Editor’s note: The below recap contains spoilers for Smoke Episode 5. We’re reaching the halfway point in Apple TV+’s crime drama Smoke, and things are heating up — pun intended. The last two episodes focused heavily on character building, with Episode 3 mainly looking into Michelle’s (Jurnee Smollett) past, relationship with her parents, and overall mental state, and Episode 4 showcasing Dave’s (Taron Egerton) home life and the nature of his twisted mind. Episode 5 goes back to the investigation while introducing a few crucial players, but also provides further insight into Smoke’s most interesting character.
‘Smoke’ Episode 5 Introduces a Major New Player

Image via Apple TV+

Smoke Episode 5, titled “Size Matters,” opens with an uncomfortable exchange between Dave and Steven Burke (Rafe Spall). Following his fight with Ashley (Hannah Emily Anderson) in the previous episode, Dave is sleeping in his office, only for Steven to wake him up, claiming he has a meeting with Harvey (Greg Kinnear). Steven questions Dave about his upcoming trip to the conference, asking if Michelle will be tagging along. Dave immediately picks up on Burke’s intentions, especially when Harvey comes into the room, surprised to see the Captain; there’s no meeting on the books. Harvey and Burke then have a brief but charged exchange regarding Dave and Michelle’s effectiveness as a team. At Coop’s, Freddy Fasano (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) learns he didn’t get the job. His new manager also suggests a hat, since Freddy clumsily shaved his hair and beard, cutting himself in the process. Meanwhile, Steven shares the address of Dave’s former partner, Esposito, with Michelle, and she has a brief encounter with Emmett (Luke Roessler), who accuses her of having an affair with Dave after listening to his book. Michelle denies it and shares her number with Emmett, in case he ever needs to talk. More importantly, he shares Dave’s book with her. We now follow a woman, Joy (Kelly-Ruth Mercier), a store employee, as she enters her car. She looks emotional and finishes an alcohol shooter in one go before driving away. She’s behind Dave at one point, before going into work, defeated.

Related

Taron Egerton’s New Apple TV+ Crime Drama ‘Smoke’ Is Already Making a Major Change From the Procedural Format

Dennis Lehane’s gripping crime drama with 69% on Rotten Tomatoes boldly reinvented the genre.

Michelle drives to Esposito’s address, Dave’s book playing through the speakers: it’s hilariously self-aggrandizing (he describes his self-insert lead character as having a jaw “chiseled and hewn from rock”). She can handle only so much before turning the radio off, annoyed. More importantly, her attention is diverted by an elegant couple driving into what’s supposed to be Esposito’s trailer. Shortly after, Esposito (John Leguizamo, taking far too long to arrive in the series) shows up, parked outside his trailer with a laptop showing the couple having sex. In the morning, Esposito confronts Michelle and instantly knows it’s about Dave. He’s irreverent, impertinent, and a drunk, makes a pass at Michelle, and clearly shows he’s still bitter about his firing, carrying a grudge against Dave. Esposito also reveals he has a quasi-porn studio for amateur couples wanting to film themselves having sex. Crucially, he also says his firing was a framing on Dave’s part after Esposito figured out he was an arsonist. Michelle and Esposito share their suspicions about Dave, but they both agree they don’t have any concrete evidence.
‘Smoke’ Episode 5 Shows a New Side of Dave

Image via Apple TV+

At Coop’s, a nervous Brenda (Adina Porter) is on the lookout for Freddy, who seems far more detached than usual. At the conference, Dave makes eye contact with an attractive woman. He goes to hang out with a group of guys before making his move on her. Her name is Reba (Erin Karpluk), and the two flirt and acknowledge each other’s spouses before she abruptly leaves. The following day, Dave is leading the same presentation he made in Episode 4, but this crowd is far less impressed. A young woman (Maddy Hillis) is particularly bold and openly confronts Dave; she’s all about facts, telling him fire is not a scary monster but rather an elemental force easily explained. She accurately tells Dave that the presentation is less about education and more about him showing off. The crowd laughs at him, and Dave is suddenly very small. Later that night, Dave and Reba reunite and flirt some more. She talks about how she loves her husband and how they “work,” but she isn’t necessarily “happy.” No one is happy, she says, but Dave points out that kids and dogs are; touché. Reba then says you can’t be happy all the time; maybe, the best you can be is content, “just fine all the time.” But if it’s just “fine” all the time, Dave asks, “What’s the difference between being alive and being dead?” Nothing, they both reply. Their flirting has now become somewhat creepy, but they seem to be into it. At a bar, Esposito and Michelle drink and talk about Dave some more. Back in his trailer, Esposito shows her a truly disturbing video: prompted by Dave, Esposito sets fire to a house. Suddenly, loud barks come out of the house; they soon become cries of pain and fear. Esposito tells Michelle that Dave lied and said the place was empty, but he knew it wasn’t. Clearly drunk, Esposito passes out on his bed, and Michelle places a bucket beside him before settling in on his couch.
‘Smoke’ Episode 5 Sees Freddy Committing His Most Heinous Crime

Image via Apple TV+

Dave and Reba are in her room, where they unsuccessfully try to have sex, but he can’t get an erection. She stands up and drops a bombshell: she is his ex-wife, having been married to him for five years. Reba also seems insulted that Dave suggests taking a pill; he might’ve needed roleplaying before, but never a pill. He says he’s distracted and tells her about the girl at the presentation, and Reba confesses she witnessed the whole thing. Dave can’t admit the girl got under his skin, but Reba presses him, telling him his ego is so fragile that he can’t get turned on because of the mere memory of a woman disagreeing with him. The two go back and forth; she calls him a narcissist, and he insults her by saying it’s difficult to chase after a middle-aged woman while pretending she’s still 25. Reba goes into the bathroom, telling Dave he’s “so small.” Now we follow Freddy, who’s carrying a sack with several jugs. He eventually takes an abandoned shopping cart, but it falls, and one of the jugs breaks. Freddy walks into the nearest store, buys a new jug, disposes of the milk, and fills it with oil before taking a bus somewhere. We now see Brenda at home, washing the dishes, still looking nervous. The next shot is of a man in bed while a woman bathes. A closer look reveals he’s the Coop’s manager who interviewed Freddy. Set to Ketty Lester’s “Love Letters,” the next tense sequence is among the best in Smoke. Freddy arrives at a home and walks underneath it. Brenda hears noises and looks out her window. The manager and his wife brush their teeth, sharing tender smiles. Freddy struggles under the house, preparing to set the jugs on the ground. The manager and his wife go to bed. A shot of a house, silent at night. Then, the jugs start a fire, which quickly spreads. Next shot, the house is completely ablaze. In the morning, Michelle and Esposito share pleasantries, and he tries to convince her to bring him on board the investigation against Dave. Speaking of which, Dave is awakened by an angry Harvey, who tells him about Freddy’s fire over at Crawford, which killed the manager and his wife. Harvey is frustrated, but Dave sees it as a victory: Freddy used six jugs and left his usual place of operations for this attack; Freddy made it personal, and Dave knows it. On his drive back home, Dave sets a fire in the store where Joy works. As he drives away, singing at the top of his lungs, his car is hit by a speeding truck. Driving it is Joy, who seems dead at the scene. For his part, Dave is bruised and unconscious, but something tells us he’ll live. And that’s it for this week’s Smoke! The episode is quite good, introducing a major player in Esposito who will surely become a crucial ally in Michelle’s crusade against Dave. It also offered further insight into Dave’s twisted mind, shining a new light on just how insecure and petty he is. Episode 5 also culminates in Freddy’s most heinous act thus far, making him an even more unsettling presence moving forward.