Crime
Countdown
In Prime’s Countdown, Nathan Blythe assembles a task force of misfits to investigate and halt a conspiracy that puts all of Los Angeles in jeopardy.
It looks bad enough when a city has one serial arsonist. Umberland (a fictional city set in the Pacific Northwest) has two.
Arson investigator Dave Gudsen knows a little about their apparent motivations: a desire for power and control. Before he took the position as investigator, Gudsen had a narrow escape as a firefighter. He knows just how helpless victims feel when they’re stuck in a burning building.
Helpless is also a good word to describe Dave’s position: unlike most crimes, arson tends to destroy most of the workable evidence. But burning buildings don’t look good on Dave’s resume. And he’s recently been told that unless he can catch at least one of these arsonists soon, he’ll be out of a job.
Thankfully, Det. Michelle Calderone has just been assigned to assist Dave in his efforts—even though she has no experience with arson cases whatsoever. Still, that didn’t stop her from burning some bridges of her own and being forcibly transferred into Dave’s line of work. She’s on thin, melting ice herself. But if she can help Dave catch these criminals, perhaps she’ll prove that she’s worth a promotion or two rather than a kick out the door.
In simpler terms: If they can’t stop the fires, well, Dave and Michelle will both be fired.
Apple TV’s miniseries Smoke is a loose reimagining of the true crimes of arsonist John Leonard Orr, America’s most prolific serial arsonist. And if you’d like to watch the show spoiler-free, I’d advise not reading up on him.
Still, Smoke opens with Dave’s musings about the nature of fire. It doesn’t care about how much you work out, how much money you have, whether you come with a weapon: Fire burns all the same.
That sentiment remains true for the TV-MA content issues families will face when jumping into this dramatic blazing inferno. Harsh language, including the f- and s-words, is common. We see some cringe-inducing, skin-peeling burns, too. And the amount of sexual content in the first episode alone brings more heat than needed in a fire-centric show.
In a house fire, it’s wise to use the back of your hand to check if a door is hot before accidentally opening it to an unseen blaze.
Consider this review your check for Smoke: The door’s hot.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Dave and Michelle start their hunt for two serial arsonists after being put on notice regarding the consequences of failing to find at least one.
Two men burn a variety of locations: We see one woman narrowly escape one of the fires, and her skin peels off her arm and falls to the ground. Another survivor suffers extreme burns to his back, and he’s loaded up into an ambulance. Dave escapes a house fire. Michelle chooses to drive without any seatbelt.
We see many flashbacks to the same instance of sex—we hear the sounds of the act. It’s revealed that a man is having an affair with Michelle. We see Michelle in revealing underwear, and later, in a sports bra. She also showers, and we see her rear. A man opens his laptop to watch porn, and we hear explicit noises. Michelle wears a shirt that exposes her bra underneath. We see a man in his underwear. Later, Michelle harasses Dave about the size of his genitals, and Dave retorts that his size is “average.” A woman says that a man being a writer is “kind of a turn-on.” There’s a reference to a female sex toy filled with lighter fluid. Dave and his wife begin to engage in sex as a scene cuts away. There’s dialogue about erectile dysfunction pills. We see a shirtless man.
Dave says that he saw “nothing” in a fire, something he claims is “a defining characteristic of the universe.” Michelle tells him that he “looked into the abyss, and the abyss looked right back.”
People drink liquor and smoke cigarettes. Someone dismisses Michelle as an “affirmative action hire.”
We hear roughly 40 instances of the f-word, including a few paired with “mother.” We also hear 10 uses of the s-word. “A–,” “b–ch,” “h—,” “d–n” and “d-ck” are uttered, too. God’s name is taken in vain four times, and Jesus’ name is likewise misused twice.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
In Prime’s Countdown, Nathan Blythe assembles a task force of misfits to investigate and halt a conspiracy that puts all of Los Angeles in jeopardy.
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Scrublands’ Martin Scarsden is good at uncovering buried secrets, even when the secrets put his own life—and others’—at risk.
Ironheart has your standard Marvel violence, but it also comes with crude language, sexual content and spiritual issues galore.
