This article contains spoilers for Mr. & Mrs. Smith episode 6, "Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid)".
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a Prime Video comedy-drama that sees two spies — played by Donald Glover and Maya Erskine — cutting all ties to their previous lives to undertake a new gig. They're paired up together as a married couple (John and Jane Smith) by a clandestine organization and sent off on a series of high-risk missions.
In the show's sixth episode, John and Jane are having some serious issues in their relationship, so they decide to try couples therapy. The problem is, that their lives are anything but ordinary... as shown by some of the missions we see them on in the episode.
Here's our full recap of Mr. & Mrs. Smith episode 6.
Taking the shot
The episode opens with John and Jane sitting down for their first session with their new therapist (played by Sarah Paulson). Under the guise of being "software engineers", the pair try to open up about their problems together. John opens by arguing that their boss favors him, using the fact that Hihi asked if Jane would replace him (this is when we learn she refused and would only take a promotion if she got to keep him around).
After discussing their differing opinions on kids, the chat moves to how the couple lives and works together. Jane said it was good, but John countered, arguing it was a tricky situation because he felt Jane was a controlling presence. And when asked for proof, he mentioned the "thing" they did recently.
That "thing" was one of their missions, and we cut to our two spies surveying an apartment from a nearby rooftop. Having identified the primary target and scouted for weapons, John asks if he can take the lead this time so he can prove himself to Hihi. We soon see John fitting in at a poker game with the guys they were keeping tabs on
Back in the therapist's home, Jane accuses John of taking forever on the gig, and she questions his behavior, calling out his sexist and racist comments (which she'd heard over the comms). John said he was just "fitting in" with the men there, and accused Jane of being jealous that he could fit into that group.
When we cut back to the poker game, John's getting along great with the guys in the room. Out of nowhere, two of the other players are executed. Panicked, the remaining target and John stand up and pull guns on one another; John manages to get his out just fast enough to take the guy out. They styled this out as Jane closing this particular job "very aggressively". When their therapist gets up to answer the phone briefly, they have a quick argument: John blasts Jane for the risk of nearly dying, whereas Jane believes she saved his life at that moment.
Just before their session ended, John said he wanted Jane to let him help her to feel less anxious. Jane wants to let him in, but she admits she struggles with letting him in without sacrificing parts of herself. The therapist wraps that particular session up with a bizarre anecdote of her encounter with a monkey in the jungle, which both of them try to understand as they head to the car.
Second session
Their second session follows on week later. Jane opens the discussion saying things haven't been great, and the therapist picks up that Jane often answers for both of them; John follows up by saying he'd gotten used to Jane thinking she has all the answers.
They're asked if Jane managed to help him take the lead at work. Jane admits she tried to do so... and we see the results of that particular chance. The pair are seen chasing a target down the street, with John failing to keep up (because of his asthma). As the couple argue in their session about how Jane always feels like she needs to clean up after John, and we cut back to the mission.
Jane chases the target into an elevator, and they have a tense fight as it ascends to the rooftop. John, meanwhile, fails to get inside and painstakingly makes his way up the many, many flights of stairs. On the roof, Jane finally gets the upper hand and throws the target off the building; John, hearing the fight over comms, laughs at her for saying a catchphrase as she dealt with him.
The session wraps up with John claiming he liked the dynamic in their earlier days, where he felt like the more experienced spy in the room, but now he feels like he's holding Jane back.
And whilst the session wraps up looking more positively, when they reconvene the following week, the Smiths are sitting far apart on the sofa for their third session.
Getaway
Their therapist quite rightly identifies work as a point of contention for the couple, and Jane lets slip that they'd had a pretty bad work-week. They'd gone on a "work retreat", "hunting" (probably the most accurate of their lies yet) for the organization.
The pair failed to track down their target, and Jane picks up on John's machismo in the woods, thinking he's sure they can't be lost, or that he'll be able to find food for them. She explains to the therapist that the latest big disagreement this time all centered on a book.
We cut back to the pair in the woods, by a campfire, with John telling Jane to try and relax. The conversation eventually turns to Jane asking if he's ever read The Prophet (her favorite book). John admits that he'd lied about having ever read it, because their 'hot neighbor' (Paul Dano) had read it, and he can't understand why it's a big deal.
Jane admits that she thought they'd been matched, at least in part because of that book. Their chat soon becomes their most aggressive argument yet, with John arguing she doesn't understand feelings, whilst Jane picks him up about his relationship with his mother.
The therapist reminds them they are choosing to stay in their relationship, and no one can force them to stay together (if only she knew how they'd been matched up in the first place!) She subsequently asks if they could take some time off from work to help them heal, so the pair decide to ask Hihi whether they can take separate projects for a bit.
As they prepare to leave, she hands John and Jane a small thumb drive containing the recordings of their sessions so far. She has hidden cameras and microphones in her room so that her clients can review the footage and look for talking points for follow-up sessions.
The therapist remains in the room after John and Jane have left and is alerted by her son (off-screen) shouting about a fire in the building. The episode then ends with John and Jane rushing to the car to flee the scene and deciding that therapy isn't for them.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith is now streaming on Prime Video.
