Black Doves is ready to give Netflix viewers an alternative to cheesy Christmas movies and TV with its high-octane, thrill ride of a story of espionage, subterfuge, and all the things you love about the genre.
While this is exactly what makes the TV series enjoyable it is also, in a way, its greatest fault, that it falls back on familiar tropes and is relatively predictable but the reason it works is the partnership at the centre: Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw. They lead as Helen and Sam, friends in the spy world who come to each others aid no matter the situation.
Helen is a member of the show's titular clandestine group and is deep undercover as the wife of a politician to provide government secrets to her agency. While Sam is a trigger man living in semi-exile in Europe until he is called back to protect Helen when her identity is at risk of being exposed after three people are murdered in London, one of whom has a close connection to her.
It's a delightful series which gets better over the course of its six episodes, but it is not without its faults. Namely, it is entirely possible to see where everything is leading up to, to guess who will betray whom, and what the revelations will be. But it is also true that that doesn't matter because of the strength of Knightley and Whishaw's partnership, and how joyful it is to see them play off each other.
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It is almost impossible to believe that Knightley and Whishaw had never worked together before Black Doves, because they are the perfect partners in crime (pun intended).
The pair revealed that they "just clicked" on set the first time they met and that seeps into their performances, there is an ease to them onscreen which creates a chemistry that can be hard for some co-stars to create. They complement each other's acting style and feel like old friends coming together for a new adventure, just like their characters.
Its the joy of watching them work together that makes it easy to forget the familiar tropes and story beats of Black Doves.
Who cares whether the show is like countless other spy thrillers on the big and small screen when it's this fun to watch? Arguably nothing is new under the sun anyway, so when it's as enjoyable as Black Doves it's simple to look past any of its faults.
Made by Joe Barton, the creative mind behind The Lazarus Project and Giri/Haji, the series whizzes through a number of storylines from government conspiracies to drug gang wars to the moral code of an assassin -- there's even a heist at the US Embassy. It's a lot to take in but it's a fun thrill ride with its elaborate gun fights choreographed to the tune of Christmas songs like Little Drummer Boy and its gory interludes to the festive cheer all around London.
It all makes Black Doves a great alternative to the usual saccharine Christmas content. Come for the fast-paced if familiar spy thriller, stay for Whishaw and Knightley's winning partnership, there are worse ways to spend the holidays.