Smoke Episode 4 recap: Finally found the real arsonist in Smoke

Something really strange happens in episode 4 of Smoke. Titled “Strawberry”, the episode takes everything the show was building and throws it in the trash. Up until now, Smoke had been slow, yes, but it was heading somewhere. The surprise that Dave Gudson, a fire investigator, was the DNC arsonist was huge. It was a bold twist that made us excited for what’s next.

But then, Strawberry arrives. And instead of diving deeper into Dave’s mind, it turns him into a weird villain out of a cheap movie. It’s a total vibe shift, and not in a good way.

Episodes 1 to 3 moved slowly in Smoke. But that was okay; there was tension. We were getting to know the characters, the setting, and the stakes. Then came the twist: Dave, the guy investigating the fires, is the arsonist. Suddenly, the mystery had layers.

That twist gave the story an edge. It added mystery and complexity. Viewers were ready to explore Dave’s broken psychology. But then, episode 4 of Smoke ruins it.

Strawberry doesn’t feel like the same show - Smoke. It’s like it woke up and decided to be a mix of Breaking Bad, You, and Fifty Shades of Grey all at once, but with none of the charm.

Things get weird fast in Smoke. The story stops being believable. Characters act in strange ways. It’s like everyone’s been rewritten overnight.

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Dave Gudson’s character breakdown in Smoke

Dave could have been a complex antihero. Instead, we get a guy who wears silk robes, runs a creepy sex dungeon, and burns people for fun. Subtlety? Gone.

His actions feel exaggerated in Smoke. The psychological realism is replaced by horror-movie absurdity. We’re not scared, we’re confused.

Dave’s backstory (his mom left him) could have added depth. But the way he acts makes it impossible to feel sorry for him. He seduces a woman, takes her to a dungeon, and burns her while feeding her strawberries. Yes, you read that right. It’s so over-the-top, it borders on parody. This is the moment when the show lost its grip. What could have been unsettling just feels ridiculous.

Michelle started strong. But here, her story gets messy. She watches Dave suspiciously, but we don’t know what she knows or how she feels. She has a great idea: tagging black trash bags used in the arson. But it’s buried under so much chaos, we almost miss it. She even flirts with Dave? After everything? It feels so forced that it makes us cringe.

Michelle reconnects with her shady brother Benji in a cockfighting ring. It’s violent, sketchy... and completely unnecessary. Why is this here? It’s like the show is padding time instead of focusing on what matters.

Michelle’s idea could be brilliant. But now that Freddy has moved past using those bags, it might not even matter. A cool detail is made pointless by sloppy storytelling.

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Freddy deserves better in Smoke

Freddy had potential. He was quiet, angry, and dangerous. But now, he’s barely in the episode. After getting rejected at the salon, he shaves his head, makes more bombs, and that’s it. His emotional complexity is forgotten.

Dave is writing a novel and wears fake glasses. His wife calls him out. It’s a brutal takedown, but we’re not even sure why it matters anymore.

Egerton just doesn’t sell it. His accent is off, he looks too young for the character’s backstory, and he seems lost. He plays Dave like a mix of heartthrob and sociopath, and it doesn’t work.

A gritty drama? A dark comedy? A satire? We can’t tell anymore. The show’s tone is all over the place. Episode 4 abandoned the slow-burn intrigue for chaos. And that hurts the whole show. There’s no tension left. We know everything. There’s no mystery, no anticipation. People don’t act like real people anymore. They act like characters in a bad thriller. It’s hard to stay invested when the show doesn’t trust us to wait for good storytelling.

Smoke started with a spark. A clever twist, a slow burn, and rich potential. But Strawberry almost killed all of that. In just 41 minutes, the show turned into a parody of itself. If it wants to survive, it needs to pull back, focus up, and remember what made it exciting in the first place.

Right now? It’s just burning itself out.

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