New Apple TV drama Smoke is based on the hit podcast Firebug. About a serial arsonist lighting up southern California in the 1980s. And what could be worse than one uncatchable arsonist? How about two?

In that classic TV trope, arson investigator Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton) unwillingly teams up with police detective Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett). They both have dark secrets and unhealthy personality traits, and both are traumatised and self-destructive. So far, so bog-standard. But there’s something about this slick series that elevates the slightly hackneyed story, twisting it into something unrecognisable, something strangely attractive, something worthy of the unsettling theme by Thom Yorke.

Michelle is well aware she’s been teamed up with Dave as a punishment. The affair she’s having with her boss (played by an extremely malevolent Rafe Spall) goes sour in a moment, and he sets out to ruin her career. Her Slow Horses situation seems hopeless, and her promising career is in the doldrums; “There’s not many floors your elevator can descend”. And this is before she shoots an innocent but extremely sketchy man that she’s then awkwardly praised for. Staging the crime scene to cover up what she’s done is another example of how methodical and motivated she is, desperate to bring these arsonists to justice and establish some control in her spiralling life.

Oddly, considering there’s two uncatchable serial arsonists roaming around this fictional Pacific Northwest city (one quite comically setting fire to shops using crisps as fuel, and one claiming lives), Dave’s not worried. He’s supremely confident in his abilities. This should be our first warning.

As critics have noted correctly, the first couple of episodes are shlocky and smack of an airport novel; the dialogue underwritten and in places as cheesy as a Flaming Cheeto in flames. But hang on. When we find out about Dave’s literary aspirations, the style makes sense, reflecting his own lack of ability… whether intended or just a handy excuse. The subject of his terrible novel is, naturally, himself and his fascinating career painting himself as a superhero. A fantasy he firmly believes. The central performances are so likable you can get through it, and by the time we get to episode 3 the storyline is flying and all is forgiven.

Dave is charming. He wants to be a well-respected professor type, a good husband, a loving step-dad, a mentor with Michelle hanging on his every word. Above all, he loves being the expert and the status that coveys. He’s just a nice guy with his bookish glasses and cute boyish good looks (is Edgerton a little young for this role? Maybe). But this front hides explosive anger issues and a total lack of interest in people unless they can somehow serve him. Even his boss (played by Greg Kinnear with a very 1970s small-town log-cabin feel to his office), who seems to get on with him very well, thinks he’s a narcissist “Dave celebrates Dave”. I think Dave genuinely believes he’s a good guy doing his best, but the way he de-stresses is very… unusual. Weirdly, arson is only the start. As Michelle’s investigations continue, we learn truly terrible things about him from his ex-partner, played by John Leguizamo, who turns up and chews the scenery all the way through episode 5.

We hope that in Michelle, he’s finally met his match. She is a badass survivor, but the thing that haunts her isn’t military service. We find out slowly that she was locked in a hotel room, her mother set on fire when she was just a small girl. She’s fighting against her mother’s parole, which sets her at odds with the rest of her family.

Everyone here is angry, frustrated, Michelle, Dave and the fry cook Freddy Farsano (played with great pathos and tenderness by Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine), the arsonist on a mission fuelled by jealousy to murder happy families. There’s something so woeful and kicked-around about Freddy’s character, you want him to find some hope, some way out, despite his evil deeds. He brings such a terrible heavy sadness with him that infects everyone around him. Even those who are well-intentioned and try to help him aren’t safe from his wrath.

Our sympathies are conflicted, our protagonists are complicated. It’s excellent storytelling. Smollett and Egerton have great chemistry. It’s really appealing compared to classic grumpy detective pairings. And even in the weaker episodes, the show does a decent job of show-not-tell. Our main character’s painful histories come out as hints, dreams, and interrupted flashbacks that keeps us guessing. There’s a surprising subtlety here, a maturity of storytelling that Dave himself could never manage. You think you have a hold on the show, and then twists away again. Each unexpected turn is fascinating and all are earned. Nothing is there for shock value alone or simply to feed the streamers’ ravenous need for cliffhangers to keep you watching, although when the cliffhangers come, they are very, very good.

Once Michelle’s suspicions fall on Dave, and the audience sees she’s right, it really kicks up a gear. Smoke doesn’t score highly on IMDB but I firmly believe those are reviews from people who bailed before the end of episode 2. Have patience because once this story gets fired up it’s really worth watching.