Arsonists abound, but the drama flames out
A fire investigator (Taron Egerton) is reluctantly twinned with a police detective (Smollett jurnee) to work on the cases of two distinct serial insensongles in the criminal thriller of Apple TV + “smoke”. One of the culprits will not be a mystery for anyone who knows the podcast “Firebug”, from which the series of nine episodes attracts fictitious inspiration.
It is not a spoiler; “Firebug” is cited in the opening credits. A real podcast on crime on a real pyromaniac that was finally captured, someone and the person in the center of the podcast is the basis of one of the characters here. The revelation is supposed to be a twist (although it is strongly telegraphed) and it comes to the point halfway through the series, when we already know the identity of the other fire fire, because it could just as easily be followed by a flashing arrow pointing it towards it. The question becomes: will the characters of the show discover what we already know, and will this process be interesting? Or will he drag, fill the time?
Most streaming emissions suffer from “should be a film”, so you can probably guess the answer. But “smoking” does not have enough meat on his bones, even for that. Created by Dennis Lehane (better known as the author of novels such as “Mystic River” and “Gone, Baby, Gone”), the series seems to have aspirations of Scorsese, but plays like an involuntary parody, working hard to capture “grainy” instead of being big. Vibrations abound, but they are not effective without a solidly constructed story.
Sometimes people set fire to buildings for payment of insurance. Sometimes they are motivated by other reasons and “smoke” offers a thin psychological study of paper: the incendiaries commit their crimes because they are filled with feelings of insufficiency, negligence and alienation, and that is how they find a measure of power.
Two incendiaries targeted a rainy and indescribable city and they managed to escape the best efforts of Dave Gudsen (Egerton). His investigative know-how is supposed to be legendary, but the Arsons remain unresolved and there are new fires that continue to follow the same models. He is therefore twinned with Det. Michelle Calderon (Smollett), who is there to help reduce suspects.
He is an ex-mute haunted by dreams of being trapped in a hell. Married to a teenage steps, he transformed his real work experience into fodder for a novel. Super stuff, he thinks! Externally, it is the image of the skill and the regular guy. In private, it is both extremely confident and deeply unsure.
She is an ex-husband with a difficult exterior. She has not been a cop for a few years, and this new mission does not seem good for her career, but someone in the police service has shifted her to investigations on criminal fire, probably because of her story of bad decisions, including a connection with a toxic colleague who is also her boss.
These are both demons overwhelmed, but otherwise, they are like oil and vinegar. Dave drops the bombs F generously, but it is the kind of person who flashes a big smile to massage a situation. Michelle has a chip on her shoulder and adopts more than one obstinate approach.
Tonally, the spectacle is everywhere, lying on theaters in bad mood for a moment, making fun of the pretexts of Dave the next. Greg Kinnear plays Dave’s worn boss, with John Leguizamo as the former Dirtbag’s ex-girlfriend who was Dave’s partner before Michelle’s arrival, and Anna Chlumsky is an investigator who joins the team at the end of the match. Everyone is compromised and not particularly good in their work, but the characters are too flat to register as significant. Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine is particularly too good an actor to be stuck in the role of a disturbed and loose man who could have development problems, but who is made as an clumsy person who was ill -treated all his life and was finally pushed on the edge. Only Sollett really shines.
The show is luscious without being entertaining, with a ridiculous confrontation in the final which followed a few scenes later by another, even more ridiculous. Lots of smoke. No fire.
“Smoke” – 1.5 stars (out of 4)
Where to look: Apple TV +
Nina Metz is a tribune review.
