Streaming today is like wandering into a department store where every aisle swears it has the must-have item, yet nothing is where you expect it. Titles appear, vanish, and reappear with new thumbnails like they are in witness protection. In this fog of endless options stands Smoke, a limited series whose trail of suspense and literal fire begs the question: in which corner of the streaming maze is it hiding?

While streaming platforms juggle your attention and siphon coins from forgotten subscriptions, the real cliffhanger is Netflix, Apple, Amazon, pick a colour, pick a side, and somehow find Smoke in the chaos.

The limited series Smoke is not on Netflix because, plot twist, it is an Apple TV+ original, meaning Cupertino holds sole custody of this arson-fueled baby. In streaming custody terms, that is, full parental rights, no visitation. The kind of exclusivity that makes Netflix subscribers squint suspiciously at their queue, wondering why this fire is burning somewhere else entirely.

Dennis Lehane, the man who gave the world Mystic River, adapted this from the Firebug podcast and gifted fans two arsonists, one brooding investigator, and a Pacific Northwest town with more secrets than a Taylor Swift Easter egg hunt. It is prestige television dressed as a psychological inferno, think smolder, slow burn, and the kind of suspense that refuses to be binge-rushed.

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As Apple guards its flame like an indie band refusing Spotify, Netflix fans are left peering through the smoke for their next fix.

If Netflix subscribers want a hit with the same psychological kerosene, Mindhunter is the top dealer, FBI agents spelunking into serial killer minds like it is a guided tour of hell. Or there is The Sinner, which is less whodunit and more why-would-anyone-do-that, digging up past traumas with forensic precision. Either way, both bring that heady mix of dread and fascination, minus the need for a fire extinguisher.

For those chasing suspense across continents, The Fall has Gillian Anderson hunting a killer in Belfast with cat-and-mouse gravitas, while You lets you cozy up inside a sociopath’s skull, no helmet provided, though the ending upset many. Then there is Ripley, where slow-burn crime wafts through 1960s Italy like expensive cologne masking bad intentions. None involve arson, but all could torch your weekend plans, pun fully intended.

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What are your thoughts on Smoke’s Apple TV+ exclusivity? Let us know in the comments below.