Black Doves Season 2 Review: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Black Doves Season 2 is fast, funny, and full of great characters. The plot is silly, and the body count is high, but the cast and the banter make it easy to forgive.
Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
Genre: Spy Thriller, Dark Comedy
Language: English
Creator and Writer: Joe Barton
Directors: Julian Farino, Kieron Hawkes
Cast: Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire, Andrew Buchan, Ambika Mod, Sam Riley
Episodes: 6
Some spy shows are grim and serious. Black Doves is not one of them. It is about tailored suits, secret missions, and a busy mother who sneaks out of fancy parties to shoot Russian henchmen. Season 2 is now on Netflix, and it keeps that mad spirit alive.
When the first season ended, Helen Webb, played by Keira Knightley, had reached the top. Her husband, Wallace, played by Andrew Buchan, becomes Prime Minister, so the family moves into 10 Downing Street.
For the Black Doves, a secret spy group that sells information to the highest bidder, that is a dream. For Helen, it is a headache. She has to handle daily spy work, official events, and late-night missions, all while making sure the school run still happens. Thank goodness for the nanny.
Trouble starts when her handler Reed, played by Sarah Lancashire, goes missing. Her replacement, Mr. Conteh, played by Babou Ceesay, is far less friendly. It turns out Reed was running a private mission linked to her own past, and Helen has been doing jobs without knowing why. Yes, that is an actual plot point.
Meanwhile, Sam, played by Ben Whishaw, is a tired and sad hitman who drinks away his problems. A police interview takes a strange turn when a so-called lawyer, played by Sam Riley, offers to wipe out his charges if he kills four people. Sam has little choice.
With his funny young partners Eleanor and Williams, played by Gabrielle Creevy and Ella Lily Hyland, he starts working through the list. Soon it becomes clear that the targets are linked to whatever Reed was chasing.
The best thing about the season is how much fun everyone seems to be having. Knightley is perfect as a polite woman who handles snooty social circles and then turns into a killer who is mostly annoyed that villains are making her late. Whishaw is the heart of the show.
His Sam is a broken man who plods through every job as if he would not mind if it were his last. Their odd couple bond, and whether it can survive a hail of bullets, is the real story.
The new faces add a lot too. Ambika Mod is a scene-stealer as Laila, a wild assassin who looks down on Helen as a mere “spy wife.” Fans of Killing Eve will enjoy her.
Neve Campbell plays an American envoy who is talented and a bit too privileged, and Sylvia Hoeks also joins the mix. Kathryn Hunter returns as the fierce Lenny, and she is a delight in every scene.
Do not expect realism, though. Characters rarely ask the questions you would expect, and most of them do what they are told until things fall apart. The body count is huge, and the political plots get tangled enough to make your head spin.
But the show never asks you to take any of that seriously. It wants you to enjoy the ride, and the six episodes move at a lovely pace with many cliffhangers. There are small themes about identity and pretending to be someone else, but they stay in the background.
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Black Doves Season 2 is bigger, sillier, and just as stylish. It leaves you hoping for a third season.
Black Doves Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.