Black Doves review

Here is a Black Doves review of the latest show on Netflix where Keira Knightley makes her first foray into television as Helen Webb.

She is the loving wife of the UK’s Defence Minister, or is she Daisy Bradshaw, a long-term operative for a shadowy organization known as the Black Doves?

When her lover is murdered, Helen sets off on a righteous spree of vengeance. She is aided by her former trainer Sam Young, played by the unlikely Ben Whishaw, who comes out of forced retirement for the only friend he’s ever had.

Together, they uncover a conspiracy that brings China and the United States to the brink of war, with the UK caught in the crossfire. 

Black Doves Trailer and Plot

While the plot description makes Black Doves sound like a rollicking spy thriller, and it is, creator Joe Barton is much more interested in the fatally flawed humans at the center of this story.

Barton shows a willingness to defy genre expectations and inject empathy into what could have been stock characters.

Both Helen and Sam are struggling to come to terms with lost love.

And while it’s a pleasure to see Knightley sink her teeth into a meaty role, it’s Whishaw who is the emotional core of the show.

Whishaw’s Sam is an open wound, supremely competent but completely broken by the devastating impact that his profession has had on the love of his life.

A lesser actor would have made the easy action-hero choice of showcasing Sam’s anger and frustration, but Whishaw chooses to focus on the hurt.

A stellar scene in the second episode where a mobster threatens his ex while the camera slowly pushes in on Whishaw’s expressive eyes shows why he is one of the finest actors working today.

Whishaw (and the writing) elevate what should have been a perfectly cromulent action romp.

The show has 6 episodes, thankfully avoiding the now-trademarked Netflix bloat. Barton’s use of a dual timeline structure, similar to Citadel: Honey Bunny, showing the audience the evolution of Helen and Sam’s relationship in parallel to the present, helps keep things fresh.

The story also gets a jolt of excitement from occasional detours into the trials and tribulations of Williams, one-half of an enforcer duo, played by a scene-stealing Ella Lily Hyland who deserves a spin-off of her own.

However, one must take offense at the criminal underuse of the great Sarah Lancashire as the Black Dove handler, Mrs. Reed.