‘Smoke’ Review: A Fireball of Wasted Potential

Smoke is Apple TV’s latest thriller from Dennis Lehane, an author turned screenwriter with an incredible catalogue in both worlds. His previous show, Black Bird, was a massive hit for Apple TV. While that show didn’t start off very compelling, it quickly made a turnaround into one of the best miniseries of the 2020s. Read our Smoke review. 

That made me all the more excited for Smoke with Lehane and Taron Egerton (the star of Black Bird) reuniting for the series. It also helped that the premise was incredibly intriguing but to my surprise, the show squanders the potential of that premise at almost every step.

Smoke follows Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton), an arson investigator, and Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett), a detective, who are tasked with working together to catch two serial arsonists who have been active for years. 

What’s interesting is that the show makes no mystery of who the arsonists are. Both arsonists are revealed by episode two, which I commend the show for. It felt like an active decision to make it less of a mystery and more of a character study of the arsonists. In some ways, that does work. I also think the mystery element would’ve only felt drawn out for one of the arsonists.

Freddy Fasano (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine), one of the arsonists, is arguably the best part of the entire show. His story is briefer than the other arsonist’s, but it’s quite compelling, and the performance of Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine powers through any weak points of the character. 

The other arsonist, however, is a bit harder to judge. That whole storyline feels far more corny than it should. I think there’s a lot of potential for that storyline, but the way the show tackles it just isn’t nearly as interesting as it could’ve been. There are some points of merit, particularly in episode 7, the strongest of the season, where there’s a lot of progress within the storyline and the characters, but the penultimate episode and finale nullify that.

A show like Smoke is tough to grade because every single element of a good or even great show is present but the issue is the elements that don’t need to be there take over too much and muddy the waters. The show does a fantastic job at setting up the plot but struggles with how to deal with that set-up. 

It’s like driving down a smooth road, then suddenly out of nowhere, you hit a speed bump, then get back to a great drive before it inevitably happens again. The performances never disappointed; everyone was on their A game despite the show getting more and more insane. 

There’s such an odd balance tonally because the show’s approach feels grounded but there are just way too many things that are over the top. This tonal whiplash was most evident in the penultimate episode of the series and the finale.

Both of which let the series down tremendously. The setup uptill the last 10 minutes of Smoke was quite fascinating. The arsonist vs the police force felt like a fun game of cat and mouse but within those last 10 minutes, the show quickly devolves into something else entirely. It felt like it wanted a complete direction change when it wasn’t necessary. 

The finale then continues the trend with more absurd moments that come out of nowhere. The ending of the season is so unsatisfactory and honestly more ridiculous than I ever could have imagined. It just doesn’t work as a season or series ending (more so the latter than the former).

Dennis Lehane has said that he has a three-season plan. At this time, there has been no news about a potential renewal, but Apple TV+ does usually give its shows multiple seasons. I’m not sure if there is enough material for three seasons, but if this show does return, I hope the writing is stronger and more cohesive. 

All in all, I thought Smoke captivated me at a lot of different points, which makes it all the more disappointing that the show fumbles it at almost every step. 

Smoke stars Taron Egerton, Jurnee Smollett, Rafe Spall, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, John Leguizamo, and Greg Kinnear. The full season is now streaming on Apple TV+, which you can watch below:

Thank you for reading our Smoke Review. Stay tuned for our full review of the full season once further episodes are released.