Floyd Smernitch is dead. That’s not a spoiler. By the time Episode 1 of DTF St. Louisis complete, the wholesome, lovable, out-of-shape character played by David Harbour has already passed away. The latest HBO miniseries follows the unusual circumstances surrounding the suburban stepdad’s untimely death. However, the story isn’t told in a linear fashion. With four episodes having aired, the series is revealing more and more about each character in the months, weeks, and days leading up to the moment police find the body. In Floyd’s case, each episode continues to highlight just how good of a friend, husband, and father figure he truly was.
The inevitability of Floyd’s death makes audiences feel even more empathy towards this character. And why not? He’s the perfectly written protagonist. Both Floyd’s loyalty and acts of kindness are the proof in the pudding that he’s a good guy. Whether it’s something low-key like bringing cornhole boards over to Clark’s house for a party, or more important acts such as teaching Clark ASL in his free time. It’s easy to see why Floyd is such a likable human. Not to mention the way he cares for his family. He’s not just the stepdad, Floyd truly is the dad who stepped up. He’s seemingly the only person who can reach his wife’s son Richard on an emotional level. With that much depth, it’s time we said goodbye to the David Harbour characters of old.Violent Night, Stranger Things, Black Widow, say hello to Floyd Smernitch.
Floyd Has Everything to Live for in This World That HBO Has Created
David Harbour as Floyd posing in a hip-hop dance class with three kids in DTF St. LouisImage via HBO
Kudos to creator Steven Conradfor developing this character in a way that’s reassuring to audiences. In all likelihood, Floyd Smernitch did not take his own life. There is comfort in that assumption. Floyd loves his job as an ASL interpreter. He loves his wife even when she treats him poorly and wears her umpire gear around the house. He loves his stepson, and is willing to go to therapy in order to work on their strained relationship. He loves Clark like a brother. The big takeaway is that Floyd’s capacity to love is greater than any other character in this series. That’s not the kind of person who typically chooses to take their own life.
Even when life is difficult, Floyd never stops searching for the joy in the world. He buys Carol earrings even though they are struggling with money. He calls her Carol Love, which is not only her maiden name, but he’s turned it into a term of endearment. He spends time supporting and getting to know Richard on a personal level. His mantra during gym sessions with Clark is “B out the B,” which stands for “Bring out the best.” There’s no other character as genuinely kind-hearted in this twisted suburban setting that HBO has created.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Ten questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix 🔥Mad Max 🌧️Blade Runner 🏜️Dune 🚀Star Wars
01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04 Which of these comes most naturally to you? Your strongest skill is your best survival asset — use it accordingly.
05 How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
06 Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
07 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
08 A comfortable lie or a devastating truth — which can you actually live with? Some worlds offer one. Some offer the other. Very few offer both.
09 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
10 What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for.
💊 The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things, the places where the official version doesn’t quite line up. In the Matrix, that instinct is the difference between life and permanent digital sedation. You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you. The machines built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
🔥 Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you. You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
🌧️ Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either. In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
🏜️ Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, pattern recognition, political awareness, and an understanding that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic, earn its respect, and perhaps, in time, reshape it entirely.
🚀 Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re someone who finds meaning in being part of something larger than yourself. You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken. Whatever you are, you fight. And in Star Wars, that willingness is what makes the difference.
Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive?
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival QuizWhich Sci-Fi WorldWould You Survive?The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Ten questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
Test Your Survival →
01 You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do?The first instinct is often the truest one.
APull on every thread until I understand the system — then figure out how to break it.BStop asking questions and start stockpiling — food, fuel, weapons. Questions don’t keep you alive.CKeep my head down, observe carefully, and trust no one until I know who’s pulling the strings.DStudy the patterns. Every system has a rhythm — learn it, and you learn how to survive it.EFind the people fighting back and join them. You can’t fix a broken galaxy alone.
Next Question →
02 In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely?What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
AKnowledge. If you understand the system, you don’t need resources — you can generate them.BFuel. Everything else — movement, power, escape — runs on it.CTrust. In a world of fakes and informants, a truly reliable ally is rarer than any commodity.DWater. And after water, information — the two things empires are truly built on.EShips and credits. The galaxy is big — you survive it by being able to move through it freely.
Next Question →
03 What kind of threat keeps you up at night?Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
AThat reality itself is a lie — that everything I experience has been constructed to keep me compliant.BA raid. No warning, no mercy — just the roar of engines and then nothing left.CBeing identified. Once someone with power decides you’re a problem, you’re already out of time.DBeing outmanoeuvred — losing a political game I didn’t even know I was playing.EThe Empire tightening its grip until there’s nowhere left to run.
Next Question →
04 Which of these comes most naturally to you?Your strongest skill is your best survival asset — use it accordingly.
AHacking, pattern recognition, finding the exploit in any system — digital or human.BMechanical skill — I can strip an engine, rig a weapon, or fix anything with whatever’s around.CReading people — knowing when someone’s lying, hiding something, or about to run.DDiscipline and endurance — mental and physical. I outlast things rather than overpower them.EPiloting, navigation, knowing how to get from A to B when every route is dangerous.
Next Question →
05 How do you deal with authority you don’t trust?Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
ASubvert it from the inside — learn its rules well enough to weaponise them against it.BIgnore it and stay out of its reach. The further from any power structure, the better.CAppear to comply while doing exactly what I need to do. Visibility is the enemy.DManoeuvre within it carefully. You can’t beat a system you refuse to understand.EResist openly when I have to. Some things are worth the risk of being seen.
