Jurnee Smollett And Rafe Spall Recap Calderone And Burk’s Deadly Twist Ending

The penultimate episode of Smoke Season 1 on Apple TV+ has arrived, and after Episode 2’s fiery Dave Gudsen twist, shocking sex scenes, and a fire boner, we suspected that more chaos, action, and surprises awaited. That said, we NEVER saw the mind-boggling ending of Episode 8, “Mercy,” coming. And neither did stars Jurnee Smollett and Rafe Spall.

“My jaw was on the floor when Dennis Lehane told me where the relationship was actually going. I was like, ‘Wait, what? WHAT?’” Smollett told Decider over Zoom.

“There’s no such thing as goodies or baddies,” Spall added. “The good people do bad things and the bad people do good things.”

Need a refresher on Smoke Episode 8’s next-level twist? Or want to hear more of Smollett and Spall’s thoughts on their characters’ relationship, Episode 8’s unexpected ending, and what comes next? Decider’s got you covered!

Spoilers for Smoke Episode 8 ahead.

After last week’s episode of Smoke ended with Gudsen’s (Taron Egerton) realization that Calderone (Smollett) and team were onto him, Episode 8 kicked off with Gudsen setting six fires around town, heading to work like any old day, and embarking on a deeply uncomfortable investigation with Calderone.

Since Gudsen knew his partner knew he was an arsonist, she tried her best to keep her cool in his presence. After addressing his failed police psych eval, propensity for violence, history with Esposito (John Leguizamo), and more tense topics, however, Calderone dropped the poker face and said the quiet part out loud: “You slimy piece of shit. You’re an arson investigator who sets fires so 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.”

Following the heated confrontation between partners, Gudsen sought refuge at his ex wife Reba’s (Erin Karpluk) house, while Calderone and her ex Steven Burk (Spall) headed to his house to drink and debrief on the day. That’s when everything went completely off the rails…

Smoke Episode 8 Ending Explained: An Accidental Death, A Fire, And A Frantic Frame Job

At Burk’s house, he and Calderone had deep chats about his family, their love of the job, and getting Calderone “out of exile.” As they shared a drink and banter, their chemistry and history was palpable. So when Burk said, “You got talent. You could be a boss one day if you want it,” and Calderone confirmed she wanted it, Burk thought they might kiss and fall back into their old rhythm. Instead, when hed leaned in for the kiss, she let out an exasperated sigh, pushed him away, and got up to grab her coat.

Burk’s been playing the long game in hopes of reigniting their spark. So when Calderone rejected him again, he lost his cool and flew off the handle, shouting, swearing, and threatening to keep Calderone in exile forever. With stellar performances from Smollett and Spall, the two had a screaming match around the house until Calderone headed for the door. When Burk grabbed her arm to stop her, she spun around and punched him. After he fell to the floor gasping for air and grabbing his throat, she realized she did major damage that left him unable to breathe. Fighting for his life, Burk frantically reached into his pocket, pulled out a pen, and motioned for Calderone to open his airway. Instead of springing into action of calling 911, however, she looked down and WATCHED HIM DIE! AHH!!!!!!!!!!!

For a few seconds, Calderone let herself process the loss. She boke down sobbing and flashed back to one of their happy motel room memories, in which she urged Burk to “say it.” Before we learned what “it” was, she snapped back to reality, pulled herself together, and got to work. She tied up her hair, put gloves on, and disinfected the house. She found matches and household accelerant, and in a stroke of deep desperation and genius, she made an incendiary device like the ones Gudsen uses and torched the house with Burk’s body inside.

At that point, the plan was to hope the big blaze would be tied to the arsonist Burk was investigating. After all, Gudsen clearly had motive! When Calderone ran back to her car, however, she found her smoking gun: the gloves Dave left in her car earlier in the season. She grabbed them, ran around the back of the house, and planted his literal DNA at the scene of the crime. As she drove away and the house was engulfed by flames, Calderone’s flashback finished. In a happier time, Burk told her, “I love you. Smile if you love me back.” Regardless of the tragedy that transpired in Episode 8, back then, she smiled. She may have loved him, but the relationship was tumultuous. And now, she lost him forever.

Jurnee Smollett And Rafe Spall On Smoke Episode 8’s Ending: What The Heck Just Happened?!

Curious what Smollett and Spall were thinking when they first learned about Episode 8’s gigantic twist? “My job was on the floor when Dennis told me where the relationship was actually going. I was like, ‘Wait, what? WHAT?’” Smollett told Decider over Zoom. “I’m honestly glad Dennis told me pretty early on what was gonna happen. Because it helped me track the dynamics more; that push and pull dynamic, that velocity. They’re capable of going from zero to 60.”

“It’s so real, right? I studied attachment theory a lot for this character, and the dynamic that Burk and Michelle have, where he’s definitely — even though he has more power in the workforce, because he’s her boss — she has more in the relationship, and is dominating the tone, because she’s the avoidant and he’s the anxious one,” Smollett continued. “The second he does the thing of leaving his wife for her, she’s like, ‘I’m out of here.’ Which was really refreshing for Dennis to write it that way, because I think stereotypically ,we normally see
the man and the woman roles kind of reverse… And in any relationship that’s that toxic, anything can happen. And as we see, it does.”

As for Spall’s reaction to the twist? “I’ve never been punched in the throat to death. So that was something that I can tick off on the list,” the actor told Decider. “I think it all speaks to the ambiguity of the characters. You’ve got this character that you’ve rooted for throughout the entire show, and she then murders me. And you could go, ‘Is it manslaughter?’ Well, no. But she then has the chance to help me, and she doesn’t. She could stop it, and she doesn’t. And that’s pretty extraordinary. Where do you go from there from an audience point of view? That was one of the things that really drew me to the story is, is that there’s no such thing as goodies or baddies. The good people do bad things, and the bad people do good things. And that, to me, is pretty reflective of life.”

Despite the dark turn for their relationship and his character, Spall has nothing but love for his core Smoke co-star. “I don’t think you can account for chemistry. It’s either there or it isn’t. And the only way it exists is if you’re opposite someone who’s very open,” Spall continued. “[Jurnee] is a prodigiously talented actor who really has the full arsenal of openness, realness, and incandescence inside her, which also plays on the fire theme. She’s just a brilliant performer who’s been doing it for a long time and I was really, really privileged to be opposite her.”

New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.