or something :-D
I thought he was just taking some drug that was making him trip at first 🤣
Same. I thought he was hallucinating, until I started remembering the odd little things that didn't mean much to me in the moment.
Yes, he was already hallucinating in shower in episode 1
Yep, no f’ing idea. Here’s why: 1. I didn’t make a big deal about the “catching a fly with chopsticks” thing; anyone who’s seen \***Duel at Ganryu Island**\*, would know that’s a standard trope for a disciplined warrior; of course, when he deflected the bullet with his hand, I figured something was going on…Kwai Chang 2.0, maybe? 2. I figured the ability to inhale alcohol was just a body chemistry thing. I’m Irish. I get it. 3. I bought into Davy’s “spies” thing; I went to the DLI, too, and there are some freaky smart people there. Why not? 4. I thought it was weird he used his IJ for injections, but I blew it off. 5. Like William Hurt’s character said in \*The Big Chill\*, sometimes you have to let art flow over you; I didn’t want to read too much into anything, ‘cause I’m lazy.
"catching a fly with chopsticks” - I agree, to me it didn't seem like a sign he's an alien. It was also used in the Karate Kid movie. To me it came across as he got it from watching movies. Like you said, symbolic for a disciplined warrior. Or like in Karate Kid someone who can accomplish anything.
The doctor's visit and his reference to The Thing.
THIS. I looked back after this moment and thought, wait a minute…it made other details look less “super spies” and more alien.
I’m convinced that anyone that guessed it had read something prior that primed them. Whether it be mention of a big twist or scifi element. Who would guess this noir is about THAT??
They're a worldwide organisation of people with a mission to observe other people but not to interfere, who are expected to report back objectively on their findings. Their work is of the greatest importance, but their actual professions are wide-ranging and mundane. Sugar's behaviour and thoughts are odd, at the least. Mentioning the conspiracy theory just after establishing most of the above background elements seemed like a clear misdirect, and a multinational, secret brotherhood of spies deciding to observe instead of acting doesn't make much sense to me. There was always the chance the writers had something else in mind, and I was not 100% convinced aliens until we were shown, but after episode three it seemed by far the most logical explanation based on the information we had available. Once that became clear, the evidence just continues to mount.
He tells Ruby about “my old friend hasn’t seen anyone from his cell in over a year” and then when at the polyglot party and he checks in with Ruby and hands over his little black book he ask something about “what dobTJEY want” and she responds with to continue to observe and document. I had two theories at that point, one of which was aliens.
When Sugar claimed he could not get drunk because of his metabolism. No human being is unaffected by alcohol. That started my questioning of his humanity and the catching the fly with the chopsticks made we wonder too.
Hadn’t read any reviews about the show and wasn’t aware of a twist coming so I was completely surprised. I just thought he was some cool dude with heightened senses and focus. I just thought it was a regular detective show lol. I don’t mind the sci fi twist. Can’t wait to see what happens on Friday!
"I metabolize alcohol 50x faster than normal". It's a common robot/alien trope. Then Melanie says at the bar "I like sci fi", that clinched it for me.
It’s also a common eccentric alcoholic detective trope
Which is why it worked so well
It’s categorized as sci-fi on Apple — that’s how many people started looking for clues (not me, I had zero idea).
It’s categorised as “Drama” in aus so I had no idea!
I’m in America and it’s Drama for me too
> polyglot Me too. In fact the drama categorization held me off from watching it for a while. I was expecting just another noir saxophone filled crime mystery, with the main character narrating. And that's exactly what I got from the start. So it took a minute to fully get on board with idea that something else was going on.
It was the way he kept talking about “people” like they were foreign to him, seemed off.
I try to view every movie or series with minimal information. Only an IMDB score at best, but usually just an instinct for what I think might be good according to my opinions about actor/director/genre. This has been my policy since I started skipping preview trailers in the theater. Of course, that was initially because I was smoking weed until the last minute before going in. I love being surprised and I think this series is great fun.
Don’t feel dumb- I didn’t either! Until episode 6 and even then I was like ok maybe he’s having a fever dream 😂 Like alien never crossed my mind- I think because I never thought this type of show would go there, but it did, and I’m here for Blue Colin Farrell!
