After the two-episode premiere dropped two big plot reveals, the conflict was moved to the backburner for Smoke episode 3 on Apple TV+. The pacing for episode 3, “Weird Milk,” is slower than its predecessors but steady. However, because the first two episodes of Smoke revealed more than anticipated and episode 3 doesn’t move the main plot forward very much, we’re left wanting more — in both a good and bad way.
This review includes spoilers for all three episodes of Smoke on Apple TV+.
Calderone’s crises come to light in ‘Smoke’ episode 3
Smoke episode 3 provides a lot of backstory and insight into Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett). It’s a very expository episode for the detective. We dig deeper into her trauma with fire, her relationship with her family, and why her work is so important to her. In the first two episodes of Smoke, we saw a couple of flashbacks to a young Michelle seemingly trapped somewhere in a fire. Smoke episode 3 provides more context and literally shows us more of what happened. Long story short: Her mom is seemingly why she was trapped in a fire as a kid.
Getting to know our female protagonist better is great. It helps the audience understand her actions and motivations. But when we consider it in relation to the episode and series as a whole so far, there’s an imbalance. While Smoke episodes 1 and 2 gave us a lot of action and vital information to the plot, episode 3 kind of does the opposite. It feels like we learned only a little bit more about the arsons Calderone and Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) are investigating. Hitting a dead end in suspecting Dave as one of the arsonists isn’t a major move. So, unless something big is going to happen for the detective in episode 4, this much exposition and backstory on Calderone would’ve made more sense in previous episodes.
Aspirations and Afterthoughts
Taron Egerton may be the main face of the Apple TV+ series, but Gudsen didn’t seem to get much airtime in Smoke episode 3. We’re not complaining. It’s just an interesting choice that leaves us wondering why. We don’t see Gudsen working very much in episode 3 — unless you count his attempt at writing a novel as work.
Speaking of his novel, Smoke episode 3 seems to clarify that Gudsen is indeed using the arsonists he’s investigating as part of his novel. There’s literally a scene where he tries to write a milk jug arson a la Freddy Fasano (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine). So if we didn’t already think his desire to write a book was important, we definitely do now. It aligns with the theory that Gudsen is not only using his experience as a fireman and arson investigator as inspiration for his writing, but that it’s why — or at least one reason why — he’s become an arsonist himself.
Another part of Gudsen’s life Smoke episode 3 addresses is his stepson, Emmett. At this point in the show, it’s still unclear to us why this needs to be a storyline. It doesn’t feel like the stepson drama is really leading anywhere. Emmett appeared in one scene with his father, where he’s preparing to move out of his father’s house. But it feels pretty random. If the scene were deleted, the episode would feel exactly the same.
‘Smoke’ episode 3 brings clues and change
We may not have gotten any significant reveals, but “Weird Milk” does give a few sparks. Gudsen and Calderone figure out that their milk jug arsonist appears to purchase milk jugs from one of two grocery stores. Unfortunately, without a budget increase for the fire department, tracking down a suspect is not going to be easy.
As for the arsonists themselves, Freddy’s luck doesn’t seem to be improving. He got a first-round interview for a managerial position at his fast food workplace, but struggled to answer the questions well. So it’s no surprise a second-round interview offer isn’t in his inbox at the end of the day. But he doesn’t start a fire — that we see anyway — in this episode at all. Is he making progress, or is the clock ticking?
Smoke episode 3 isn’t free of arson, though. Gudsen finally realizes that committing a crime in a pattern is a bad idea. Of course, Calderone takes note, so as one case moves forward, the other moves back.
The plot doesn’t feel very hot in Smoke episode 3, but our curiosity about the characters is keeping us in it.
Smoke is now streaming on Apple TV+ with new episodes releasing on Fridays through Aug. 15.
