“Smoke” from Apple TV+ has had a slowly smoldering season that has increased the pace every episode until all hell is about to break loose during the season finale on Friday. The series is based off the podcast “Firebug”which chronicled the case of the most prolific serial arsonist in the history of America, John Leonard Orr. Orr’s activity took place in the 1980’s and early 90’s, while “Smoke” takes place in current day, but a good portion of the story is adapted faithfully and a lot of the major beats about the arsonists life have been touched upon in the series.
The penultimate episode “Mercy” caught all of us viewers completely by surprise when Detective Michele Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) accidentally mortally injured her manipulative ex-boyfriend Steven Burke (Rafe Spall) who happened to be a Police Captain. Burke is also the head of the task force assembled to catch the serial arsonist who they think is arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton). Michelle burns Burke’s body to cover her own involvement at Burke’s house and point the blame towards Dave, who Burke was actively investigating. Calderone even plants a glove from Gudsen to make the investigation easy, as Dave has managed to stay one step ahead of the team since it’s inception. Warning, beyond this pint here are spoilers for anyone who is not up to date on the TV series “Smoke” on Apple TV+, titled “Mirror, Mirror.”
The series is based off the podcast “Firebug”which chronicled the case of the most prolific serial arsonist in the history of America, John Leonard Orr.”
The finale pickup as first responders go over the scene at Burke’s house the next morning. Captain Pearson (Amy Carlson) has taken over the scene and instantly shuts down the task force. The Captain was old friends with Burke and believes the perpetrator is obviously the guy he was investigating for arson, Dave Gudsen. The task force being abruptly closed was surprising, but it forces the story into it’s endgame. Michelle shows up on the scene last and plays it off cool fro the new Captain while realizing she was spotted by a neighbors security camera. Luckily the neighbor is out of town and Calderone sends her brother to take care of the footage. Throughout the episode, the series does a phenomenal job of building up the tension and adding pressure to every situation.
Dave realizes he is being framed when he see the crime on the news and becomes increasingly desperate from this moment on. Gudsen’s confrontation with his fire chief Harvey (Greg Kinnear) is very tense as Harvey finally reveals his true feelings about Dave. Gudsen feels the walls closing in and reacts erratically. Egerton really shines in this episode, but each character has their moment. Harvey’s speech to Dave was filled with contempt that he had to uncomfortably hide for the majority of the season.
Michelle’s meeting with Dave next is just as contentious, the mask coming off of each character is wrought with deep resentment and it shows. The two continue to do their jobs with naked hatred for each other until they end up in the middle of a wildfire all alone. Egerton lexes his acting muscles here as Dave acts like a caged animal and puts Michelle in a life or death satiation. The two fight it out with Calderone ultimately winning and subduing Gudsen. MIchelle is hailed as a her back at the station while Dave gets the greeting you’d expect for a cop killer.
The irony of Calderone interrogating Gudsen about Burke’s murder is thick and a masterful stroke of storytelling. Gudsen knows he’s innocent of this one thing but guilty of everything else. Egerton also has another strong performance here while he proves to be the all-tome world champion of denial. An unexpected twist was the way Gudsen was seeing himself, like handsome actor Taron Egerton. The reality was that Gudsen’s hairline was receding and he looked more like an average, out of shape guy. This is an eery story tool that digs deep into the psyche of a very disturbed individual.
The one thing about the final that was a bit underwhelming was. The way it ended, just cutting to black after the last conversation between Calderone and Gudsen. Both actors shined in this back and forth cat and mouse game, but a clearer resolution might have been more entertaining. The series Creator, Dennis Lebanese is hopeful for a season 2 although Apple TV+ has not made any announcements yet. The sotry does setup a new, dangerous arsonist before closing out Dave’s story and we could end up with a Hannibal Lecter type situation where Dave advises and helps find serial arsonists from jail. Catching the other arsonist, the “milk jug arsonist”, Freddy (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) was also a strong storyline earlier in the season, so a season 2 could us taint itself looking for other unique arsonists.
What do you think? Was the finale a four alarm fire or just a dud? Could a season 2 be as good without the story of Dave? Could a second season take place in another location or time period? Does Gudsen still have more story to tell? WIll he get jacked up in prison? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
