Smoke Episode 4 Recap: Strawberry

Episode 4 of AppleTV+’s ‘Smoke,’ titled ‘Strawberry,’ continues the show’s excavation into the mind and machinations of the protagonist, Dave Gudsen, whose actions often paint him closer to villainy than heroism. The previous episode focused on Michelle Calderone and her familial trauma while also outlining Freddy Fasano‘s unsuccessful attempt at climbing the corporate ladder. As such, this episode takes hold of that lens and puts it on Dave, shining a light on his past and how it has informed his present. Michelle seemingly finds a new ally in her grand investigations, and Freddy undergoes a metamorphosis that threatens to unravel the entirety of Umberland. SPOILERS AHEAD.

Michelle Embraces Chaos as a Means of Investigation

The episode begins with Dave Gudsen lecturing rookie firefighters on the nature of his job. It starts out traditionally, with him analyzing a case study, in this case, the fire at Old Sully’s place. This fire was caused by faulty wiring in the ceiling and turned fatal due to a pallet of barbecue grills blocking the fire exit. However, he then adds a personal touch, asking students to detail their day before and after this lecture. Upon receiving responses, he makes his point: their life so far is marked by routine and a state of normalcy, but to combat fire; they need an element of chaos. He demonstrates this by lighting a preset pyrotechnic device on fire, which immediately pushes the students into action. With all the fires doused, he announces that to beat fire, one must embrace the chaos on some level, and studying that chaos is the only way to excel at the job.

Dave’s words appear to function as a declaration of his philosophy and a foreshadowing of how to bring him down, narratively directed toward Michelle, who is sitting with the students. Following this, she makes a personal excursion to a cockfighting arena, where she seems to be known not as a cop but as an old friend. Her brother, Benji, is a key player in the cockfighter business and has invited her here to apologize for his behavior on the night of Sophie’s birthday. He acknowledges his mistake of getting violent with Michelle and assures her that he has quit drinking before, humorously admitting that his dedication only lasted two days. The siblings make amends and banter with each other, and here, while observing the chickens, Michelle finds a solution to her shopping bag tracking conundrum: bird tags.

Michelle presents her idea to her chief, Harvey Englehart, explaining that by tagging all the bags and having the clerks arrange them in order, they can easily track any retrieved tag back to the original shop, following which a CCTV sweep will lead to the arsonist. Given the method’s cost-effectiveness, Harvey gives it a go-ahead, with Dave and Michelle spending the entire day tagging hundreds of black polythene bags. Meanwhile, Ashley has a proper talk with her son, trying to get him to hang out with Dave. When he hesitates at the idea, she tries to convey to him that fights are a regular part of people and families and that he must move on from them. Emmett agrees to mend his relationship with his stepfather, citing his mother’s happiness; however, she noticeably agrees with him on the fact that Dave is a two-faced individual.

Dave Reveals the Truth About His Past

Elsewhere, Dave and Michelle’s work stretches well into the night, and the two decide to stay in the station and share drinks. The conversation quickly turns to the topic of marriage, with the arson investigator revealing that prior to Ashley, he had been married twice. In turn, Michelle describes her current fling, which she describes as a rebound following a suffocating experience with her previous boyfriend. She chooses to paint a particular picture of a person resembling Dave himself, a narcissist whose life seems to be failing at every turn, and soon, she gets the reaction she wanted as the protagonist begins to talk about his past, particularly his mother, who disappeared when he was fifteen. Initially, he believed that she had died and hoped to find her in a recognizable state.

However, the truth was nothing like Dave’s imagination; his mother had left him behind to start a new life with a younger man. This incident scars him forever and is seemingly the source of his ingrained misogyny in the present. He claims that he has since told himself that his mother died, and has left her behind, a fact that is visibly untrue, thus nullifying his argument about moving on from sufferings and not playing a victim. This reveal also marks his similarity to Michelle, who was similarly traumatized by an event involving her mother. However, the detective wisely identifies her mother as the source of the problem and works towards containing it instead of letting it fester deep in the consciousness and lash out viciously, as is the case with Dave.

Dave and Freddy Try to Change Who They Are

The following day, Dave sits down with Emmett and expresses his difficulty in navigating the new role he finds himself in, as he has had no preparation or guidebook for it, which renders a methodical person such as him helpless. Emmett empathizes and recommends working through it one day at a time. Ashley overhears this positive conversation and, in order to get the new dynamic going, suggests that Dave pick up the teen from his marathon practice later that day. While Dave agrees, his true self soon reveals itself, that of a person largely uncommitted to his family. This is exemplified by his suggestive remarks to Michelle, inviting her to the suite he gets for attending the arson investigators conference the following weekend, an offer she promptly turns down.

