Taron Egerton Reminds Us Where There's 'Smoke' There's Fire

Fire is one of the most destructive forces found in nature, capable of quickly destroying everything humans have built; the last two years have seen some demonstrations of just how deadly fire can be, between the complete razing from the 2023 Maui wildfires in Hawai'i to the sudden and complete wipe out of the Palisades in Los Angeles in 2024. Both were shocking events, but the California one moreso, because the state has a history of wildfires and plenty of experience with containment. California has been dealing with fires for decades, including a decade of arson in the 1980s that was only solved when investigators discovered a manuscript of a novel that was all but a confession.

The story of the 1980s arson attacks across California, and the discovery of the manuscript in 1991, which led to the subsequent trial, were the subject of a 2021 podcast called Firebug, in which the host, Kary Antholis, attempts to separate the facts of the case from the fictionalization of the crimes in the manuscript to locate where the truth of the story lies. The 12-episode series was a massive hit, so it's not surprising that Apple TV+ (which has a vested interest in podcasts, having reinvented the radio show with them) commissioned a series based on it.

Initially titled after the podcast, Firebug was first announced in March 2024, with British actor Taron Egerton (Rocketman) attached to star. However, as the series progressed, it shifted away from dramatizing actual events. It evolved into a distinct fictionalized version, adding another layer of fantasy to the real-life events that inspired the series, and causing Apple TV+ to change the name to Smoke.