Mr. & Mrs. Smith

The series is a character drama with the facade of an action series. We are deeply invested in these characters and the pacing gives us room to explore their love, and flaws in an intimate way. In a word I would describe the series as warmth. It has deeply human scenes with actors that make you care. The pacing and dialogue are not action drama standard. If you are looking for a series to distract with guns a shoot em ups, this probably isn't for you. It you're interested to see how love, compassion, friendship, and intimacy play out in a world of spies and humor... this is the series for you.

After seeing the low ratings for this show, I couldn't help but think, "Oh no, not another disappointment." However, since I'm a fan of espionage-themed TV shows and movies, and having enjoyed the film, I felt compelled to give this TV series a chance. And, I'm glad I did. While the movie leaned heavily on the sex appeal of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, this rendition of Mr. & Mrs. Smith excels in both acting and writing. With only 8 episodes, building a story arc with substantial depth is no easy feat. Yet, this series manages it admirably. Each episode is fun to watch, and it's evident that the cast relished portraying these deadly characters. Although it was seemingly written as a limited series, I'm really hoping for a second season.

I felt driven to provide a review after seeing the dumpster fire growing here. People seem to be expecting to see the Donald Glover they remember from Community, or some endless, action-packed rollercoaster that simply repeats the movie formula for a dozen hours.

Let this series be what it is, a spy dramedy, halfway between drama and comedy, just like a relationship, which is key to this show.

The opening sequence seems like a nod to the original, telling us that the Pitt/Jolie Smiths were taken out by other Smiths, after running for some unstated period of time.

Then we can learn about a new Mr and Mrs Smith, from recruitment to retirement, and watch their relationship grow, through the lens of international espionage. It's a fun concept that is well executed, if you can just let go of the fact that it isn't the same as the movie.

I fell victim to the marketing ploys of this show and was excited for this show to be released, watching most of the series the day it was released.

It is well made and had a good production value. Well shot and for the most part well acted. But I find the subject matter to be dull and the writing to be a bit lazy.

This is a spy show that is missing all of the quintessential "spy things" found in the genre. First off, the characters are basically Craigslist Kirkland-brand spies. They are not very good at their jobs and they are following the orders of a chat-GTP style entity. Also, the series is episodic, so they are in a new location doing a new task every episode. This is okay, but 90% of the episode is spent examining their relationship, while 10% is spent doing a few spy things.

All of the realism in this show is spent on relationship building. It's like a committee sat down and wrote a standard rom com using fights, quirks, and highlights from all of their previous relationships and packages them into a show. Needing a hook, they threw in a few lazily-written spy scenes to match it watchable.

I'm being a bit harsh here. The series is somewhat enjoyable and the relationship scenes are pretty well executed and well thought out. But if you are looking for an espionage/spy show with any sort of realism, this isn't it. This is a show about the fake marriage between two people that just happen to be spies.

I had an absolute blast watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I just binged all 8 episodes over the weekend and it was such a fun show it flew by. This is both a good spy thriller and a good rom-com. Donald Glover and Maya Erksine are both terrific as the leads and every episode has guest stars from other well known actors. It had Alexander Skarsgard, Eiza Gonzalez, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Ursula Corbero, Sarah Paulson, Wagner Moura, Parker Posey, among others. Each episode was a different adventure and they were all fun to watch. Glover and Erksine star as John and Jane Smith. Two loners who are put together to work as spies for a mysterious organization.