Black Doves Season 2 Review – A Preposterous Spy Drama Powered by Magnetic Performances
Series 2 of Black Doves pushes its implausible premise to the limit while delivering spine‑tingling performances from Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire.
An Implausible Premise That Refuses to Ground Itself
The new series of the espionage drama Black Doves embraces a level of preposterousness that borders on nihilism. Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) juggles motherhood, a prime‑ministerial marriage and covert missions that involve “bloody slaughter,” all while a nanny—who is secretly another spy—keeps the household running.
The show does not ask viewers to solve the logistical riddles of Helen’s double life; instead, it invites those who enjoy cataloguing the extremes of spy‑drama credulity.
Even the series‑one storyline, which saw Helen tracing the murder of a civil servant she was having an affair with back to a CIA‑Chinese ambassador plot, feels like a warm‑up for the chaos of season 2.
Magnetic Performances Anchor the Chaos
Keira Knightley is “perfect” as a middle‑class woman for whom social performance is second nature, whether she is a gun‑toting spy or not. Ben Whishaw delivers a “magnetic” turn as Sam, the weathered hitman whose melancholy makes him feel like the real victim.
Sarah Lancashire is “predictably spine‑tingling” as Reed, Helen’s cold‑blooded handler. The young assassin duo Eleanor and Williams (Gabrielle Creevy and Ella Lily Hyland) add a cartoonish irreverence, while newcomer Ambika Mod’s Laila brings fresh chaos.
The ensemble creates a “motley crew” that mirrors the show’s tone—a blend of Tarantino‑esque camp, Richard Curtis‑style schmaltz, chilly espionage, hectic farce and wry Britishcore.
Plot Twists That Defy Legal Reality
Series 2 opens with Sam emerging from a flat after a hit, only to be surrounded by police—a rarity in a world where “nobody ever faces any legal repercussions.” A mysterious man (Sam Riley) offers Sam a clean slate in exchange for more cryptic murders.
Meanwhile, Helen, now installed in No 10 with a “wallpaper‑heavy Carrie Johnson‑style refurb,” discovers Reed has gone AWOL. She enlists Sam, his trigger‑happy associates, and Laila to locate her missing handler while evading an MI5 officer who has spotted “major discrepancies” in her backstory.
Even her husband, described as “spectacularly incurious,” finally begins to suspect something is amiss.
Moments of Unexpected Humanity
A standout scene has Williams and Eleanor asking Helen what music she likes; she can only name Olly Murs, prompting the observation that “you can bury your backstory all you like, cringe millennial mum is in your DNA.”
Despite endless gunfights that look impressive, the reviewer notes they are “devoid of jeopardy” because the protagonists are essentially bullet‑proof.
The series also asks whether “lying about your past really make you any less of a devoted wife and mother,” answering “yes” in a straightforward philosophical note.
Friendship as the Show’s Heart
Beyond the absurdity, the drama finds a “poignancy and a message that rings true.” It portrays the friendship between Sam and Helen enduring amid “merciless scheming and grisly horror.” The reviewer concludes that in a world of pain and death, “delight in someone else’s company… is the only happiness we can truly count on.”
