Taron Egerton

Jurnee Smollett

Rafe Spall

Dennis Lehane

Tensions rise as the search for suspects begins. Michelle Calderone pumps the brakes on her personal life. Dave Gudsen gets creative.

Kari Skogland

Pilot

Right, so Dennis Lehane&apos;s back with another crime caper, and bless him, he&apos;s managed to craft something that doesn&apos;t completely take the piss. &quot;Smoke&quot; follows &quot;a troubled detective and an enigmatic arson investigator&quot; chasing serial fire-starters, which sounds proper mental when you put it like that.

Our Taron Egerton&apos;s having a right go as Dave Gudsen, the ex-firefighter turned sleuth. Fair play to the lad-he&apos;s actually rather brilliant here, bringing proper gravitas to what could&apos;ve been another bog-standard copper character. The fact he&apos;s &quot;a former firefighter and aspiring novelist&quot; adds a delicious bit of irony, doesn&apos;t it?

Visually, it&apos;s gorgeous. There&apos;s this one scene that transforms &quot;grounded set-up&quot; into &quot;a living nightmare&quot; and honestly, it&apos;s chef&apos;s kiss territory. The way they film fire is genuinely mesmerising-like watching a particularly artistic bonfire night gone wrong.

Mind you, the plotting&apos;s a bit wonky and the first episode takes its sweet time figuring out what it wants to be. Feels like they&apos;re trying to juggle too many balls without dropping any, which is admirable but makes for slightly sluggish telly.

But here&apos;s the thing: Lehane&apos;s characters are properly mental in the best way. This isn&apos;t your standard &quot;let&apos;s catch the baddies&quot; nonsense. It&apos;s more about people who are absolutely fascinated by destruction, whether they&apos;re fighting it or causing it. Bit twisted, really, but compelling as hell.

Bottom Line: Cracking performances, lovely cinematography, and enough psychological weirdness to keep you glued to the screen. The pacing&apos;s a bit wobbly, but it&apos;s got potential to be properly brilliant.

Give it a go if you fancy something darker than your average procedural.

Right, so Dennis Lehane's back with another crime caper, and bless him, he's managed to craft something that doesn't completely take the piss. "Smoke" follows "a troubled detective and an enigmatic arson investigator" chasing serial fire-starters, which sounds proper mental when you put it like that.

Our Taron Egerton's having a right go as Dave Gudsen, the ex-firefighter turned sleuth. Fair play to the lad-he's actually rather brilliant here, bringing proper gravitas to what could've been another bog-standard copper character. The fact he's "a former firefighter and aspiring novelist" adds a delicious bit of irony, doesn't it?

Visually, it's gorgeous. There's this one scene that transforms "grounded set-up" into "a living nightmare" and honestly, it's chef's kiss territory. The way they film fire is genuinely mesmerising-like watching a particularly artistic bonfire night gone wrong.

Mind you, the plotting's a bit wonky and the first episode takes its sweet time figuring out what it wants to be. Feels like they're trying to juggle too many balls without dropping any, which is admirable but makes for slightly sluggish telly.

But here's the thing: Lehane's characters are properly mental in the best way. This isn't your standard "let's catch the baddies" nonsense. It's more about people who are absolutely fascinated by destruction, whether they're fighting it or causing it. Bit twisted, really, but compelling as hell.

Bottom Line: Cracking performances, lovely cinematography, and enough psychological weirdness to keep you glued to the screen. The pacing's a bit wobbly, but it's got potential to be properly brilliant.

Give it a go if you fancy something darker than your average procedural.

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