Smoke (2025) s01e08 Episode Script

["Dialing In" playing]
Telephone
Calling me
Who put all that shit in your head?
Saying things
Telling things
Till you break
Filthy water
Bubbles up
Who put all that shit in your head?
["East Jesus Nowhere" playing]
[music continues on radio]
[horn blares]
- [brakes squeal]
- [gears crank]
Well, aren't we
a fucking embarrassment, huh?
For those of you keeping score,
last night Gudsen shook our tail,
lost our tracker and set not
one, not two, but six fucking fires.
And thanks to these chucklefucks,
we don't got him in cuffs.
Hell, we don't even know where he is.
The tracker fell off.
Oh. Excuse me.
So it wasn't your fault. Okay.
[gasps] Unless
Unless you put it in a stupid spot.
Did you put it in a stupid spot?
Undercarriage, behind the back wheel.
Swing and a miss!
- Niles, Wentley, you ever blow a tail?
- No, sir.
Get your asses up here. Gentlemen,
take a gift bag on your way out.
Get the fuck out of here.
So the chief, he wakes up,
he has three hard-boiled eggs,
he goes for a swim.
So he will hear about
our raging ineptitude in two hours.
Five minutes after that he will call me
and tell me we are being replaced.
I can hold him off for a day,
but unless we have Gudsen nailed by then,
then our big fat collective ass is grass.
- 10-4?
- [detectives] 10-4.
[Steven] Calderone,
you got the fires on the board?
[Calderone] Yeah.
Look at this.
This motherfucker, smiling at us.
Maybe you shouldn't have
sucker-punched him, huh?
- Don't be fucking cute, okay?
- Aw, hit me, sweetie. Come on.
Go ahead, hit me.
I could use the money. Come on.
Wait, Ashley's house.
Look, it's right there.
Patrol units are on the premises.
No sign of him there or at his hotel.
[Steven] Well, add a unit to both.
Come on.
[sighs] Where did you go, Dave?
Hey, honey.
I'm not sure I can meet for lunch.
Oh, just something
came up at work, and I
No, no, no, no.
Uh, coffee later, that
sounds stupendous.
Yeah.
No, no. Fine. I just Been a long week.
[Ashley] It'll be fun.
You can help your dad move in,
check out the town.
[sighs] How long?
A week. Maybe more.
I have school.
[Ashley] I'll set up independent study
with your teachers.
Didn't that rich kid just skip a week
to go to Italy?
Calvin, yeah.
Yeah, so it's like that.
But instead of pizza in Rome,
you'll be eating Domino's in Montana.
But why tonight? Can't
I just go Saturday?
Your dad got a deal on tickets.
- [sighs]
- You don't believe me.
Who cares if I do? It doesn't matter.
[sighs]
Dave is like you said,
he's a two-faced dick.
And right now he's angry.
So until he cools down,
I'd rather you stay with your dad.
I'm not leaving.
- Emmett.
- Let me be here for you, please.
[sighs]
[sighs deeply]
Okay.
[sighs]
We've got an APB out for Gudsen's rental
and a warrant out to track his phone,
but I'm not feeling lucky.
Units one and two,
you're grid-searching fire scenes.
The rest, you're playing Where's Waldo
in a 25-mile radius.
[phone ringing]
[phone buzzes]
Hello.
- [Harvey] I found Dave.
- We got him!
[phone beeps]
What's his location?
[Harvey] The office.
The office? What's he doing?
[Harvey] Uh
It
looks like he's doing his job.
[phone ringing]
Uh, hey, Dave.
[Gudsen] Hey. I'm back.
Where are you?
[Calderone] All hands,
uh, with my precinct.
The COMPSTAT's coming up.
Well, get your ass over here.
We've got a long day of work.
- [mouthing words] Why?
- Why's that?
[Gudsen] Six fires set last night.
A few alleys,
some dry brush and a storefront.
- You think it's D and C?
- I know it is.
- I'll see you in ten.
- Bye.
- I need a wire.
- Gudsen might check for it.
Yeah, and he's not gonna find it.
Hey, Anthony. You've got the eye
on the firefucker, okay?
If he breathes wrong,
I want a bullet in his cerebellum.
[Anthony] Yes, sir.
- Okay, sorry about this.
- [Calderone] Hey, what are you doing?
Yo, dude, what the fuck?
- [laughs]
- What is this?
This is a button mic,
wireless and discreet,
with audio cleaner than a Quaker's piss.
[Calderone] High frequency transmission?
What do you think, sugar lips?
[Steven] He knows, you know, okay?
So you gotta poke the bear,
but don't let him bite.
Is that all?
