The Finale of 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' Has Me Asking a Lot of Questions
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This post contains spoilers for the finale of Mr. & Mrs. Smith on Amazon Prime.
The finale of Amazon Prime Video's Mr. & Mrs. Smith left me with more questions than answers. After a somewhat winding, majorly comedic journey through the forced union of two spies, episode 8 rips them apart. Jane (Maya Erskine) and John (Donald Glover) Smith, both furious, have called it quits.
I can understand that, given their incessant fighting and lack of communication skills. However, they’ve broken the cardinal rule of scary situations: never split up! Both John and Jane are smart enough to know better, but they let their emotions get the best of them. It’s frustrating to watch, but their breakup serves a greater purpose. It’s a testament to their humanity—and their lapses in judgment make Amazon’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith feel real. (Or at least more interesting than the film it’s based on.)
Don’t get me wrong, Brad and Angelina created the blueprint in 2005—but two hours is hardly enough time to explore the intricacies of marriage, especially when that marriage is shaken by a shady spy agency. Nevertheless, Amazon’s adaptation, created by Francesca Sloane and Glover, allows viewers to further understand John and Jane, making the finale even more shocking.
Let’s backtrack a bit. Before it all goes to shit, the Smiths make a valiant effort to repair their relationship. They seek the counsel of a therapist, played by the hilarious Sarah Paulson, and begin, they think, to understand each other. Jane realizes she oversteps due to her anxiety. John realizes he can be impish because he feels emasculated. Right as they’re making a breakthrough, their therapist encourages them to listen to the recordings from their appointment.
Silence. What recordings?
That’s not going to work. The Smiths are spies, not innocent “software engineers,” as their counselor believes. After their appointment, Jane sets their therapist's house on fire, hoping to destroy any evidence of them being there. So much for progress!
This is where things get messy. Episode 7 ends with the Smiths running to their car—post-house fire—and episode 8 begins with them living separately. As expected, weird things happen the moment they split up. Jane's beloved cat is shot and killed during an assassination attempt. Meanwhile, John’s mom, Denise (played by Donald Glover's actual mom, Beverly), has her apartment rigged with an explosive that nearly kills her and her son. Both John and Jane think the other planned the attacks, but when John’s mother is in danger, John texts Jane, insisting they meet up. That afternoon, they argue at The Whitney Museum. John wants to talk; Jane wants to fight. Jane tries to blow John up. John escapes and chases after her, etc. The game of cat and mouse continues until Jane finally escapes and returns to their apartment. She finds John’s mother sitting in the kitchen, having broken in with their spare key.
Denise tells Jane she should reconsider her divorce. Using her son's real name, she says, “Michael just needs to know that you love him. What I’ve discovered about him is he really needs to feel safe. And once he feels safe, he’s going to be Michael. But if not, he’s going to be whoever it is that you want him to be. So, before you call it quits, make sure you know which Michael you’re breaking up with.”
While Beverly and Jane are having a heart-to-heart, John (a.k.a Michael) is busy trying to break in. He goes to their neighbors' house, hoping to cross through their backyard into his own, but instead, he finds photos of him and Jane tacked up in the basement—serial killer style. Turns out, their neighbor works for a real estate agency. Those creepy photographs were part of an investigation into the Smiths' finances. “All this on the salary of two software engineers? It doesn’t make sense,” he says.
Finally, John breaks into his apartment and finds Jane. Then they fight…again. It’s pure chaos. They unload nearly all their ammunition while trying to kill each other, but neither can make the final blow. Then, John injects Jane and himself with a truth serum, hoping they can chill out and talk. His plan works. They admit their feelings for each other, but two old friends stop by mid-reconciliation.
It’s the other Smiths. Earlier in the series, John and Jane learn their spy network employs several Smiths. The two who show up happen to be “finalizers.” In other words, they kill whichever Smiths the company wants to get rid of. John and Jane (the ones we like) fight valiantly for survival—but during the shootout, John is struck in the abdomen. Jane (again, the one we like) rushes him to their safe room and locks them inside while the other Jane (the one we do not like) lurks behind the door.
As John bleeds out, Jane comforts him by discussing their future. In his final moments, John asks Jane for her real name (it’s Alana), and she decides to face their enemy. On the count of three, Jane opens the door with just one bullet in her arsenal. Then, the camera cuts to outside their apartment. Three shots are fired. It’s not clear who dies.
The episode ends with the Smiths' neighbor wandering inside their house the next morning. After examining the mess, he assumes the Smiths had a lover's quarrel and leaves to call his boss. “I think they might be ready to sell.”
The cliffhanger, though expertly done, leaves me endlessly curious about the Smiths. Did good Jane kill bad Jane? Did John survive? Were they able to make some sort of super-spy escape, or did they get “finalized?” Also, what’s up with their boss HiHi? Were they ever on the Smiths' side, or were they set up? Was this the consequence of failing three missions? And finalle, will there be a season 2???
Like any good story, much is left up to interpretation. Honestly? I was hoping that would be the outcome. When Mr. and Mrs. Smith was announced, I feared the show would try (and fail) to recreate the movie. Instead, they improved upon the concept, taking what was a clear three-part arch and mucking it up with humanity. In the film, the Smiths escape and presumably live happily ever after. The television series is more complicated. After all, a story about married spies could never have a cookie-cutter ending. That’d be boring, and the Smiths are anything but.
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