Like the title of this review says, Black Doves season 1 proves that Keira Knightley is still that girl. For a millennial like me, I met Knightley as Elizabeth Swann in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. In anyone else’s hands Elizabeth would have been a kicka** but forgettable character, especially with so many other big personalities in that movie. Knightley transformed Elizabeth into someone fearless yet tender but also someone who was willing to risk everything for love and who was endlessly clever. She made her memorable and unlike any woman I’d seen in film at that time. I feel the same way for her character Helen in Netflix’s new spy drama Black Doves.
By no means is a spy like Helen an original idea. We’ve seen so many undercover spy dramas in our lifetime that I can admit I brushed this show off in the beginning. But it’s Knightley that I took a chance with, and I’m glad I did. Her Helen is poised but cutthroat, full of wrath but realistic, and vulgar yet romantic. She is a collection of characteristics that you usually don’t see Hollywood giving women a chance to be on screen. Either you’re a homemaker with a heart of gold or you’re cold, precise, and forceful. It’s like Hollywood thinks that we are one extreme or another. Like we can’t have multitudes. We can. And like Helen, we can be the spy who has her adventures cut midway because one of the kids wants to check in. That feels real.
While Knightley was the one who hooked me when it came to Black Doves, Ben Whishaw is also the reason I stayed. His Sam was just as vulgar, cutthroat, and romantic as Helen. But he gave her perspective on life. And he brought this precision to the work they do while also being a mess like Helen. Their bond and how they came to bat for each other became the actual heart of Black Doves. At some points in this show I didn’t even care for the general plot of what was going on in the background with the Chinese ambassador and political intrigue. All I cared about was Helen and Sam and if they were going to survive to the end of the season. Because this was the big love story. Not their previous partners or their current ones. They were the thing that you wanted to cheer on.
And cheer on I did. Whether Helen and Sam were doing stupid things like trying to break into a US embassy in London like there were no cameras or they accidentally set off a shootout between two different factions of agents, I cheered them on. Because this show isn’t perfect and I do feel that it’s heavy-handed with some of its messages when it comes to the government conspiracies or who the bad guys really are. But all of that was forgivable because Knightley and Whishaw did such a good job engaging the viewer with their portrayal of Helen and Sam. And I’m not just talking about them together. Separately they also brought it, weaving together a story of pain, loss, and just trying to find a place in a world that is cold and unforgiving.
In many respects, Black Doves reminds me of why I liked The Diplomat so much. I do think that a show like The Diplomat is a little bit more straight laced. It also follows a stricter set of rules when it comes to show setup. But both shows feature women characters who are not just one-sided extremes when it comes to telling women stories. Keri Russell’s Kate Wyler and Keira Knightley’s Helen are effective women characters who are opinionated. They’re also intolerant of people’s stupidity, go the extra mile, and play the game they’ve found themselves in with poise. But also with the strength of a hammer. And they do it all, not because a man is their core motivation, as Hollywood would always have it be.
Helen and Kate do what they do because they want to. They see the picture and the world for what it is. And they play the game as women paving the way so the next women character isn’t so groundbreaking or different. She just is. All women are.
Black Doves season 1 is available on Netflix.
What did you think of Black Doves season 1? Let us know in the comments below!
Need more Black Doves? Read all of our reviews for season 1!
- Black Doves Season 1 Episode 1 Review: ‘To Love Then’
- Black Doves Season 1 Episode 2 Review: ‘A Little Black Dove’
- Black Doves Season 1 Episode 3 Review: ‘The Coming Night’
- Black Doves Season 1 Episode 4 Review: ‘Go Bang Time’
- Black Doves Season 1 Episode 5 Review: ‘The Cost of It All’
- Black Doves Season 1 Episode 6 Review: ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’
