Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024 TV series)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Genre	Action Dramedy Spy
Created by	Francesca Sloane Donald Glover
Inspired by	Mr. & Mrs. Smith by Simon Kinberg
Starring	Donald Glover Maya Erskine
Music by	David Fleming
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8
Production
Executive producers	Donald Glover Francesca Sloane Stephen Glover Hiro Murai Nate Matteson Anthony Katagas Arnon Milchan Yariv Milchan Michael Schaefer
Producers	Christian Sprenger Fam Udeorji Kaitlin Waldron
Cinematography	Christian Sprenger Stephen Murphy Cody Jacobs
Editors	Kyle Reiter Isaac Hagy Greg O'Bryant Kate Brokaw
Running time	42–63 minutes
Production companies	Gilga Super Frog Big Indie Pictures New Regency Amazon MGM Studios
Original release
Network	Amazon Prime Video
Release	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is an American spy television series created by Francesca Sloane and Donald Glover. Glover also stars in a lead role alongside Maya Erskine. Inspired by the 2005 film of the same name, the series premiered on February 2, 2024, on Amazon Prime Video. The Smiths take on a separate mission in each of eight episodes and the show features different locales while also focusing on the marital relationship the two characters assume.

Premise

Two strangers independently agree to become secret agents for a mysterious organization under cover as a married couple using the names "John" and "Jane" Smith. The couple must work through missions as their espionage skills, and developing relationship, are put to the test. All instructions are received from an anonymous source via text.

Cast

Main

• Donald Glover as John Smith / Michael
• Maya Erskine as Jane Smith / Alana

Guest starring

• Alexander Skarsgård as First Other John
• Eiza González as First Other Jane
• Paul Dano as Harris Materbach
• John Turturro as Eric Shane
• Sharon Horgan as Gavol Martin
• Billy Campbell as Parker Martin
• Sarah Paulson as Therapist
• Parker Posey as Second Other Jane
• Úrsula Corberó as Runi
• Wagner Moura as Second Other John
• Ron Perlman as Toby Hellinger
• Michaela Coel as Bev
• Dave Attell as Kosher Food Mart Clerk

