Sugar plot twist explained: what is PI John Sugar really?

If you settled in for the popular Apple TV Plus show Sugar expecting a modern-day film noir story that pages homage to the classics, you'd be right... up until the massive Sugar plot twist which changed the direction of the show dramatically.

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The seventh episode of Sugar reveals the true identity of main character PI John Sugar, as well as his secretive group of espionage friends who we've briefly met and their real objective.

While there's one episode left of Sugar ('Farewell' comes out on Friday, May 17, and I haven't watched it yet so can't spoil for you!), the episode seven twist will almost definitely be the most talked about part of the show. You better use our guide on how to watch Sugar beccause you're about to be totally lost otherwise!

So what actually is the twist, was it set up previously, and how does it link to what we've already seen? Well, let's explore the Sugar plot twist, and obviously spoilers for the first seven episodes ensue.

Is Sugar really an alien?

Yes: apparently, PI John Sugar is literally an extraterrestrial from another planet.

We see Sugar's true form at the end of episode 6, when he turns blue in front of the mirror, and he tells Melanie that he's there in order to observe. She thinks he's from another country, but evidently that's not the case!

Are Sugar's allies aliens?

Everyone in the Cosmopolitan Polyglot Society (we meet them in episodes 3 and 7) is an alien. That includes Ruby, Miller and Henry.

They're all on Earth for the same reason: to observe and report on humanity (or, that was the plan at least).

Was this plot twist foreshadowed at all?

Lots of response to Sugar's twist has been quite surprised, but people are pointing out that a few elements of the show could be interpreted as set-up for this plot twist.

Elements like Sugar's inability to process alcohol, his incredibly close connection to dogs, and his dependence on a drug which he injects in his neck all could be read as references to his extraterrestrial origin and biology.

However since Sugar is implied through the series to have a mysterious past, you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was setting something totally different up. Even the revelation of his blue face could be understood as a drug-induced hallucination rather than true fact!

Why is Sugar a Private Investigator?

Not all of the aliens are private investigators, and this is something Sugar specifically picked as his job while on Earth.

Through the series it's been established that he loves the film noir genre, so perhaps this inspired his decision to keep this piece of human culture alive.

He's also shown to really want to help humans, and his PI speciality is finding missing people, so perhaps he combines his skills and his passion by doing this job.

Is Sugar becoming a human?

Henry admonishes Sugar in episode 7 for becoming human, though he admits that all of the aliens have been doing it as they stay on Earth.

This isn't a literal statement to say that they're morphing into people, but a metaphor: these aliens are, according to the show's creators in an Indiewire interview, creatures who don't feel emotions. However spending time on Earth has made them feel human emotions, which is why Sugar becomes more violent and angry as the show goes on.

Why are the aliens helping to kidnap women?

Even though the aliens are meant to simply observe humans, they've been led astray.

That's because some unspecified (at least, as of episode 7) "powerful humans" discovered the existence of the aliens on their planet. However, they didn't reveal this information.

Instead, they blackmailed these visitors into doing their dirty work, which includes covering up the kidnapping of Olivia Siegel.

Not all of the aliens are happy with this turn of events, but evidently self preservation is their main goal.

Where are the aliens from?

One thing we don't find out (at least by the end of episode 7) is where these aliens are actually from... or, for that matter, why they're observing Earth in the first place.

Given tha this hasn't been a sci-fi show, we don't know if Sugar is following more grounded view of life on other planets (ie, not in our Solar System and not anywhere near us) or whether it's a more fanciful and fantastical look on aliens; maybe they're martians who are really good at avoiding detection.