‘Smoke’ Episode 6 Ending Explained: Dave Gudsen’s Fire Boner Proves This Is One Of Taron Egerton’s Greatest (And Freakiest) Performances

The end of Smoke Episode 6, “Manhood,” will send a major chill down viewers’ spines. The unexpected events that unfold in the final six minutes are downright shocking and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine and Adina Porter deliver standout performances. But if your jaw is still dropped when the credits roll, it’s likely because of Taron Egerton’s, uh, manhood…

Spoilers for Smoke Episode 6 ahead.

After an exhaustive search for the milk jug arsonist, Episode 6 ends with Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) catching Freddy Fasano (Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine) in the nick of time. Just as the firebug is about to send Brenda’s (Adina Porter) house up in a blaze that will kill them both, Gudsen bursts through the door, extinguishes Freddy’s lighter, and effectively saves the day. On another show, the installment might end with that long-awaited win. But with one small but powerful visual, Smoke reminds viewers who Gudsen is when he’s not hiding beyond the heroics of his job.

As Gudsen smiles, laughs, and revels in his epic victory, a terrified Brenda and a stunned Freddy — mouths agape — shift their gaze to a shared focal point. The camera pans down from Gudsen’s face to his waist, revealing — wait for it — a big fat boner beside his badge. Yep! In the words of Gudsen’s step-son: “THIS FUCKING GUY!”

Gudsen is a husband, a stepfather, a writer, a former firefighter, and a charismatic arson investigator hell-bent on being a hero. But he’s also an arsonist, a self-important villain with a fragile ego, and a “sick fuck” with horrifying, freaky facets that challenge Egerton to deliver one of the most uniquely eerie, nuanced, unsettling performances of his career.  As Gudsen calls for backup at the end of “Manhood,” he turns to Brenda and says, “Hey. You’re OK. You’re safe now.” Little does she know, she’s in the room with two firebugs.

The streaking scene at the end of Episode 4 gave us a glimpse at Gudsen’s sensory, physical, and psychological obsession with fire. And much like the thrill he got from bringing temperature play into the bedroom, the end of Episode 6 reminds us that danger, adrenaline, and power fuels him. Coyle Girelli’s “Porno” sets the mood for the eventful ending scene, with the lyrics, “Life is a Porno, life’s a show,” accurately reflecting Gudsen. He can’t perform in the bedroom for his wife without taking a pill, but his pants are positively bulging and his sinister smile beams the second he conquers a flame and singlehandedly takes down another version of himself. His fire boner serves as an unexpected reminder that Egerton plays a charmer, a creep, and a repulsive hybrid of the two so incredibly well.

The actor’s Emmy-nominated performance in Black Bird was incredible, but Smoke challenges him to inhabit the unstable mind of a powerful man leading a double life. Through short-tempered outbursts at home, his complex relationship with Michelle (Jurnee Smollett), his obsession with his book, his problematic ex-wife dynamic, and his smugness on the job, Egerton gradually loses composure and exposes frightening slivers of Gudsen’s truth in a mesmerizing performance that his fellow creatives can’t resist praising.

“He’s got such incredible range. I feel like I could plug him into almost any part and he’s always game. He wants to go further. He wants to break. He wants to play some sort of shade he’s never played before. He just loves it,” Lehane told Decider in a Zoom interview.

“He was amazing as Jimmy Keene in Black Bird. He really was. And in some ways, I think this is a much trickier role. A more difficult role. And I don’t say that lightly, because he had a lot of water to carry in Black Bird,” Greg Kinnear, who plays Gudsen’s boss Harvey Englehart, added.

“Taron is phenomenal,” Mwine echoed. “He’s like this incredible gymnast who does all these acrobatics right in front of your eye. And as a scene partner, the challenge was not to get sucked into the vortex of his incredible performance.” And Smollett, who witnesses some of Edgerton’s most haunting performances as Gudsen’s partner, was fortunate she feel so safe with the actor as Smoke turned up the heat.

“He’s such a hard worker and an awesome collaborator and partner. In something like this, where it’s a bit of a cat and mouse game between my character and his character, it’s so important to do that with someone that you trust,” Smollett told Decider. “It gets a little dark. It gets a little creepy. But I know he’s got my back and I’ve got his back.”

At times, Smoke can be a painfully slow-burn. But when it burns at full blaze, the show shines. In subtle, grandiose, and fire boner scenes alike, Egerton’s unpredictable character and exceptional talent never fail to captivate.

New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.