Additionally, Beverly Glover, who is Donald's mother in real life, makes her acting debut as Denise, John Smith's mother.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"First Date"	Hiro Murai	Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
A couple named "John" and "Jane" are shot dead by armed intruders. Later, two strangers undergo an interview for a mysterious organization and are hired to sever ties with their pasts to become spies; "John" and "Jane" Smith at a "high risk" level. For their first mission, they are instructed to intercept a package and deliver it to a set location. John and Jane tentatively bond as they deliver what turns out to be a bomb that explodes and kills the inhabitants of the home.
2	"Second Date"	Hiro Murai	Francesca Sloane	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
John and Jane begin to cautiously open up to each other, setting initial boundaries against sleeping together and plan to eventually go their separate ways. Their next mission is to infiltrate a black tie silent auction and discreetly extract information from an unknown target. Despite successfully identifying the target as Eric Shane, miscommunication leads to them overdosing him with truth serum, which results in his death. Their handler informs them that this was their first failed mission and that they have two fails remaining. Subsequent emotions and bonding leads the duo breaking their agreement and sleeping together.
3	"First Vacation"	Karena Evans	Yvonne Hana Yi	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
The Smiths' next mission sends them to the Italian Dolomites to observe and report on couple Gavol and Parker. John and Jane bond further throughout their mission, but things come to a head when it is revealed that John remains in constant contact with his mother, which is against the rules. Splitting up to follow and extract information from each target, John attempts a rescue operation when Gavol is kidnapped, despite having already completed his mission by bugging her phone. After rescuing Gavol and eliminating the kidnappers, John, freezing and near death, is saved by Jane. While recovering, they admit they are beginning to have deep feelings for each other.
4	"Double Date"	Christian Sprenger	Adamma Ebo & Adanne Ebo and Yvonne Hana Yi & Francesca Sloane	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
John and Jane come across another pair of Smiths, who operate at the "super high risk" level. They invite the other Smiths over on a double date at their house, where the two couples discuss missions, lifestyles, romance and the company. Upon bringing up their agreement to eventually go separate ways and quit, the other Smiths indicate their employer would never allow this and discuss a previous elimination of another Jane and John. The Smiths are talked into accompanying them on a "super high risk" mission, but are tricked into completing it themselves. Despite successfully completing the mission, they are left traumatized. Later that night they admit they love each other.
5	"Do You Want Kids?"	Karena Evans	Carla Ching and Stephen Glover	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
John and Jane must protect and escort Toby Hellinger, an asset of apparently high importance to the company. They are ambushed upon arrival at the safe house and, after evading their pursuers, hide out at a property John had bought, without Jane's knowledge. Their handler asks Jane whether she is happy. Toby and the events of the day lead the Smiths to discuss their future. The next morning, they escape an ambush and Jane blows up the house as they take Toby to a seaplane pick-up. At home the Smiths discuss having kids, which John wants, but Jane is against. Tensions rise as their handler singles out Jane's success, and gives her the option of replacing John.
6	"Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid)"	Amy Seimetz	Francesca Sloane	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
John and Jane attend multiple sessions of couples therapy. They discuss their work and relationship under the guise of software engineers. Throughout therapy, flashbacks show multiple missions which have lead to further tension between the couple: one where John attempts to take the lead of an infiltration, a later chase and execution of a target, and a tracking wilderness mission. John expresses how he misses Jane looking up to him, and Jane discusses John's behavior and her beliefs of compatibility. The therapist suggests working separately, before revealing she has been recording every session. To destroy any copies, the Smiths set the house on fire as they leave.
7	"Infidelity"	Amy Seimetz	Yvonne Hana Yi & Schuyler Pappas & Francesca Sloane	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
John and Jane now work missions separately. Jane infiltrates and, at gunpoint, interrogates John's target Bev, a spy working for a rival company, about their relationship, who she assumes he is sleeping with. John returns and Bev attacks both of them before escaping, nearly killing John. They track Bev but she dumps her tracker at the café where the Smiths had their first mission and disappears. They realize the company supplied them with the information on each other's actions and locations; it becomes clear the company has been trying to cause a rift between the two. Now with three fails, they are instructed to await further instructions. John concedes he is done and leaves. Jane smashes John's computer in anger and a new one is ominously delivered the next morning.
8	"A Breakup"	Donald Glover	Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover	February 2, 2024 (2024-02-02)
John and Jane are instructed to terminate each other. Jane is shot at and her cat Max is killed, while John discovers tripwire and C-4 at his mother's house. They agree to meet up, both blaming the other. Jane nearly kills John with a bomb, but he escapes and gives chase. Jane makes it home to find John's mother, who reveals his real name as Michael and seeks to give Jane advice against breaking up with him, before leaving. John uses the neighbor's house to gain access to his house. Using weapons hidden throughout the house, the duo fight to the point of exhaustion. John ultimately prevails, and injects them both with truth serum. Delirious, they both admit they had the chance to but chose not to kill each other and they loved each other, among other personal secrets. They realize neither of them were behind the earlier attempts on their lives, as the Smiths they previously met enter the house to kill them. The other Smiths reveal "super high risk" is the execution of Smiths, and their belief that the company is omniscient. Our Smiths kill the other John and escape to the safe room, with John seemingly mortally wounded. Jane agrees to have kids, reveals her name as Alana, and with one bullet left makes her final stand. Outside the building, three shots are seen fired.