Meanwhile, Freddy, following the rejection of his application, stands on the brink of mental collapse. He visits Brenda at her hair salon, hoping to find a solution. Previously, her encouragement and subsequent haircut gave him the confidence to pursue his ambitions. However, with his hopes now crushed, he requests a haircut that makes him invisible, a bitter expression of his current state. But, this time, Brenda doesn’t respond warmly, partly due to uneasiness in his demeanor. She asks him to come by after five in the evening, but when the time comes, he doesn’t show up, having accepted his fate. Instead, he shaves his own head and redirects his negative emotions to filling up milk jugs with gasoline, preparing for his next attack.

Dave is Forced to Confront the Bitter Truth

While Dave spends his time getting engrossed in writing and recording his compositions, Michelle looks through their work desk and discovers a name, Ezra Esposito. When she enquires Harvey about him, she is informed that he is a cop and a former teammate of Dave’s, but that all information about him is sealed, and formally, the entire department has a gag order. Before she can push further, Emmett makes his way into the station, looking for his father. It turns out that Dave forgot to fulfill his duty of picking the teen up and stealing the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into her suspect’s life, so she decides to give Emmett a ride back home.

During the ride, Michelle tries to develop a bond with Emmett and learns that his father left him three days ago, leaving behind the book that he reads obsessively. Here, the deuteragonist’s experience with parental trauma comes in handy as she gives him an honest account. She tells him that the pain of such loss never really gets better or heals, and instead, his best course of action is to stay closer to his loved ones who are alive. In Emmett’s case, it’s his mother, and in Michelle’s, it’s everyone in her family. However, when he returns home, he finds that his mother is busy arguing with Dave for his carelessness, and, not finding the human connection he seeks, he heads straight to his room, burying the pain.

Meanwhile, Ashley and Dave’s fight grows more intense as Dave seemingly downplays his mistake, claiming that once his book is a success, these differences will feel trivial in comparison. However, Ashley counters back, stating that his book has no chance of being published anytime soon. Feeling hurt, the protagonist doubles down on his errors, stating that Emmett should man up and run his way back home. Dave then further claims that this can serve as a good lesson for his son. Ashley has had enough of this, and she decides to reveal her honest feelings about the book. She claims that, due to her experience as a librarian, she has a good understanding of how mediocre and predictable his book is and that it will never be a success.

Michelle and Dave Find Their Respective Allies

Following this, Ashley heads back to her room, leaving Dave brooding. Elsewhere, Harvey and Michelle hang out at the bar, and she begins her plan to inebriate him till his guard is down. After several shots of alcohol, he drunkenly starts revealing information about Ezra, describing him as a bad cop who once accidentally shot himself in the foot and was promptly fired. As a result, he sued the fire department and subsequently got a retirement package, with all of his information being sealed for good. Furthermore, Harvey drops a game-changing piece of information. Following his accident, Ezra accused Dave of being an arsonist, but it was chalked off as one of his conspiracy theories. In the present, Michelle pretends to ridicule him but feels elated at finding a potential ally in her investigation.

In an attempt to blow off some steam, Dave resorts to his passion for firesetting and stands in front of the potato chips section at another supermarket, dressed characteristically as the D&C. Before he can act, however, he meets a woman who shows interest in him, commenting that he doesn’t seem the type to indulge in junk food. The protagonist agrees before adding that he has urges he can’t seem to escape, speaking to his larger interests. Meanwhile, Emmett listens to the audio recordings of Dave’s writings and comes across a section that seemingly details his sexual encounters with other women, particularly a woman named Jacqueline. While it is unclear whether this is a fictional exercise, it nonetheless confirms his desire for infidelity, which comes off as ironic given his history with his mother.

Meanwhile, Dave decides to spend the night with the woman at the supermarket, who turns out to be a bondage and submission enthusiast. As she lies on her bed, chained and blindfolded, he appears to be elated and silently dances around the bed, ultimately scaring the woman. He then reaches for her and announces his safe word, strawberry, by feeding her one by force. However, at this point, the sexual encounter takes a turn, as Dave, after removing her blindfold, introduces her to an activity called streaking. Without warning, he sprays a mysterious liquid on her stomach and lights it on fire. The woman briefly panics but soon realizes that this trick leaves no scars. Intrigued, she asks Dave to do it again, and he grins, having found an outlet for his urges.