Black Doves Season 2 Episode 5 “Murder Mix” is one of those magical kinds of episodes of TV where there is so much that I loved that I don’t properly have the words to express the depth of my appreciation for what I just saw. Because this wasn’t just a rescue mission shootout. This was interpersonal drama that just happened to have a shootout in the mix. And that drama was grounded in so much love but also so much hurt that has been simmering for our two leads Helen and Sam.
“Murder Mix” was also delightful because we got to see Williams and Eleanor move forward in their relationship. But at the same time I was just living for the fact that it was five women and one man, three of those people being gay, as the heroes of this story. We don’t see those demographics ever. And I was just so tickled the entire time. But I’m also really really worried about all of them. Because as much fun as I had, the secrets are ending and lives are about to be taken.
MORE: Black Doves Season 1 Review: Keira Knightley is Still That Girl
Sam Finally Telling Helen About His Feelings
Season 2 of Black Doves has shown us a Sam who is burned out. And he sees everything that he’s done in these two seasons as him sacrificing for another while having nothing. You could see that during the shootout and when he said “Because your strength is derived from my weakness.” He also added that he has nothing in comparison to Helen. He doesn’t have the husband, the kids, or the life to be fighting for.
Sam needed to say all of these things. Not just because Helen needed a wake-up call. But because Sam has been holding this pain so close to his chest that it’s rotting him from the inside out. As for Helen and her wake-up call, as much as I like Helen, she’s a little self involved and didn’t realize Sam was in so much pain. Now Sam is very good at hiding that pain, so I’ll give her that. But she missed this and she knows it and she owns it.
Keeping all of this in mind, especially after my feelings about Helen in the previous episode, I do like that Helen tried to maybe give him a little perspective when she said “Your weakness doesn’t make me strong. Your strength does. You do. You always have.” Maybe Sam needed his own wake-up call. Because he’s been thinking that he’s not important and that he has nothing to live for or he hasn’t changed the world. And she’s telling him, you’re important because you’re Sam and you’ve changed my world.
Like truly, that conversation in the bedroom was probably the healthiest and best scene in the entirety of Black Doves. And it shows the strength of their relationship that they can have this conversation in the middle of so much chaos, because they love each other. Even later on when they thought they were going to die behind that car, they held hands as if to say, “If this is it, if this is how it ends, I’m going to end it with you.” And if that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.
Helen’s World is About to Collapse
In a lot of respects, Black Doves has treated Wallace a bit like a fool. That’s how they ended up placing Helen in his path and how he ended up with a wife and two kids. But that’s the role that men like him play in shows like this. And I didn’t think that we would come to a point in Black Doves where Wallace is finding out that his wife is not who she says she is and she might be involved in some dangerous things with Sam. And it’s so deliciously messy that I can’t wait until Episode 6, which I’m going to watch right after this.
Wallace has a choice to make now. Because he loves his wife, his kids, and the life they built. But I’m not sure if he’s in love with her anymore. This is especially true after he pretty much asked for a divorce even though he thinks or says he didn’t. So a part of me thinks that he is going to stay with Helen until he’s no longer in the Prime Minister office. Then he can divorce her. And then another part of me thinks that he’s a good man and he’d be willing to destroy everything if it means outing Helen as a means of protecting his children.
Then there’s the third option. Black Doves editing for “Murder Mix” shifted from Reed talking about Vita to Wallace and Helen’s nanny Marie. If Reed’s ex-husband survived, blackmailed someone, and built up Kestrel for his daughter, it would make sense for that girl to get close to Reed’s prized Black Dove aka Helen. Because that’s playing the long game to hurt Reed and destroy everything she’s worked for. And if Marie is close like this, she’s either going to be the one to stop Wallace or she’s going to be the next wife after Helen is taken care of.
Either way I’m terrified and excited for what’s to come.
Gays Everywhere and I Love It
While Black Doves Season 2 Episode 5 ends in a really sad way with Reed about to be killed, this friendship group about to be torn apart due to the bounty on Sam’s head, and Helen’s future about to be destroyed, I want to take a moment and appreciate the LGBTQ+ representation here. Because within this girl gang that freed Reed you had a gay man who is the lead character having a beautiful emotional arc with his bestie. And he survived. You also have two women who have dedicated themselves to each other, I’m talking about Williams and Eleanor, and confessed their love for each other.
Now I’m still nervous about whether Sam will make it out alive while being hunted by Eleanor and Laila. And I’m also just nervous for Eleanor and Williams because Williams especially doesn’t want to kill their friend Sam. And there’s also the sneaking suspicion that maybe Eleanor or Williams might be Vita as well due to that name conversation they had. But I love that I have a tangled web of LGBTQ+ characters in Black Doves Season 2 to love and be worried about.
Having so many queer characters in Black Doves Season 2 kind of feels like flipping the bird to this Hollywood notion that you can only have one gay on screen and then a box is checked. But honestly, where there is one, there are many. And they just don’t have to be random side characters 1 and 2. They can be the leads like Sam is. And they can be fleshed out characters like Williams and Eleanor that you’re deathly worried about if they’re going to make it out alive. Most of the time queer people aren’t even part of the equation when it comes to stories like this. And then there’s Black Doves just doing it like it’s not even hard to be inclusive.
God I love this show!
Black Doves Season 2 is now on Netflix.
What did you think of Black Doves “Murder Mix”? Let us know in the comments below!
Interested in all our coverage for Season 2? Check them out below:
