Smoke reunites Dennis Lehane and star Taron Egerton after working together on Black Bird, both for Apple TV+. Black Bird, a true-crime adaptation, was a huge hit, acclaimed by both fans and critics alike, with major award recognition as well. Can Smoke, another inspired-by-actual-events series, recreate that same success?
Smoke Plot
Inspired by the “Firebug” podcast, which covered the real-life crimes of arsonist John Leonard Orr, Smoke follows arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) and Detective Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett) as they track two serial arsonists in the Pacific Northwest. While also grappling with their personal lives intertwining with the investigation, their work ignites a potentially deadly game of cat and mouse between the authorities and perpetrators.
Smoke Review
With so many detective stories focusing on crimes like murder, kidnapping, or heists, Smoke has an advantage by being about arson, a crime not often explored in television or movies. Sadly, though, it doesn’t use that leg up to its advantage.
Lehane and the rest of the production team choose to forgo much of the actual detective work to focus on the psychology of its main characters. The show has a unique hook; it’s disappointing to see it not take full advantage of it. That approach could still be fine if it did anything interesting with that. Unfortunately, it doesn’t, and that’s a common theme across the nine-episode run.
Egerton’s Gudsen wants more from his life, craves achievement and success, and recognition of that achievement and success. So, naturally, a large chunk of his story is about him trying to write a novel about an arson investigator. It’s all so incredibly dull. Gudsen’s damaged psyche and his other personal struggles could have been a compelling angle to explore, but far too much time is focused on the novel.
Calderon’s backstory centers around parental trauma resulting in her surviving a house fire as a child. Her mother’s possible parole becomes an important plot point, as it brings that trauma rushing back while also creating familial drama. Like Gudsen’s storyline, Smoke leaves a lot of meat on the bone here as well.
Then there’s Ntare Mwine’s Freddy Fasano character, the most useless character in the show. Mwine is actually great in the role, but Freddy’s entire character could have been cut completely or had his story given to other characters, and there would have been so much additional time to flesh out the other, better ideas.
Smoke largely feels like a lesson in “what could have been,” as there are several flashes of a stronger show. When it allows the detectives and other law enforcement agents to actually do their police work and investigating, it’s quite strong. The rest of the team of John Leguizamo, Rafe Spall, Greg Kinnear, and Anna Chlumsky is terrific. With a few exceptions, they get most of the best case work, making their scenes significantly more engaging. Leguizamo is a particular highlight, bringing some much-needed chaotic energy.
Continuing the “what could have been” trend, Smoke’s premiere is strong. It sets up everything you could want from a mysterious procedural before becoming the convoluted disappointment described above. It also features an early reveal that should have set up a taut, twisty, psychological back-and-forth. But it takes so many uninteresting turns with this setup, failing to capitalize on a promising start.
At least the performances are good up and down the cast list, which helps keep you relatively engaged during the down moments. Along with Leguizamo, Egerton is really going for something here too. It doesn’t always work, but it’s interesting if nothing else.
Is Smoke worth watching?
Maybe? If you’re desperate for a new detective show, this might be just enough to scratch that itch. But for every interesting new question Smoke introduces, there’s an equally frustrating and unsatisfying answer.
Smoke premieres on Apple TV+ with two episodes on June 27, with new episodes airing on subsequent Fridays. All nine episodes were screened for this review.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
