Starring: Graham Norton and guests: Cher/Keira Knightley/Michael Fassbender/Josh Brolin/Jaylen Ngonda (2024)
Narrative
Helen begins a passionate affair with a man who has no idea what her secret identity is. Caught in the crosshairs when her lover falls victim to London’s dangerous underworld, Helen’s employer calls Sam to protect her. Bingo, the owner of the guitar shop where Sam gets his guns, is played by Rat Scabies from The Damned.
Spies, London, Keira, Ben, quality cinematography, a beautiful soundtrack – what could go wrong?
A New York tale written by Jem Finer, Shane McGowan, performed by The Pogues & Kirsty McCall. Plus, I already know this is my favorite genre and I’ll overlook any flaws. But when the dialogue in episode 1 was slow, some moments dragged on too long, and the scenes where Quinten-like dialogue was attempted didn’t let me rest, I tried to console myself.
I was wrong
Surely they were just developing characters and giving them a unique voice. As the episodes dragged on, I realized that this series wasn’t going to make it. Not only was it disjointed, but with few characters I actually cared about.
I’m so sad for what could have been
Honestly, I don’t know how the magic happened, but I was deeply captivated by the stories and characters of Slow Horses, The Americans, Le Bureau, The Diplomat, and even The Old Man—despite all their flaws. Add to that the lack of stakes and the many omissions of key details, and the annoyance:interest ratio became too high to be enjoyable. Yes, all the basic spy elements are here in Black Doves, but somehow there was no salt in the recipe and I’ve already turned up the playback speed for E03.
Check out our December calendar for more details!
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" is one of the biggest TV and streaming releases this month.