Ride or Die Season 1 is an enjoyable action comedy that refreshingly hinges on female friendship, but the Prime Video show’s fast pace tends to undercut its best intentions. At its best, these eight episodes are a vehicle for the dynamic duo of Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer. Both actresses look as though they had the best time filming Ride or Die. They breathe so much life into their characters’ storied friendship. They make Judith and Debbie’s bond feel believable and solid at its core, even when the show never lets them stand on solid ground–let alone stay in one place–for very long.
More broadly, as someone who wholeheartedly believes that 2015’s Spy is one of the greatest female-led action comedies (and overdue for a sequel), I was always going to watch Ride or Die. At times, I can feel a similar energy emanating from this series. It often feels akin to those in the subgenre from the 2010s. However, more often, these stories center white men in a more dramatic story where women are frequently sidelined to prop up that lead.
Ride or Die is a chance to pace for the spy thriller/action comedy. This show puts Waddingham’s Judith and Spencer’s Debbie at the core of it all. Even the best supporting characters and antagonists are women with interesting motivations that don’t center men. Unfortunately, the season’s pacing often works against Ride or Die’s clear plans for these characters. Luckily, Ride or Die Season 1, Episode 8, “The Song of Deborah,” sets up a second season where everything can hopefully even out. There’s a lot of potential in these eight episodes. I hope Ride or Die gets the chance to do even more with it in future seasons.
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The Action Comedy Peaks with Billy
Ride or Die frequently struggles with balancing its genres and tones. It heavily leans on its dramatic beats, so it takes time to find its comedic voice. There are flashes of it when Debbie is a fish out of water in the spy world at the end of Ride or Die Season 1, Episode 1, “The Book of Judith.” Judith navigating this dangerous spy world while Debbie is literally in the dark in that cupboard is very funny. It’s also such a fun way for the characters to move from one place to the other, all while getting Debbie closer to the truth of Judith’s life.
It’s not until Ride or Die Season 1, Episode 5, “The Count of Monte Carlo,” that the humor comes back around with a more lasting effect. The show needs Ed Skrein’s Billy Donovan to add some levity to Judith and Debbie’s fractured friendship. He pokes at Debbie and pulls at Judith’s heartstrings. From the road trip to the jewels heist and the Lord of the Rings bit, Skrein has excellent timing.
He also plays Billy’s sincerity so well. Skrein makes you care about Billy, whose fate is sealed from the spark (Skrein and Waddingham’s chemistry!) Billy has with Judith. As soon as he starts talking about his backstory in Ride or Die Season 1, Episode 7, “The Geneva Convention,” it’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. He’s always an expendable character. It’s just a shame that Ride or Die loses so much – a humorous backbone and a surprisingly warm heart – with him.
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Too Many Antagonists, Not Enough Time
Billy’s death also underscores the show’s dominant issue–its pacing. It should be a big deal when Judith lets Billy into her life. Unfortunately, there are so few scenes to define their dynamic. Ride or Die frequently puts immense pressure on a limited number of scenes to establish a relationship or stakes. For instance, the mob is meant to be threatening, but Ride or Die fails to convey as much. The characters are too broad, and their arc lasts too long.
That longevity is frustrating when the show keeps pulling focus to more dynamic antagonists, like Anna/Redback. Anna’s motive tracks with the show’s themes of female friendships. It falls apart a bit in practice, though. Ride or Die Season 1, Episode 6, “Moonlight on the Bosphorus,” pulls back time to claim that Judith and Anna are best friends, but it never shows as much. It jumps right to Anna’s jealousy of Debbie, which then feels cartoonishly unfounded. If only Ride or Die engaged with Judith and Anna’s friendship on any deeper level.
If Anna is upset that Judith won’t extend the same loyalty to her, it would be beneficial to see why those differences exist. There’s so little time spent with Judith and Anna in the Agency that their relationship feels practically nonexistent. The same is true of Judith, Anna, and the Director (or Jack). What could be intricate interpersonal drama plays out on the surface. Regardless, Anna is still more interesting, even when she enters mustache-twirling villain territory. Sylvia Hoeks delivers an intriguing, unnerving performance.
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Queenie, Sam, and the Agency Need More
The whole Agency lacks depth and, therefore, any real bite to its bark. Early on, Ride or Die teases this complex, tense relationship between Jack and Judith. It never goes beyond the flashback in Ride or Die Season 1, Episode 4, “The Spanish Prisoner.” Consequently, the reveal that Jack had his recruits returned isn’t shocking in its delivery or an emotional betrayal. It’s expected and disappointing. The same goes for the reveal that Jack is Queenie’s dad. Ride or Die doesn’t even let that mystery have any momentum; there is no other option.
It, like many developments this season, feels emotionally unearned. For example, Queenie and her mother’s argument about truth is the show’s first real attempt to dig into their tension, and Victoria’s death shortly follows it. For Sam, it’s impossible to grasp the conflict between him and his job because of how little of it is shown. Sam spends most of his time isolated in a small room. Amanda is the only other named character at this workplace. So, when Ride or Die tries to build out the power structure above Jack, it doesn’t work because the one under him is a skeleton team. It’s a shame, too, because there’s so much potential with the Agency and between Queenie and Sam.
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Judith and Debbie Are the Love Story
Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer’s easy chemistry fills in the blanks of their characters’ 20+-year friendship. The show needs an episode set in the past, rather than relying on flashbacks as checkpoints. The device is better as a more sparing tool for Debbie and David’s relationship. It tees up that bookend for Debbie, who chooses the adventure on the train.
As for personal arcs, it would have been beneficial to meet Debbie’s children. Doing so would have elevated the reveal of Judith’s real home. (Octavia Spencer is brilliant in that scene–and the whole season, as is Waddingham, who conveys Judith’s truth in her eyes.) Introducing them would also require Ride or Die to slow down. Instead, the show spends the season on the go. The characters shine when everything stands still, like the end of the premiere.
Also, since they rarely communicate directly, it often feels like Debbie and Judith are having different versions of the same conversation. Likewise, it sometimes seems like Judith and Debbie try to convince each other that their friendship exists, rather than Ride or Die showing it. When it’s not doing that, the show repairs their friendship enough for Debbie to understand Judith. So much so, Debbie defends Judith to Billy and Jacque. In turn, it’s bizarre how quickly Debbie believes the worst of Judith. Then again, that happens in Ride or Die’s penultimate episode that needs a third-act break-up.
Even so, it’s exciting that Ride or Die consistently opposes the belittling and limiting WOACA (woman of a certain age) moniker. These women contain multitudes in every facet of their lives – work, romance, and, most importantly, friendship. Hopefully, Ride or Die can continue to express as much in a second season that slows down long enough to get to know the real Judith and Debbie.
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