EP Simon Kinberg Breaks Down Colin Farrell’s Episode 6 – ‘It’s a Big Swing’ (Exclusive)

Simon Kinberg also explains why the show’s plot twist “scared” other places where they originally pitched the Apple TV+ drama

Warning: This post contains spoilers from Apple TV+’s Episode 6 Sugar.

If Sugar If it were a simple noir drama about a private detective investigating the disappearance of a producer’s granddaughter, it would more then enough. But a huge plot twist in the final moments of episode 6 expands the show into a daring mix of genres.

Sugar centers on John Sugar (Colin Farrell), an empathetic PI assigned by Hollywood titan Jonathan Siegel (James Cromwell) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of his granddaughter Olivia (Sydney Chandler). Sugar quickly becomes immersed in – and emotionally attached to – the case.

As the show heads towards episode 6, Sugar drops some hints, suggesting a big reveal is coming for his character. Earlier in the season, he tells Melanie (Amy Ryan) that he processes alcohol 50 times faster than others. In another scene, he admits to her that he has a “big secret.”

Related: Colin Farrell is a wonderfully mysterious detective in the first trailer for Sugar

Executive producer Simon Kinberg explains to PEOPLE that these hints were part of a “continual modulation of different ideas.”

“As we got closer to the end of episode 6 and (the) reveal, we were able to add a few more breadcrumbs and a little bit more supernatural touch because we wanted the audience to be at least subconsciously prepared for this very hard swerve that we take at the end of the episode,” he adds.

What really happened?

After a confrontation with Stallings and his sex trafficking squad, an injured Sugar returned to his motel and sent Amy to purchase iodine at the local pharmacy. He took a large cell phone out of his bag and asked Melanie to call his friend Henry. “He knows what to do,” Sugar added.

Then he blacked out and fell into his chair. When Henry (Jason Butler Harner) arrived, he and Melanie made quick work of carrying Sugar to the bathroom and laying him down. Henry grabbed several tools, including scissors and tweezers, from his bag, and sent Melanie to the drugstore to buy more Betadine, a topical antiseptic that kills germs when applied to cuts, scrapes, and burns.

Related: Colin Farrell Looks Fresh in a Suit and Braces on the Set of New Apple TV+ Drama ‘Sugar’

At that moment, Henry took out a blood transfusion bag decorated with a hexagonal logo and non-English symbols. The blood in this bag had small pieces floating in the fluid: it clearly did not have the same viscosity as human blood.

After injecting Sugar with drugs, Henry put him to bed. Henry left and told Melanie that Sugar shouldn’t “move” or “go anywhere.” “He stays in that bed,” Henry demanded.

When Sugar finally woke up, he slowly emerged from bed, growling and grim, speaking through a voiceover. “It hurts. It comes in handy for what I did,” he said. “Long day… and it’s not over yet.”

During a visit to Ruby (Kirby) in which Sugar realized she had betrayed him by signaling his attackers that he was coming, he grabbed something from a kitchen drawer when she was elsewhere in the house and returned to the motel room where Melanie lay quietly to sleep.

“Maybe tonight it’s okay to take a little break. Just a little break,” he said via voiceover.

After closing the bathroom door, he pulled out a needle and kit from a strange, crystal-like box. “Go home. Go home,” he said before injecting himself…

Related: Colin Farrell’s 2 Sons: All About James and Henry

So is John Sugar an alien?

After the injection, Sugar’s face and head turned into something alien. His eyes glowed a bright blue, his dark brown hair disappeared and his face and scalp took on a lighter shade of blue with long, almost vein-like streaks.

The camera lingered on him for several moments as Angel Olsen’s song “Go Home” played and the credits rolled.

Too blue or not blue enough?

Management Sugar plot twist was a huge undertaking, involving discussions that at one time or another involved Apple, Kinberg, Farrell, creator Mark Protosevich and other producers such as Adam Arkin, Sam Catlin, Audrey Chon and director Fernando Meirelles. In addition to figuring out when to reveal Colin’s form — at one point the producers debated whether to do this in the first or last episode — there were a lot of conversations about what Sugar’s alien should look like.

“We shared a common vision of the intent of the look,” Kinberg recalls.

Achieving Farrell’s final alien face was a process that involved ‘hundreds’ of different versions and iterations, from concept stage to post-production, with the visual effects department playing with color and lighting.

“No one wanted it to be wild and suddenly make him a creature, and everyone understood and recognized when it was so at human and at subtle that (the audience) didn’t really experience the full impact of the gear shift,” he says.

“In initial testing, I would say Colin’s alien look was too subtle,” Kinberg continues. “They barely changed the color of his skin, very subtly his eye color. We all liked the idea of ​​it being subtle, but if it was that subtle the audience wouldn’t understand it – and it’s obviously crucial that the audience understands what they’re looking at. We were afraid that only a kind of pale, dark-eyed Colin that we initially had would look like a vampire. So a lot has happened.”

The producer is extremely happy with the end result.

“He (Sugar) has a kind of delicate, elegant quality, and we felt like the final look retained or even enhanced some of the delicacy and elegance of John Sugar,” he adds.

The dispute concerned potential networks

Viewers will definitely be talking about it Sugar’‘s big plot twist, which Kinberg admits was a major concern for buyers when the show was being shopped around.

“There were a lot of people who loved writing. They loved the character because Mark Protosevich had written a beautiful script, and John Sugar was such a unique and beautiful character,” Kinberg recalls. “But there were a lot of places that were scared of this revelation, because it felt like the mixing or mashup of the genres was too risky. There were places where it was said, ‘Why can’t it just be a detective show? It really is one Good detective show. ”

Related: Colin Farrell Jokes His Sons Are His Toughest Critics: ‘Little Rotten Tomatoes Committee’

“It was a big swing,” the executive producer adds, but one that was well worth it.

“We felt like removing that reveal took something away from John Sugar, the character,” he says. “So it wasn’t easy, among other things, to get everyone to agree, but Apple was the strongest in supporting that vision that not everyone saw. And now I think once people see this episode, it will be hard to imagine this show without this element.

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New episodes of Sugar drop Fridays on Apple TV+.

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