Hey, everyone! How’s it going? Today I’m here to review the drama Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which has taken Amazon Prime Video by storm with its brilliant reimagining of the spy genre, blending marriage counseling with high-stakes espionage in ways that feel both fresh and deeply human.
The series premiered on February 2, 2024, delivering 8 episodes that averaged 45-50 minutes each. Created by Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane, this isn’t just a remake of the 2005 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie film. Instead, it’s a complete reinvention that uses the spy premise to explore modern relationships, identity, and what it means to truly know someone. The show stars Glover and Maya Erskine as two strangers who are paired by a mysterious agency and must live undercover as a married couple named John and Jane Smith.
What sets this series apart is how it uses espionage as a metaphor for the mysteries we carry within ourselves and our relationships. The show doesn’t just ask whether these two spies can trust each other with their lives, but whether they can trust each other with their hearts. It’s a brilliant exploration of intimacy, vulnerability, and the masks we wear even with those closest to us.
The Agency Assignment: Two Strangers, One Dangerous Marriage
The premise follows two highly skilled but emotionally guarded individuals who are recruited by a shadowy organization and given new identities as John and Jane Smith. They must live as a married couple in a beautiful New York brownstone while completing dangerous missions around the world. The catch is that they know nothing about each other’s real identities, backgrounds, or motivations.
The series brilliantly uses this setup to explore the awkwardness and artificiality of modern relationships. How do you build intimacy when your entire life is a lie? How do you trust someone when you don’t even know their real name? The show finds both comedy and tragedy in these questions, creating moments that are simultaneously hilarious and heartbreaking.
John Smith’s Journey: Donald Glover’s Nuanced Performance
Donald Glover delivers one of his finest performances as John Smith, a man who has spent so long compartmentalizing his life that he’s forgotten how to be genuine. Glover brings his signature blend of vulnerability and intelligence to the role, showing how John’s professional competence masks deep personal insecurities and loneliness.
What makes John’s character arc so compelling is how the marriage assignment forces him to confront his own emotional walls. Through his interactions with Jane, we see glimpses of the man behind the spy, someone who desperately wants connection but has no idea how to achieve it. Glover’s performance captures the comedy of a man trying to fake intimacy while slowly discovering what real intimacy might feel like.
Jane Smith’s Evolution: Maya Erskine’s Brilliant Counterpoint
Maya Erskine matches Glover’s performance with her own complex portrayal of Jane Smith, a woman whose survival instincts are so finely tuned that she struggles to let anyone get close. Erskine brings fierce intelligence and surprising vulnerability to the role, showing how Jane’s professional skills both protect and isolate her.
The chemistry between Glover and Erskine is electric, but it’s their ability to show the characters’ discomfort with intimacy that makes the series so compelling. Jane’s journey from suspicion to genuine care is expertly handled, with Erskine finding moments of truth even when her character is lying about everything else.
Missions and Metaphors: When Espionage Meets Therapy
The series uses each mission as a way to explore different aspects of the central relationship. Whether they’re infiltrating a country club or eliminating a target, the professional challenges mirror the personal ones. The show asks whether two people can truly know each other when their entire relationship is built on deception.
The action sequences are expertly choreographed, but they’re always in service of character development. The real tension isn’t whether John and Jane will survive their missions, but whether their relationship will survive the truth about who they really are.
Guest Stars and Supporting Characters: A World of Secrets
The series features an impressive roster of guest stars, including Paul Dano, Parker Posey, Ron Perlman, and Sarah Paulson, each playing characters who reflect different aspects of the spy world. These appearances aren’t just celebrity cameos but integral parts of the story, showing how the world of espionage affects everyone it touches.
The supporting characters serve as mirrors for John and Jane’s relationship, showing what happens when spies try to maintain human connections. Some have found ways to balance their professional and personal lives, while others have been destroyed by the contradictions inherent in their work.
Success on Amazon Prime
Mr. & Mrs. Smith has become one of Amazon Prime Video’s biggest successes, ranking among the platform’s top 5 new series debuts ever in terms of total U.S. viewers. The series received critical acclaim with a 76/100 score on Metacritic, indicating “generally favorable reviews.” Critics have particularly praised the performances and the chemistry between Glover and Erskine, with many noting how the show improves on the original film concept. The success led to a quick renewal for Season 2 in May 2024, with the series earning 16 Primetime Emmy nominations for its first season, including Outstanding Drama Series.
If you love smart character studies, spy thrillers with heart, and stories about the complexities of modern relationships, Mr. & Mrs. Smith is the perfect series to binge on Amazon Prime. The show offers a fresh take on the espionage genre while delivering genuine emotional depth and stellar performances.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith transforms the spy genre into a profound exploration of intimacy, trust, and identity, proving that the most dangerous missions might be the ones we undertake in our own hearts.
Series Details:
Number of Episodes: 8 episodes
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Rating: 8.2/10
Genre: Spy Thriller, Dark Comedy, Drama
Protagonists: Donald Glover (John Smith), Maya Erskine (Jane Smith)
Antagonist: The mysterious agency, trust issues, and the characters’ own emotional barriers