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Every episode of Smoke on Apple TV+ is packed with unexpected turns, gripping performances, deep explorations of the human mind, and, naturally, plenty of fire. However, Episode 4 cranks the intensity up to the max with a jaw-dropping bedroom scene that’s sure to leave viewers on the edge of their seats.
Spoilers for Smoke Episode 4 ahead.
Following the shocking revelation in Episode 2 that Dave Gudson (played by Taron Egerton) is the D&C arsonist he and his partner Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) have been fervently pursuing, his erratic and suspicious behavior has been inescapable. Episode 4, titled “Strawberry,” takes his alarming conduct to unprecedented levels.
During an evening of drinks at the office with Calderone, Gudsen loses his cool while discussing his past, disclosing he was married twice before and shares why his mother is no longer in his life. Later, he neglects to pick up Emmett (Luke Roessler) from practice and controversially engages in a heated argument with Ashley (Hannah Emily Anderson). In the episode’s final moments, viewers witness a more menacing side of Gudsen in a bedroom scene with a mysterious woman (Francisca Dennis) he encountered in a grocery store. If you’re not familiar with the term “streaking” yet, prepare for a surprising revelation!
The next time we see Gudsen after his big blowout with Ashley, he’s in full C&D disguise standing in the chip aisle seemingly prepping for his next arson attack. His intense concentration breaks when the aforementioned woman — standing at the end of the aisle — says, “You don’t seem the type.” For a moment, Gudsen panics, warily removes his sunglasses, and asks, “What type is that?” Rather than expose him as the arsonist he is, the woman — with nothing but a carton of strawberries in her basket — replies, “[The type] who eats junk food.” Visibly relieved, Gudsen exhales and explains that he’s not, but sometimes, he craves. Cut to the episode’s final unexpected minutes, when Smoke turns up the heat and shows our protagonist through a darker, more disturbing lens.
As David Bowie’s “Heroes” blasts out of an iPhone’s speakers, Smoke slowly moves around a bedroom, building up to the big reveal: The grocery store woman is blindfolded and chained to the bed wearing red lace lingerie. Dave enters the room wearing a robe and briefs. But because she can’t hear him, she curiously shouts, “Where’d you go? Where are you? The longer you make me wait the better you’re gonna have to be.” Rather than answering, Gudsen lets himself feel the music, passionately swaying and shimming to the beat beside her; reveling in control and the sheer euphoria of the situation.
While the blindfolded, restrained woman continues to panic, Gudson hops on a bench at the foot of her bed, continues to dance, and creepily smiles down at her until she shouts, “If you’re robbing me just fucking release me!” Gudsen, vibe successfully harshed, frantically shushes her, smiles, and explains getting robbed isn’t what she needs to be afraid of. He hops down beside her and orders her to open her mouth. Before she obeys, she asks for their safe word, which prompts Gudsen to aggressively shove a strawberry down her throat and reply, “Strawberry.” (Leo DiCaprio pointing meme at the episode title!)
After the woman recovers from nearly choking, Gudsen moves on to the main event. He whips out a glass bottle, and pours clear liquid (likely alcohol) on the her stomach. “Do you know what streaking is?” he asks. “When people take their clothes off and run through the street,” the woman replies. “No,” he says, finally removing her blindfold. “This is streaking,” he says, whipping out a lighter and lighting her abdomen on fire. *SCREAMS*
For those who don’t know, streaking is a (dangerous!) form of BDSM that involves applying alcohol to the skin, lighting it on fire, and extinguishing it before it burns the skin. Though every blaze in Smoke is utterly engrossing, this particular visual proves especially striking, as it’s far more intimate, intentional, and revealing of Gudsen’s character than another anonymous arson job. From the start of the series, the way Gudsen talks about, writes about, dedicates his profession to, and thoroughly dissects fire proves he’s fascinated and fueled by it, but seeing the thrill he gets by incorporating fire/temperature play in the bedroom suggests an even deeper sensory, physical, and psychological obsession. He likes the danger, and he’s not afraid to cross another major boundary and strip a woman of crucial consent to achieve his own high.
As expected, the woman Gudson literally lights on fire screams and fearfully flails her body. That trauma response? It only brings a bigger smile to Gudsen’s face. When she reaches peak panic, he blows of the flame and straight-up laughs as she calls him a “sick fuck!”
Egerton’s Emmy-nominated performance in Black Bird was incredible, but Smoke gives him the complex material and space to deliver one of the most uniquely eerie, nuanced, unsettling performances of his career. His shift in physicality, disposition, and temper in Episode 4’s various pressure points — which culminate in this final scene — is a terrifying taste of what Gudson is capable of, and a reminder that beyond his tragic backstory, there there’s still a lot to learn about him.
While another show might find the woman racing to free herself and get the “sick fuck” out of her life, after processing the new form of BDSM, asks, “That’s streaking? Do it again.” Will you roll your eyes and groan at the ridiculousness of her arousal? Will you struggle to accept that the character is seen as attractive rather than creepy AF? Probably! But the twist emphasizes Gudsen’s power, and lets him live to see another day without his actions coming back to burn him.
New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.