S01.E08: A Breakup

[AnimeMania]

(Season Finale)

John and Jane are taking a time-out. Will they be able to say they're sorry or will this be the end of their adventures? Grab some tissues John and Jane, it's A BREAKUP! Only this time, it's life and death. Don't be so dramatic!

Premiere Date: February 2, 2024    Prime Video    

[Snapdragon]

Eh.  This was very anticlimactic for me.  This was the first episode where John and Jane just kinda seemed too dumb to be spies.  In the previous episode, they knew Hihi had been manipulating them but they don't take that into account when Jane gets shot at or John's mom's place is rigged with explosives?  Then Jane takes forever to bring up her murdered cat.  If I thought someone murdered my cat, that'd be the first thing I'd say to them but Jane beats around the bush even after they'd taken the truth serum.  Then the double date Smiths show up and even though they're on mission fail #3 and that couple has admitted to taking out other Smiths in the past, John and Jane just walk right up to them, as if they're obviously not there to kill them.  By the time we got to the ambiguous ending (which has been done to death), I was just kinda rolling my eyes and waiting for it to be over.

I enjoyed this season overall but the last few episodes were a dip in quality for me so I'm hoping next season will do better.

PS.  Why would anyone think it's a good idea to bring a baby into this situation?  The fact that that was even a discussion was bonkers to me.

[moonorchid]

I thought this finale was fantastic from start to finish. It somehow brought action, comedy, drama, tragedy, and intense human emotion and made it all flow easily. Nothing felt jarring. 
 

Donald Glover and Maya Erskine are gold in this show and it does not work without them doing what they are doing. It was smart of the writers and creator to lean into them like they did. 
 

That ending, while initially upsetting, is actually cinematic level top tier quality. 
 

This show is damn good and I’m crossing my fingers for a season 2. 

[Raja]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:12 PM, Snapdragon said:

Then Jane takes forever to bring up her murdered cat. 

I spent that half hour extended fight scene just thinking get on with it already

[CarpeFelis]

On 2/10/2024 at 9:12 PM, Snapdragon said:

Then Jane takes forever to bring up her murdered cat.  If I thought someone murdered my cat, that'd be the first thing I'd say to them but Jane beats around the bush even after they'd taken the truth serum. 

Hell yes! “YOU KILLED MY CAT!!!” would be the first thing to come out of my mouth. I see why they wrote it the way they did since the reveal of the other Smiths coming after them occurred late in the episode, but it didn’t make any sense except to serve the plot. (BTW I actually have a cat named Max—except he’s black and longhaired—and if anyone hurt him I’d lose my freaking mind.)

Cat tax:

I sure hope John disabled the tripwire bomb before Denise went back home!

On 2/10/2024 at 9:12 PM, Snapdragon said:

PS.  Why would anyone think it's a good idea to bring a baby into this situation?  The fact that that was even a discussion was bonkers to me.

I kept thinking that although they didn’t come out and say so, the baby or babies would be for after they quit being spies—though they’d end up on the run and hiding out like Alex Skarsgård and his Jane at the beginning of episode 1.

 

Edited February 12 by CarpeFelis

[Snapdragon]

2 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

 

 

I sure hope John disabled the tripwire bomb before Denise went back home!

 

Yes, in my last post I concentrated on Jane not bringing up Max but John not bringing up that his mom's place was almost blown up was also nuts.  I think I didn't concentrate on that as much since they didn't reveal it was his mom's place until much later in the episode (and he was able to defuse the bomb before it killed anyone).  I assumed it was a place he was renting after he moved out of his and Jane's place.  The fact that he thought Jane put a bomb in his mother's house and didn't lead with that when they first met back up is ridiculous.  

[peachmangosteen]

I still can’t decide if I liked this show or not. Some of it was entertaining but a lot of it was just kinda cringey to me. The relationship moved too quickly and for me they didn’t have enough chem to make it work. 

I almost stopped watching when they killed the cat. And like others said, for Jane to just not mention it for over half the episode was ridiculous.

