Everything We Know About Apple TV’s New True Crime Thiller Series, Smoke
True crime aficionados, listen up: Apple TV+’s new drama Smoke is arriving tomorrow, starring Taron Egerton (Tetris) in the lead role of an investigator trying to uncover the mystery of a series of arson attacks in the Pacific Northwest region of the US.
Egerton stars opposite Jurnee Smollett (The Order), who plays a police detective working with him to solve the case that’s been plaguing the local area. It’s based on the podcast Firebug, which followed the true story of a string of arson cases in the ’80s and ’90s (though the show is set in the present).
What is Smoke about?
Egerton, who previously appeared in Apple’s series Blackbird back in 2022, steps into the role of Dave Gudsen, an experienced investigator of arson and their perpetrators- the process of which is no easy task. Not only does such an investigator have to work out who is causing the often devastating fires, but they have to be able to predict when they might strike again. It’s perhaps unsurprising then that the enigmatic Dave is reluctant when he’s asked to team up with a police detective, Michelle Calderone (Smollett) and bring his expertise to a series of particularly bad arson cases that have been occurring across several states. This reluctance begins to fade, however, when he realises her perspective may be key in solving the crime. There are homes and lives at stake if they fail, and Smoke is more about the characters and what drives them, as well as the effects felt by victims, than the overall arson mystery.
What’s the true story behind the show?
The character names and small town setting of Umberland may be fictional, but the case the show takes inspiration from is very much real. The podcast Firebug, which ran in 2021 and was hosted by Kary Antholis, retells the story of a serial arsonist who wrought havoc across Southern California. As noted by Time magazine, the real-life crimes committed by John Leonard Orr are believed to have involved 2000 suspicious fires in the state, which killed at least four people, until he was eventually apprehended in the ’90s.
Who else stars, and when can I watch?
Other big names in the cast include John Leguizamo (The Menu), Rafe Spall (Black Mirror), Greg Kinnear (Black Bird), Ntare Mwine (The Lincoln Lawyer), and Anna Chlumsky (Inventing Anna). Smoke premieres on Apple TV+ tomorrow.
