So, look. Most people saw the trailers for the Mr and Mrs Smith TV series and expected a high-octane, explosion-heavy remake of the 2005 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie movie. They wanted gloss. They wanted two super-models shooting Uzis while looking flawless. What Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane actually gave us on Prime Video was... well, it was basically a therapy session disguised as a spy thriller.
It's weird.
Instead of two established assassins who happen to get married, we get John and Jane—two lonely, slightly desperate outcasts who sign up for a mysterious "company" that pairs them together. They aren't legends. They’re recruits. They are people who literally traded their identities for a chance at a high-paying life and, maybe, a connection they couldn't find in the real world.
If you went in expecting John Wick, you probably felt a bit cheated. But if you've ever lived with a partner and fought over who was supposed to take the trash out while your life felt like it was falling apart, this show probably hit you like a freight train.
The Mr and Mrs Smith TV series isn't about spies
Honestly, the "spy" stuff is almost an afterthought. Sure, there are high-stakes missions. They go to Lake Como. They go to the Dolomites. There’s a scene involving a high-speed chase and some very tense moments with a digital map, but the "missions" are usually just catalysts for an argument about emotional intimacy or career jealousy.
Take the episode "Double Date," featuring Paul Dano. It’s a masterclass in awkwardness. It isn't about the tactical execution of a hit; it's about John and Jane realizing they might not be the "top-tier" couple they thought they were. They meet another Smith couple (played by Wagner Moura and Parker Posey) who are "high-risk." This other couple represents the dark future of what happens when you let the job—or the relationship—consume your entire identity. It’s scary because it feels real, even with the silenced pistols.
Donald Glover (John) and Maya Erskine (Jane) have this jagged, uncomfortable chemistry. It isn't "movie star" chemistry. It’s "we just met and I’m trying to decide if I like the way you chew" chemistry. Erskine, especially, plays Jane with this guarded, prickly exterior that makes her eventual vulnerability feel earned rather than scripted.
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Why the pacing feels so "off" to some viewers
You’ll notice the show breathes. A lot.
Some scenes linger on them eating pasta in silence. Other scenes are just ten minutes of them lying in bed talking about their moms. This is a deliberate choice by Sloane and Glover. By stripping away the constant adrenaline, they force you to focus on the micro-shifts in their relationship.
The Mr and Mrs Smith TV series uses a "mission of the week" format, but only to track the stages of a relationship:
- The honeymoon phase where everything is exciting and the danger feels like a game.
- The first real fight where the stakes suddenly feel way too high.
- The creeping resentment when one partner is "better" at the job than the other.
- The total breakdown of trust.
It's a brilliant bit of structural writing. Each episode jumps forward in time. We don't see the boring Tuesdays. We see the inflection points. By the time they reach the finale, "A Breakup," the title isn't just a clever pun about them trying to kill each other—it’s a literal description of a domestic collapse.
Breaking down the "Hihi" mystery
Throughout the season, John and Jane communicate with their boss through a chat interface. The entity is known only as "Hihi."
It’s cold. It’s impersonal. It’s basically the ultimate toxic employer.
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There’s a lot of online discourse about who Hihi is, but that kinda misses the point. Hihi is a metaphor for the external pressures we all face—work, society, expectations—that dictate how we should act in our private lives. When Hihi tells them they are "failing," it isn't just about the mission. It’s a judgment on their partnership. The show suggests that when we let an outside force define the success of our relationships, we're already dead in the water.
The finale leaves things on a massive cliffhanger. We see the flashes of gunfire through the window from the street, but we don't see who survives. It’s frustrating, sure. But it’s also the only way that story could have ended. Whether they live or die matters less than the fact that, in those final moments, they finally stopped lying to each other.
The technical brilliance you might have missed
The cinematography by Christian Sprenger is gorgeous, but not in a "travel vlog" way. He uses a lot of natural light and wide shots that make these two characters look tiny in their massive, expensive New York townhouse. They have all this wealth—the finest clothes, the best kitchen gadgets—and they look miserable.
The sound design is also incredibly sparse. There’s no swelling orchestral score to tell you how to feel during the "action" beats. When a gun goes off, it’s loud, ugly, and jarring. It interrupts the conversation. That’s how violence works in this world; it’s an interruption of the domestic.
What people get wrong about the comparison to the movie
The 2005 film was a fantasy. It was about two people who were already perfect discovering they were even more perfect because they were both secret badasses.
The Mr and Mrs Smith TV series is the opposite. It’s about two flawed, somewhat mediocre people trying to pretend they are perfect. John is a "momma's boy" who got kicked out of the Marines for being "unfit." Jane has deep-seated attachment issues and a history of sociopathic tendencies that she uses as a shield.
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They aren't "goals." They are a warning.
They choose this life because they want a shortcut to meaning. They think that having a beautiful "wife" or "husband" and a high-status job will fix the emptiness inside. Spoilers: it doesn't. If anything, the secrecy makes the rot spread faster.
How to actually enjoy the show (and what to do next)
If you haven't watched it yet, or if you turned it off after two episodes because it was "too slow," you need to change your perspective. Stop looking for the next James Bond.
Actionable Steps for the Viewer:
- Watch it as a dark comedy. If you look at John and Jane's failures through a comedic lens, the show becomes much more engaging. Their incompetence is the point.
- Pay attention to the guest stars. Each episode features heavy hitters like Ron Perlman, Sharon Horgan, and Sarah Paulson. These aren't just cameos; they represent different "mirrors" of what a relationship can look like. Paulson’s character as a therapist is particularly biting.
- Listen to the soundtrack. The music choices are eclectic and often run counter to the mood of the scene, which adds to that feeling of "something is slightly off" that permeates the whole series.
- Analyze the "Home" space. Notice how the townhouse changes throughout the season. It starts as a pristine gallery and ends up looking like a war zone. It’s the physical manifestation of their psyche.
The real value of the Mr and Mrs Smith TV series is in its honesty. It admits that being "together" is a job. It’s hard. It requires you to show the parts of yourself you’d rather keep hidden in a chat box.
If you're looking for more, don't just rewatch the movie. Look into the works of Ingmar Bergman, specifically Scenes from a Marriage. Glover and Sloane have cited it as a massive influence. Once you see the DNA of a 1970s Swedish marriage drama inside a 2024 spy show, everything starts to click. This isn't just TV; it’s a breakdown of the modern soul, wrapped in a very expensive, very dangerous package.