David Harbour's Stranger Things Follow-Up Series On HBO Max Is A Perfect Murder Mystery

After nearly a decade of playing Jim Hopper in Netflix's hugely successful "Stranger Things," and also starting his tenure as Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe ("Black Widow," "What If...," "Thunderbolts*," and "Marvel Zombies") during the same time, David Harbour has surprised fans this spring with a completely different role in a dark comedy and murder mystery limited series streaming on HBO Max. Harbour plays Floyd Smernitch in Steve Conrad's seven-episode "DTF St. Louis," a massive pivot from playing characters who are there to help save the day (especially in "Stranger Things") or provide some comic relief (in Marvel's movies and TV shows).

Unlike Hopper and Shostakov, Smernitch isn't an action character. He's a middle-aged man, working at a TV station in St. Louis, and living in an unhappy marriage. Harbour's Floyd dies early in the "DTF St. Louis" show, which is what may be expected from some murder mysteries. This isn't a spoiler for the popular HBO Max series, as the character's death is revealed from the start of the official trailer (below). Conrad, who wrote and directed the series, wants the audience to know who the victim is as early as possible, so the guessing game can start.

The synopsis of "DTF St. Louis" offers the same spoiler, adding an extra detail that should spice up the story further. HBO described the show as "a limited series about a love triangle between three adults experiencing middle-age malaise that leads to one of them ending up dead." In other words, Harbour is just one of the show's big stars.

Trying to figure out who killed Harbour's character is all the more fun considering the love triangle detail, and especially given the rest of the cast of "DTF St. Louis." Harbour stars opposite Jason Bateman ("Ozark," "Black Rabbit"), who plays Clark Forrest, a weatherman and friend of Floyd. Linda Cardellini ("Hawkeye," "No Good Deed") plays Floyd's wife, Carol Love-Smernitch. Clark and Carol end up having an affair, so they'll be the main suspects for the untimely death of Harbour's character, both for the audience and the cops investigating the murder in the show. Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday play the investigators who will try to solve this puzzle before you do. Peter Sarsgaard and Chris Perfetti round out the amazing cast of "DTF St. Louis."

As fans might have guessed, the seven episodes of "DTF St. Louis" aren't linear, considering Harbour's character dies in the first episode. Conrad's story will explore the characters at various points in time throughout the series, as the murder mystery gets closer to revealing who killed Floyd. Cardellini said as much in an interview with Reuters ahead of the show's premiere, teasing that what's fascinating about "DTF St. Louis" is "how Steve Conrad has drawn these characters and put them in a timeline that is not very linear." The actress added that the show is "an exploration of people looking for connection," not just a murder mystery, echoing Harbour's comments to Reuters about "DTF St. Louis." "Underneath it, there's a deeply human sort of need for connection and friendship," Harbour said.

"What the superpower of the show is is that everybody is so sort of human and open that it's so cringy to watch how sweet and decent these people are trying to incorporate a little bit of a spicier lane into their life," Jason Bateman said on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" about the show. "It's something we all kind of think about, but these sweet ding-dongs, they go for it, and it's not comfortable." Later in the same interview, Jimmy Kimmel pointed out to Bateman that he was talking about the dark comedy as if the actor wasn't in "DTF St. Louis" and he was admiring a production he wished he starred in.

It's not just the stars of "DTF St. Louis" that have praised the show. Critics' reviews averaged 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the IMDb average rating is at 7.2 out of 10. The average IMDb rating for the seven episodes is 7.5 out of 10. The March 1 "DTF St. Louis" premiere drew in 2.5 million viewers between HBO and HBO Max in the first three days, according to Variety. Warner Bros. said in mid-April that the series finale of "DTF St. Louis" registered 3.5 million viewers in the U.S. in the first three days. Episodes averaged 6.5 million viewers, seeing continued growth, as of mid-April 2026.

"DTF St. Louis" was the second most-watched HBO Max TV series following its premiere, topping the charts by March 10, 2026. About a month later, the show was number three globally on HBO Max, dropping to number five globally by late April. The continued interest in "DTF St. Louis," and the praise from the actors and reviewers should make the limited series a fun murder mystery to binge.