Black Doves Season 2 Episode 4 “The Opportunity to Become Savage” blew this world wide open in a way that I don’t think even Season 1 was capable of. This whole Kestrel past enriches the show in a way that feels earned and like I need two or three seasons more to really understand the vastness of the Black Doves operation. It does all of this while expanding on small stories on the side that I didn’t even know I would care so much for and making me feel like Charlie from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia when he was in front of that board trying to connect everything and looking crazed.
“The Opportunity to Become Savage” also made me realize that yes this is a love story. But it’s also an exploration about living with the consequences of our actions and still trying to find purpose within that. And that right there is the most human experience ever told. It’s just that with Black Doves, it’s told through a spy thriller starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw.
MORE: Black Doves Season 1 Review: Keira Knightley is Still That Girl
Those Flashbacks with Mrs. Reed
I never expected us to get flashbacks when it comes to Reed. And that’s due to TV shows oftentimes having these boss characters that are just meant to oversee the main characters aka Helen and Sam. The boss is supposed to be larger than life and mysterious. They’re also meant to either support the main characters, set boundaries, or set them up on their next case or target. And we rarely go deeper into them in the way that I sometimes desire.
“The Opportunity to Become Savage” did better than just tell me what Reed did in the past. It showed me. And she wasn’t a good person by any means. She made up a huge international crime kind of lie, had no problem never seeing her daughter again, and set forward the assassination of a bunch of people for the chance at love and being reassigned. And it backfired on her in such an explosive manner that here she is all those years later trying to erase any and all evidence of that one time she tried to get out of the field. (Which, important to note. She didn’t try to get out of the Black Doves. She just didn’t want to be undercover.)
These flashbacks show a woman that has given up on trying to find purpose outside of this agency. Why? Because she’s seen what happens when you take a chance at love and how it can backfire on you and the mission on hand. And now she knows that there’s a target on her back of her own creation thanks to what she did to her own blood aka her daughter. Which, I can’t wait until that storyline leads to a big reveal. Because whoever Vita is, she saw what her mother did (or at least heard) to her father. Something like that shapes you and keeps the anger burning for decades until you get your revenge.
Are Helen and Sam Like Reed? Kind Of.
Before I started this review for “The Opportunity to Become Savage” I was ready to drag Reed through the mud for what she did in Berlin. But it’s not until I pulled back and looked at the bigger picture that I realized that there are plenty of similarities between our two leads Helen & Sam and Mrs. Reed. A lot of what they’ve done in their lifetime have been grounded in love. Now stay with me, because after what we just saw it’s kind of hard to think that Helen and Sam are like Mrs. Reed, but the similarities are there.
Think back to London 2017. The reason why they came for Sam was because he killed a bunch of people for money and they were looking for revenge. Sam then killed a bunch of their goons and Helen swooped in and finished them off. She then gave up her freedom to protect Sam by saving Michael. Then if we think back to Black Doves Season 1 Episode 1, Sam came back from his peaceful existence in Italy for Helen because she was in danger, leading to a lot of killings. And just now in Season 2 Episode 2, Sam went and killed an innocent man to protect Helen. Oh and let’s not forget Black Doves Season 1 Episode 6 when Sam killed two people so Helen wouldn’t have to.
The difference between Helen & Sam and Mrs. Reed boils down to the absolute love that our leads have for each other. And I think it grinds Reed’s gears that what she thought she had with her station chief, was nothing. Reed was ready to burn the world down for that man and he choked her out in return. So I think when she sees Helen and Sam, she feels for them in her own way. But she sees love as a weakness that could derail a mission. And she uses them as little chess pieces with no regard to how it may hurt them. That’s what makes me as a viewer be more inclined to forgive Helen and Sam for some of the truly crazy things they’ve done.
I also want to add that Helen and Sam are fighting for something. They’re fighting for each other. Helen is also fighting for her marriage and her children. And Sam, despite how close he has been to ending at all, he’s still here, desperately looking for that connection or purpose because he knows how good it is when you find it. He still has hope, something Mrs. Reed doesn’t have. This is why I also think that whatever Mrs. Reed or Kestrel has planned, Helen and Sam are going to be okay. Or I hope they’re okay. Because it feels like they walked into a family affair that really could do without them.
Are Williams and Eleanor Finally Going to Happen?
I’ve always liked Williams and Eleanor. But like with Mrs. Reed, I thought they were going to stay in the complete side character category of Black Doves. And yes, this is even after we saw them have a happy little Christmas ending in Season 1 or going on little killing side quests with Sam. They were built as additions to support the core characters of Helen and Sam. Then walks in Black Doves Season 2 Episode 4, giving Williams and Eleanor something that had us sitting up in attention.
Williams loves Eleanor, told her, and was willing to just die right there, showing how fragile these assassins’ lives are even though they try to act like everything’s okay. And she would have died if it wasn’t for Eleanor risking it all for Williams, also proving that those feelings are definitely reciprocated. Even the awkward moment in the car afterwards with Helen and Sam, I think they’re thinking of a future beyond what they’re doing now by shooting at places, rescuing people or kidnapping them. And that’s big and in the same vein as Helen fighting for her life in Season 2 Episode 3.
I do have one big concern. Usually when there’s one queer character or couple in a show, Hollywood likes to act like that’s it. No other gays allowed. But that’s just not realistic. And I think Williams and Eleanor prove that. But I also worry that because Williams and Eleanor are side characters, they might be treated as the spare that will have a tragic death. And considering how traumatized we still are with the Bury Your Gays deaths of Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lexa from The 100 and what these who killers do, I’m scared that Williams and Eleanor will suffer a terrible fate.
Someone needs to make it out alive here on Black Doves. And I know it goes against the creed of this show and how it’s all about making the best out of the time that you have. But I need some people to choose to get out and be okay. I need some hope. And I know that Helen and Sam still have a way to go in their journeys. But I need some happiness and I think that it could be with Williams and Eleanor surviving this thing and making it out alive. Also note that I am writing these reviews as I’m watching, so please don’t spoil me if they do get out or die. I’ll get there and deal with those emotions when I do.
Black Doves Season 2 is now on Netflix.
