Smoke – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review
Episode 4 of Smoke begins with David Gudsen giving a presentation about arson. All the other officers are in attendance, including Calderone who watches from the back. It's a rather unconventional speech, especially when Dave mentions how chaos beats order every time and starts a couple of small fires.
After, Calderone heads off to visit her brother, Benji. He's organizing underground cockfighting and he apologizes for lashing out at her. He's off the booze now (two whole days!) and the pair get along well.
Being here does give Michelle another idea though and that comes from the bird tags. She believes they can place the tags in bags and stack them in numerical order, have a clerk write down the numbers while working, and when they find a tag from the arsonist, trace it back to the CCTV footage and count the number of customers. It's pretty ingenious and Englehart also goes for it too.
Meanwhile, things between Emmett and Dave are still awkward. Ashley tries to stick up for her partner but Emmett is convinced that he's two-faced. Gudsen is avoiding heading home though after their big fight, and instead winds up drinking with Calderone in the office.
As they talk, they discuss the different paths in life people are given and the changing fortunes therein. Dave opens up here, admitting that when he was 15 his mum just disappeared. They called the police and had a search party out but she wound up skipping town and head off with a substitute teacher because she wanted a fresh start.
Instead of feeling sorry for himself, Gudsen decided to pretend she was dead and moved on. Now, Gudsen won't be in town for the weekend either, given he's got an arson conference in Leighton
When he does head home and speaks to Emmett in the morning, he tries to apologize, in a roundabout way. Ashley throws a lifeline out, suggesting he pick up his stepson up from practice after school. Unfortunately, Gudsen loses track of time and he shows up at the office, where she bumps into Michelle.
As for Calderone, she finds old business cards in her desk belonging to an agent called Ezra Esposito. This is the man Dave was working with before she showed up. The files have been sealed and there's no getting in right now.
Michelle offers to give Emmett a lift home, which is probably just as well given it gives her a crucial clue. Emmett tells her that 'nobody knows Dave Gudsen' and he also has no knowledge of this Esposito character. Naturally, Michelle decides to butter Englehart up and find out about Esposito.
Apparently he shot himself in the foot and he sued the department. To try and keep this quiet, they gave him the entire retirement plan. However, he became convinced that Gudsen was their arsonist.
It doesn't help that inside the house, Dave and Ashley are in the middle of a fight. Dave thinks Emmett needs to 'man up' and it causes Ashley to snap. She lashes out at his mediocre, pedestrian book and leaves him stunned.
Meanwhile, Freddy shows up to see Brenda and wants her to change his hair. He no longer wants to be seen, so Brenda encourages him to come back after 5. He doesn't, instead cutting his own hair back home, before setting up a whole bunch of jugs, ready to hit the town.
It's Gudsen who heads out first though, meeting a woman at the store who winds up flirting with him. He looks like he's about to set fire to the chips again but this time things are different. Gudsen still has the desire to burn so he introduces this woman to the world of 'streaking'. He ties her down, drops oil on her stomach and sets fire to it.
He promises this won't leave any scars, and after putting it out, wants him to burn her again. He nods, and the episode ends.
The Episode Review
Although Smoke's latest episode is the slowest and doesn't have much in the way of plot development, what it does showcase is rather important. Not only are we seeing more of Michelle's ingenuity and her ability to dive head-first into this case, but also the extent of Dave Gudsen's mental issues.
Whether his sociopathic tendencies stem from his mother leaving and snapping something deep inside him, or if this occurred later on through the pressures of life, it's clear that he's wound tighter than a two dollar watch.
We know that he's going to snap at some point, but so too is Freddy it seems. With all those jugs in his closet, wrapped in black bags no less, it'll be interesting to see who snaps first. Either way, the second half of this series looks like it's going to pick up in a big way.
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