Sugar Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: John Sugar Races to Save Ji

Apple TV’s Sugar season two, episode four opens with John Sugar (Colin Farrell) revealing the one rule his people are not allowed to ever break. The very first rule that doesn’t change, regardless of the planet they visit, is, “Thou shall not kill.”

(The following is a recap of season two, episode four – “Off 15” – and there are spoilers.)

A flashback to eight days prior shows Ji Moon (Raymond Lee) entering St. Anthony’s City Hospital and stepping into the elevator. A man Ji doesn’t recognize (Tony Dalton) follows him in, but nothing’s said on the short ride. The man remains in the elevator when Ji exits.

Ji retrieves the hospital badge and a thermos from Hannah (Nona Parker Johnson) and enters the locked medication room. He puts a handful of pills in his pocket and fills the thermos to its brim. Ji smiles at Hannah through the glass in the door as he steps into the stairwell.  

He’s hurrying down the stairs when he sees a security guard and quickly turns around. He exits on a different floor and enters Chuy’s room. Chuy moans and motions toward a phone, but Ji quickly hides in the closet when the man from the elevator steps out of the bathroom. The man speaks Spanish and tells Chuy he’s there to give him peace. He closes off Chuy’s breathing tube and Chuy passes away while the stranger tells him not to be afraid.

Ji’s watching this from a crack in the closet and makes a noise. The man opens the closet door and shakes Ji’s thermos of pills. He hands it back as Chuy’s alarms start beeping and snaps the photo we’ve seen of Ji before leaving the room.

He orders Ji to run.

The action returns to present day as John Sugar explains to two sheriffs why he was at Ez4’s headquarters when they raided it. One of the sheriffs, Vega, was at the crime scene and had noticed John Sugar staring at him when he looked at this watch. John realized his arm movements and watch matched the man who was seen on the hospital security camera the night Ji stole the drugs and Chuy was killed. John knows he’s most likely sitting across from Chuy’s murderer.

Vega tells a funny story about Jude Law and a ride-along before dismissing the other officer. Once he’s gone, Vega turns off the recorder and asks how John IDed him. John confirms it was how he moved and how he checked his watch that gave him away. He also confirms he knows Vega killed Chuy because of the Fire Sale and must kill Ji because he witnessed Chuy’s murder.

At least three sheriffs are watching from behind the glass as John suggests this was all done to cover Vega’s business with the drugs and the Ez4s. John’s shocked when Vega admits someone called and told him to leave Sugar alone. John must have a powerful guardian angel.

So, John’s off the hook but Vega confirms Ji is still fair game and needs to die. John refuses to back down or stay out of Vega’s way.

John returns to his room and feels something’s off. He watches the security cameras and is stunned to see Charlotte (Laura Donnelly) looking through his place, even going through his drawers. John immediately heads to the bar and confronts Charlotte while she’s drinking with two work colleagues. He asks why she was in his room and Charlotte steps away from her friends to answer. John explains what he saw on the security cameras, and Charlotte claims the housekeeper let her in so she could leave him a note.

He returns to his room and finds the flirty note, right where she left it.

Four sheriffs, including Lt. Vega, discuss what they know about John Sugar, which is basically nothing. Vega believes John won’t be an issue.

Vega had already paid a visit to Hannah’s house and informed her he’s with the gang division and thinks Ji might have witnessed a gang-related murder. Hannah described Ji as wild but not bad and asked if he’ll be okay. Vega told her they want to protect Ji but need to know his location.

Vega tells his fellow crooked sheriffs that all they need to do is wait for Hannah’s call with Ji’s whereabouts.

John checks in with Val (Sasha Calle) and confirms she’s following Hannah. John confesses he feels like they’re missing something.

Danny gets ready for lunch with the boxing promoter his trainer introduced him to, and John assures him he’s a good fighter who needs to believe in himself. He promises Danny that he’ll find Ji, and Danny confesses he knows the guy who was at the club with his brother. His name’s Tyler Ko. John’s furious that Danny lied and withheld this information for two days. If Danny had told him right away, he could have already found Ji.

John reminds Danny there’s a dangerous man looking for Ji and if he finds him, he’ll kill him. Danny seems resigned to Ji’s death, either by a dangerous man or by drugs.

John visits the apartment that Tyler shares with his dad and learns Tyler’s out with Ji.

Len the promoter introduces Danny to boxer Nestor Rodrigues and then guarantees Danny a big payday. But Danny’s distracted because a guy at the adjacent table is telling Nestor something in Portuguese. When Danny learns that he told Nestor that Ji’s a junkie, he leaps over the table and jumps him.

John’s trying to figure out what he’s missed as he watches an old movie with Tyler’s dad. He suddenly realizes that Vega said he knew where Ji was going to be sooner or later. Vega and the cops will be looking for Ji at Hannah’s.

Hannah calls the cops and Vega and his corrupt team head out. John checks in with Val as she’s following Hannah to the Beverly Center mall. Val stays behind Hannah as Hannah goes up the escalator, and John calls back, reminding her to keep close and keep an eye out for sheriffs. John explains that Vega knows Hannah’s meeting Ji to do a drug deal, and suddenly Val realizes she’s lost Hannah.

Vega calls Hannah and tells her they’re at the mall too, but she can’t see them. He advises her to do the deal, hand over the money, take the drugs, and let Ji leave. They’ll step in after that.

Ji pulls up in the mall lot and snorts something before leaving his car. There are sheriffs in unmarked cars nearby watching as he exits his vehicle and heads into the mall. They follow him from a distance as he meets with Hannah. Ji hands her the thermos and she passes him a bag of money. Ji apologizes for getting her involved.

He walks off and Hannah scans the crowd for cops.

John arrives at the mall and finds Val while she’s still looking for Hannah. John looks up at a huge advertisement with a photo and blurts out, “Photograph. I’ve got to go,” and runs off. He knows where Ji’s heading and tells Val to keep her phone in her hand.

Hannah wonders why Vega didn’t step in and he assures her they were there and she did great. She’s unaware they placed a tracker on Ji’s car.

Danny’s just returned home when John calls and asks about the photograph on the frig. He believes Ji is heading to the desert like he said he would after the deal was completed. Danny confirms the photo was taken at Teddy’s ranch in Mojave, where they sometimes trained.

John speeds out to Teddy’s ranch and finds Ji passed out, with a gun nearby. Ji’s not alone and Tyler steps out of the bathroom, reaching for the gun that’s no longer there. John assures him he’s not a bad guy, but that the bad guy is on the way. They’re about to carry Ji out to John’s car when John hears vehicles outside. There’s not enough time to flee so John orders Tyler to go into the desert and wait for him to say it’s all clear. If John doesn’t call out within 15 minutes, Tyler should quietly run away.

John adds a knife to his arsenal and checks Tyler’s gun for bullets. He returns to Ji’s side and Ji’s too high to wake.

Vega and his three cohorts walk through the door and see Ji with a needle in his arm. He’s not breathing and they believe he overdosed. (John injected Ji with an overdose and knows he has three minutes to revive him.) Vega orders them to check the house and, fortunately, they don’t find John’s hiding place. He orders the men to take the cash, grab the tracker, and wrap things up.

John waits until he hears the cars pulling away before rushing back to Ji. He sprays Narcan up his nose, but Ji doesn’t start breathing. John administers CPR, urging him to come back.

Ji takes in a huge gulp of air as season two, episode four ends.

• Season 2 Episode 1 “Home Away from Home” Recap
• Season 2 Episode 2 “Downer Town” Recap
• Season 2 Episode 3 “Watch Face” Recap