Author and writer Dennis Lehane has carved a niche in the crime and thriller genres. His credits include novels such as Live by Night and Gone Baby Gone, as well as screenplays like 2014’s underrated film The Drop. Lehane has even dipped his toe into television work with series such as Mr. Mercedes, The Outsider, and Black Bird. While varying from creating titles and adapting books, his work remains compelling. Granted, they all have one commonality amongst them. Each one feels like a very enjoyable and slightly similar airplane novel you can read in an afternoon. That is the case with his latest Apple TV+ television series Smoke, which is now streaming in full.
Smoke is inspired by Firebug, a podcast about the arsonist John Leonard Orr’s crimes. Smoke is by no means retelling that story, but something else entirely. Viewers follow Detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett). When two serial arsonists terrorize the Pacific Northwest, Michelle teams up with arson investigator Dave Gudson (Taron Egerton) to solve the case. As the two get to know each other, they realize this case is something much more than they could have ever imagined. With the investigation underway, both Michelle and Dave deal with their personal lives in the process.
On its surface, Smoke is nothing more than a straightforward procedural story. It’s two mismatched detectives working to solve a regular-seeming case. Meanwhile, their own emotional baggage makes it easier said than done. This setup is inarguably the least interesting aspect of the show as a whole. In that regard, it’s the element that will make or break the viewers’ experience. Smoke’s first few episodes certainly broke me as an avid crime/thriller viewer. That is, until certain surprises unveil themselves within the story. Therefore, it makes the series much stronger.
When those changes occur, the series becomes much more interesting as a whole. Particularly, that shines through in both performances of Smollett and Egerton. Both characters evolve in exciting and engaging ways. Starting with Smollett, she has to operate in a tricky grey area. Her character, on the surface, starts as someone both clichéd and nothing more than an archetype. If you’ve seen any procedural crime series (even something as straightforward as Law & Order), this type of character feels familiar. When the series takes her character a step further, she becomes more engaging. Therefore, it makes Smollett become more than an archetype and someone nuanced. It’s quite exciting to watch, especially in comparison to the performance of Taron Egerton.
To discuss Egerton’s performance is difficult to surmise. What can be said is that it’s his best performance to date. Similarly to Smollett, Egerton has to start the series as one kind of character. The difference is his evolution as the series progresses later on. It’s an undeniably compelling turn, making a character viewers cannot look away from. He’s funny, strange, mysterious, and constantly changing. The results of which make for incredibly exciting television watching, especially in a week-to-week format. It’s unpredictable in ways that benefit the series as a whole.
Where Smoke struggles is in its supporting performances. The supporting cast includes Greg Kinnear, Rafe Spall, John Leguizamo, Anna Chlumsky, and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine. Each actor undeniably delivers both compelling and watchable performances. The problem is that we’ve seen these types of characters in hundreds of different crime stories. Granted, some get some exciting wrinkles to the formula to keep viewers interested. When those wrinkles happen, it admittedly feels too late to get viewers engaged. In those later portions, the show takes on an unneeded level of self-seriousness.
That self-seriousness teeters on a very fine line, dipping its toe into self-parody. The story becomes so vast and expansive. It evolves in ways that completely upend the “procedural” setup. Such a pivot makes Smoke lose steam (pun most definitely intended) as it continues. The audience’s enjoyment will mainly depend on their willingness to go along for the ride. This includes a wrinkle of humor that is dark and incredibly funny. It can be so funny that it will admittedly catch audiences off guard, which could be either a good or bad thing.
When the show hits those extremes, it dips into something that’s highly addictive. That happens in ways that flip the genre on its head. Not only does it subvert expectations, but it also crafts something new from a familiar drama. What’s hard to tell is if the series’ later tones of self-seriousness were a purposeful choice or not. If it was purposeful, then it unfortunately doesn’t have the intended impact. Choices like those often feel silly and lose any connection to reality. Those pivots offer admirable swings to its story, even when they don’t make the impact one may hope.
In a world of streaming content, Smoke is undoubtedly an entertaining TV series. That is largely thanks to the central performances of Journee Smollett and Taron Egerton. Both actors clearly understand the journey their characters have to complete. As the series progresses, they must become entirely different people by the end. It’s a compelling journey that definitely makes for an entertaining watch. But with more cliched supporting characters and an over-the-top latter half, it feels less substantial than one may hope for.
Smoke is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Learn more about the miniseries on the official website for the title.
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