Smoke, on Apple TV+

If Rober De Niro in Backdraft was the last fire department arson investigator you can remember seeing in movies or TV, you might want to keep it that way. You will definitely remember Taron Egerton in this series, no matter how hard you try to forget him playing arson investigator Dave Gudsen, who never stops talking. During his rare quiet moments, he either grinds out his thinly fictionalized, wish-fulfillment “novel,” or engages in dangerous criminal behavior. Those arson investigations won’t solve themselves—or at least that is what Gudsen hopes in creator Dennis Lehane’s 9-episode Smoke, which premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+.

Gudsen has been investigating not one, but two serial arsonists. One is a nasty serial killer, who uses fire to kill his victims. The other is the D&C, or “Divide & Conquer” arsonist, who takes advantage his competitors’ three-alarm fires to set his own impulsive blazes. So far, Gudsen hasn’t caught either, partly because he happens to be the latter.

Lehane and the battery of co-writers make little secret of Gudsen’s guilt. His new partner, Det. Michell Caderone on loan from the real police, also figures out pretty quickly. Gudsen’s current wife #3, Ashley, does no suspect him of outright criminality, at least not yet, but she is getting pretty tired of his attitude and anger management issues. However, Gudsen’s boss Harvey Englehart remains shockingly cluesless.

As both arsonists grow increasingly reckless, Calderone assembles a task force to catch Gudsen, which includes his former partner Ezra Esposito, whose disgrace Gudsen engineered and her boss, Captain Steven Burk, whom she dumped as her lover as soon as he decided to leave his wife for her. They obviously have a lot of collective baggage, but the two arsonists each have more individually.

Frankly, Smoke probably sounds much more twisty and thrilling than it really is. Unfortunately, it is hamstrung by tonal issues that start with Egerton, who seems to think he is playing the Joker in the latest Batman movie. Seriously, Egerton is so ridiculously over the top, it is impossible to believe anything that comes after the first episode. Yet, it is based on the very real story of John Leonard Orr (an arsonist-arson investigator with literary ambitions), who was the subject of the Firebug podcast Lehane used as source material, as well a true crime book by Joseph Wambaugh.

Egerton was terrific in Lehane’s Black Bird, but he is embarrassingly unintentionally funny as Gudsen. In fact, casting was generally disastrous for Smoke, because Jurnee Smollett is also miscast as Calderone, but not to such a spectacular extent. To give credit where it is due, she even has some poignant moments when processing Calderone’s family trauma and betrayal.

Dennis Lehane’s Black Bird, on Apple TV+

Most of the names have not been changed in this true crime drama, not for the guilty or the innocent. The guilty party in question is extremely, horrifyingly guilty. The protagonist is not so innocent either. However, when convicted drug-dealer Jimmy Keene agrees to go undercover to collect incriminating evidence on a serial killer poised to be released on appeal, he gets an immersive lesson in the dark side of human nature. “Scared straight” does not begin to describe Keene’s experiences in showrunner-writer Dennis Lehane’s six-episode Black Bird, which premieres tomorrow on Apple TV+.

Keene was once a promising high school athlete, but injuries led to bad decisions. Having the semi-autos was probably a reasonable precaution in his business, but not-so much when he gets collared. To make a point, the U.S. Attorney engineers a stiff ten-year sentence, but a few months later, he offers Keene an unusual deal. All will be forgiven if he agrees to a transfer to a maximum-security prison, befriend Larry Hall, and discover where he buried his victims.

Initially, Keene declines, but he changes his mind after his father’s stroke. “Big Jim” Keene is an ex-cop, who was most likely on the take. In any event, Keene’s mother is no longer in the picture, so he needs Keene. Only the warden and the prison psychiatrist will know Keene’s true identity and his mission, which means he could face a lot of interference from the crooked guards. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Lauren McCauley will chase down overlooked details in the investigation with Indiana cop Brian Miller (whose name was probably changed from “Gary” to avoid confusion with Hall’s fraternal twin, Gary, who remains stubbornly loyal to Larry out of guilt).

Based on real-life James Keene’s memoir, In with the Devil, Black Bird is not nearly as graphic and deliberately disturbing as Oz, but it definitely makes prison look like an extremely uncomfortable place to do time. Regardless, the chess game that unfolds between Keene and Hall is totally gripping and the procedural work of McCauley and Miller is also surprisingly compelling. Lehane’s writing is sharp, but he also gives time to the victims, literally letting one teen girl “speak” for herself, which provides an important reminder of what the case was really about.

This could be some of Taron Egerton’s best work so far, because he shows quite a range as the formerly brash Keene, often bringing to mind vintage Mark Wahlberg. When gets shocked, terrified, and disgusted, viewers totally feel it and believe it. Likewise, Paul Walter Hauser is deeply creepy as Larry Hall, because he plays him in such an understated, insinuating manner. Also, Sepideh Moafi and Greg Kinnear are quite engaging as McCauley and Miller. The energy never flags when Black Bird shifts to them—sometimes it even increases.