‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ is a Delight
Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Credit: Amazon
Mr. & Mrs. Smith follows two strangers who get jobs at an international spy agency. Oh, and, part of the job is that they are married.
I had been curious about this show since it aired because it’s based on the 2005 movie of the same name. I wasn’t sure how this story would work as a TV show. How would they build the world to take up more time than a movie? How would they adapt the characters to this format?
I’m so pleased to share that the TV show Mr. & Mrs. Smith is an absolute delight! Donald Glover as John and Maya Erskine as Jane are a wonderful match. The characters’ personalities are so interesting and distinct. They complement each other well, but that also means that they also drive each other crazy. This combination makes for some great moments of teamwork and spicy moments of tension. It also guarantees that there’s always something interesting happening on screen.
The show begins with these two as perfect strangers — they know as much about each other as we do. This means that throughout the course of the show, we’re getting to know them as they’re getting to know each other. This is so smart because we’re going on a similar journey as they are.
Each episode contains a mission for our duo to go on. They have an objective that they must achieve for this shadowy organization, which is a nice way to create drama, stakes, and tension. These missions also provide a great opportunity to learn more about these two, their personalities, dreams, and how they work together. The action is always fun, but it also serves as an opportunity to learn more about these characters.
Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Credit: Amazon
Mr. & Mrs. Smith brilliantly follows the trajectory of John and Jane’s relationship. Throughout the season they go from perfect strangers, to a blissful honeymoon period, to fighting married couple. My one complaint is that we don’t know how long this season spans, so I sometimes felt a little confused at how their relationship dynamic changed so drastically from episode to episode. Still, for the most part, this structure works very well and is a fun journey to go on.
In addition to interesting characters, this show does some cool world-building. There’s so much intrigue around this shadowy organization that John and Jane work for. We know that multiple Smiths operate around the world, which seems like a wild way to run a spy organization. Each couple has their own unique homes and identities provided by this agency (each of which presumably costs a small fortune). With each successive mission, we learn a little bit more about this organization and how it operates, while leaving plenty of intrigue.
I’m really excited for season two of this show because I want to know more about this organization. The first season of Mr. & Mrs. Smith ends so dramatically, so I’m sure whatever they have for us in season two is going to be explosive and exciting. I can’t wait.