Smoke: A slow burn that never gets going

Photo: Apple TV+

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. That is especially true for the new Apple TV+ series, Smoke, which is mainly concerned with flames and those shaped by them. In fact, there’s rarely a moment that fire isn’t front and center. It’s the main attraction, and by the end of the first episode it will probably be the only reason you stick around.

Inspired by the podcast Firebug, based on the crimes of arsonist John Leonard Orr, Smoke follows arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) as he teams up with detective Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett). Together, the duo must solve a string of arsons plaguing their corner of the Pacific Northwest. It soon becomes clear that they are dealing with two separate perpetrators and one of them might be inside the fire department. The story has plenty of twists from there, the biggest of which fans of the podcast will know going in.

For the rest of us, the twist gives the series a narrative boost it was previously missing. Which makes it all the stranger that it occurs at the end of the second episode. Smoke has a tendency to play the long game with its story, slowly putting the pieces into place. There’s nothing wrong with this approach, but it falls apart when your characters are ill-defined. Because the show also takes its time slowly revealing our main duo’s traumatic backstories (spoiler alert: fire is involved in both of them!) it feels like you’re constantly reevaluating who these people are with each extra detail. It’s a bold idea in theory, but falls apart in execution.

While the story is often lacking, Smoke has plenty of style to spare. Unsurprisingly, most of that flair comes in scenes involving fire. TV shows have a problem with making CGI flames look realistic, but Smoke and directors like Kari Skogland help thread that needle. The key is that the camera never lingers too long on the fire itself. Instead, it focuses on the people trapped in these moments to tremendous effect.

It’s a shame that Smoke sells its characters short because there’s a fun cast here begging for more to do. Egerton is a blast as the type of overly energetic co-worker we’ve all experienced before. He also proves to be the best at balancing the dramatic and comedic elements that pop up. Smollett is great as a hardened badass, still reeling from her own past. Egerton is giving the flashier performance, but Smollett proves to be a worthy foil. There’s also exciting performances by Greg Kinnear and John Leguizamo as the always-sarcastic fire chief and Gudsen’s bitter ex-partner, respectively. It’s almost enough to drag you through the show’s overlong table-setting.

Maybe it all comes together in the end and provides a satisfying conclusion. As things currently stand, Smoke only gets more confounding as it goes on. Each new wrinkle in the plot only adds to the structural problems that keep this series from being truly engaging. The show aims to be a raging fire, but can’t produce much more than a dim flame. It’s just a false alarm; don’t bother coming.

Smoke is currently streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes release on Fridays.

Final Verdict: Tune Out

Too Much: A romcom remix that’s just right

Photo: Netflix

Lena Dunham is back, and she’s brought her favorite type of character along for the ride. Dunham has a knack for writing people who one can charitably describe as “a lot.” At its worst, it quickly becomes tiresome to watch. Despite some initial worries, Too Much proves to have the right balance.

Created by Dunham and her husband, musician Luis Felber, Too Much is partly based on their relationship. The series follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), a commercial producer who moves to London after a nasty breakup. How bad was the split? Well, it ends with her breaking into their former apartment to confront him and the girl he left her for. (This is where the aforementioned “initial worries” come in.) Jessica struggles to adapt to her new life until she meets Felix (Will Sharpe), a struggling musician. The two hit it off and, despite some initial roadblocks, pursue a relationship.

Too Much begins as a pretty straightforward romantic comedy and slowly subverts our expectations. The show is more honest about modern relationships than you normally get in this genre. It also doesn’t hold back from putting our lead couple’s flaws front and center. This might be the cringiest comedy of the year, which can definitely try your patience. If you can grin and bear it though, you’ll find a lot to love.

Like all great romcoms, the series thrives thanks to the relationship at its center. Stalter is a comedic powerhouse, and the writing provides her multiple opportunities to show it. There’s a tricky tightrope act at work with Jessica between overbearing and deeply vulnerable, and Stalter never falters. Sharpe’s Felix provides the perfect foil. Witty, good-natured and attractive, Sharpe plays Felix as your standard starving artist before slowly revealing more of the brokenness hiding underneath. With supporting turns from the likes of Rita Wilson, Richard E. Grant, and Naomi Watts, among others, the show provides a wealth of fun performances that help bolster our main duo.

