10/22
Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Cher/Keira Knightley/Michael Fassbender/Josh Brolin/Jalen Ngonda (2024)
Story
Helen embarks on 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 the dangerous London underworld, Helen’s employer’s call in Sam to protect her.. Bingo, the owner of the guitar store where Sam gets his weapons, is played by Rat Scabies, a member of the band The Damned..
Spies, London, Keira, Ben, quality cinematography, lovely soundtrack – what could go wrong?
Fairytale of New YorkWritten by Jem Finer, Shane MacGowanPerformed by The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl. Plus I already know this is my favorite genre and will overlook whatever deficiencies may come. But when Episode 1 dialogue ran slow, several moments lingered too long and scenes with attempted Quinten-esque dialogue left me flat, I tried to console myself.
I was wrong
Surely they are just developing characters and setting a unique tone. As the episodes dragged on, I realized this series wasn’t going to deliver. Not just disjointed, but with few-to-no characters I really cared about.
I’m so sad at what could have been
I honestly don’t know how the magic happens, but I was drawn in deeply with the stories and characters in Slow Horses, The Americans, Le Bureau, the Diplomat, and even The Old Man – despite all their flaws. Add to that a lack of stakes and numerous misses on basic details, and the annoying:intrigued ratio became too high to be enjoyable. Yes, all the core spy elements are here in Black Doves, but somehow there was no salt in the recipe and by E03 I was already increasing playback speed.