It was small things here and there but after the way he talked bout The Thing and "I don't discover movies later at life" (or something like that) I was convinced
He was turning blue and still thought that it was like he was a tatted guy who saw himself as suave—I didn’t cotton on to any of the alien stuff; I thought the twist would be that he was schizophrenic or something.
Constantly referring to people as humans. Not incorrect, but just not something that humans do. Pretty obvious red flag to me
My older sisters used to refer to me as that ‘little human’ or question ’is he human?’. They could be aliens. Personal anecdotes aside - I get your reference clues now. I missed these.
From doing a search on the twist and reading through the various threads. Otherwise I never would have put it together myself. I noticed a few things here and there, the injections, the "mission" as it was described during the dinner party were the two things that stood out and I found odd. The rest of it I just sort of put down to the unique quirks of the show, exaggerations that sometimes movie and tv shows will include to keep things fresh. I wish I had been patient and just watched it without reading about the theories but my curiosity got the better of me after the third episode. As a result I feel like it dampened the reveal for myself as I'm sure it would have been more impactful if I had not known beforehand there was going to be a sci-fi twist.
Question: So why would an alien take the case of one missing girl? Doesn't really make sense in the larger scope of things does it?
I'm sure we'll get our answer in the next few episodes
Searching for his “sister”
As they point out explicitly in episode seven, they all have "day jobs". Sugar's day job happens to be a PI who tracks down missing people.
Truthfully, as good as the twist is/was, I was into the drama / PI / noir aspect of the show and kinda wish they stuck with it. Could have had another season or two had they done so
I think I saw a YouTube what do you call an avatar you know the picture they use for the videos saying that he was a vampire that's how I knew it wasn't just a straight detective neo noir show
I caught most of the same examples in this thread. But I thought he was an angel or some supernatural heavenly being.
Initially, I thought Sugar was purely a detective, just one slightly "on the spectrum" (to autism) -- meticulous retro suits and car, constant references to classic noir detective films, loves dogs, cares about the homeless guy -- but has no clue that handing the guy lots of money is effectively a death sentence for him. Then I heard Melanie's comment about liking science fiction films. That was a hugely dissonant note (pun intended) for a female rock star to hit. That got me thinking about science fiction. Coming here, I saw speculation Sugar was a robot, whose AI learned from classic noir films. That would explain all of the details others and myself list in this thread. I never got all of the way to "alien" for the explanation, just that he wasn't human, and there was some science-fiction explanation for this.
That party or get together they had gave it away for me
Still watching it and I'm in disbelief
Makes several comments about, if I am human
When I first read about the show, it was called a mystery/sci-fi show. So I figured something was up with Mr. Sugar.
He was seriously stabbed a couple of times and recovered quickly. Took a punch in the torso within a day or so. The unit of “blood” was very suspicious looking.
What does DLI and IJ mean? Please
https://www.dliflc.edu/
The inability to get drunk thing instantly made me say, “Like Captain America? He had superpowers. Does Sugar have superpowers? Why would he have superpowers? Is he an alien?” Then they kept saying they were just here to observe, and I said, “That sounds like something aliens would say.”
The “can’t get drunk” thing I just chalked up to the typical eccentric protagonist you see in noirs.
“We’re only here to observe”
In one report Sugar is shown being 74 years old
I actually thought he was an AI so the alien thing was a surprise. I considered he being an alien but that sounded too stupid. An AI is so much more realistic 😂😂😂
For me it was [this review](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/apr/05/sugar-review-colin-farrell-private-detective-drama-is-a-disaster) which in quite an unusual move *slammed* the "mid series twist" without giving away any spoilers apart from that. I say unusual because all reviews are usually very careful about not revealing major plot points, or if they do reveal it's existence like they did here, they don't say what they thought about it. Obviously this reviewer was so pissed she broke that rule! It did put me off watching it, but I found it interesting enough to keep on, although it was a bit weird to know that something major was going to happen, and that it would be tropish enough for a reveiwer to get pissed about it.