The first episode of Smoke, a new Apple TV+ miniseries about an arson investigator (Taron Egerton) and a cop (Jurnee Smollett) teaming up to catch two unrelated serial arsonists, opens with the dictionary definition of “creativity.” This is the sort of device that suggests anything but creativity is to be found. And for a couple of episodes, the show feels only slightly less hacky than the novel that Egerton’s character, Dave Gudsen, is writing, inspired by his own experiences.
“Of all the elements,” he jots down at one point, “only fire retains a sense of mystery.” This is actually one of the less cliche-ridden lines of Dave’s book. There are some early contrivances as well, including Michelle having a traumatic past that makes her particularly eager to catch their two mysterious arsonists: “Milk Jug,” so nicknamed because he fills them with gasoline to set his fires; and “D&C,” short for divide and conquer, who sets time-delayed fires in one area so he’ll go unmolested when going after his real targets.
But then the show’s creator, Dennis Lehane — reuniting with Egerton (and supporting actor Greg Kinnear, who plays Dave’s boss) from their Apple miniseries Black Bird — reveals what’s really going on with these investigations. And suddenly, the series’ more trite elements become a feature, not a (fire)bug.
Will viewers have the patience to make their way through two episodes that are hiding what Smoke is really about, just to get to the actual show? Two hours out of nine isn’t quite a full Surf Dracula situation, where a series wastes its entire first season before introducing its real premise. But it’s still asking a lot from viewers with busy lives and long to-watch lists. If I wasn’t planning to review it — and, frankly, if I hadn’t enjoyed so many of Lehane’s novels (like Gone, Baby, Gone, Mystic River, and Shutter Island), as well as his TV work on The Wire — I might not have even made it to the big turn that the story takes.
Perhaps Lehane was simply following the lead of Fire Bug, the true crime podcast that he’s fictionalizing, which also kept the true nature of what was happening a secret for a while. I can’t speak to how it worked in that version, but it’s not a coincidence that Smoke becomes vastly more entertaining and complex the second that it turns all of its cards face-up. The cat-and-mouse game between the investigators and the arsonists becomes more fraught. Smollett and Egerton are excellent and magnetic as we plumb the depths of their characters’ damaged psyches. The supporting actors (including Rafe Spall, Anna Chlumsky, and John Leguizamo) give rich — and, in the case of Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as a chicken joint fry cook whose only pleasure seems to come from watching things burn, terrifying — performances, that are all substantially better for knowing what’s really motivating everyone.
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine in ‘Smoke.’
Robert Falconer/Apple TV+
Even answering the relatively small question of whether Lehane and company intend for Dave’s book to be good goes a long way towards making Smoke work. At first, it’s unclear if he’s meant to be a bad writer, or if this the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip problem in literary form, where a work-within-the-work that other characters insist is brilliant actually seems awful. Fortunately, Lehane is a great enough crime author to be able to imitate a terrible one(*), and being more overt about that helps to better establish who Dave is.
(*) That said, there are occasional exchanges of dialogue that feel like Dave could have written them, like one character calling another, “The biggest joke I ever heard,” followed by their target replying, “Then why aren’t you laughing?”
The story spirals a bit too far out of Lehane and company’s control in the final chapters, particularly with some choices that Michelle makes. But even they have some thrilling moments, and some thoughtful things to say about the lives we tell the world — and ourselves — about who we are.
When Dave’s book gets critiqued by his wife Ashley (Hannah Emily Anderson) and others, the complaints tend to be about the stilted dialogue or the poorly-written female characters. No one encourages him to get to the big idea sooner. But it’s advice the people writing about Dave and his colleagues could have used, especially given how much better Smoke gets once that happens.
The first two episodes of Smoke begin streaming June 27 on Apple TV+, with additional episodes releasing weekly. I’ve seen all nine episodes.
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