'Black Doves' review: Netflix series packs action, humor into six episodes
Another week, another slick and pricey-looking spy thriller streaming series. This time around it’s the fast-paced and twisty, exciting and at times wickedly funny "Black Doves" on Netflix, and good on you, "Black Doves"! You get high grades for virtually all the entries on the Spy Thriller Series checklist:Do we have a top-level star creating a memorable character while leading a terrific ensemble? Check! Keira Knightley, who often seems to be changing from one period-piece drama costume to another — "Pride and Prejudice," "Anna Karenina," "King Arthur," 'The Duchess" et al., — turns in some of the finest work of her career as a present-day wife and mother who also happens to be a badass operative for a covert organization known as the Black Doves.Are the flashbacks used judiciously, and do they contribute to the richness of the storylines, as opposed to so many streaming series that bombard us with a dizzying overload of flashbacks executed mostly for the sake of style? Yes, to the former!Is the series stretched out to nine or 10 chapters, when the plot would have been better served with tighter editing and a more succinct plotline? A resounding no. "Black Doves" packs in a TON of story in just six episodes and wraps things up in satisfying fashion — and yet leaves the door open for more cloak-and-dagger intrigue, and in fact Netflix has already renewed the series. 'Black Doves' Season 1’s six episodes available Thursday on Netflix. The great thing here is that while "Black Doves" indeed follows and nails the formula for this genre, it constantly upends our expectations and plays with the style in admirably creative fashion. One minute, we’re at a lavish cocktail party; the next, we’re in the middle of hand-to-hand combat that plays like something out of a "Bourne" movie. For as long as Knightley and co-star Ben Whishaw (in my favorite Ben Whishaw performance to date) are committed to this series, count me in as well.Season One is set in London at Christmastime, but don’t expect Andrew Lincoln to show up on Keira Knightley’s doorstep with cards telling her, TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT. Knightley is Helen Webb, the beautiful and charming wife of the U.K. Defence Secretary Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan), that rare politician who is widely popular and respected and will likely be calling 10 Downing Street home for Helen and himself and their adorable twins in the near future. Helen seems well-suited to her comfortable and traditional and old-school standing as the woman behind the man, but here’s the thing: She’s also a longstanding member of the secret espionage organization, as Helen happens to possess a very particular set of skills, which we learn more about in flashback. (Her real name isn’t even Helen.) Related ‘Boston Strangler’ review: Keira Knightley puts in the work as reporter on the trail of a killer The Black Doves have no political affiliation, no prime ideology. As Helen’s manipulative and mysterious and all-knowing supervisor Reed (a brilliant Sarah Lancashire) explains it, the Black Doves are masters at obtaining information — and then they sell that information to the highest bidder, and they move on. That’s the game. That’s the job.Ben Whishaw tackles the somewhat clichéd role of the Assassin Who Develops a Conscience and turns it into something special. Whishaw plays Sam Young, a dashing, champagne-sipping killer who’s as fast with a quip as he is with a gun. In flashbacks, we see Sam training Helen, who becomes his best friend and his partner in secrecy. (Sam also has a double life, as his friends and his romantic partner believe he’s a mild-mannered sophisticate who travels a lot because he’s in ... insurance.) Sam (Ben Whishaw, right) keeps his life in espionage secret from partner Michael (Omari Douglas).Netflix "Black Doves" announces itself as a gripping gut-punch of an espionage saga in the early going, when a civil servant named Jason Davies (Andrew Koji) and two of Jason’s associates are assassinated on the same night. Turns out Helen h
Another week, another slick and pricey-looking spy thriller streaming series. This time around it’s the fast-paced and twisty, exciting and at times wickedly funny "Black Doves" on Netflix, and good on you, "Black Doves"! You get high grades for virtually all the entries on the Spy Thriller Series checklist:
- Do we have a top-level star creating a memorable character while leading a terrific ensemble? Check! Keira Knightley, who often seems to be changing from one period-piece drama costume to another — "Pride and Prejudice," "Anna Karenina," "King Arthur," 'The Duchess" et al., — turns in some of the finest work of her career as a present-day wife and mother who also happens to be a badass operative for a covert organization known as the Black Doves.
- Are the flashbacks used judiciously, and do they contribute to the richness of the storylines, as opposed to so many streaming series that bombard us with a dizzying overload of flashbacks executed mostly for the sake of style? Yes, to the former!
- Is the series stretched out to nine or 10 chapters, when the plot would have been better served with tighter editing and a more succinct plotline? A resounding no. "Black Doves" packs in a TON of story in just six episodes and wraps things up in satisfying fashion — and yet leaves the door open for more cloak-and-dagger intrigue, and in fact Netflix has already renewed the series.
The great thing here is that while "Black Doves" indeed follows and nails the formula for this genre, it constantly upends our expectations and plays with the style in admirably creative fashion. One minute, we’re at a lavish cocktail party; the next, we’re in the middle of hand-to-hand combat that plays like something out of a "Bourne" movie. For as long as Knightley and co-star Ben Whishaw (in my favorite Ben Whishaw performance to date) are committed to this series, count me in as well.
Season One is set in London at Christmastime, but don’t expect Andrew Lincoln to show up on Keira Knightley’s doorstep with cards telling her, TO ME, YOU ARE PERFECT. Knightley is Helen Webb, the beautiful and charming wife of the U.K. Defence Secretary Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan), that rare politician who is widely popular and respected and will likely be calling 10 Downing Street home for Helen and himself and their adorable twins in the near future. Helen seems well-suited to her comfortable and traditional and old-school standing as the woman behind the man, but here’s the thing: She’s also a longstanding member of the secret espionage organization, as Helen happens to possess a very particular set of skills, which we learn more about in flashback. (Her real name isn’t even Helen.)
The Black Doves have no political affiliation, no prime ideology. As Helen’s manipulative and mysterious and all-knowing supervisor Reed (a brilliant Sarah Lancashire) explains it, the Black Doves are masters at obtaining information — and then they sell that information to the highest bidder, and they move on. That’s the game. That’s the job.
Ben Whishaw tackles the somewhat clichéd role of the Assassin Who Develops a Conscience and turns it into something special. Whishaw plays Sam Young, a dashing, champagne-sipping killer who’s as fast with a quip as he is with a gun. In flashbacks, we see Sam training Helen, who becomes his best friend and his partner in secrecy. (Sam also has a double life, as his friends and his romantic partner believe he’s a mild-mannered sophisticate who travels a lot because he’s in ... insurance.)
"Black Doves" announces itself as a gripping gut-punch of an espionage saga in the early going, when a civil servant named Jason Davies (Andrew Koji) and two of Jason’s associates are assassinated on the same night. Turns out Helen had a special connection to Jason, and the killings could be related to the death of the Chinese ambassador (Andy Cheung) and the disappearance of the ambassador’s party-girl daughter Kai-Ming (Isabella Wei). Further complicating matters, our man Sam, who has become estranged from his partner Michael (Omari Douglas) in the interest of preserving Michael’s life, learns it’s time to pay the debt he owes to the erudite and terrifyingly calm Lenny (Kathryn Hunter, great), the boss he betrayed many years ago.
There’s a lot to unpack in "Black Doves," but the various machinations and shock-developments are handled in a clear-cut fashion that makes it relatively easy to follow along. This is simply one of the best and most entertaining spy thriller series of the 2020s.
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