Dennis Lehane’s Apple TV+ thriller series ‘Smoke’ only occasionally ignites interest

Emmy Award nominee Taron Egerton stars in and executive produces the crime drama “Smoke,” premiering on Apple TV+ on June 27, 2025.
Inspired by true events, “Smoke” follows a troubled detective and an enigmatic arson investigator as they pursue the trails of two serial arsonists.
Created and written by Dennis Lehane and inspired by true events, “Smoke” follows an arson investigator who begrudgingly teams up with a police detective as their race to stop two arsonists ignites a twisted game of secrets and suspicions. Starring Egerton as arson investigator Dave Gudsen and Emmy Award nominee Jurnee Smollett as police detective Michelle Calderone, the cast of “Smoke” also features Rafe Spall, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Hannah Emily Anderson, Emmy Award nominee Anna Chlumsky, Adina Porter, Academy Award and Emmy Award nominee Greg Kinnear, and Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo.
“Smoke” will make its global debut on Apple TV+ on June 27, 2025 with the first two episodes, followed by one episode weekly, every Friday through August 15, 2025.

Dan Einav for Financial Times:
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Smoke, a new Apple TV+ series about an arson investigation, should have been a sure-fire hit, with scripts by seasoned crime writer Dennis Lehane, a star turn from Taron Egerton and an eerie original theme by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. But the nine-part psychological thriller is less a gripping slow-burn than one that only occasionally ignites interest.
The slack pacing is partly offset by a keen sense of style and a moody atmosphere; dynamic performances meanwhile keep up with both narrative turns and a tone that lurches between noirish gloom and hit-and-miss humour.
The hackneyed scripting gets in the way of the show’s well-intentioned attempt at asking what fuels pyromaniacs… A subplot involving one of the arsonists — a lonely, laconic chicken shop worker played by a quietly unsettling Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine — explores how feelings of powerlessness can mutate into a destructive urge. It’s a point Smoke perhaps oversells, but arson is nothing if unsubtle.

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