Production

On February 12, 2021, it was announced that a TV series reboot based on the original film, created by and starring Donald Glover and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, with Francesca Sloane as co-creator and showrunner, would premiere on Prime Video in 2022. ^[1] The original film was directed by Doug Liman and starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. ^[2] Waller-Bridge exited the project in September 2021 due to creative differences with Glover. ^[2] On April 7, 2022, it was reported that Maya Erskine would take over Waller-Bridge's role. ^[3]

On June 29, 2022, it was reported that Michaela Coel, John Turturro, and Paul Dano would appear in guest star roles. ^[4] On September 22, 2022, it was reported that Parker Posey and Wagner Moura had joined the cast in recurring roles. ^[5]

In addition to Glover and Sloane, the series was executive produced by Yariv Milchan, Arnon Milchan, Michael Schaefer, Stephen Glover, Anthony Katagas, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson, and Jenny Robins. ^{[1] [5]}

Filming began in the summer of 2022. ^[6]

Release

On September 23, 2022, it was reported that the release date for the series had been pushed back from 2022 to 2023. ^[7]

Amidst the 2023 Hollywood strikes, Amazon delayed the release from 2023 to "early 2024". ^[8] All eight episodes of the series were released on February 2, 2024, on Prime Video. ^{[9] [10]}

Marketing

A series of guerrilla marketing stunts were used to promote the series. On January 19, 2024, a pair of shoes were stolen at an art exhibit after the lights went out. On January 24, two furries sat next to Tyra Banks at a basketball game. On January 25, a comedy show featuring Mark Normand was interrupted when two unknown people rushed the stage. Social media posts about these events had advertisement disclaimers but did not specify the product being advertised. Gothamist found that marketing firm Verb had put out casting calls for the "HiHi Mission Contest" that would take place at a "culture event in New York City". ^[11] The comedy show was a taping by HiHi, according to the comedy club, that influencers had been invited to. ^[12]

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 89% approval rating, with an average rating of 7.6/10, based on 101 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Building on the basic premise of its source material, Mr. & Mrs. Smith anchors its spy hijinks in a relationship drama fueled by the chemistry between its charming leads." ^[13] On Metacritic, the series holds a weighted average score of 76 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ^[14]

On February 9, 2024, it was announced the series had become one of Prime Video's top five new series debuts ever in terms of total U.S. viewers. ^[15]

References

1. Goldberg, Leslie (February 12, 2021). "Donald Glover, Phoebe Waller-Bridge Team for Mr. & Mrs. Smith Series at Amazon". The Hollywood Reporter . Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
2. Yossman, KJ (September 6, 2021). "Phoebe Waller-Bridge Departs Amazon's Mr. & Mrs. Smith Series". Variety . Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
3. Andreeva, Nellie (April 7, 2022). "Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Maya Erskine To Star Opposite Donald Glover In Prime Video Series, Replacing Phoebe Waller-Bridge". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
4. Otterson, Joe (June 29, 2022). "Michaela Coel, John Turturro, Paul Dano Join Donald Glover & Maya Erskine in Mr. and Mrs. Smith Amazon Series". Variety . Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
5. Otterson, Joe (September 22, 2022). "Mr. and Mrs. Smith Amazon Series Casts Parker Posey, Wagner Moura". Variety . Archived from the original on December 26, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
6. Craighead, Olivia (October 11, 2022). "Everyone Is Having an Awesome Time on the Mr. & Mrs. Smith Set". Gawker . Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
7. Eckardt, Steph (September 23, 2022). "Everything We Know About Donald Glover's Mr. and Mrs. Smith Reboot". W Magazine . Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
8. Bucksbaum, Sydney (September 14, 2023). "Donald Glover and Maya Erskine's 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' gets delayed". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
9. Petski, Denise (November 16, 2023). "'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' Gets Premiere Date On Prime Video". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
10. Herman, Alison (February 1, 2024). "Donald Glover and Maya Erskine Make a New and Improved 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith': TV Review". Variety. Archived from the original on February 2, 2024. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
11. Pandya, Hershal (January 31, 2024). "Why Is Donald Glover Pranking Us?". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
12. Kailath, Ryan; Fondren, Precious (January 26, 2024). "What does Donald Glover have to do with Brooklyn furries and an evacuated comedy club?". Gothamist. Archived from the original on February 1, 2024. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
13. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved February 9, 2024.
14. "Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Season 1". Metacritic . Retrieved February 5, 2024.
15. Campione, Katie (February 9, 2024). "'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' Among Amazon's Top 5 New Series Debuts Ever". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 9, 2024.

External links

• Official website
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith at IMDb