‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ – Our Biggest Unanswered Questions After the Finale

Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’.

A story focused on the lives of spies is always sure to have some sort of mystery at its center, a lingering sense of uncertainty that makes the main characters and the audience doubt what’s happening right outside of view. Based on the 2005 film of the same name, 2024’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith, created by Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane, just premiered on Amazon and awed viewers with how it perfectly balances the mysterious espionage of its premise with the nuanced relationship of its main characters. Portraying the titular couple, Donald Glover and Maya Erskine excel in centering the show within their relationship and the viscerally real portrayal of complicated romance.

This complexity takes up a majority of the show’s focus, a welcomed evolution from the original’s sex and violence that (while cool) robbed its core relationship of real gravitas. Yet even within this shift to focusing on the main couple’s conflicts, the show in no way lacks the high-intensity espionage that made its original so riveting. With this espionage came lingering mysteries that plagued the series throughout its first 8 episodes, and though the season finale did address some of the questions, it still left so much unknown. As fans desperately await a Season 2 announcement, they can’t resist wondering what this season left unanswered and where these questions could lead the story going forward.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Two strangers land jobs with a spy agency that offers them a life of espionage, wealth, and travel. The catch: new identities in an arranged marriage.

Release Date

February 2, 2024

Creator

Francesca Sloane, Donald Glover

Seasons

1

Who Is “Hihi”?

The first time audiences meet the main characters of Mr. & Mrs. Smith is also when they’re introduced to the unmasked employer that eventually pairs them up: the mysterious “Hihi.” Only ever interacting with them through screens, this unseen figure represents the larger organization that employs “John” and “Jane” with the couple unaware of what its mission is, how it has the resources it does, or most importantly, who is in charge. Recruited through email (which arrives when they are both denied their desired career paths), these two only ever interact with their handler(s?) through screens and the occasional card taped to a wine bottle. Though they are uneasy about this lack of knowledge — especially once they realize their failures are being tracked in an ominous success system — the hardships of their relationship eventually take precedence over their questioning. That is, until their final confrontation with another pair of Smiths reveals the haunting truth that Hihi knows all.

Episode 4 introduces our John and Jane to another pair of “Smiths” (Parker Posey and Wagner Moura); the four hit it off right away and have a double date which ends in our main pair having to fight for their lives in a foreign country — but surprisingly that’s not where these new additions really factor into the mystery. Erskine and Glover’s couple believe it was truly a coincidence to have met the other when the finale reveals the truth: The entire meeting was planned. According to Moura’s John, the manager (who they call Supe) told him the exact location and time of day to meet them, a completely random spot that Glover’s character had not planned on going to.

Posey’s Jane compares Supe to a God, saying that he’d only have total awareness of their locations and actions if he knew and saw everything. Now, it’s questionable if a show that thrives on reality would introduce a mystical, omniscient deity into its mix; but with Season 2 surely seeing our John and Jane on the run from their former employer, one thing is clear: While they may not know anything about Hihi, he knows everything about them. And if what the audience sees is any indication, there’s nowhere in the world they can go where he can’t find them.

What Happens to ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ at the End of Season 1?

While Mr. and Mrs. Smith‘s romantic strife is extremely realistic and resonates with many people watching, their relationship spiraling as badly as it does can’t fully be blamed on typical communication issues. While each of their complexes contributed to their lack of understanding, it was Hihi’s constant favoritism of Jane (going so far as offering her the chance to “switch out” her John) that steadily frayed the pair’s marital bond. In subtle ways, he drives a wedge between them, crescendoing into the finale where each is ordered to kill the other and face assassination attempts both think were perpetrated by the other. While they eventually stop fighting and reaffirm their love for one another (with the help of a dose of truth serum), their realization that neither attempted to kill the other makes them question who did? Cue the entrance of the other John and Jane, ordered by Hihi to kill this pair because they failed to do the job themselves.

The first scene of the series shows the murder of another pair of Smiths (Eiza González and Alexander Skarsgård) who fled their duties as assassins to live in hiding, their former employers (implied to be Hihi’s group) finally tracking them down and ending their romance for good. While viewers may not be aware of the exact context, this scene makes one thing clear: Smiths don’t get to leave their roles and survive. Posey and Moura reveal that their job is to find and eliminate Smiths who’ve failed too often or left their posts — with Erskine and Glover next on their list.

The primary pair initially escape their assassins and barricade themselves in their safe room, but not without both Johns bleeding out from gunshot wounds. It’s in this tense moment that Jane discovers she only has one bullet left, and as she heartbreakingly promises John the children he wanted and reveals her real name (Alana), she decides to barge out of the door and shoot the other Jane. She does just that, and the camera switches to the outside, focusing on the window and revealing three gunshots. While it’s not clear who the bullets made it into, it’s evident that our Jane wasn’t the only one shooting, and with an end scene of the neighbor (Paul Dano) examining their house and finding no bodies of either couple, audiences are left unaware of who made it out alive.

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Does ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ Set Up a Season 2?

The finale of any show’s first season is a very important episode, one that must touch on the thematic elements set up before it while providing enough interest to justify a Season 2. With this expectation in mind, Episode 8 of Mr. & Mrs. Smith did not disappoint; this pulse-pounding story of love and spies was compelling in its original form back in 2005 and only improved with this new version detailing just how intricate this kind of relationship would be. While this first season may have answered the truth about these people’s love for one another, it left audiences wondering who they’re working for and if this shady organization will be the ultimate end of their relationship.

Who is Hihi, and how are they able to perfectly predict every movement of his agents? Was Jane’s plan enough to save the main couple and permanently silence the worst double date ever — and even if she did succeed, was it with enough time left to save the dying John? Hopefully, Season 2 will shine a light on these questions and give audiences the closure they need in this riveting story. Until then, viewers are left to wonder just how terrible of a situation John and Jane Smith are in and if their love is powerful enough to get them out.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S.

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