Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Other Doctor Lives: The Smoke: Episode 8 (2014)

Well, that was a thing. As with many episodes of The Smoke, there are some things here that I really like and others that don’t work for me that well. On the whole, I think I’d call this a miniseries with a lot of potential that was never fully realized, but the good parts are enough to still make me glad I watched it (a few vague spoilers – no details, just impressions.)

Everyone struggles to pick themselves back up after the fire last week in the tunnel. Some of the watch landed in the hospital, while others are wrestling with trauma from horrible things they experienced there. The watch is planning a rooftop celebration at the station, a way to unwind from their ordeal, but Kev still has unresolved issues from the arson that he has to face.

We’ll start with stuff I liked. The cast chemistry throughout is very good, and even when certain writing things happen with individual characters that don’t make sense to me, the actors sell the connections between this makeshift family of firefighters, who get on each other’s nerves and argue and fall out but who have stared death in the face together and are ultimately there to pick one another up when they’re struggling. I fully buy them as a tight-knit workforce who literally walk through fire for one another. Also, some of the supporting characters get nice resolutions to their mini-arcs – nothing’s tied up in a neat bow, but there’s at least a prevailing sense of “we’re gonna be okay.”

I’m mixed on the stuff at the estate where the arson happened. I like the subplot with the woman whose flat had been set on fire – she’s returned to plant a tree in honor of her baby who was killed in the arson, and the storyline brings strong emotion as well as interesting tension in her interactions with the other tenants. Mostly, it’s Kev’s part of the plot that doesn’t work for me. Honestly, I’m surprised at how things shake out for him. The end of the story, where Kev is concerned, leaves me feeling, “Really? That’s how you want to end things?” Once again, I wonder if The Smoke was initially intended to be an ongoing series that got relabeled as a miniseries after its cancelation, because although some aspects of the plot are brought to a reasonable close here, Kev’s storyline just feels like such a strange, unsatisfying point to end on. I’m not sure what they’re going for with it.

A so-so end for Trish. Overall, I like how things end for her, but I’d have liked to see Jodie Whittaker get more to do in the finale. It’s an episode where she’s a bit more a function of Kev’s storyline than a character in her own right, which, as I’ve said, can be frustrating. Still, Whittaker brings a nice, solid presence to Trish’s scenes, especially in an early heart-to-heart with Kev.

And that wraps up The Smoke! Final thoughts:

Accent Watch

Northern.

Recommend?

In General – A cautious maybe. I wish this miniseries was better than it is, but it still has aspects that work so well for me.

Jodie Whittaker – I think I would. Even though she isn’t always as well-used by the plot as I would’ve liked, this is an interesting character for Whittaker, and she tears it up each time she’s given half a chance. Countdown to Thirteen taught me that Whittaker has played a lot of thankless roles in her career, so I’m not apt to turn down something where she has some more intriguing challenges to meet.

Warnings

Strong thematic elements, disturbing images, sexual content, violence, drinking/smoking/drug use, language, and an able-bodied actor playing a character with a disability.

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