Photo: David Lee/Prime Video
In the lead up to the release of the new Amazon Prime series Mr and Mrs Smith, discussion has largely revolved around comparisons to the original film. Doug Liman’s 2005 action comedy, more than anything, was a star vehicle for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, whose behind-the-scenes love story attracted massive tabloid attention. Given their characters’ timeless white-hot screen chemistry, it’s impossible to look away; Individually and together, they feel ethereal, crafting a silly two-hour plot on the strength of their charisma and beauty.
In some ways, trying to capture lightning in a bottle twice is a fool’s errand. It’s hard to clear any bar set by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie; It’s natural to be skeptical that Donald Glover and Maya Erskine, of all people, could pull it off, and I say this as a big fan of both of them. Still, recent coverage has made it clear that everyone involved, including co-creator and showrunner Francesca Sloane, is aiming for something different here. In a self-aware, open letter about the inherent stupidity of rebooting Mr and Mrs SmithSloane expressed a desire to deconstruct the spy genre: “What would a series be like if our heroes were not the two most beautiful people on the planet, but were, instead, two lonely people, two downtrodden people, who wanted more from life than they got They currently have? What if our John and Jane could be anyone, could even be you and me?”
With that in mind, the casting makes sense: This John and Jane Smith are certainly charming, but in a more accessible way. And they certainly attract less attention than living gods like Pitt and Jolie — though based on this premiere, their detective skills still leave a lot to be desired.
But “First Date” begins with a different John and Jane Smith, who have settled into a cozy homely atmosphere in a remote cabin. These two are played by Alexander Skarsgård and Eiza Gonzalez (speaking of hot guys), and it seems as if they’ve retired from the spy business without the permission of their mysterious employers. Unfortunately, the company is not forgiving; John and Jane are loose ends that still need to be tied. By the end of the opening scene, they are dead, having been shot by the company’s armed men on their own property. Before we even meet our real heroes, we’re getting a look at what might happen if they ever went rogue.
We meet Our During a montage showing Mr. and Mrs. Smith having their respective interviews with the same unnamed entity that later gives them their work, always greeting them with “Hi-Hi”. Both are willing to break up and relocate for work, although John is more hesitant to leave his father than Jane is to leave her mother. It’s easy to see why the company would add them; They have much in common, including antisocial and “emotionally naïve” traits that prevent them from advancing in the field. John spent some time in the war, piloting drones in Afghanistan, and Jane almost made it to the CIA. Both of them have been in love before, but only John has ever expressed it openly.
Their actual meeting takes place at the lavish Manhattan brownstone where they will live. The first day of marriage is appropriately awkward and logical; There are new passports and documents to sort out, hidden gun cabinets to find, and a cat named Max to play with. “I guess we’re married now,” says Jane. A moment later, they exchange “Nice to meet you.” They don’t even have each other’s phone numbers yet.
Countless romantic comedies over the years have been based on “fake dating,” and An Arranged Spy Marriage certainly fits into that tradition. (in some ways, American is the ultimate rom-com. Well, not really.) And though it’s unclear how long it will take for Smith to catch on to real feelings, there’s already a sign that John is thinking in the same direction. He is friendly and flirtatious, while Jane is quiet, professional, and secretive.
John and Jane have both applied for high-risk espionage work, but their first mission the next day seems simple at first: intercept a package from a woman at a café, then deliver it to given coordinates. (Jane suggests the company is simply “easing them into it.”) Sloane and Glover’s script cleverly takes advantage of the simplicity of the plot here, offering an awkward detective take on the traditional first-date sequence; John manages to convince Jane to open up about some basic things now that they are married, and get to know each other a bit.
First, they chase their target to the park, then to a show at the Cherry Lane Theatre. When John talks to Jane through her earpiece, she texts him the story of the pancakes she mentioned earlier: when she was 14, on a school trip to New York City, in the late ’40s. A boy invited him and his friend to have pancakes. They got it done, they paid the check and they laughed after it was over. no harm done.
His target leaves a few minutes into the show, picks up a heavy box from the coat check and makes a call on the burner phone which she promptly throws away. Now time is of the essence, and Jane finally succeeds in replacing the package with a box John took from a mini-mall in Chinatown.
Smith completes the delivery by handing the package to some rich woman planning a big party. It turns out the mysterious package is just a cake, bizarrely – except, of course, there’s a bomb inside that cake, and the house explodes just moments after they leave. The show broadcasts all this a little more clearly, especially with the wide shot of John and Jane walking away from the house in the background. (“What if the house blows up right behind them?” I remarked to my roommate a second before it happened.) This exploding-house is the equivalent of a classic side-view car-crash shot.
John and Jane manage to escape the attention of the police and reach a safe house, where Jane learns that nine people were killed in the explosion. This mission was only the first of many, and they’ll definitely get more dangerous from here on out – but it’s still scary and intense enough to melt away any initial awkwardness between the newlyweds. In the final scene, John admits that he lied earlier that he never killed anyone. In return, Jane offers an unusually vulnerable confession of her own: it was her friend who suggested they eat pancakes with the pedophile all those years ago. Jane was frightened the whole time.
The “first date” may include only some of the elements that made up the original. Mr and Mrs Smith memorable. For one, I’m still missing the original hook: two married assassins from competing agencies are assigned to kill each other. I’m sure our John and Jane are hiding secrets from each other that will be revealed as the show progresses, but there’s nothing like watching two murderers discover that they are even married To the murderers.
Is this series the latest in a trend of bloated, unnecessary TV reboots that go for naturalism and prestige-y aesthetics over the delusional recreation of a bright, silly action comedy? it’s possible. If you’re in the mood to watch rogue spies carry out risky missions with precision and look impossibly sexy while doing it, you’ll likely be disappointed by the new Smith’s elegant brute-force tactics. it’s not your father’s Mr and Mrs Smith, It’s darker, messier, and far more “relatable.” Enjoying the show may depend on your willingness to engage.
• Even I was annoyed by Jen’s persistent messaging at the theater, so I appreciated the angry woman who asked, “Why did you bother coming?”
• The episode is called “First Date,” and it looks like the other installments will feature their own parallels with traditional relationship milestones. It’s a smart structural conceit for the show.
