As the opening episode of Mr. And Mrs. Smith begins, the other John (Alexander Skarsgard) and the other Jane (Eiza Gonzalez) sit down for a drink. When they see a car approaching the house, they try to flee. Jane says she can’t keep running away before they audibly kiss. They prepare to shoot it out, but John is quickly shot in the face and killed. Jane shoots at the car outside until she is shot too. Jane Smith (Maya Erskine) sits down at a terminal that asks for her nail clippings. She is asked about her height and ethnicity. John Smith (Donald Glover) enters and goes through the same process. John says he killed one person accidentally and killed 13 on purpose. Before long, they’re in the same residence.

They receive a message saying good luck on their first day of marriage. John finds out that they have access to many guns. Once they get the computer open, they’re given instructions to follow a woman, Marla, and meet her at a restaurant. They’re supposed to intercept a package and hand it off at a specific location. John and Jane soon learn that they have a cat. Later, John checks on Jane because he didn’t know if they were supposed to say goodnight or not. John takes a picture of her so he can try to find out more about her but he hits a dead end. The next day, they go to the restaurant so they can meet the lady in question. They watch Marla who is dancing around in her chair. John asks Jane if she applied for high-risk. Both did. John admits he was expecting something different from the first mission.

He thought it was weird they didn’t bring up they’d be together until the last interview. Jane thinks that was smart because you draw less attention as a couple. They try to get to know each other better. John says he really hasn’t killed anyone. When they see Marla leave, they rush outside to catch up with her. They watch from a distance as a man sits with her and talks to her. After more chatter, Jane wonders what happens if they fail their missing. They see the woman hand money to the man before they kiss. The woman begins moving again so they follow her onto the subway. They continue following her when she gets off. At a theatre, Jane and John concoct a way to get inside. Jane insists she isn’t this for the romance, but John is only trying to put an earpiece in her ear.

They work together to get Jane into the theatre. Once she is inside, John asks her to text because he just realized the flaw in their plan. While she watches the play, Jane texts John to admit the pedophile thing was real when she was 14. John doesn’t believe her. Jane tells him what happened. Eventually, the woman is on the move again and she has the package this time. John comes up with a plan to get the package discreetly. Jane watches as the woman buys an Android phone and begins calling someone with it. John eventually gets a box although he has to buy something to get it. Jane tells him that the woman ditched the phone. Then, John creates a distraction so Jane can switch the package. John and Jane talk about the missing on the subway. Jane wonders what is in the package.

John doesn’t know who the company is since he is just happy they have a job. Jane is there because no one else would take her. John says the same. In a flashback, both agree they’d be okay with cutting ties to the past. In the present, they take the package to the drop point. They go inside a house and watch a woman open the box which is holding a cake. The woman says it is a little damaged so she wants a discount. John and Jane leave. As they walk away from the house, there is an explosion behind them. They begin fleeing through a garage. Jane puts blood on her face to pretend she has been injured. That allows them to escape. In a bathroom, they agree to meet back at home. Jane learns that nine people died in the explosion. She makes it home to John moments later.

John reminds her they did the job just like they were asked. It is high-risk so they could’ve died if they had stayed. They contemplate what they should name the cat. Jane admits she brought Max from her house. John confesses he killed people because he worked some of the first drones in Afghanistan. Jane tells him that it was Dina’s idea to get pancakes with Buddy Love. During the initial interview, Jane admits she is okay with starting a new life.

 

Mr. And Mrs. Smith Review

The opening episode of Mr. & Mrs. Smith could’ve been more exciting since it was pretty monotonous. Truthfully, everything about the opening episode was tedious but that was probably always going to be an issue when turning the story into an eight-episode series. The performances weren’t particularly awe-inspiring because they felt flat and void of any emotion despite the circumstances.

The opening scene at least had a tinge of excitement although Eiza Gonzalez looked a bit silly with that gun. The episode was heavy on dialogue that didn’t hit the spot and again was very tedious. There is still time for this to improve once John and Jane stop asking so many needless questions, but this episode didn’t inspire much confidence that the series is going to be captivating over eight episodes, especially at nearly an hour a piece.

30 minutes and six or eight episodes would suffice because all of the tedious scenes that went nowhere could’ve been removed. Two or three-quarters of the episode could be skipped considering it was nothing but nonstop questions and uneventful dialogue. After the opening episode, this is obviously going to require patience from the viewer but it may be worth it in the end.

Unfortunately, this episode was very off-putting so some may not give it another chance. The opening episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Mr and Mrs Smith can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Discuss this series and more at the Reel Mockery Forum.