Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s Shocking Ending Explained And Unpacked

Amazon Prime Video‘s latest original series, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, recently premiered all 8 episodes of its first season in a single bulk release. The series, which is a reboot of the 2005 film of the same name, stars Donald Glover and Maya Erskine in the eponymous roles, as a pair of spies assigned to be married on sight, who leave their lives behind to embark upon high-stakes missions for a mysterious entity known only as Hihi.

While the series traverses some powerful and heavy topics over the course of its brief run, fans can’t stop thinking about the explosive conclusion, which leaves viewers on a perilous cliffhanger. For those left confused or unsatisfied by the Mr. & Mrs. Smith ending, we’re here to explain exactly what happened, as well as what’s in store for the future of the star-crossed lovers, John and Jane Smith.

This should go without saying, but there are major spoilers for the first season of Mr. & Mrs. Smith ahead, so please be sure to bookmark this page and return after finishing the show if you don’t want to have the ending explained in detail. The series has not been officially renewed for a second season at this time, nor cancelled, so the future of the franchise is currently still in limbo.

What Is The Final Episode About?

Over the course of the first 7 episodes of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, fans watch as a genuine relationship develops between two emotionally stunted and psychologically damaged individuals, who are trapped together through their shared work. Against all odds, John and Jane come to form a true kinship, which sees them connecting deeply on a physical and emotional level. The spy missions the pair perform provide a high-energy backdrop to the budding relationship, and offer a variety of unusual catalysts to drive them closer to and further from one another over the course of the series. Ultimately, the couple manage to fail three missions for their mysterious employer, resulting in John’s termination from the job, and a semi-related break up.

This leads us to the eighth and final episode of the season, appropriately titled “A Breakup” which follows a similar plot to the 2005 Mr. & Mrs. Smith film. The film, which starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the title roles, centered on a pair of spies working for rival agencies, who married one another without knowing of the other’s secret life. In “A Breakup,” John and Jane’s marital problems, combined with their employer’s frustration at their mission failures, lead the couple into a nasty brawl. The pair throw punches, kicks, and blunt objects at each other, blow up public spaces, and engage in a high-speed chase across town, before unloading insurmountable firepower at each other, all but demolishing their beautiful New York brownstone.

The Series Ends On A Cliffhanger

After failing to kill one another, John and Jane resolve to work out their issues the good old fashioned way: with an inebriated conversation under the influence of a super-powerful truth serum. Unfortunately, just as the couple seem to be reconciling their differences, another John and Jane, who were first introduced in the fourth episode “Double Date” arrive at the house to terminate the failed operatives. Our John and Jane injure John #2, and escape into their panic room with a single bullet left between them, as Jane #2 waits just outside the door.

In the final moments of the series, our John is bleeding out and losing consciousness, prompting Jane to kick open the panic room door, and try her luck with her final bullet. In an exterior wide shot of the house, three muzzle flashes illuminate the windows, signifying three shots fired, before the series cuts to credits. This leaves two possible outcomes for the finale. Either our Jane managed to get the drop on Jane #2 after gunfire was exchanged, or she fired her last shot and missed, allowing #2 to use two bullets to take out Glover and Erskine’s characters for good.

What Does This Mean For The Future Of The Show?

The nature of this cliffhanger seems to offer Mr. & Mrs. Smith‘s writers the ability to have their cake and eat it too. If the show is never renewed for a second season, the ending is ambiguous and artsy like The Sopranos, while a second season announcement provides them with the opportunity to definitively answer the question one way or another. For now, the series ends on a Schrödinger’s box of possibility, with the dysfunctional spy couple both alive and dead depending on your disposition.

Discussing the finale with The Hollywood Reporter, series co-creator Francesca Sloane said “We wanted to make sure that it felt like a complete story, even with the ending being what it is… That said, we have definitely already started discussing ideas for season two… in the world we make one. We would never want to make a season two if we couldn’t kick our own asses, in terms of taking down season one. So it really depends. We’ll see what life has to offer us, but we definitely have some exciting thoughts.”