Who said motherhood must hamper a flourishing career in espionage? Black Doves, Netflix’s latest spy thriller, thrusts Keira Knightley, better known for her roles in Regency-era England, into the world of high-stakes espionage as Helen Webb: an ostensibly loving wife, a mother of two, and a highly skilled international spy.
Set against the glittering backdrop of Christmastime London, Black Doves attempts to blend spy thriller and murder mystery with a lighthearted tone. When Helen discovers that her adulterous lover has been murdered, she embarks on a perilous quest to uncover the culprit.
The series never quite makes up its mind about who Helen truly is — and perhaps she herself doesn’t know either. On the surface, Helen is a devoted wife and loving mother. Her relationship with her husband, Wallace, a man she initially met as part of a mission to spy on him, began with genuine affection. Handsome, ambitious, and caring, Wallace offers little reason for Helen’s betrayal. Not to mention the two children they’ve had together. Yet, the series asks viewers to believe she throws it all away for an affair born of happenstance when this would-be lover spills her coffee. The recklessness borders on sociopathy.
Worse still is her obsessive determination to pursue her lover’s killers, even as her actions increasingly jeopardize her family. In Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors, the protagonist Judah hires a hitman to eliminate his mistress out of a twisted sense of self-preservation; here, Helen risks her children’s safety in a pursuit that feels driven by irrational passion. The echoes of Sandra Oh’s character in Killing Eve are hard to miss, as Helen, too, allows her obsession to overshadow the people she supposedly holds dear.
The series boasts strong performances, not only from Knightley but also from its supporting cast, particularly Ben Whishaw as Sam, Helen’s hitman mentor and partner. Sam adds a dose of complexity, grappling with his own double life: balancing contract killing with his convoluted love life, where he pretends to be an insurance salesman. A particularly clever detail is his penchant for sparkling wine, subtly hinting at his acceptance of the brevity of life, especially in his line of work. It’s a nuanced and clever touch that adds depth to his character, even when the writing falters elsewhere.
One such faltering moment is Helen’s foray into espionage. Initially applying for a translator job, she is denied due to her stepsister’s incarceration. “We have a policy; we don’t hire someone with these kinds of family complications,” the interviewer says, a dubious assertion under U.K. labor laws. Moments later, the same interviewer decides Helen is an ideal candidate for international espionage. This rushed and implausible recruitment process sets the tone for much of the series.
That said, Black Doves never feels dull. Its six-episode run is packed with enough action, wit, and banter to sustain interest, even if the story occasionally strains credulity. While British crime dramas often eschew firearms — even U.K. police are typically armed with batons — Black Doves takes a different approach, featuring shootouts as common as candy, even in broad daylight. This stylistic choice, while entertaining, sacrifices some of the quaint aesthetic that typically defines British thrillers.
The show makes excellent use of its festive setting, with a soundtrack suffused with Christmas classics that amplify dramatic tension in creative ways. One standout moment is the use of Johnny Cash’s “Little Drummer Boy” in Episode 4, where the tender ballad contrasts sharply with a chaotic gunfight at a discotheque.
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Ultimately, Black Doves is an engaging series with a compelling cast but is often undermined by poor writing and a middling narrative. Another glaring example is when a professional killer, Elmore, is overpowered by Helen in her own home despite his size and preparation. The absurdity escalates as Helen shushes him to avoid waking her family before marching him to a shed for execution. Similarly, her lack of basic security — no alarms in a home where she stores an arsenal of firearms — feels inconsistent with her supposedly cautious nature. Not to mention the fact that her husband is a minister in the prime minister’s Cabinet.
Despite its implausible twists and tonal inconsistencies, Black Doves maintains enough charm to keep viewers hooked. Knightley’s strong performance, bolstered by an equally engaging supporting cast, lends depth to a show that struggles to settle on a clear identity. Equal parts intrigue and absurdity, it’s an entertaining watch if you are willing to suspend disbelief, but it never quite lives up to its own lofty ambitions.
Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) is a film critic for the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a computer engineer in Toronto, pursuing his MBA.
This article was originally published at www.washingtonexaminer.com