Next Question →
06 Which environment could you actually endure long-term?Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
AUnderground bunkers and server rooms — cramped, artificial, but with access to everything that matters.BOpen wasteland — brutal sun, no shelter, constant movement. At least the threat is honest.CA dense, rain-soaked city where you can disappear into the crowd and nobody asks questions.DMerciless desert — extreme heat, no water, and something enormous living beneath the sand.EThe fringe — backwater planets and busy spaceports where the Empire’s attention rarely reaches.
Next Question →
07 Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart?The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
AA tight crew of believers who’ve seen behind the curtain and have nothing left to lose.BOne or two people I’d trust with my life. Any more than that and someone talks.CNobody, ideally. Alliances are liabilities. I work alone unless I have no choice.DA community bound by shared hardship and mutual survival — people who need each other to last.EA ragtag team with wildly different skills and total commitment when it counts.
Next Question →
08 A comfortable lie or a devastating truth — which can you actually live with?Some worlds offer one. Some offer the other. Very few offer both.
AThe truth, no matter the cost. I’d rather live in a brutal reality than a beautiful cage.BNeither — truth and lies are luxuries. What matters is surviving the next hour.CI’ve learned to live with ambiguity. Some truths don’t have clean answers.DThe truth — but deployed strategically. Knowing something others don’t is power.EThe truth. Even when it means confronting something in yourself you’d rather leave buried.
Next Question →
09 Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all?Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
AI won’t harm the innocent — even the ones who’d report me without hesitation.BI do what I have to to protect the people I’ve chosen. Everything else is negotiable.CThe line shifts depending on who’s asking and what’s at stake.DI draw a long-term line — nothing that compromises my people’s future, even if it’d help now.ESome lines, once crossed, can’t be uncrossed. I know which ones they are.
Next Question →
10 What would actually make survival worth it?Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
AWaking others up — dismantling the illusion so no one else has to live inside it.BFinding somewhere — or someone — worth protecting. A reason to keep moving.CAnswers. Understanding what I am, what any of this means, before time runs out.DLegacy — shaping the future in a way that outlasts me by generations.EFreedom — for myself, for others, for every world still living under someone else’s boot.
Reveal My World →
Your Fate Has Been CalculatedYou’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for.
💊 The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things, the places where the official version doesn’t quite line up. In the Matrix, that instinct is the difference between life and permanent digital sedation. You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you. The machines built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
🔥 Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you. You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon. You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it. You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
🌧️ Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely. You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer. In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional. You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either. In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
🏜️ Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards. Patience, discipline, pattern recognition, political awareness, and an understanding that the long game matters more than any single victory. Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic, earn its respect, and perhaps, in time, reshape it entirely.
🚀 Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re someone who finds meaning in being part of something larger than yourself. You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken. Whatever you are, you fight. And in Star Wars, that willingness is what makes the difference.
↩ Retake Quiz
Floyd Takes His Role As Stepfather Very Seriously
Floyd (David Harbour) hugging Richard (Arlan Ruf) during therapy in ‘DTF St. Louis.’Image via HBO
After four episodes, DTF St. Louis has revealed very little information about Carol’s former marriage and Richard’s biological father. None of that matters to Floyd. In fact, he jumps right into the father figure role as early as Episode 1 of the series. Floyd goes as far as to emphasize to Richard, “I want to be around for a long time because of you.” The sentiment is incredibly thoughtful and kind, even more so given that their relationship is still awkward and a bit uncomfortable.
Floyd’s care could be mistaken as fake or phony, but it is genuine. When their therapy sessions start to get stale, the father/son duo begin spending time with one another at a local park. Floyd also takes Richard to visit a potential new private school. One of Floyd’s biggest financial concerns was how to afford tuition so that Richard might be able to thrive. Not to mention, Floyd insists on letting Richard continue to wear his bizarre fishing vest to school, even against Carol’s wishes. These aren’t the actions of someone feigning love or pretending to care about a kid just to impress the mother.
David Harbour Brings a Softness to This Character That He Hasn’t Shown in Previous Roles
David Harbour is known for portraying the rugged, strong, masculine characters who usually have a chip on their shoulder. His resume is chock-full of these roles. Look at Jim Hopper in Stranger Things, Alexei in Thunderbolts*, even Santa Claus in Violent Night. These are all very sharp characters, and that’s been Harbour’s bread and butter. The role of Floyd Smernitch is completely refreshing. Although he may look like the burly David Harbour that audiences have come to expect, Floyd is a big, cuddly teddy bear with an even bigger heart.
Credit where credit is due, Harbour does a wonderful job of toning down the aggressive nature that he carries in most of his roles. The softening of those edges makes Floyd incredibly relatable. He also brings a much-needed comedic relief to a dark murder mystery. Unfortunately, those characteristics make his death even more tragic. The contrast of Harbour’s brilliant performance against the likes of his costars Linda Cardellini and Jason Bateman only amplifies the goodness in Floyd. David Harbour continues to dig deeper, and he’s only going to get better as the series moves along.
As a miniseries, it’s very likely that DTF St. Louis will close up shop after one season. There’s no doubt, however, that Floyd Smernitch has etched his name as one of the most interesting, wholesome, and genuine characters on television. David Harbour deserves recognition for his work on this project, as he brings out the best in his castmates. “B out the B,” as they say.
