Although it still has a more limited lineup of shows than some of its competitors, Apple TV+ has been working for some time now to make a name for itself as the home to many of the best shows on TV. While not every show they release is great, Apple does have a surprisingly high hit rate, making it well worth it (especially if you know some tips and tricks for better viewing).
Smoke is the latest Apple series worth checking out. The show follows a detective and an arson investigator who work together to stop a serial arsonist who is making his way through the Pacific Northwest. Here are three reasons you should check it out:
It has an impressive pedigree
Perhaps the best reason this show is worth checking out is that it comes from the mind of one of the finest crime writers of his generation. Dennis Lehane created the miniseries, and he’s also the author behind books like Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone, and Mystic River. If anybody knows how to spin a compelling mystery yarn, it’s Lehane. It probably doesn’t hurt that the series is based on a true story, chronicling the crimes of arsonist John Leonard Orr. Given Lehane’s involvement and the fact that this story has a real-life conclusion that it’s driving towards it seems highly unlikely that the show will fizzle out the way some crime procedurals do when they actually have to reveal what’s going on.
It’s anchored by two excellent lead performances
Although we’ve only seen two episodes, both Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett have enough excellent work to their names for us to be confident that they’re going to be great over the entire run of Smoke. Egerton has teamed up with Lehane before, and here he plays a firefighter turned arson investigator who partners with Smollett’s detective to get to the bottom of the arsons happening around Umberland. Any cop show is going to sink or swim on the basis of the chemistry between its central cops, and Smoke doesn’t disappoint on this front. Crucially, both Egerton and Smollett are compelling without distracting from the facts of the case that they’re working to solve.
The show knows how to establish exactly the right mood
Although he’s not directly involved, Smoke feels like the kind of thing that David Fincher might have directed. It is (relatively) clinical and distant while still being gripping. Although arson is not often the subject of shows like this, Smoke manages to communicate just how sinister the crime can be, and how difficult it can be to catch someone who is simply setting fires and walking away. Through its first two episodes, Smoke has already begun to explore exactly what it can mean to get into the head of someone whose burning people alive. There are plenty of shows on TV that have a mastery over their tone, but few manage to be this dark and bleak while still feeling like utterly gripping drama. That’s the tone that Smoke seems to master over the course of its initial hours, and why it’s worth watching more.
You can watch Smoke on Apple TV+.
