Since the golden age of television, HBO has become the absolute winner in the miniseries format. Often owning the Sunday night spot, the streamer has released major shows like the dark and gripping Chernobyl and The Night Of, to contrast with its more popular series like Game of Thrones and The White Lotus. When it comes to crime dramas, HBO remains a very important player. Small-town mysteries like Sharp Objects, Task, and Mare of Easttown are great examples of the streamer’s track record in producing and releasing powerful crime dramas, so much so that viewers have made tuning in to HBO on Sunday nights a tradition. Their latest release, DTF St. Louis, is great proof of this, as the seven-part miniseries has only released its pilot episode, and it’s already #2 on HBO’s list of its most popular shows in the U.S. Starring Jason Bateman and David Harbour, DTF St. Louis will surely become your next addictive Sunday-night watch. It was created by Steven Conrad and features a major supporting cast including Linda Cardellini, Joy Sunday, Richard Jenkins, and Arlan Ruf, among others. Although only the pilot has aired, the series wastes no time getting things moving, and in the fashion of HBO’s mystery shows, the pilot will leave you craving the next episode. In fact, it’s so early into the series that we don’t fully know where it’s going, but we’ve already got some theories.
What Really Happened to Floyd Smernitch?

The following contains spoilers for the pilot of DTF St. Louis.In DTF St. Louis, Floyd Smernitch (Harbour) and Clark Forrest (Bateman) become friends after work brings them together. Floyd is a sign-language interpreter with a rocky marriage, while Clark is a weather reporter who appears to have a perfect life. When Clark talks to Floyd about a new dating app called “DTF St. Louis,” the men bond while secretly using the app. The problem is that Floyd’s corpse is found in a local pool complex soon afterward, and videos suggest Clark may have been involved in his death. As the detectives dig a bit deeper into what appears to be a murder, they find out that the weatherman was closer than usual to Floyd’s wife, Carol (Cardellini). When the affair comes out in the open, he becomes the prime suspect in a murder mystery where secrets lurk beneath the surface. If you have been oblivious to DTF St. Louis, you should do yourself a favor and check out the trailer below for a glimpse of the mystery.
Not Everything Is What It Seems in This Corner of St. Louis

Revealing Floyd’s death in the pilot episode may be a bold narrative choice, as it could be the series’ most important plot device. However, there obviously is something we don’t yet know that will become central to the story. The pilot doesn’t end with the police finding out about Clark’s possible involvement. It ends when Floyd lets Clark know that he’s aware of an affair taking place between him and Carol. Normally, a conclusion like this would drive the story toward Floyd planning revenge. Nevertheless, he becomes the victim of a plot that will be unveiled in future episodes.

For now, DTF St. Louis is a small-town mystery that checks all the boxes of a classic whodunit. However, the first episode got rid of the “who” in the formula, and we’re just left with the many theories of why Floyd died under these horrible circumstances. Clark just doesn’t look like a bad guy. But Carol? That’s where things get a bit complicated, as we don’t know much about Floyd’s wife, who also seems unhappy with her relationship and is not afraid to show it. As Agent Plumb (Sunday) says to Detective Homer (Jenkins), there’s much more to uncover and appearances can be deceiving in the seemingly perfect town of Twyla, Missouri. The plot thickens, but fortunately, we’ll know more when Episode 2 airs this Sunday at 9 PM ET.

Release Date

March 1, 2026

Network

HBO