Posted by The series on Amazon Prime Video leaves many aspects open: let’s understand who HiHi is in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, and who’s behind the company.
Although the idea has been portrayed on screen many times, Amazon Prime’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” has surprisingly managed to offer an original, exciting story for the modern audience. The merit undoubtedly goes to the director and protagonist Donald Glover, but also to the many guest stars appearing in the episodes: in order of appearance, Alexander Skarsgård, Eiza González, Paul Dano, John Turturro, Sharon Horgan, Billy Campbell, Sarah Paulson, Úrsula Corberó, Ron Perlman, and Michaela Coel has provided the real added value to the TV show, triggering the fun of the discover at each new episode.
Another thing that made the series so enjoyable was its extraordinary modernity. The show’s plot offered an incredible series of new elements, not only strictly related to the action but also giving a new dimension to the relationship between the protagonists: John and Jane’s psychological traits, the way they evolve and interact as a couple transformed the show in something more than a spy story.
Another element of modernity in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” is the setting where the two spies act: their bosses are not “simply” secret service agencies or private agencies, there is a veil of mystery around the Company and HiHi, the nickname used for who’s behind the screen chat. Even here, the idea is to add a futuristic value to the plot: the technology used allows the two spies to work without really knowing who they work for. Is it a post-9/11 intelligence group, as John believes? Or is it some non-governmental agency pursuing private targets?
The mystery around the Company and HiHi in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” is so thick because the plot intentionally wanted to leave the question open. The conversation we see in the final episode is enlightening: the other Smiths even think “Supe” (the way they nicknamed the boss) is a God, for how he always knows what will happen even before it actually happens. From that surreal exchange, we understand that HiHi is destined to remain the most significant dark spot of the series.
That’s also why Donald Glover had fun with HiHi on social networks. In the week of the show’s release, a sequence of strange events happened in New York: Tyra Banks was ambushed by two individuals dressed as furries, and the New York Comedy Club was interrupted by an alleged security problem. All those strange cases were documented by Vulture in this article, and later on, a mysterious Instagram account called @Hi_Hi_ posted evidence about its involvement. The video below, posted by HiHi the day “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” was released, reveals that the furries were on a mission guided by the Company in the series.
This means only one thing: we will never know who HiHi is. However, those who paid attention have noticed an interesting detail: the way HiHi chats through the screen doesn’t look human. His answer is always immediate, and the text appears on the chat progressively, as modern generative AIs do. This could mean the Company – and HiHi – is an advanced artificial intelligence using humans for its purposes. He is probably the closest thing to God in a futuristic world: an entity with immediate knowledge of everything and an incredible amount of information at his disposal.
If that’s true, there is no government agency behind the screen, and all the Smiths in the series’ universe are pawns in the hands of artificial intelligence. That would also justify the sensation viewers have about the lack of meaning behind every mission: there is no obvious purpose behind the tasks John and Jane are called to follow, and the primary impression is that everything they do is a test for them. In some way, HiHI assigns the missions to challenge how they evolve in their relationship. An AI playing with humans as they are its test subjects? That would perfectly fit the futurism behind “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” explaining the mystery behind the Company and HiHi.
