Watchlist: “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” navigates love in modern espionage
Written by Alex Armbruster. Graphic by Charlotte Beck.
Are you a “Pen15” or “Community” fan? If so, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2024) may not be for you, but it sure was for me. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine transform their cheesy, Brangelina predecessor, “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (2005), into a layered dramedy with every bit of angst, longing and action a girl like me could ask for.
Under the guise of marriage, John (Glover) and Jane Smith (Erskine) live and work together as spies. John is amiable, caring and impulsive. Jane is loyal, decisive and cold. They’re polar opposites, but somehow, they make it work. So well, in fact, that their transition from coworkers to lovers occurs almost immediately. John and Jane zip through the honeymoon phase during a mission in Sweden and squabble like a true married couple while evading mercenaries in Lake Como.
When the Smiths encounter some relationship growing pains, Sarah Paulson plays therapist. John and Jane’s counseling arc may be the least action-packed of the show, but it’s also the funniest. The spies bicker through cryptic accounts of work-related issues, while Paulson attempts to take it all in. Her character is bohemian and worldly in the most annoying way, and mocking her seems like the one thing John and Jane (and I) can agree on.
The show’s greatest strength lies not in its comedic relief but in its spectrum of emotion. John might crack a joke about where pencils were invented (“Pencil-vania”), and Jane will follow it up with something gut-wrenching like, “Who’s your emergency contact?” (iykyk). The intersplicing of humor through the heavy never feels forced because every interaction between the couple is so organic. This makes watching the Smiths an almost voyeuristic experience, as if I’m intruding on this very real couple, who just happen to be spies.
There’s a level of absurdity in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” that I’m deeply obsessed with. It’s most apparent in the form of Hihi, John and Jane’s mysterious employer. Hihi plays both handler and devil’s advocate to the Smiths via text message correspondence. Throughout the show, Hihi progresses from a quirky chatbot to a Big Brother entity actively sowing seeds of contention between John and Jane that build to a breaking point.
I’m not going to divulge too much about the ending, except that it’s unsatisfying — in the sense that I need to know more. The fate of John and Jane’s relationship and well-being is left up in the air, and without confirmation of a season two renewal, I’m kind of spiraling. John and Jane’s grating personalities have latched onto me, and I don’t want to let them go. So for now, I won’t. You can find me rewatching my favorite John and Jane edit until next month, when I’ll (hopefully) share less distressing media for you to keep an eye on.
