‘Sugar’ Bosses Explain Why Empathy Is So Dangerous for Colin Farrell’s Character

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Sugar Episode 3 “Shibuya Crossing.”]

“We all have our secrets, even me. Especially me.” So says Sugar (Colin Farrell) in the closing voiceover of the latest episode of the Apple TV+ noir series. We may be one more episode into Sugar, but it just leaves us with more questions about the titular private investigator.

We know that Sugar has secrets, and now, we get a sense of just how many others have the same one when he attends an event, hosted by Ruby (Kirby). Each person has a one-on-one with her upstairs in an interrogation-like room. She takes a look at his notebook and is confused about some of his entries about how it feels to watch people cross a street in Japan as well as his obsession with the kidnapping case he’s working. She reminds him they’re here to observe, not participate in these people’s lives, and it was his idea because of what happened to Jen. He needs to stay focused and not forget who he is.

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Sugar asks if Ruby has heard from them. Yes. What did they say? They’re counting on them. Then, the episode ends with Ruby back in that room, reading the notebooks she’d collected and beginning to type on some sort of typewriter.

Executive producers Audrey Chon and Simon Kinberg are careful about not saying too much about what that all means just yet.

“We’re suggesting that Sugar is part of a covert group and these group of people have similar types of skills like him. They’re observing people,” Chon tells TV Insider. “And in terms of the typewriter, we’re suggesting that Ruby is able to communicate with others that are part of the group. We can’t really say why quite yet.”

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What is clear is that Sugar struggles to follow the protocols that are in place. “It comes back to why he’s struggling with the case of finding Olivia Siegel in general. He’s really emotionally tied to finding her, and so his personal ambitions and motivations are conflicting with the groups,” explains Chon.

Adds Kinberg, “I would say one of the things that is one of my favorite parts about Sugar as a character and as a show is it’s very much about the power and the danger of empathy. And he’s this incredibly empathic character who cares about people in a way that is a little bit dangerous for anyone, but most especially for a detective who’s in the middle of a complex kidnapping investigation. And so for someone who finds himself sort of trolling the darkest corners of humanity, to feel all of the pain of the people he’s searching for and the people who are searching is overwhelming. And I think there’s an element of that for his character. We’re watching someone, in some ways, be too human.”

What do you think is going on with Sugar, Ruby, and the others? Let us know in the comments section, below.

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