Season 1 - 6 episodes (2024 December 5)Watch Black Doves on Netflix
Created by: Joe Barton
Starring: Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire, Andrew Buchan, Andrew Koji
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
When a spy posing as a politician's wife learns her lover has been murdered by the dangerous London underworld, an old assassin friend joins her on a quest for truth and vengeance.
Verdict
While it's a competent spy thriller, the characters, development, and writing are all top notch. All of these characters are resigned to their fates, but what drives each episode is how characters' pasts and their previous choices drive their current decisions. This is best encapsulated in the standout third episode. While not every episode reaches that level, it's an enjoyable show.
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Review
While Netflix shows often seem to get canceled prematurely, Season 2 has already been confirmed.
Helen (Keira Knightley) leads a double life as a mother and spy. She works for an organization, Black Doves, that sells secrets to the highest bidder. When she's linked to a civil servant that's murdered, she feels obligated to investigate. That goes awry and she calls Sam (Ben Whishaw) who she hasn't seen in seven years to bail her out.
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| Ben Wishaw, Keira Knightley play Sam, Helen |
All of these spies are so matter of fact and aware that their line of work can be fatal. The common refrain is don't get sentimental, which ironically is the reason Helen is embroiled in this mess. I like the dialog in the show, though the spies talk more than they would in reality. Life isn't about sounding cool. Even the side characters are developed well.
While this is an occupation where sentimentality can be detrimental, people just want a connection. Helen confided in Jason (Andrew Koji), something she didn't even reveal to her husband. Did that play a factor in what followed? Helen seeks answers on what happened to Jason while Sam is tasked with completing a job for an old employer that connects to Jason. Why was Jason killed?
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| Ben Whishaw, Gabrielle Creevy, Ella Lily Hyland play Sam, Eleanor, Williams |
I did wonder if Helen has been dormant since the kids. How would she be able to leave at any moment? Even during this show her frequent disappearances you'd think would raise questions. Who keeps the kids? Is she getting information from her husband? I'd assume she is but we never see her probing.
The third episode is a standout. I like Wishaw's character a lot, and that one is his episode. Each episode mixes past and present. Shows often use this as a gimmick or to pad run time, but in this show it's integral to the character's backstory and their present decisions. It all ties together and we learn why Sam was quick to help Helen when she was compromised in the first episode. The episode is a masterful intersection of Sam's first hit, the code, the job, and his current task. This episode hits all the beats. This episode makes it worth watching alone.
In episode five we finally start to get answers and why all of these events unfolded. In the final episode all the main players meet up. While we finally get the answers, this does leave it open for the next season. I enjoyed the show, and I really liked the dialog. A lot of it is fun and clever, though these are some talkative spies and assassins.
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