Smoke
Taron Edgerton reunites with writer Denis Lehane (Black Bird) in Apple TV+’s Smoke as firefighter-turned-arson investigator Dave Gudsen. After months of struggling to apprehend two arsonists who’ve been wreaking havoc across the city, Detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) is brought in as Gudsen’s new partner, with the hope that her crime scene expertise will crack the case. Despite its gripping premise, the opening episodes are weighed down by an onslaught of generic subplots and genre tropes. However, things start to heat up towards the halfway point once events take an unexpected turn and the show’s ambition comes to light.
The show effectively emphasises the dangers of fire, whether it’s Gudsen’s prosaic monologues about the chaos and unpredictability of the element or the opening flashback of his near-death experience as a firefighter. Unlike most productions, people don’t walk out of burning buildings unscathed with just a cough and some soot on their face. Instead, their flesh melts away in graphic detail, leaving them with permanent damage. This level of intensity helps audiences understand why the culprits need to be stopped.
The show is at its best in the early episodes whenever it’s pulling at the threads of each investigation. Both Edgerton and Smollett are fantastic here and share an enigmatic chemistry that’s entertaining to watch, even if the dialogue is as clichéd as police procedurals can get. Just as enthralling is Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as soft-spoken fast-food worker Freddy, who may be one of the suspects the pair are looking for. There’s a quiet uneasiness to his performance whenever he’s onscreen that cements him as one of this show’s most compelling components.
For as intriguing as the mystery is, it unfortunately becomes drowned out by the increased focus on its familial drama. Far less interesting in scope, these scenes drag down the pacing throughout much of the initial episodes. As the show approaches its halfway mark, however, a switch is flicked that takes events down an unexpected route. Without going into spoilers, certain characters are framed in a different light, which brings new meaning to the script’s discussions of control and masculinity.
Smoke is an ambitious but ultimately uneven outing. While it has some interesting tricks up its sleeve and is fronted by another charismatic performance from Edgerton, its accomplishments are buried under multiple episodes’ worth of generic drama before the sparks eventually ignite.
Andrew Murray
Smoke is released on Apple TV+ on 27th June 2025.
Watch the trailer for Smoke here:
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