Smoke is an American crime drama television series created by Dennis Lehane, inspired by Firebug, a podcast about the crimes of arsonist John Leonard Orr. It premiered on Apple TV+ on June 27, 2025.
Contents
Premise
A detective and an arson investigator work together to stop two serial arsonists in the Pacific Northwest.
Cast
Main
Taron Egerton as David "Dave" Gudsen, an arson investigator and former firefighter with the Umberland Fire Department
Jurnee Smollett as Detective Michelle Calderone, a Columbia Metro Police Department detective assigned to assist Dave investigating the arsons in Umberland
Rafe Spall as Captain Steven Burke, Michelle's married superior who she has an affair with
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as Freddy Fasano, a worker at Coop's Fried Chicken in the Trolley Town neighborhood who is a suspected arsonist
Hannah Emily Anderson as Ashley Gudsen, a librarian and Dave's third wife
Greg Kinnear as Commander Harvey Englehart, the chief of the Umberland Fire Department
John Leguizamo as Ezra Esposito, a sufferer of alcohol addiction and former Columbia Metro Police Department detective who used to work with Dave
Recurring
Luke Roessler as Emmett, Ashley's teenage son and Dave's stepson
Dakota Daulby as Lee, Freddy's colleague at Coop's Fried Chicken
Adina Porter as Brenda Cephus, a hairdresser and friend of Freddy
Mishka Thébaud as Benji, Michelle's brother
Erin Karpluk as Reba Daniels, an insurance adjuster and Gudsen's ex-wife
Anna Chlumsky as Special Agent Dawn Hudson, an ATF agent assisting with the arson investigations
Guest
David James Lewis as Archibald "Archie" Stanton, an Umberland firefighter and suspected arsonist
Nozipho Mclean as Rose, Benji's wife and Michelle's sister-in-law
Production
Development
It was announced in December 2022 that Dennis Lehane and Taron Egerton, who had worked together on Apple TV+'s miniseries Black Bird, would reteam for Firebug, a new television series at Apple TV+, inspired by the crimes of arsonist John Leonard Orr. In addition to starring, Egerton serves as executive producer alongside Richard Plepler through Eden Productions, Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas through Imperative Entertainment, Joe Chappelle, Marc Smerling for Truth Podcasting Corp, Jane Bartelme and Kary Antholis for Crime Story Media, LLC.
Casting
In March 2024, Jurnee Smollett and John Leguizamo joined the cast, with Kari Skogland set to direct and executive produce the series. Chappelle and Jim McKay also directed the episodes. Rafe Spall, Greg Kinnear, Ntare Mwine and Hannah Emily Anderson would be added to the cast in May.
Filming
Filming began in Vancouver in March 2024.
Release
The first two episodes of the series were shown at the 2025 Tribeca Festival on June 12, 2025. The series was retitled from Firebug to Smoke, and it premiered on June 27, 2025.
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 73% approval rating based on 56 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Smoke obscures its appeal with coy plotting until it eventually lights a fire under its story, but commanding turns from Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett keep this drama watchable throughout." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 60 out of 100 based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable".
