Smoke

After knocking it out of the park with the excellent prison drama Black Bird a couple of years ago, writer Dennis Lehane and star Taron Egerton have reunited on the new Apple mini-series Smoke. The nine-episode thriller follows a mismatched pair of investigators tasked with tracking down a couple of arsonists. Gudsen, the character played by Egerton, is an expert of some kind. He lives and breathes fire. His new partner Calderon, played by Jurnee Smollett, is a detective with a horrific past. In a contrived piece of writing that even Mahesh Bhatt would have drawn the line at, it is revealed that Calderon’s mother tried to set their house ablaze when she was a child. It’s like Dexter, with an Apple-level budget but the soul of an MX Player original.

In recent years, shows based on podcasts, such as The Dropout and Dr Death, have been breakouts. While the trend is still gaining traction, the new Apple TV+ series Smoke is the latest on the block. Inspired by the podcast Firebug, the new drama created by Dennis Lehane follows an arson investigator (Taron Egerton) and a detective (Jurnee Smollett) teaming up to find the culprits of two serial arsonists. The ambitious show flips everything you know about a traditional investigative drama and turns it on its head. However, with nine episodes, Smoke overdoes it at points, revisiting certain themes and abandoning others. But the cast’s compelling performances are the main reason to stick around for this unusual narrative. The series starts off slow and predictable with a troubled detective, Michelle Calderone (Smollett), and a former fireman turned arson investigator, David Gudsen (Egerton), who are on the case of two serial arsonists. Smoke is not just about these two arsonists; it’s also about these two main characters, their pasts, and motivations as they uncover the chilling truth of who is behind the devastating fires. The drama thriller does a deep dive into these characters, giving viewers a story that may waver about but will always have you guessing what’s next.