Smoke Season 1 ending explained:  Why did Michelle kill Captain Burke?

The finale of Apple TV’s Smoke is more than just a fiery showdown. It flips the entire story on its head and forces us to see the main character, Dave, in a completely different light. What looked like a tense arson investigation becomes a psychological battle over identity, lies, and obsession.

Let’s break down how everything unfolded and why that final mirror scene changes everything.

Trending

Michelle Calderon has just killed her boss, Captain Steven Burke, who was also her lover and the lead investigator on the case. Desperate to protect herself, Michelle sets up a dangerous cover-up that puts Dave directly in the line of fire.

Instead of owning up, Michelle burns down Burke’s house with his body inside. To make it worse, she plants a glove carrying Dave’s fingerprints at the scene. With the evidence pointing his way, she leaves the fire to erase any trace of her crime.

Meanwhile, Dave isn’t even near the crime scene. He’s spending the night with his ex-wife, Reeba. But when the police close in, Reeba refuses to vouch for him. She has moved on with her life, and Dave’s problems are no longer hers.

Captain Pearson takes charge in Smoke

With Burke gone, Captain Pearson steps in and immediately zeroes in on Dave as the prime suspect. Ezra, a member of the task force, insists Dave was with Reeba all night. But Pearson doesn’t care, especially after Michelle cleverly plants suspicion in the right places in Smoke.

Michelle’s carefully staged plan hits a snag. She notices a neighbor’s security camera pointed at the burned house. That footage could reveal the truth. To deal with it, she calls her brother Benji, who sneaks into the neighbor’s house, deletes the recording, but secretly keeps a copy for himself.

Watching the news, Dave realizes the trap has been set against him. He tries to get his boss, Harvey, on his side. But Harvey wants nothing to do with his drama, forcing Dave into a corner.

As if things couldn’t get worse, the team gets called to a massive fire at a research lab. Hackers triggered it remotely, setting off a dangerous gas explosion. Soon after, another fire spreads into the woods, leading to a huge sawmill explosion and an uncontrollable forest fire.

On their way to the wildfire, Dave suddenly turns on Michelle. He unbuckles her seatbelt and crashes the car, hoping the fire will finish her off. But Michelle survives, fights back, and shoots at his car. Dave is eventually captured and slapped with charges, including Burke’s murder.

Things heat up further when Michelle is chosen to interrogate him. It’s a high-stakes mind game between two people who know each other’s darkest secrets.

This is where the finale of Smoke delivers its biggest twist. Up until now, we’ve seen Dave as a handsome, confident man. But that was all in his head. The real Dave is overweight, balding, and far from the image he presented to us.

Dave has been fooling not just the characters around him, but also the audience. He has been living inside a fantasy, creating an ideal version of himself, much like the heroic “Donald” he wanted to write about in his novel in Smoke.

Meanwhile, his wife, Ashley, is packing up his belongings at home. She discovers his guidebook on writing bestsellers, as well as old photos that reveal his true appearance. This confirms just how deep Dave’s obsession with admiration and storytelling runs.

In the interrogation room, Michelle and Dave trade verbal blows. She presents damning evidence, including his disguise, while he tries to flip the script and accuse her instead. For the first time, though, Dave’s confidence begins to crack.

But Michelle isn’t untouchable either. She hallucinates seeing Burke, reminding her of the risks of their affair. And while Benji deleted the CCTV footage, he kept a copy as a ticking time bomb for her future in Smoke.

Despite being cornered, Dave smirks during the interrogation. Both he and Michelle know they’re trapped in a dangerous game. Dave has finally seen his true self, but he’s not broken. Michelle is still hiding her crimes, but her secrets are piling up.

The season of Smoke closes with the smoke thicker than ever and the real fire just beginning.

Smoke’s Season 1 finale is more than just an ending; it’s a reveal. Dave isn’t the man we thought he was, and Michelle isn’t as safe as she seems. Both are caught in their own lies, with their fates tied together in a twisted dance of power, obsession, and identity.

For more updates, keep reading Soap Central

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback

Comment