Despite some early concerns, Too Much proves to be a fun and shockingly insightful comedy. Still, one might argue that the show doesn’t sufficiently upend the beats of your typical romcom. Is it enough to offer slight changes to a long-established formula? After a period of deep reflection, my answer is: sometimes yes. It’s not always about changing the story as we know it. Often all you need is smart writing and a compelling cast, that alone can make up for a lot of flaws.

Too Much is currently streaming on Netflix.

Final Verdict: Tune In

Ironheart: A terrific lead performance bolsters this bumpy ride

Photo: Marvel/Disney

I’m endlessly fascinated by the different streaming services and their release strategies. We’re all familiar with the Netflix model of dropping everything all at once, something even they don’t commit to all the time. There’s also the “drop 2 or 3 episodes and then go weekly” model that Prime Video and Apple TV+ are fond of. By far the strangest method that has popped up recently is Disney+’s weekly release of 3 episodes at a time. Andor pulled this off by having each chunk represent a year in the titular hero’s life. Evidently, they did not design Marvel’s latest, Ironheart, with this plan in mind. With only 6 episodes, it feels more like an awkward dumping of a series that took a long time getting to the screen.

Ironheart originally wrapped production in 2022 with a lengthy post-production process hampered by both the writer’s strike and a creative overhaul with Marvel Television. None of this hinders the show’s overall quality, but it gives the impression that those in charge aren’t too invested. Much of the first episode reintroduces us to Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), the titular hero. Kicked out of MIT, Riri returns to her hometown of Chicago and struggles to reconnect with her family and the trauma she left behind. She soon teams up with enigmatic criminal The Hood (Anthony Ramos) to make ends meet. Things only get wilder from there.

While Ironheart suffers from the same pacing problems that plague many of these MCU TV series, it feels distinct thanks to the way it melds various genres together. There are elements from heist movies, supernatural horror, and family dramas all blended with the standard superhero fare. It’s an odd combo that the show pulls off with ease. The biggest thing holding the program back is how overstuffed it feels at times.

With only 6 sub-50 minute episodes and a cast of over a dozen, it’s nearly impossible for everyone to feel truly developed. The most glaring example is with The Hood’s crew, a group of “cool” criminals who are all defined by what they can do. There’s a knife guy, a hacker, and twins who are also the muscle. They have names, but that’s about it. Even Ramos’ Hood feels like little more than your standard Marvel villain. A guy doing evil things for nebulous reasons.

Where the show really excels is with Riri. Thorne is electric and helps sell even the show’s corniest moments. The relationship between Riri and her deceased best friend Natalie (Lyric Ross) provides the show with its heart and helps make our lead someone worth rooting for. A surprise turn from Alden Ehrenreich as a mysterious arms dealer also helps raise the emotional stakes. Ehrenreich is a fun addition, and his scenes with Thorne are the show at its absolute best.

Ultimately, Ironheart succeeds despite itself. There are too many characters and too much story for everything to land. When the show is hitting though, it brings to mind the best parts of the MCU. This series seems to be the last of the old Marvel Television model, judging by how quick they were to dump this onto Disney+. If that’s the case, at least they went out on a great note.

Ironheart is currently streaming on Disney+.

Final Verdict: Tune In

Stick: Even Owen Wilson’s charm has limits in this cloying comedy

Photo: Apple TV+

Ted Lasso was the first big success for Apple TV+. The type of show that reminds people this streaming service exists, an important skill in the over-saturated media landscape. Despite that triumph, there have been very few attempts to copy the program’s winning combo of sports cliches and sentimental comedy. If Apple TV+’s Stick is anything to go by, that’s likely because the balance is too hard to pull off.

Stick subs out soccer for golf and Jason Sudeikis for the equally charming Owen Wilson, but keeps much of the same Lasso spirit. Wilson plays Pryce “Stick” Cahill, a rudderless former pro who can’t seem to get out of his own way. Pryce’s chance encounter with a young prodigy named Santi (Peter Dager) leads to him taking the teen under his wing. Before long, Pryce and Santi along with Santi’s mother, Elena (Mariana Trevino) and Pryce’s friend and former caddy Mitts (Marc Maron) are on the circuit. Cahill promises to make Santi a star, but it’s clear that he also sees his own redemption in the kid.