I mean, look, if you're not up for this,
then I can get you a different gig
in a tanning salon
- Wow.
- or a perfume counter maybe.
- How about that?
- Wow.
Fragrance gives me a fucking headache.
Hey, you.
Don't shoot him in the dick, okay?
[exhales sharply]
Yo, yo.
Six fires, huh?
One for the road?
I'm good, thanks.
Are you mad at me?
No, why?
You seem a little
I don't know
off.
[sighs] I read your book.
You didn't like it.
The, uh, partner
- [chuckles]
- she was a little interesting.
It's not, you, you.
- It's a character.
- Uh-huh.
Based on your, you know
physical attributes.
- I see.
- Mmm.
Yeah, what was it? Chapter 13.
Your character fucks my character
in the back of a police cruiser.
You prefer the front?
You want to fuck me, Dave?
Well
You've got a tight ass,
and you're packing heat.
Of course I've thought about it, but
No.
I don't shit where I eat.
That's your thing.
[Gudsen] Don't be a prude.
You're screwing your boss, so what?
[Calderone] I'm not screwing my boss.
[Gudsen]
Sorry, you were screwing your boss.
Let me guess, you
put out for a promotion,
and now you want him to forget
anything ever happened.
Right?
Things are a little more complicated
than that, Dave.
No, they're not. It's a transaction.
You go and buy a sub right now,
you and the guy who made it
don't get simultaneous amnesia.
Calling me a whore?
I'm saying a guy remembers
making a sandwich.
Mmm.
Shall we?
We shall.
[Calderone] Rotten fuel lines
on the vehicle. [sighs]
Electrical looks pretty janky.
Could be accidental.
- Nah, I don't think so.
- [Calderone] No?
Mm-mmm.
And there's no sign of a device anywhere.
[inhales deeply]
That's because it's not in the garage.
Here's your point of origin.
[stammers]
No way.
[grunts, chuckles]
You gotta be kidding me.
You're not gonna believe this.
[sighs]
All that's left is the coin.
No cigarette.
No, that bastard switched to filterless.
They burn all the way down.
No filter, no DNA.
He's evolving.
All right. I appreciate it.
All right, rental manager said
we can break in
as long as we don't damage the car.
[Ezra] What, me? Come on.
What I do is the mechanical equivalent
of a high-priced Swedish massage.
[alarm blaring]
[Dawn] A magnetic
tracker would be faster.
I know, I know. But hard-wired
has a much longer battery life.
Plus it's a bitch to remove.
[alarm stops]
[sighs]
You do this a lot?
Well, I've had to acquire a few hobbies
since my forced retirement.
[Dawn] Yeah, I heard about that.
You walk pretty well for someone
who almost shot off his own foot.
Oh, yeah. Look at me.
- Living the dream.
- [drill whirs]
Life's a joke,
and you're the punch line, huh?
Oh, not a joke. Uh-uh.
- A direct quote.
- [drill whirs]
Dave stopped by the hospital
right after the doctors "Frankenstein-ed"
my foot back together again,
and the first words out of his mouth
were, "Look at you. Living the dream."
Kicks people when they're down.
What a catch.
Oh, yeah. Guy's a real fucking pip.
Yeah, he ain't gonna
lose this [grunts]
driving over a curb.
[Dawn] What's that do?
What, this?
Nonessential.
Basically, a, uh
a vehicular appendix, if you will.
And how about you? You got any hobbies?
Books, food. You know.
Oh, yeah? Yo, I got a spot.
You like Italian?
No.
Oh, yeah. Me neither.
Highly overrated cuisine, if you ask me.
If we catch him, it
it's gonna be hell to prosecute.
I bet, yeah.
I mean, say we knew the guy.
Name, address, hand to Bible,
this is our perp.
- What's gonna tie him to the arsons?
- Mmm.
We've got no fingerprints, no DNA,
no motive beyond
a love of setting shit on fire.
I'm not worried, though.
Why not?
'Cause we've got Dave motherfucking
Gudsen on the case, okay?
- [laughing]
- [laughs] Damn straight!
Yeah. Hell yeah.
Man, you should've been a detective.
You'd be a rock star.
Not my thing.
No? Then why'd you apply to be a cop?
I didn't.
A David Gudsen with your exact birthday
applied to be a cop in 2002.
Passed the physical exam,
the written exam with flying colors.
Failed the psych eval.
Analyst really screwed you over, man.
[scoffs]
They said you had
a propensity for violence.
You think I'm violent?
[scoffs] I mean, define "violent." Okay?
What the There's kicking the shit
out of an armed terrorist, that's
Then there's kicking a little dog.
