Smoke Episode 1 & 2 recap: Dave Gudsen leads a double life and Michelle follows a lead on her own

Smoke premiered its first two episodes on Apple TV+ on June 27, 2025. The initial episodes revealed important details about the storyline, and from this point on, it becomes a game of cat and mouse where the audience knows who the culprit is, but the authorities do not.

The official synopsis of the show, as per Rotten Tomatoes, mentions

“When an arson investigator begrudgingly teams up with a police detective, their race to stop two arsonists ignites a twisted game of secrets and suspicions.”

Let us now explore what happened in the first two episodes of Smoke in detail.

The following article contains spoilers.

Michelle Calderon joins Dave Gudnes to investigate the serial arson incidents in Smoke

The first two episodes of Smoke focus on how the central fire investigation begins and introduce the key characters, Dave Gudnes and Michelle Calderon. Dave was a firefighter, and the opening scene shows how he was once severely trapped in a fire and somehow managed to escape.

The incident left him traumatized, so he changed his profession from firefighter to fire investigator. Michelle Calderon, on the other hand, worked in the Robbery department and was doing well there until she was assigned to help Dave and the team solve a series of arsons committed by two arsonists.

However, Michelle’s transfer to the fire department has a rather bitter backstory, as she was sent there as a punishment after her affair with her captain, Steven Burk, went wrong. Although being assigned to this department was a form of demotion, Michelle is determined to solve the case so that Steven cannot cause further problems in her professional life.

As they start their investigation, they realize that the first arsonist has a pattern of setting fires in the chips section of different stores by lighting a cigarette there and leaving it. The fire begins slowly this way, giving the arsonist enough time to escape, and eventually it gets out of control, causing significant damage.

Regarding the second arsonist, Dave believes he works at a burger joint because the type of fuel he uses to start fires is found only in restaurant kitchens. Additionally, the person appears to have a pattern, as he does not randomly set fires to anyone’s house and only does so after closely stalking his targets.

Both arsonists are revealed in Smoke Episodes 1 and 2

Dave’s suspicions about one of the arsonists working at a burger joint turn out to be correct as they make a breakthrough in the case of Freddy Fasano, who works at Coop’s, a restaurant chain. Freddy is depicted as a troubled and lonely man who is taken for granted in his professional life and has no significant person in his personal life.

He follows his victims, stalks them, and then sets fire to their houses. The breakthrough in Freddy’s case occurs after one of his victims describes how they spent the evening when their house was set on fire. Their account leads Dave to the bar, where the bartender mentions that one man among the lightly crowded bar had stood out that day. He also provides a description that helps the authorities create a sketch, which proves to be a crucial part of the investigation.

Besides revealing the identity of the second arsonist, the end of the second episode of Smoke also reveals who the first arsonist is, and shockingly, it turns out to be Dave himself. The reveal is indeed shocking, but given Dave's troubled personal life, his actions seem to stem from that frustration alone.

Meanwhile, Michelle has no idea that the man working alongside her is responsible for many of the fires they are investigating. It remains to be seen how long it takes her to uncover the truth that the audience already knows.

Smoke can be streamed on Apple TV+.

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