[Raja]

25 minutes ago, peachmangosteen said:

I still can’t decide if I liked this show or not. Some of it was entertaining but a lot of it was just kinda cringey to me. The relationship moved too quickly and for me they didn’t have enough chem to make it work. 

By the therapist episode it finally clicked in my mind that these were not the first 6 missions and I really had no ideal how long they were together.  So how long was it from the company expects us to be together and perhaps it was only safe to have sex with each other to actual love?

[Anela]

I liked it, but fast-forwarded through parts of the fight scene. It was too much.  
I think the truth serum left them really trusting and open, so they initially didn’t have their normal responses. Although, I’m amazed they weren’t suspicious of them just showing up, and flashing that card in front of John. 
I also wondered why she didn’t bring up max getting murdered, right away.  She should k kw that he wouldn’t kill her cat, and he promised not to kill her, in their talk about vows.  They failed three missions, and were also laughed at, when they talked of retiring, and doing something else. 

[moonorchid]

John’s last line of the season being “I like Jane”…it kills me. The gravity of that moment being him bleeding to death and close to losing consciousness, finally coming to a place with Jane where they can function but it’s possibly too late…you don’t get to this moment, you don’t feel the gravity without episodes 6 and 7.

Watching those two episodes, as hard as they can be, are the lowest of the low for their relationship. To still be able to say with all the love he can muster, “I like Jane”. It’s everything. 

I wish more people would give this show a real shot. It’s so deep and layered and emotional. Theres so many little moments throughout the series that has a payoff in the finale. There’s so many angles to see everything.

[aghst]

Supposedly it was one of the most-viewed shows in Amazon Prime Video history, at least the first episode.

You figure they will bring it back so they get out of the safe room.  Then what, HiHi is going to employ them again or try to have them killed again?

So there are many John and Janes causing mayhem all over the world?  That raises more question about the nature of the organization.  John and Jane are very good killers but they left a huge trail of bodies.  Why isn’t law enforcement all over them?

Yeah not realistic at all to talk about having babies in their world.  Not to mention 78 sociopathic marbles or acts committed by Jane/Alana.  That doesn’t seem like the type who’d want to become a mother or GAF if John/Michael wants to have babies with her.

He has to have sociopathic tendencies to be in this line of work.

But they’ve been sloppy, not covering their trail and they almost walked into becoming “finalized.”  They don’t seem the types to evade this super John and Jane couple.

 

 

[Raja]

5 minutes ago, aghst said:

Supposedly it was one of the most-viewed shows in Amazon Prime Video history, at least the first episode.

You figure they will bring it back so they get out of the safe room.  Then what, HiHi is going to employ them again or try to have them killed again?

So there are many John and Janes causing mayhem all over the world?  That raises more question about the nature of the organization.  John and Jane are very good killers but they left a huge trail of bodies.  Why isn’t law enforcement all over them?

Yeah not realistic at all to talk about having babies in their world.  Not to mention 78 sociopathic marbles or acts committed by Jane/Alana.  That doesn’t seem like the type who’d want to become a mother or GAF if John/Michael wants to have babies with her.

He has to have sociopathic tendencies to be in this line of work.

But they’ve been sloppy, not covering their trail and they almost walked into becoming “finalized.”  They don’t seem the types to evade this super John and Jane couple.

 

 

In an earlier episode it came to my mind was the Smith's universe was much like the John Wick universe. With all the mayhem going on without police showing up. 

I guess that the Smith's can copy la feme Nikita and try take down at least their Hihi. 

[moonorchid]

41 minutes ago, aghst said:

Supposedly it was one of the most-viewed shows in Amazon Prime Video history, at least the first episode.

You figure they will bring it back so they get out of the safe room.  Then what, HiHi is going to employ them again or try to have them killed again?

So there are many John and Janes causing mayhem all over the world?  That raises more question about the nature of the organization.  John and Jane are very good killers but they left a huge trail of bodies.  Why isn’t law enforcement all over them?