Dogs piss, growl, bite.
They're not innocent.
Yeah. Are you innocent?
I'm guilty just like everyone else.
So are you.
[scoffs] Oh, yeah?
What's that supposed to mean?
Your whole narrative.
Poor little Black girl
with a rough history.
- That story ended.
- Wow.
Now you're just a cop
with a pretty face and a 401(k).
You're no victim.
You trying to tell me
you don't hurt people?
I don't burn dogs alive.
[chuckles]
[grunts]
Good morning.
Morning.
There's not much to see here.
Fire started around 0500.
Truck responded a few minutes later.
You wanna speak to the witness?
[Calderone] There's a witness?
[officer] Lady in apartment 4C.
I just made contact.
Huh.
[grunts]
Target is entering residence
at 1401 North Cherry.
We have a witness.
So, you saw the individual
who set the fire?
Around 5:00 a.m.
I was getting ready for work.
[Gudsen] What kind of work?
- [witness] I'm a paralegal.
- What did this individual look like?
White male.
Sh-Short brown hair.
Huh.
[tires screech]
[Gudsen] What did he do?
He threw something out his car window.
It caught fire a few minutes later.
Something?
Like a cigarette, but bigger.
Oh.
[zipper opens]
Like this?
- Could be similar to that.
- [Gudsen] Mmm.
[Calderone] How did you see him?
- [witness] Bathroom window.
- [Calderone] Okay.
You were using the bathroom?
[chuckles] Excuse the question,
but it's essential for the timeline.
Were you urinating or defecating?
Ma'am, you do not have to
answer that question.
She's a paralegal. She knows
the importance of the details. Please.
[scoffing]
[swallows] Uh, it's
fine. I was urinating.
Yeah. So, you sat down to use the toilet.
And I saw him throw that.
Oh.
And then you said you saw it
catch fire a few minutes later?
[stammers] About five minutes later.
Now, this man,
did he look like anyone you know?
Anyone you've seen before?
I-I don't [stammers]
No, I don't know.
[Gudsen] Why were
you still on the toilet?
- What?
- It doesn't take five minutes to urinate.
It seems like you took a shit.
- [Calderone] Okay, that's enough.
- [sobs]
Yeah. No Yeah, you're
you're right. You're right.
I, uh It feels like we're done here.
- Captain.
- Yeah.
- [officer speaks indistinctly]
- [officer 2] Oh, hey.
I got a hankering for a cheeseburger.
Do you wanna eat?
Yeah, I could eat.
[knock on door]
Ma'am? Hey, I, uh
I'm a captain with the CPD.
I just have one
very important question for you.
That, uh, arson investigator
that you were just speaking with?
Have you ever seen that man before
in your life?
No. I haven't seen him, and I don't know
why he treated me that way.
[shakily] I was just trying to help.
Okay. Thank you so much for your time.
Fuck.
You don't like your burger?
No. Food here sucks.
- You said you loved the food.
- I like the view.
[breathes deeply]
Before that Dollar Store
was a Dollar Store
it was a mattress showroom.
And before that, it was a pet shop.
Before that,
it was a seedy little motel
that burned down.
Do you remember that?
Well, this meth head,
she rents a room, invites over some guy.
Maybe she's turning tricks.
Maybe it's a drug deal.
Whatever it is, shit goes sideways.
They get into a fight.
She shoots the guy
and sets fire to the room.
The smoke gets so bad,
the elderly couple
in the room next door asphyxiate.
[sighs]
Just minding their business,
watching Wheel of Fortune.
But here's the crazy thing.
The three homicides?
That's not what made headlines.
You know what did?
Well, that bitch's 12-year-old daughter
was in there with her the whole time.
She made it out.
Testified against her
own mother in court.
She's grown up now.
But I bet in her mind,
she never left that room.
Right, Mercy?
Keep that name out of your goddamn mouth.
Why?
It's yours.
Your mother gave it to you.
What do you want? An ovation?
No, I just wanna talk.
Uh-huh.
You don't have to be scared of me.
[softly] Oh, you slimy piece of shit.
You're an arson investigator
who sets fires
so that you can look like a goddamn hero.
You wrote a confession,
and you're calling it a book.
I'm not scared of you.
You're the biggest joke I've ever heard.
Then why aren't you laughing?
[door closes]
Hey. Bug, what are you doing?
Going for coffee.
[chuckling] With you. With you.
Oh, shit. Not "shit." Sorry, yes.
- [chuckles]
- Um, glad to see you.
Okay. Are you sure about that?
Yeah, I
I'm just a little worked up
about this Dave stuff.
I'm not sure
how it affects my position here, so
Well, you practically built
this department. They know that.
