Putting the fire out on its first series, The Smoke has a lot to do to acknowledge and resolve many of the Sky1 drama’s existing plot threads. Luckily, its winning streak continues in tonight’s final episode, with everyone involved having some closure and progression by the time the credits roll.

Creator Lucy Kirkwood returns to tie up those remaining threads, and does so brilliantly, employing just the right amount of humour, sentiment and friction to create the necessary pay-off. Mike Barker’s direction ends the show with some lovely visual highlights too: the bleakly shot Estate scenes, compared to the sunny optimism of Mal’s leaving party and the suffocating fire sequence in Gog’s flat.

Ziggy is clearly still affected by losing Dom last week, but here we get the clearest rationale of why she loves her job and workmates so much. She can’t find her place at home, so she naturally feels a lot closer to her colleagues. The closing moments do seem to hint at some balance between the two though.

Billy and the dying bird is a lovely little motif. It highlights that he has purpose, as a caretaker to those around him: perhaps always in the background, but always there. Having Asbo free the bird is a nice touch too, reinforcing that he, like the bird, is finally free after feeling half dead for so long.

Guest star Hara Yannas, as Rosa, is brilliantly effective, despite limited screen-time. Rosa is a tragic character: no kids, no partner, all she has is her pain. A state of mind that resonates with Kev, who has felt all those things over the series. And their kiss wasn’t just a kiss… it was a kiss goodbye. While I thought she would do something drastic, I imagined suicide not arson, yet strangely, I found this fitting for her story: literally fighting fire with fire.

Initially, I was a little disappointed that the scenes with Asbo and Gog weren’t brutal enough. After Gog’s menacing face-off I had hoped for more of an uproar. However, it makes sense for the character. Asbo…..sorry, Dennis, has moved on from punching and shouting. He’s matured in ways Gog hasn’t and that’s really all the conflict resolution we need here. Credit must go to Sam Gittins though, who has been marvellous in his portrayal of the remorseless Gog.

With no real conflict there, it means that Gog gets his comeuppance from Kev, who metaphorically and literally closes the door on him in this episode. It can’t end there though, right? Dennis is aware of what Kev did, and despite his history with Gog, he clearly disapproves.

The tensions between Dennis and Kev have always been a key dramatic element and it’s nice to see the show hasn’t tied that up completely. Kev’s vision of a burnt Gog is telling, but his closing moments with Trish give us hope of some closure. If The Smoke continues beyond this, these feelings of guilt and what is effectively murder, will no doubt rear their head again.

And so the first series ends on a relatively hopeful note, with all the characters accepting their life changes and moving on in some form or another. And whilst this contentment is the best possible end to these eight episodes, it hopefully doesn’t spell the end for The Smoke, as there are so many more opportunities to explore these wonderful characters in more depth, with this finale setting up key elements to be its backbone.

However, if this does turn out to be the show’s last episode, it showcases just why The Smoke was such quality drama.

Aired at 9pm on Thursday 10 March 2014 on Sky1.

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