Yeah not realistic at all to talk about having babies in their world.  Not to mention 78 sociopathic marbles or acts committed by Jane/Alana.  That doesn’t seem like the type who’d want to become a mother or GAF if John/Michael wants to have babies with her.

He has to have sociopathic tendencies to be in this line of work.

But they’ve been sloppy, not covering their trail and they almost walked into becoming “finalized.”  They don’t seem the types to evade this super John and Jane couple.

 

 

Like most shows, they are playing fast and loose with Jane being a sociopath. She loves and cares for John too much to be one and she does feel things…and you’re right, John can’t be that much better considering he’s doing the same things Jane is doing with about as much care toward it. Just cause he wants kids doesn’t make him a more empathetic person. He’s just more personable. 
 

I don’t get too hung up on their skill level when it comes to them being spies because it was established they are not the cream of the crop. They were rejected by the CIA and the marines respectfully, and got this gig by email and a cattle call interview. None of that screams “give me the best of the best”. 
 

HiHi and the organization they are running is looking for people who are kind of desperate one way or another. 
 

John and Jane do get better as the series progresses but their hang up is each other. They become too bogged down by their relationship problems and it definitely affects their abilities as spies. Well that and their innate insecurities and ego. 
 

I hope they get a season 2 cause I just really love Donald and Maya together and can watch multiple seasons of them just talking. lol. But I am intrigued by how the writers would approach another season. From what I’ve read, they have ideas.

Edited March 26 by moonorchid

[aghst]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

In an earlier episode it came to my mind was the Smith's universe was much like the John Wick universe. With all the mayhem going on without police showing up. 

I guess that the Smith's can copy la feme Nikita and try take down at least their Hihi. 

Never seen John Wick.

Is it that it's some alternate universe where they can go around shooting up crowded public places, where people who aren't in the game get killed -- In the Lake Como episode a couple of Italian cops are killed by the bad guys -- or is it just bad writing, just ignoring what would happen in the real world if the recklessly shot up public places?

It would be huge news if some of the scenes they show happened in real life, a shootout at a ski resort, then around Lake Como and on and on.

[moonorchid]

1 hour ago, Raja said:

In an earlier episode it came to my mind was the Smith's universe was much like the John Wick universe. With all the mayhem going on without police showing up. 

I guess that the Smith's can copy la feme Nikita and try take down at least their Hihi. 

It’s an easy suspension of disbelief for me.

[Mabinogia]

On 3/26/2024 at 10:55 AM, moonorchid said:

I hope they get a season 2 cause I just really love Donald and Maya together and can watch multiple seasons of them just talking. lol. But I am intrigued by how the writers would approach another season. From what I’ve read, they have ideas.

Donald and Maya together are gold (so glad they recast Jane, Maya is absolutely perfect), so I do hope we get a season two. Though it will be interesting to see how I feel about them, since a huge part of what worked for me this season was the slow build up to their relationship. Also, while I can handwave the whole "no authorities notice the bodies left in their wake" bit, I am not sure how I feel about getting over them both trying to legit kill each other. Or at least Jane actually trying to kill John because she thought he killed her cat. I think, at least at first, he was pulling his punches so to speak, but she had 100% every intention of blowing him up soooo, yeah, hard to come back from that (for me), even if it was based on a misunderstanding.

However, that could allow the show to recapture the "slow burn" they had in season one, as the pair are now stuck together trying to stay alive and dealing with the aftermath of distrust between them, and the fact they tried to kill each other. If their "high" confessions erase the slate I fear I will not be able to reinvest in their relationship, no matter how good the chemistry. 

[moonorchid]

I never considered continued resentment being a possible season 2 thing. Honestly the way the finale went, it felt like a cleansing. I don’t need this to carry over and for me, FOR ME, the chemistry has made me forgive a lot of things in many shows and the few complaints I have about Mr and Mrs Smith I forgive because of Donald and mayas chemistry.

I really need this season 2 announcement soon.