Smoke on Apple TV+ Is the Drama You Didn’t Know You Needed
Let me just start by saying— Smoke is not the kind of show you casually throw on and forget. It’s the kind of story that hooks you in slowly, maybe even a little clumsily at first, but once you’re in, you’re in . And honestly? No other show right now rewards your patience quite like this one.
So here’s the deal: Smoke , the latest nine-part miniseries on Apple TV+, comes from the mind of Dennis Lehane—you know, the guy behind Black Bird . He’s back with Taron Egerton, and together, they’ve taken on something even darker, more unsettling, and way more layered than I expected. Egerton plays Dave Gudsen, a former firefighter turned arson investigator, who’s carrying around some seriously heavy trauma. His new job? Tracking down two serial arsonists wreaking havoc across the Pacific Northwest.
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Enter Michelle Calderon, played by the brilliant Jurnee Smollett. She’s a detective who's also got a past that’s anything but clean. A ruined career, family scars, and a sense of justice that might be the only thing holding her together. When she teams up with Dave, the real sparks start flying—not the romantic kind, the emotionally combustible kind. Together, they dive into a web of fires, lies, and psychological damage that’s as fascinating as it is hard to watch at times.
But here’s the thing—yes, the first couple of episodes feel a bit off. The tone wavers, the pacing can be odd, and there are moments where the characters seem a little too wrapped up in their quirks. I’ll admit, I almost bailed. But don’t. Stick with it . It gets tighter, darker, smarter. And what unfolds is a tense, character-driven story that’s both emotionally rich and thematically deep. It’s not just about finding out who set the fires—it’s about why , and what those fires reveal about the people chasing them.
One of the show's most compelling elements is Freddy, played by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine. He’s a suspect introduced early on, and he’s heartbreaking. Lonely, weird, and mesmerizing in every scene, Freddy represents something bigger than just the case—he’s a symbol of isolation, of how society lets people slip through the cracks until they explode.
Lehane cleverly uses arson not just as a crime but as a metaphor—burn it all down, start again, erase the past. And Egerton leans hard into that complexity. Dave isn’t a clean-cut hero. He’s a guy writing a book about being a hero, and that says a lot. It’s performative, it’s self-absorbed, and it’s disturbing . Yet, you can’t stop watching him spiral deeper into obsession.
By the time you hit the midpoint of the series, it’s no longer about solving the mystery—it’s about peeling back layers of identity, morality, and truth. Who are these people when the masks come off? And what’s left standing when the fires go out?
Smoke isn’t perfect. But it doesn’t need to be. It’s compelling, bold, and a little bit broken—just like its characters. If you’re tired of formulaic crime shows, give this one a chance. It's uncomfortable in the best way, and by the end, you'll be glad you stayed in the heat.
Catch it now on Apple TV+, and maybe don’t binge it all at once—this one deserves to simmer.
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