‘Smoke’ Episode 4 Turns The Heat Up To 11 With A Jaw-Dropping Streaking Scene And A Twisted Taron Egerton Performance

Each episode of Smoke on Apple TV+ features surprising twists, compelling performances, deep dives into the human psyche, and of course, fire. Lots of fire. But Episode 4 dials the heat up to 11 with a jaw-dropping bedroom scene that will leave viewers sweating.

Spoilers for Smoke Episode 4 ahead.

After Episode 2’s mind-blowing twist revealed Dave Gudson (Taron Egerton) is the D&C arsonist he and his partner Michelle Calderone (Jurnee Smollett) are desperately searching for, it’s been impossible to ignore his erratic, suspicious actions. And in Episode 4, “Strawberry,” his concerning behavior reaches entirely new heights.

During late-night office drinks with Calderone, Gudsen loses composure as he talks about his past, revealing he was married twice before and explaining why his mother is dead to him. Later, he forgets to pick Emmett (Luke Roessler) up from practice and coldly engages in a screaming match with Ashley (Hannah Emily Anderson). Then, in the final minutes of the episode, we see a new sinister side to Gudsen in the bedroom with a “sexy woman” (Francisca Dennis) who he crossed paths with at the grocery store. If you don’t know what “streaking” is yet, you’re about to learn!

The next time we see Gudsen after his big blowout with Ashley, he’s in full C&D disguise standing in the chip aisle seemingly prepping for his next arson attack. His intense concentration breaks when the aforementioned woman — standing at the end of the aisle — says, “You don’t seem the type.” For a moment, Gudsen panics, warily removes his sunglasses, and asks, “What type is that?” Rather than expose him as the arsonist he is, the woman — with nothing but a carton of strawberries in her basket — replies, “[The type] who eats junk food.” Visibly relieved, Gudsen exhales and explains that he’s not, but sometimes, he craves. Cut to the episode’s final unexpected minutes, when Smoke turns up the heat and shows our protagonist through a darker, more disturbing lens.

As David Bowie’s “Heroes” blasts out of an iPhone’s speakers, Smoke slowly moves around a bedroom, building up to the big reveal: The grocery store woman is blindfolded and chained to the bed wearing red lace lingerie. Dave enters the room wearing a robe and briefs. But because she can’t hear him, she curiously shouts, “Where’d you go? Where are you? The longer you make me wait the better you’re gonna have to be.” Rather than answering, Gudsen lets himself feel the music, passionately swaying and shimming to the beat beside her; reveling in control and the sheer euphoria of the situation.

While the blindfolded, restrained woman continues to panic, Gudson hops on a bench at the foot of her bed, continues to dance, and creepily smiles down at her until she shouts, “If you’re robbing me just fucking release me!” Gudsen, vibe successfully harshed, frantically shushes her, smiles, and explains getting robbed isn’t what she needs to be afraid of. He hops down beside her and orders her to open her mouth. Before she obeys, she asks for their safe word, which prompts Gudsen to aggressively shove a strawberry down her throat and reply, “Strawberry.” (Leo DiCaprio pointing meme at the episode title!)

After the woman recovers from nearly choking, Gudsen moves on to the main event. He whips out a glass bottle, and pours clear liquid (likely alcohol) on the her stomach. “Do you know what streaking is?” he asks. “When people take their clothes off and run through the street,” the woman replies. “No,” he says, finally removing her blindfold. “This is streaking,” he says, whipping out a lighter and lighting her abdomen on fire. *SCREAMS*

For those who don’t know, streaking is a (dangerous!) form of BDSM that involves applying alcohol to the skin, lighting it on fire, and extinguishing it before it burns the skin. Though every blaze in Smoke is utterly engrossing, this particular visual proves especially striking, as it’s far more intimate, intentional, and revealing of Gudsen’s character than another anonymous arson job. From the start of the series, the way Gudsen talks about, writes about, dedicates his profession to, and thoroughly dissects fire proves he’s fascinated and fueled by it, but seeing the thrill he gets by incorporating fire/temperature play in the bedroom suggests an even deeper sensory, physical, and psychological obsession. He likes the danger, and he’s not afraid to cross another major boundary and strip a woman of crucial consent to achieve his own high.

As expected, the woman Gudson literally lights on fire screams and fearfully flails her body. That trauma response? It only brings a bigger smile to Gudsen’s face. When she reaches peak panic, he blows of the flame and straight-up laughs as she calls him a “sick fuck!”

Egerton’s Emmy-nominated performance in Black Bird was incredible, but Smoke gives him the complex material and space to deliver one of the most uniquely eerie, nuanced, unsettling performances of his career. His shift in physicality, disposition, and temper in Episode 4’s various pressure points — which culminate in this final scene — is a terrifying taste of what Gudson is capable of, and a reminder that beyond his tragic backstory, there there’s still a lot to learn about him.

While another show might find the woman racing to free herself and get the “sick fuck” out of her life, after processing the new form of BDSM, asks, “That’s streaking? Do it again.” Will you roll your eyes and groan at the ridiculousness of her arousal? Will you struggle to accept that the character is seen as attractive rather than creepy AF? Probably! But the twist emphasizes Gudsen’s power, and lets him live to see another day without his actions coming back to burn him.

New episodes of Smoke premiere Fridays on Apple TV+.