Yes, they do. Yeah.
What happened to your picture?
Punch out, one-two?
- No. I-I, uh [chuckles]
- [chuckles]
No, that-that, um Actually
[groans]
You okay?
I messed up, hon.
No. No, you didn't, Dad.
You remember that raise
big raise I got a few years back?
Yeah. Yeah, sure.
I didn't get a raise.
Contractor told me that it was $15,000
to fix the bathrooms
here at the department.
I told the city it was 20,
and I pocketed the difference.
Oh. Uh [exhales sharply] Okay.
Um Give the money back.
I don't have it.
Five grand?
I mean, I'll give you five grand.
It's, uh, $256,000.
[stammers]
How?
I took five and nobody noticed
so I took more.
Uh, I I don't Uh. [scoffs]
What the fuck, Dad?
Why would you do that?
To buy the lake house.
- We didn't need a lake house.
- But I wanted it.
I had this dream.
A small, practical dream.
And I realized that after car payments
and, you know, your mom's medical bills
and helping with your tuition,
- that I was never gonna be able to
- You stole for my tuition?
No, no, no. No. I paid for that.
And-And everything else.
I just I didn't have anything left.
A lifetime of public service
and being so goddamn frugal.
Fucking staring down retirement,
and I wasn't gonna get it.
It was one thing just for me.
[sighs] Fuck.
[sighs]
Fucking embarrassing.
Who else knows?
Dave.
Fuck.
Dave knows.
Gudsen took a bus.
- Dawn's got the eye.
- [exhales sharply]
- I really fucked up, man.
- No, you didn't fuck up.
- Don't lie to me. Shit.
- You didn't fuck up, Michelle.
[groans] Why do I love something
that wants to kill me?
So she gets out tomorrow, huh?
- Mm-hmm.
- Wanna talk about it?
Nothing left to say.
All right.
You want a drink?
Diner doesn't have its liquor license.
And there's no bars for miles.
Uh, you wanna swing by a Chevron?
Sink some 40s in the parking lot?
- [laughing]
- [chuckles] Huh? We could.
No. Don't you live around here?
I do, yeah.
Well, why don't we just go to your place?
Yeah, it's open all night.
Cool.
[Gudsen] Place is, uh, nice.
I know. I hired a decorator.
[scoffs]
Where are they?
Visiting Todd's mom. [sighs]
I'm going tomorrow.
You wanna chitchat more
about my little family,
or you gonna tell me what happened?
She ended it.
Today?
Mm-mmm.
Few days ago.
I was in the hospital.
She said I "wounded" her.
How did you do that?
She didn't tell me what she meant.
And you don't have any ideas?
Nah, we weren't a good match.
I'm always looking to the future.
You know, promotion,
book deal, bigger house.
She can't see past the fucking casserole
she's making for dinner.
[sighing deeply]
Some people think
their lives don't matter.
Then they get mad
when other people think they do.
- [inhales sharply]
- Bullshit.
[chuckles] That's the truth.
Your truth is whatever you want it to be.
Oh, and yours isn't?
- I lie all the time.
- Uh-huh.
But when I look in the mirror,
I see a selfish bitch.
When you look in the mirror
[chuckles] you see a hero.
I know what I am.
And what is that?
[sighs]
Just some guy doing his job.
Mmm.
And does that guy break the law?
What are you talking about?
That detective that came over here
she was investigating you.
I didn't do anything.
[inhales deeply]
That's what I thought at first.
I mean, "He's a sick fuck,
but he knows the line."
And then
I remembered all the times
that you crossed it.
And I realized you know the line.
You just don't think it applies to you.
[Gudsen] That was an accident.
Mmm.
Then why did it make you smile?
[strained] Because I like
when you're in pain.
What else did you burn, Dave?
All of it.
[breathes heavily]
[Dawn] No way.
Come on, come on.
What are we gonna do for seven hours?
Read horoscopes
and learn to harmonize? Come on.
Truth or dare.
Okay. Dare.
I dare you to chew
with your mouth closed.
[chuckles]
Well played. Well played.
Okay, now you go.
Truth.
Best night of your life.
Uh, after college,
- I took a gap year before grad school.
- Uh-huh.
I my parents thought
I was boning up on SEC code,
but I was just reading books.
- So, uh, I'm at the laundromat one night.
- Uh-huh.
Whites in one machine,
colors in the other,
Toni Morrison on my lap,
when this guy walks in
Okay. And, um, what's he look like?
White, tattoos, about 6'2.
Okay, so this dreamboat walks in
And he walks over
to this dude folding polo shirts
Uh-huh.
