'Smoke' Is As Good As a Very Messy Show Can Be
Taron Egerton feat. Thom Yorke
The best thing about Apple TV+’s new crime drama Smoke is that its theme song is a previously unreleased song by Thom Yorke. He didn’t write it for the show, but it’s a new studio recording. I thought people would be more excited about this, but Radiohead isn’t as big a deal as it used to be.
Smoke is itself not as big a deal as Black Bird, the previous collaboration between creator Dennis Lehane, star Taron Egerton, extremely tan former HBO CEO Richard Plepler, and Apple TV+. Black Bird was a show that dove deep into its characters’ psychology in a really intentional way, which made it great. Paul Walter Hauser won an Emmy for his performance as a suspected serial killer who Taron Egerton’s character was trying to charm into confessing. Smoke won’t win any Emmys, because it’s not as serious about psychological depth. Don’t get me wrong; Smoke is plenty psychological. In arson investigator Dave Gudsen, Lehane and Egerton have created an impressive profile of the type of guy who believes he’s something totally different from what he actually is. The show overall is just not as meticulous. It’s pulpier and more entertainment-driven. It’s still good, it’s just not as ambitious.
The tone is inconsistent — sometimes it’s a dark, almost satirical comedy, sometimes it verges into horror — and the storytelling is not tight. A lot of choices seem to have been made based on how cool of a scene it will be, not whether it makes for a cohesive story. Fortunately, though, those scenes are all good, even if they don’t connect to each other as well as you’d want them to. John Leguizamo and Anna Chlumsky show up halfway through the season and kind of get their own spinoff within the show. They’re great, of course, but it’s like “wait, what’s happening here?”
Smoke is loosely based on a true crime podcast called Firebug. It follows Gudsen, an arson investigator for the fire department, and Det. Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett), who has been banished to arson investigation as punishment for ending an affair with her boss, Capt. Steven Burk (Rafe Spall). They’re investigating a string of arsons in their town, which is in the Pacific Northwest state of Orrington, a pretty funny fictionalization. They deduce that there are two perpetrators. One is revealed right away – Freddy Fasano (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine), a sad man who works as a cook at a fast food restaurant — while the other is revealed at the end of the second episode (the first two episodes premiere June 27) in a way that’s not exactly a twist but totally feels like one.
Mwine is the breakout here. His performance as Freddy, a man so alienated he can barely speak, is heartbreaking and disturbing. You feel sorry for him even when you’re terrified of him. Mwine’s open-mouthed, blank-faced stare and choked voice will make an unforgettable impression on you. There’s a version of Smoke where he’s not as big of a character that’s a tighter show, but a worse one
.I’m writing a lot about how messy and disjointed Smoke is, but it really doesn’t feel overly so while watching it. That is, until the last two episodes. It gets very preposterous and messy at the end in a way I guarantee you will not like, especially if you think it’s a limited series. Don’t get too stressed out about those loose ends, though, because I don’t believe Smoke is a limited series. People are describing it as a limited series, but I think that’s an assumption based on the fact that Black Bird was. Apple TV+ does not describe Smoke as a limited series. It seems like the plan is for it to come back.
The biggest unanswered question for me is how the Thom Yorke theme song came about. I really want to know the story. Is Thom Yorke a big Shutter Island fan? I could see that.
For TheWrap, I reviewed The Bear Season 4. People like to say that this show isn’t a comedy because it’s dramatic, but really it’s not a comedy because it’s not funny. The scenes that are supposed to be funny are some of the least funny things I’ve ever seen. I’m so sick of the Faks. I think there’s gonna be one more season, and it’s gonna really limp to the finish line. I predict people are gonna move on after this season.
Once FX’s restaurant dramedy moves on from the self-indulgent stuckness that made Season 3 so un-bear-able, it finds some moments that feel like the best of Seasons 1 and 2. It’s as confident and singular in its artistic vision as ever. But even though more is happening than there was in Season 3, it’s not quite enough to give the show a shape. Its overemphasis on character and vibe at the expense of narrative momentum leaves it repetitive and flabby. Like the Chicago Tribune’s mixed restaurant review says, it’s missing some Bear necessities — namely, a compelling enough plot.
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What’d you think of Black Bird? That’s another Dennis Lehane show. Duh. Never mind. You loved it!