It’s an interesting dynamic to center your series on, but Stick sells the relationship short. Wilson holds up his end of the deal, playing Pryce as a well-meaning guy who just wants another shot at life. Dager’s Santi is less sketched out. He’s a temperamental teenager with daddy issues, which makes his crash outs at Pryce a real drag. At least he isn’t stuck with terrible one-liners about “pronouns” and the “good ole days” like Maron’s Mitts. A character clearly designed to be a loveable curmudgeon who grows less likable with each stale joke. It’s not all lackluster, though. Trevino’s Elena is a delight, and the later addition of Lilli Kay as Zero adds some needed energy to the show’s sluggish sports story.

By far my biggest issue with Stick is how shamelessly it attempts to tug at your heart-strings. Every character on the show seems to have at least one tragic element to their backstory. The focus on trauma as character motivation isn’t unique to this series, but it feels unearned here. Maybe it’s the tendency for the writing to settle into platitudes like, “Sometimes we just need to take the swing.” Or perhaps it’s just a general lack of investment in the characters. Either way, the work is not being done for those tender moments to land.

Even with the bottomless charisma of Owen Wilson, Stick struggles to make the most of its promising cast. At its best, it’s a cheesy bit of inspirational television. Unfortunately, the series often settles for mawkish appeals to your feelings instead. Maybe it will correct these problems in the recently announced second season? I won’t be finding out. This is one show better left off the course.

Stick is currently streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes release on Wednesdays.

Final Verdict: Tune Out

Adults: Growing up is hard, but FX’s new sitcom makes it fun

Photo: FX

There comes a time in every generation’s lifespan where the “hip” shows directly appeal to them. With Millennials slowly drifting out of the coveted 18-35 demo, it is now Gen Z’s time to shine. Adults isn’t the first show to cater to the tastes of the younger generation, but it is the first in some time to do it so blatantly. In some ways, the marketing feels like a throwback to a time when networks made a more concerted effort to attract younger people. Whether or not the show succeeds in that regard is best left up to people actually in that age range.

Created by former Tonight Show writers Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, Adults follows a quintet of twenty-somethings as they navigate the complexities of adulthood together. In other words, it’s a hangout sitcom like Friends or How I Met Your Mother. The series is more down to Earth than those programs. Our young cast deals with joblessness, medical debt, and the looming sense of dread that comes with your post-college years. It’s a potentially heavy subject but treated with a light, goofy touch. You know deep down that these kids will be just fine.

A hangout sitcom lives and dies with its cast and Adults assembles a charming crew. Malik Elassal holds the group together as the sweet-natured Samir. His parents, mostly abandoned, house serves as a residence for the entire group. Lucy Freyer plays Billie, who has a season runner of wracking up untold amounts of debt. Amita Rao brings energy to Issa while keeping her bubbly personality in check. Owen Thiele plays the closest thing to a calm character as Anton. By far, the standout is Jack Innanen’s Paul Baker. Paul Baker, always referred to by his full name, is the newest group member by virtue of his relationship with Issa. He provides an outsider perspective while never really questioning any of the antics our group gets up to.

The show mostly sticks to episodic stories, but sprinkles in a few serialized elements throughout. There’s the running story of Billie’s unemployment and a fantastic guest arc by Charlie Cox. These segments help maintain a level of continuity that makes us feel more like a part of this weird gang. If there’s anything holding the series back, it’s the short episode order. With only 8 episodes in the season, there isn’t enough time to fully connect with the whole cast and it leaves some characters less developed.

Adults offers a slice of Gen Z life that feels familiar to anyone who’s experienced their early 20s. It’s a tricky balance, but the show nails it thanks to a game cast that provides solid laughs. Early adulthood is a strange and difficult time, but in the grand scheme of it all, it doesn’t last very long. Hopefully, these adults take their time growing up.

Adults is currently streaming on Hulu.

Final Verdict: Tune In