Blackbird is an Apple TV+ series adaptation of the true story of Taron Egerton Smoke review undercover informant James Kenee, with lehane scripting the crime story along with Egerton.The show had critical acclaim and was nominated for three Emmys in acting categories, one of them being posthumous for Liotta as Keene’s father. Egerton really shone in his role as a career criminal forced to call his own extreme form of questionable masculinity into question, whereas the glorious Paul Walter Hauser stole the show in his manner of convincing the serial killer into confessing and nabbing the supporting actor named Emmy.
Egerton and Lehane have reunited for “Smoke,” another true crime show Taron Egerton Smoke review that delves into criminal psychology with an atmosphere of smoke and mirrors and a star-studded cast. As the title says, “Smoke” has Lehane focusing on arson, spinning a nine-episode tale about an arson investigator (Egerton) and a police detective (Jurnee Smollett) who team up to catch a couple of firebugs in the Pacific Northwest. The fictional city of Umberland, is a kind of Seattle surrogate with a cutesy neighborhood named Trolleytown, is filmed in Vancouver, a filming hub famous for their forests which are recast here as fuel.
Storyline
Detective Michelle Calderon works for a police department in the Northwest. Still emotionally scarred by having an affair with her superior and dealing with a childhood trauma stemming from fire her mother set, Michelle is now paired with arson investigator Dave Gudsen. Previously a firefighter, Dave is feeling the pressure of two serial arsonists threatening public safety: one called “Divide & Conquer,” and another nicknamed the “Milk Jug” arsonist. Their supervisor, Mr. Englehart (Greg Kinnear), is somehow losing what little patience he had with them, though the D&C arsonist alone has been linked to over 200 fires.
People care a little less about the Milk Jug arsonist who is preying on the city’s lower-income neighborhoods, though we’re introduced to a suspect quickly when the show moves forward: There is Freddy: a melancholy, soft-spoken boy who works for the fast-food joint. Meanwhile, Dave juggles two serial arsonist investigations, comes to grips with a new partner, and desperately tries to hold onto a fragile marriage with Ashley (Hannah Emily Anderson). With all this chaos, he decides to write a novel about an arson investigator and his partner embarking on a case against a serial firestarter, which might appear to be the sensible thing to do.
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Soon Both Dave and Michelle’s Obsessions Get Out of Control and Games of Cat-and-Mouse Ensue.
It’s a twisty series. You’ll probably figure out this twist well before it’s officially revealed, Taron Egerton Smoke review at least an episode earlier than I would have liked. The show offers a late-game twist that is difficult to predict, but its very crucial final reveal is an idea that, if handled well, might be one of the best on-screen conceits in the whole series.
Smoke concerns itself with the themes of identity and self-perception. This find is put to use as the show opens each episode with the dictionary definition of a straightforward word such as “creativity,” which means “bringing something into existence; producing through imaginative skill.” Michelle’s sense of self is shaped by external forces: her mother’s crimes, her beau, and the prejudice she suffers at her work on account of race and gender.
Dave has None of Those Things to Define Him. His Backstory is Sad But Vague.
The setting is unreal, too-a ghost Pacific Northwest where Vancouver morphs into a mad legal state amalgamated into license plates and legal documents from “Orrington.” “Orrington,” a not-so-subtle amalgamation, belongs in that category of No Place settings alongside That’s-Set-Anywhere sayings. Another big detail that points to the artificiality of the whole story is the very fact of the podcast itself.
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The Performances are Naturalistic and Genre-Aware.
Egerton has the toughest job, switching from grounded andT aron Egerton Smoke review nice to edgier weirdness that looks like vintage Christian Slater. Dave never quite feels like a real person and this is a performance that could only work in a show with this kind of self-awareness. Here, everything is working beautifully, especially with Smollett channeling the raw anguish of a woman putting her life back together. Within the first episode, one sees her pouring all her Taron Egerton Smoke review energy into an aerobic workout, attempting to reset her life and career. Midway through the season, Leguizamo and Chlumsky arrive; both bring humor and emotional weight as Dave’s ex-partner and a law enforcement outsider.
There are parts of Smoke where it just states and then restates Taron Egerton Smoke review its themes and I think spoils at least one twist and sometimes I wonder if those underlined points were even shown or justified. Those are the parts that make me think Smoke would have been better with 6 episodes or 9 episodes with less redundancy and more room to explore the economic inequalities of this fictional city and the challenges of modern firefighting.
It’s striking that, as someone living in Los Angeles still feeling the impact of the January fires, I didn’t once think of them while watching this series until the finale. That highlights how Smoke feels authentic yet slightly detached from real-world events. With such layered plotting, sharp writing from Lehane, and compelling performances led by Smollett, the show manages to stay engaging even if it isn’t flawless.
