Peak television!
That’s the only thing that can be said about Smoke Season 1 Episode 9 as the cat and mouse game between Detective Calderon and Investigator Gudsen finally reaches a critical point, and all cards are laid on the table.
I have learnt throughout this show to throw my expectations out of the window and let the story take precedence, and it has been a game-changer.
Still, for a season finale, I had some basic expectations about what the finale should achieve, but I had no idea how I wanted them to approach everything. And what happens in the episode leaves me absolutely satisfied, retrospective, and totally enamored.
Who Is Dave? Firebug or Hero?
The main expectation was that the show would reveal who the arsonist is. We had been led to believe by other characters that it was Dave, but in Smoke Season 1 Episode 8, it became clear that something odd was going on.
And for the most part, they were right. The physical representation of Dave Gudsen had been setting fires, but it wasn’t that clear-cut.
Dave and Freddy share so much in common, it’s just that Dave had gotten so good at fooling himself, and he’d begun to believe his own lies.
Freddy was not deluded about his life and how other people saw him. He knew he was weird; he creeped them out, and they most likely didn’t want to associate with him.
Something is deeply broken in these men, but their coping mechanism is almost the same. They would set fires, watch everything burn, and relish in the pain and attention that came with it.
But Dave has more layers, where he has more privilege in society. He holds a position of power and has managed to blend into proper society without raising red flags.
But he is broken. He hates himself so much that he made up an entirely new person through whom he vicariously lived.
In his mind, he is not a balding middle-aged man whose features are quickly depreciating. He is a fit, strapping, shredded young man whose sexual prowess can not be rivaled by anyone, alive or dead. He walks straight and emits pheromones that make females fall in love with him.
He is a hero who swoops in and saves the day. Everyone else is living in his world.
Two Awful People Drive Into a Wildfire
The finale is the conclusion of the tug of war between Calderon and Gudsen, a tug of war that started the moment they laid eyes on each other in that office on their first day together in Smoke Season 1 Episode 1.
As two damaged people who had never confronted painful parts of their lives, there was nowhere the other person could hide so that they couldn’t be found. The path their life was to take was forged by fire and suffering, and it was only fitting that their showdown occurred in the midst of it.
Contrary to many other shows that feature fire as part of the story, Smoke makes it feel like a character. Without fire, there wouldn’t be any of these people. Without it, the story would not progress, and without it, there definitely would not be Dave/Donald and Michelle.
Fire in this show, and this episode, is given more attention than the two human leads. It is the danger, thrill, and redemption.
The epic showdown between Gudsen and Calderon in the middle of a wildfire was one in a long line of impressive creative decisions that have been made throughout this show.
In the middle of the fire, they are isolated, there is nothing to fear, and the raw animal comes out. The version of Calderon that was born in the motel room where her mother nearly killed her is finally released.
The Gudsen, who survived abuse and fires and has set over two hundred fires also finds release. It’s a showdown where they can’t judge each other because there is nothing to hide.
But still, there’s some hope, at least for Michelle. Having a man on his knees with a gun in his mouth is a position of power that could drive anyone insane. Yet Calderon manages to distance herself from the fire burning inside her and do the right thing.
If she had just shot him, he would not have been able to see himself for who he really is, and that’s the greatest punishment someone like Dave or Freddy can ever experience.
The Penance
No prison sentence is big enough for people like them. They need to be pulled into reality and forced to live inside it. Freddy’s death in Smoke Season 1 Episode 7 was the easy way out. He should have been kept safe for the rest of his life and forced to think about the lives he’s ruined.
It’s a great consolation to see Dave finally see himself for who he really is. He will live with that for the rest of his life, and I couldn’t have been more satisfied.
The finale gave me everything — well, almost everything — I wanted from this story. Even more, it wasn’t just black and white, which made it all the more interesting.
It’s the kind of finale that leaves you thinking and challenges you to rewatch the show with fresh eyes.
I’m sure there are more things we missed that a rewatch could uncover, and the best shows are those that have you discovering something new every time.
As for where the story takes us next, I don’t think there should be a next. The only loose thread that needs tying up would be Calderone’s fate after what she did to her late lover/boss.
I’m not sorry, but she could catch a hundred Daves, and it wouldn’t absolve her of that heinous act. It was unjustifiable, with the man’s biggest crime being love — loving the wrong person.
If there is a Season 2 and the show doesn’t go the anthology route, the downfall of Michelle Calderon should be explored.
But for now, the downfall of Dave Gudsen was epic! Ten out of ten; no notes.
Stray Thoughts
- Although the takedown of Dave was majestic, Emmett did not witness it as I had hoped. Sure, he and Ash were a huge part of unravelling the Dave mystery, but if I were writing the finale, I would have put him at the police station during Dave’s walk of shame.
We deserved one more “…this fucking guy!”
- Am I too emotional, or was Dave pitiful for a moment there? I know he’s a piece of shit, but seeing the pain in his eyes during that pivotal interrogation scene got me in the softest part of my heart.
- There are actors you know are really good, but they never cease to impress. Taron Egerton is one such actor. I’ve been avoiding repeating this because he is just fantastic.
- The fire effects were out of this world, both in terms of visuals and audio.
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