Abhiroop Das
The season finale of AppleTV+’s ‘Smoke‘ pierces through the proverbial smokescreen for an ultimate confrontation between arson and arson investigator. The previous episode ends with Michelle Calderon killing her Captain Steven Burk, the head of the investigations into Dave Gudsen, as well as her former sexual partner. Realizing that she is trapped, the deuteragonist frames the entire scene as Dave’s handiwork. She lights the entire house on fire, but not before leaving behind a glove with Dave’s fingerprints on it. The protagonist, on the other hand, spends the night with his ex-wife, Reba, letting his dark side be seen for once. This episode brings both threads together and lets the subsequent chaos turn into a moment of catharsis. With his carefully constructed life and persona at risk, Dave goes all out, ready to burn anyone who opposes him. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Smoke Finale Recap
The episode opens with Steven Burk’s house being investigated as a scene of crime. It has been burnt down to the crisp, and his body charred beyond recognition. Captain Pearson is the lead on this case, and upon meeting the rest of the task force targeting Dave Gudsen, she explains that their case is now to be handed to her. Although their primary suspect is Dave, Ezra contests this, stating that he surveilled Dave for the entire night, and he never left his ex-wife’s house. Pearson does not budge, and her belief is only fueled by Michelle, who enters the scene late, still in shock about her actions. When she notices a camera in the neighboring house, her shock turns to fear, and she rushes to find a way to get rid of it. However, there is also some good news, as the glove she planted on the site is discovered.
Meanwhile, Dave watches the entire case unfold on television and realizes that he is about to be framed. He does not get any support from Reba, who has a marriage to protect and cannot afford to be his alibi for the night. Realizing that he is running out of options, he makes his way back to work and tries to convince Harvey of his innocence. The chief refuses to be deterred as well, even when Dave brings up the lakehouse. At a loss, Dave resorts to appealing to Michelle. However, they are interrupted when an arson is reported in a research facility dealing with sensitive gases. Although the laboratory is supposed to be temperature locked, the operatives reveal that someone remotely hacked into the system. Elsewhere, embers from a minor bush fire make their way to a sawmill, igniting the whole place in a massive explosion.
The fire engulfs an entire forest, creating a huge cloud of smoke that requires Dave and Michelle’s immediate attention. Their journey to the forest fire takes an alarming turn when Dave hits the pedal and dives headfirst into the flames. A scuffle ensues with Dave unfastening her seatbelt before ramming the car into the woods. While he hopes for that accident to have finished her off, he is disappointed, as Michelle stands back on her feet and hits his car with a barrage of bullets. With nowhere to run, Dave gets out of the vehicle and is humiliated by his partner before being arrested on many counts, including the murder of Steven Burk. Once chained up, he is placed in an interrogation, and it is decided that Michelle has the best chance of getting the truth out of him. With this, the two characters enter one last showdown, this time with words instead of fire.
Smoke Season 1 Ending: Whom Does Dave See in the Mirror? Is That His Real Face?
The first season of ‘Smoke’ ends with the reveal that the charming, attractive version of Dave we have seen all along is merely a warping of his real appearance, that of an overweight, balding man. This brings into question everything introduced in the story thus far, flipping many established details on their heads. Dave is an unreliable narrator through and through, and his twisted self-image seeps into the very fabric of the show, influencing how he is perceived by others, as well as himself. Over the course of an achingly rendered sequence, we learn that the protagonist even deluded himself into this separation from reality, and he has a hard time coming to terms with things. Michelle forcing him to figuratively look into the mirror triggers this very literal turn of events, unravelling many of the show’s layers for good.
Dave’s real appearance is confirmed in a scene that runs adjacent to his interrogation, with his wife, Ashley, packing up and getting rid of Dave’s things. She comes across a guidebook for writing books that sell, hinting at Dave’s desperation to become a good storyteller. Although it is not in the manner that he intended, Dave is still successful in convincing, or rather, tricking his audience into playing along with his fantasies. However, ironically enough, his farce comes down when Ashley and her son, Emmett, pack Dave’s framed pictures into a box. Here, his true physical nature is in full display, and he appears to fall outside of the conventional notions of attractiveness that he himself subscribes to. Dave is also noticeably more overweight between the photos and the present, which points to the possibility that recent events have taken a toll on him, but he has quietly replaced reality with a picture-perfect version of himself.
The reason for Dave’s twisted self-perception is evident in his ideas throughout the narrative, as he is a man who wants to be the subject of everyone’s attention. While a large part of that lies in his so-called heroic pursuits as an arson investigator, there is also his fixation with physical beauty, both directed towards himself and women. In the first episode, Dave refers to himself as an attractive man while describing his idea of writing a fictional novel inspired by his real life. To that end, the novel, as well as its protagonist, Donald, serves as an extrinsic expression of his desired self, someone who is brave, dashing, and effortlessly charming. This creates a feedback loop, where not only does he manufacture the identity of a Donald, but also inserts into it, actively absorbing his protagonist’s characteristics. Michelle points out this dissonance, but Dave is too deep in the maze to figure it out.
Dave Hides His Real Face Due to His Deep-Seated Insecurities
The twist about Dave’s self-imposed illusion does not come out of the blue. In fact, there are small pieces of foreshadowing, both thematic and literal, that are sprinkled all throughout the narrative. The most prominent of these instances occurs at the start of episode 6, titled ‘Manhood.’ After surviving an accident with a minor concussion, Dave wakes up in a hospital bed, only to find an older version of himself in the mirror’s reflection. While initially, we are led to believe this is a hallucination born out of his injuries, coupled with his raging anxieties, in reality, the truth is the exact opposite. This near-death experience gives Dave a brief moment of clarity, which forces him to confront his real appearance. Instead, he doubles down on the farce and actively begins to imagine scenes of grandeur and heroism to compensate.
