Sugar – Season 1 Episode 5 Recap & Review

Boy in the Corner

Sugar Episode 5 begins with Davy Siegel shooting a scene for his film but he keeps redoing it. Later he watches the movie and laments to his mother that the scandal is going to take him down. She ensures him that he’ll find himself on top of things again.

Meanwhile, Sugar wants to find Davy and question him about Olivia. At the Siegel house, Sugar sees Lorraine’s room which has been kept as it always was. Sugar realises the photos of Lorraine have been taken in this room.

Unfortunately, Sugar can’t ask Jonathan about it because he’s unconscious in a bed. Bernie offers to pay Sugar the rest of his free so he’s free to go. Sugar says he’ll stay on the case. Later, Sugar even goes to Margit’s house to look for David. Both, mother and father shield David from Sugar.

Ultimately, Davy comes out and agrees to talk to Sugar. Davy agrees he heard about a guy who could bring him girls. Sugar figures the man is Byron Stallings. Davy mentioned to Byron that Olivia was telling Taylor, the sexual assault victim, to sue Davy. He thought Byron would scare her but now he’s afraid he went too far.

Melanie goes to a friend and talks about Olivia and Sugar. She claims to trust Sugar but says she doesn’t feel romantically about him. Charlie is watching her when she leaves.

Meanwhile, Ruby drives to a spot seemingly in the middle of nowhere. She meets a man named Miller and says she worries about Sugar finding something out. Ruby talks about some new methods and new people that she’s unsure about but Miller tells her to ensure Sugar doesn’t find out.

Melanie goes home when one of Stallings’ men shows up with a gun. Charlie is outside keeping watch. Sugar arrives and joins her but they have no idea what’s going on. Inside, Melanie manages to lock herself in the bathroom.

Sugar is driving off when he recognises the man’s truck. He goes back and, of course, takes care of the gangster. Melanie and Charlie have to stop him from going too far. Later, Sugar suggests that Melanie stay at the hotel for the night. They go there and Sugar apologises for going too far.

Somewhere in Mexico, a bus full of young men and women rolls up at an empty ground. Stallings is waiting there. A select bunch of women are told to get in a van even when their families protest.

Davy and Margit discuss one of his older movies which was a hit. After she goes to bed, Davy takes out a small gun from a box and puts it to his temple. His parents rush him to the hospital.

In the middle of the night, Sugar sleeps on the floor next to the couch where Melanie is lying down but not asleep. He says he has a secret. She asks him to tell her but he says he can’t at the end of Sugar Episode 5.

The Episode Review

Sugar Episode 5 drags on the connection of Stallings and his trafficking practice to the case, linking Davy further to the disappearance of Olivia. It’s not particularly interesting or engaging and unfortunately, Sugar continues to be a very exhausting character.

His entire weight-of-the-world-on-his-shoulders attitude simply does not feel warranted. Colin Farrel is doing his best with the character but Sugar’s personal narration makes him seem high-and-mighty and condescending. This doesn’t make him relatable at all.

The rest of the show doesn’t help much either. The level of intrigue in the mystery is minimal, the dialogues feel awkward, and the characters all feel rooted in stereotypes. There doesn’t seem to be much nuance in characters like Davy, Bernie or even Melanie. Jonathan was fairly interesting but he’s unconscious now. Only three episodes to go but I’m not holding out much hope.