Is life worth living if one can’t enjoy a freshly baked frosted cinnamon roll? Maybe, maybe not. But our favorite noir dapper private investigator from another planet is back for season two. I would have thought that recency bias would have me favoring this over the first season, but alas, I remember the first being a bit more memorable. Word to the directors: never separate a man from his dog. Nonetheless, John Sugar is back, and he’s got himself another case to solve in LA.

This time around, John is tasked with finding the missing brother of an up-and-coming boxer. It will take John to dangerous gang neighborhoods and involve dealings with corrupt cops. It’s interesting enough to keep one watching, but it’s nothing to really write home about. It’s okay in that we know we are really watching the show because of Colin Farrell. Season one ended with the audience discovering John’s secret identity and that he’s really from another planet. Here in season two, we learn a bit more about his backstory, but not enough. Based on the ending of this season, I feel that they will certainly have to go more in-depth on John’s people in the next season.

Sure, we do learn some new things while John goes about solving his mystery. For example, his people were tasked simply with observing and learning about the humans on Earth. Simple enough. They were to blend in by getting a job, but there were rules they had to abide by. If someone broke those rules, they would be sent back home. In addition, once someone “assimilates” to life on Earth, that also signifies that it’s time to go. However, I thought I learned that John’s people were chased off their planet (for reasons unknown), so where exactly is considered home for them? At the very end, we see John’s sister creating a new technology that can change the weather to help combat climate change. But of course, the technology is not meant to benefit the people of Earth, but rather John’s people. I can only assume that she is trying to find a new planet for their people to call home and that this new technology will help them tremendously. This obviously sets up a scenario in a future season where I believe John will have to choose between saving his own people or the humans on Earth. It’s a cliché, but I’d be willing to see this through to the end.

The noir-style theme of Sugar is at times relaxing. I found myself missing the frequent black-and-white movie scenes as well as John’s monologue. It’s obvious he’s trying to give humans the benefit of the doubt, but the evil he has witnessed is too big for him to ignore, to the point of it changing him as well. It will be fun to see how affected John will be in future seasons. Will he get darker and be tainted with what it means to be human as he continues to assimilate with them? Regardless, I think two seasons is enough of an introduction. We’re going to want to see others of John’s people, as is evident from his answering machine. While I’m glad John isn’t capable of shooting lasers from his eyes or secretly healing others with mysterious powers, I’m continually waiting to see if they will bring more sci-fi elements into the mix.

I have high hopes for season three. John will undoubtedly be thrown into more dangerous situations and be forced to make more tough decisions. But I feel like they might need to up the stakes a little more. With John’s sister mysteriously reappearing and looking to be the villain next time around, I’m hoping something big happens. That doesn’t necessarily mean bigger explosions and gunfights, but something that gives the audience more information on the lore of John’s people and background. How was John different prior to coming to Earth? Either way, I’ll be looking forward to it.