Pulls out a gun,
shoots him in the stomach.
The fuck?
Place went nuts.
People running, screaming.
- But I
- Holy shit.
I just strolled right up behind him
and hit him over the head
with a clothes iron.
Wow.
Called the police
and stopped the victim's bleeding.
- I had crystal clarity.
- Mmm.
I finally discovered I had something
that almost nobody else had.
[chuckling] Yeah. Ice water for blood.
Applied to the police academy
two weeks later.
I'm glad. I'm glad you found that.
Ain't pretty living without purpose.
I thought you found your calling.
In carnal pleasures.
Yeah, so did I.
[clicks tongue] Yeah, I don't know.
I'd trade all the hot women in the world
just to wear a badge again.
Yours for the night.
- Hey.
- Hey.
Interesting style. Very homey.
Yeah, I was going for East Hampton chic.
[laughs]
How are the kids?
You don't ask about the kids.
Well, I'm asking now.
Okay. Well
Devin, he's, uh he's six.
- He can't read a fucking stop sign
- [laughs]
but he's great at T-ball.
- And Olivia is, uh
- Nice.
She's 10, and she's a sweetheart.
And Maggie is 13.
- Oof. Okay.
- Yeah.
You know, she's, uh she's pretty,
and she's very smart.
And right now,
she thinks that I should burn in hell.
Hmm. Well,
since when do you believe in hell?
- Well, Ellen raised them Methodist.
- Mmm.
- I'm just a Cubs fan.
- [chuckles]
How is it with, um, Ellen?
- You-You don't have to do that.
- Maybe I want to.
It's just weird.
Why? 'Cause you think it's my fault?
No. You know, I
I cheated on her with the job
years before I
with you.
You think we will look back
on our lives one day
and wish we hadn't worked so many cases?
[smacks lips] Fuck no.
Fuck no, indeed.
[both breathing heavily, grunting]
[rock music playing on speakers]
[grunts]
Did I say you could touch me
with your hands?
No, ma'am.
[music continues]
Ooh. [sighs]
[sighs]
Wow.
- Are you, uh
- Don't say a word.
Okay.
[sighs]
And if you're feeling
lonely, I could, uh
- [chuckles]
- invite you to more social events.
You know, Lieutenant's getting
a kickball team together.
You know what I mean. [chuckles]
We'll get you outta exile, okay?
- When?
- Patience. You're young.
- I'm 30.
- You're 30?
- Yes.
- Oh, is that why you look like shit?
- [laughs]
- Is that what it is?
You got wrinkles deeper
than the Mariana Trench.
- Oh. Aging gracefully's for pussies.
- Oh.
When you were 30,
you were already in homicide.
I was, yeah. But
- I am a god among men.
- Oh.
- A once-in-a-generation talent, so
- [laughs] Fucking narcissist.
- Well, you got some of that too.
- Ego?
Talent. You got talent.
You could be a boss one day.
If you want it.
- I want it.
- I know you do.
[sucks teeth]
[groaning] Fuck.
Where the fuck is my coat?
Can you just explain to me which
imaginary line I just fucking crossed?
[groans] Please don't play dumb.
You invited yourself to my house
for a fucking drink, okay?
I thought we were friends.
We are not fucking friends.
I left my wife for you.
You know Okay,
I'm not doing this shit with you again.
- Yes, you fucking are!
- No, I'm not!
Yes, you are!
You touched the stove,
and you're fucking pissed you got burned!
Well, fool me once, shame on you!
Fool me twice, then go fuck yourself!
- I said I didn't wanna fuck you anymore!
- That is what you fucking said!
Has it ever crossed your goddamn mind
that maybe I don't owe you shit?
Maybe I'm just going through my life
trying to be a fucking decent person,
and every smile I toss
is not a green light
to fuck me from behind!
Enjoy your exile.
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
It means you are
a fucking basket case, okay?
I picked you up
off the fucking sidewalk today.
You're not getting anywhere without me.
So everything that you
- You literally just
- Just now?
- Yeah.
- [gasps]
Oh, no. I was just trying
to get a pretty girl in bed.
- Go to hell.
- Where you going?
Fuck you.
Don't you fucking walk away.
[grunts] Don't fucking touch me!
[choking]
Wait, wait, wait, wait. What
I can help.
[choking stops]
[sobbing]
[panting]
[sniffles, sobbing]
[panting]
[breathing heavily]
Say it.
I shouldn't.
Say it.
[panting]
[Calderone] Hey.
My car is not a trash can.
[breathing heavily]
[engine starts]
["Was I Just Another One" playing]
[whispering] I love you.
Smile if you love me back.
[chuckles]
[sighs]