Dave’s true appearance also puts his persona as the D&C arsonist in a new light. Given that Dave, as the firesetter, has been recorded walking with a limp while covering themselves with a hooded jacket, a cap, and sunglasses, we are initially led to assume that his aim is to obscure his identity and escape without trouble. While that is true to a large extent, his actions can also be interpreted as a desperate attempt to block out his real self-image. For this, he covers his balding head with a cap and hides his face with an oversized hood and sunglasses. The limp, then, aligns with his general fear of being feeble, and instead, he tries to control these elements as a tool in his arsenal. This exercise comes undone in the final interrogation, where he confronts the D&C arsonist, that is, himself, from behind, aghast at how he looks.
Notably, whether Dave accepts the truth or not is kept ambiguous, with him merely echoing his previous sentiment of knowing who he is. While it may seem to be a hopeless pursuit, the minor nuances in his expression as he stares at his reflection intently reveal that there is more going on. While he initially carries a look of disbelief, he slowly starts to get used to the face and, subsequently, his real identity. In that moment, we can see the gears moving in Dave’s head, and he returns to being his confident self and directs his attention to Michelle once again. In return for his declaration of self-awareness, Michelle reminds him that she knows his real nature as well. Their subsequent staredown almost has Dave salivating, and ends with both of them smiling, as the protagonist realizes that he is finally being acknowledged by someone without any facades between them.
Does Dave Confess to His Crimes? What is the Evidence Against Him?
Although Dave is formally arrested and shipped to the Columbia Police Department, actually pinning the larger crimes on him is a different beast altogether. He is clever enough not to fight the case against him headfirst; instead, he targets its weaknesses and brings them to Michelle’s attention, hoping to extract more information from her. The underlying mystery of the case for him is the fact that he is being framed for the murder of Steven Burke, and he is quick to dispel that accusation by stating how the presence of his glove coinciding with a murder-arson does not hold up in the court of law as good evidence. Furthermore, he targets the minor charges against him and lies about Michelle causing a car accident during a manic episode. He also makes sure to mix in truth with fiction, poking at her traumatic past to make his claims more believable.
Knowing that she is fighting a losing battle, Michelle begins to fish for information about Dave’s arsons, this time using his own tricks against him. She initially provokes him to voluntarily compare the details of an arson in his fictional novel to a real case he oversaw in 2019. With the bait taken, she reveals that the intimate details of the arson mentioned in the book are not mentioned in his official report. They do, however, match an independent investigation done on the fire, which strongly points to Dave having prior knowledge of the fires. However, the protagonist cunningly manages to weave this story into a narrative that can excuse his culpability, and Michelle realizes that she needs something more to pin her culprit for good.
The good news for Michelle comes from Ezra Esposito and Dawn Hudson, the latter of whom manages to get a warrant to search Dave’s car. The duo realizes that he must have kept his D&C disguise somewhere readily approachable, such as the glove box. Upon locating it in the car’s wreckage, they finally lay their hands on the arsonist’s clothing: a hoodie, a cap, and a sunglasses. When Michelle relays this information to Dave, he tenses up at last. Although contestable, this mounting evidence spells a slow doom for him, and his way out seems slim. Nonetheless, the protagonist refuses to confess or bend to his former partner’s threats. Instead, he tries to distract the investigation by targeting her insecurities, not knowing that this move would soon return to bite him, unravelling his identity as a whole.
Is Michelle Caught? What Happens to the CCTV Footage?
While Dave’s arrest and interrogation take center stage in the finale, the truth of Steven Burk’s murder continues to loom in the background, with the culprit, Michelle, sitting on the other end of the table. Prior to her exchange with Dave, she spends some time alone in the washroom, but is joined by a hallucination of Steven himself. Through him, she reminds herself of how it’s merely a matter of time before word about their former affair gets out, and in such a scenario, even the slightest suspicion can put her under the radar. There are many variables in the case that are out of her control, such as her phone’s location during the incident or any possible witnesses. Although Michelle is not caught in this episode, the possibility alone takes a toll on her, adding an ironic dimension to any accusation she throws in Dave’s direction.
One of the most incriminating pieces of evidence left behind by Michelle is the CCTV footage of the neighbouring house. She makes note of it at the start of the episode, and immediately gets into action, calling her brother, Benji, from a burner phone. We learn that Benji is fairly acquainted with shady work himself and has no hesitation in helping his sister damage an ongoing investigation. Luckily for them, the owners of the house are away when Benji arrives there, and he prolongs that by cautioning them about the forest fire in Umberland. With the house to himself, he quickly locates the CCTV feed and finds his sister escaping the scene. Adding two and two together, he realizes what she has done. While he deletes the footage from the house, he copies it onto his pendrive before leaving, setting up a potential conflict between siblings.
Although Michelle is safe for now, she knows more than anyone else that she is hanging by a thin thread. The worst threat to her is none other than Dave himself, as his figuring out the true nature of the crime is imminent. Even if that is not the case, he is one of the few people alive who knows about her affair with the deceased Captain. As such, the moment he brings it up will mark a sharp turning point in the narrative. Dave can also pile his entire body of crime on her, given their shared history with fire, coupled with the fact that she has been a part of the D&C investigation for much of its duration herself. Thus, an entire web of harmful possibilities is laid out for Michelle, and she must carve out her escape path, or confess to her crimes and submit herself to justice. However, her complicated way of doing things means there is still much more to the story left.
Read More: Smoke: Is the Apple TV+ Show Based on a True Story?
