Smoke – Series Review | Apple TV

SMOKE on Apple TV+ is a new Crime Thriller series with nine episodes. It’s about two active serial arsonists and the two people trying to catch them. I expected it to be good, but it was even better than I dared hope. The story is inspired by real events. Read our full Smoke series review here!

SMOKE is a new Apple TV+ series with nine episodes. It’s a Crime Thriller inspired by true events. With Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett heading the cast, I was expecting to like this. However, it’s even better than I ever dared hope.

It’s dark and brutal in surprising ways that go beyond “just” setting fires and watching the world burn. Much to my surprise, the story manages to even make you feel for at least one of the arsonists, which shocked me. Not that you’ll excuse their actions, of course.

Continue reading our Smoke series review below. Find the first two (out of nine) episodes on Apple TV+ on June 27, 2025.

Serial Arsonists and the people who hunt them

In Smoke, we follow an arson investigator, Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton), who has two active serial arsonists in his area. His investigation isn’t really going anywhere, so he’s forced to team up with a police detective, Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett).

While Dave Gudsen is a former firefighter himself, he is also very full of himself and seems to think he always knows best. Fortunately, his boss, Harvey Englehart (Greg Kinnear), is very aware of his weaknesses and also supports adding the police detective.

Michelle Calderone may have no experience as a firefighter, but she knows how to work a crime scene. Also, she was trapped in a fire as a young girl. This past trauma still impacts her today, but as a force that pushes her to excel and pushes rather than stops her.

Can this duo finally stop the two arsonists in the region? Well, you’ll have to watch Smoke on Apple TV+ to find out. Fortunately, it’s a damn good series, so you’ll want to do just that!

Fiction inspired by real-life tragedy

While Smoke is inspired by the very true events surrounding arsonist fires, the actual Apple TV+ series is a work of fiction. And, unfortunately, arsonists are very real. For the nine episodes in this series, we focus on two serial arsonists.

One of them sets fire to bags of potato chips in supermarkets, which burn fast and cause panic, giving the arsonist space to attack in a second location. This arsonist has gotten the moniker “D&C” for “Divide and Conquer” because he understands firefighting resources.

The other is called “Milk Jug” because of the method: Buying milk jugs, emptying them, and filling them with various flammable materials. Then the jugs are left at the door of someone’s house and set on fire. This usually targets someone who is otherwise happy.

Method and Motive

Yeah, it gets pretty damn dark, when being happy in your life puts you at the top of a serial arsonists hit list. But that’s how Milk Jug operates; If you have the happiness craved by someone else, they will make sure you experience pain as well.

What surprised and virtually shocked me was how I managed to feel sympathy for the Milk Jug arsonist. Not when he set fire to someone’s house, of course, but seeing his life in general. He is clearly very sad, depressed, and lost in life.

That’s no excuse for what he does, but Smoke works its character-driven plot so well that you can’t help but wish things would get better for him.

The D&C arsonist, however, is a real creep. If you’ve watched the trailer, you will already have been spoiled about who this arsonist is. To be fair, it’s revealed at the end of episode 2, so it’s not a huge reveal.

Smoke is a series where we know who the arsonists are, and the character-driven plot follows both the arsonists and the investigators.

Start watching Smoke on Apple TV+

The Apple Studios production was created by Dennis Lehane, who also serves as writer and executive producer on Smoke. Dennis Lehane previously created the series Black Bird on Apple TV+ (our review is here) and wrote on the Stephen King series adaptations The Outsider and Mr. Mercedes.

It was inspired by the acclaimed “Firebug” podcast hosted by Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Kary Antholis. She also executive produces Smoke for Crime Story Media, LLC. Also executive producing is star Taron Egerton alongside Richard Plepler, Bradley Thomas, Dan Friedkin, and Jane Bartelme.

Directors on the nine episodes of Smoke include Kari Skogland (The Walking Dead, Penny Dreadful), Joe Chappelle (Black Bird), and Jim McKay (Home Before Dark). The first two are also executive producers, so many are involved in multiple aspects of this production.

Also, the casting in this Apple TV+ production is absolutely stellar. From the amazing Jurnee Smollett (Lovecraft Country) and Taron Egerton (Carry-On) to Rafe Spall (The Ritual) and Hannah Emily Anderson (What Keeps You Alive).

Plus, the brilliant Adina Porter (True Blood, The Perfect Couple), John Leguizamo (The Menu), and a breakout performance from Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (Dead Ringers).

If you’ve been planning on watching Smoke, then you’ll be very happy with this series. And if you had contemplated skipping this one, then please reconsider… for your own sake. It’s shockingly wild and terrifying. Yet also somehow absolutely perfect.

Smoke is on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes on June 27, 2025. After this two-episode premiere, it’s weekly episodes with the finale airing on August 15, 2025.

Details

Creator: Dennis Lehane
Directors: Kari Skogland, Joe Chappelle, Jim McKay
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jurnee Smollett, Rafe Spall, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Hannah Emily Anderson, Anna Chlumsky, Adina Porter, Greg Kinnear, John Leguizamo