With one arsonist taken down at the end of the previous episode, Smoke episode 7 had all hands on deck to pin down the potato chip arsonist. Unfortunately, Detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) and her team weren’t careful enough.

This review contains spoilers for the first seven episodes of Smoke on Apple TV+.

‘Smoke’ Episode 7 is a Tale of Highs and Lows 

Arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) has probably never had a bigger ego than he does in Smoke episode 7, and he is loving it. From a morning talk show appearance and a literary agency meeting to a party in his honor, Gudsen’s conceited self is high on life. Besides his wife, Ashley (Hannah Emily Anderson), still wanting a divorce, everything’s going his way. (He honestly doesn’t even seem to mind the divorce.) 

But what goes up must come down. Gudsen seemingly discovers that his closest co-workers and former partner are onto him as the potato chip arsonist, so he knows they’re trying to knock him down. This episode does a good job of setting up the final straw in Gudsen’s life, the big event before the final showdown. With just two episodes left in the Apple TV+ series, the timing feels well-paced. The story’s headed in a clear direction without being predictable.

Deep Dives and Discoveries

Smoke episode 7 is truly all about trying to take down Dave Gudsen. In that process, we get scenes between characters who haven’t interacted much — if at all — before. The interactions were eye-opening and contributed to a compelling story.

After milk jug arsonist Freddy Fasano (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) refuses to tell the detectives anything, he says he’ll talk to the man who caught him: Dave Gudsen. The arson investigator doesn’t get any information out of Freddy, but Freddy gets under his skin. We don’t know if Freddy knows Gudsen’s also an arsonist, but Freddy can tell they’re alike in ways Gudsen would never admit. It literally makes Gudsen puke. We have to commend Mwine for his portrayal as Freddy in this episode, because it is an emotionally difficult roller coaster.

Another pairing we see and learn from in Smoke episode 7 is Calderone and Ashley. The women talk about Dave, and each learns a disturbing truth about him. But most importantly, their conversation leads Calderone to meet with Reba (Erin Karpluk). 

Reba appeared in Smoke episode 5 as the woman at the conference with whom Gudsen was cheating. We never expected to see her again, and definitely didn’t think they were married before! And after we saw her last — condemning his fragile masculinity and kicking him out of her room — we didn’t think she had any loyalty to the arson investigator. It certainly isn’t the biggest reveal or plot twist in Smoke, but we were surprised when Reba called Gudsen to seemingly tell him that Calderone, fire chief Harvey Englehart (Greg Kinnear), police chief Steven Burke (Rafe Spall), and former partner Ezra Esposito (John Leguizamo) are onto him and his arsons.

This episode had a lot of information without feeling overwhelming or rushed. Some of the connections and conversations may have been unexpected, but were still entertaining. They helped progress the story in a way that felt natural.

Emotions and Endings

One part of Smoke we’re still unsure of is Calderone and her problem with her mom, who’s set to be released from prison soon. Throughout the Apple TV+ series, we’ve occasionally seen a young Michelle in a burning room at the fault of her mom. But we’re nearly at the end of the show and still don’t know why the storyline matters.

Of course, everyone in the show has their own problems and trauma, but so far, we have yet to see what this adds to the narrative or the character of Calderone in the context of this story. We honestly forgot all about her mom until the end of Smoke episode 6.

The latest episode even begins on this topic. Calderone’s talking on the phone with Burke about her mom, how her mother’s actions affected her as a child, and how they’re affecting her now. Beginning with this scene of venting and emotions is interesting because it seems to have little importance in the story. Maybe Calderone’s feelings about her mother will end up playing a larger role, like Reba’s. But we expected it to have a clearer place by now.

Speaking of emotions, it’s no secret Freddy has been going through it. The emotional instability he’s experienced since childhood is why he’s been committing crimes his entire life. So when we saw the episode’s final scene, it was heartbreaking. And while we can assume he’s dead, it’s not explicitly clear. We’re interested to see how that affects the narrative and our protagonist moving forward, regardless.

New episodes of Smoke drop on Apple TV+ on Fridays through Aug. 15.