Black Doves – Episode 2 “A Little Black Dove” Recap & Review

A Little Black Dove

Episode 2 of Black Doves begins with us in the past. Helen, whose real name is Daisy, heads off for a translation job. During the interview, we learn that Helen’s parents are deceased, while she has a stepsister called Bonnie. She’s actually serving a life sentence, and is behind bars right as Helen left the country, which definitely seems a bit suspicious.

However, despite not getting the job, she is given Reed’s phone number and told to ring and reveal that they’ve found a “little black dove”. Now, Helen is fluent in French, German and Russian, and she’s recruited by Reed to be one of their agents; a spy out in the field.

Reed knows she has some Jason Bourne-esque skills here, and is very much a survivor. Under the new name of Helen, she shows up to see Wallace at a big speech, but he’s not exactly endearing in front of crowds. It doesn’t take long for Helen to sleep with Wallace, and she soon copies the files from his laptop and scarpers.

Her teammate here is Sam, whom she hands the info over to. The trouble is, Helen isn’t exactly adept at her job and she ends up deadnaming her real name in the car, and also leaves her lighter (a memorabilia her mum gave) in Wallace’s hotel room. This decision eventually paves way for a whole life as she returns to Wallace.

Back in the present, Helen heads out with Sam. It turns out Elmore Fitch is actually a former marksman for the SAS. There’s a bit of humour that seeps in here, as it turns out Sam is drunk, and slurring his words just a bit after a line of ketamine.. which he’s mistakenly thought was cocaine after dinner with friends. Woopsie!

The pair show up at Elmore’s place and immediately realize they’ve walked right into a trap. The flat is prone to blow, with the pair intentionally led here with the intent on taking them out with a bomb. Thankfully, they manage to jump out the window and land in the canal before they meet an untimely death.

Helen does eventually head back home… but she’s not alone. Elmore shows up and reveals that he’s after a video camera which Kai-ming has. He admits to being hired by shadowy employers, and outright admits to killing Jason.

Helen gets the jump on Elmore, who reveals he doesn’t know who hired him for the job, However, he was told to complete it under 24 hours, and allowed to name a price. He chose 100k. Getting nowhere, Helen kills Elmore outside in the garden shed and cleans up the mess downstairs.

Meanwhile, Sam finds himself face to face with some old acquaintances from the past. This includes a woman called Lenny and her two guards. Sam used to be one of her trigger-men and he owes her for something relating to a guy called Hector Newman. Sam didn’t kill him when he was supposed to, so as a result, Lenny is not happy. If he doesn’t go and finish the job, then they’re going after his ex, Michael, whom Sam has a soft spot for.

Turns out this Hector character is actually holding Kai-ming hostage, but before we connect the dots on this, Sam is called into a meeting with Reed and Helen in a parking lot. They bring up what’s transpired, along with how Kai-ming is the key to all of this. She’s the connection to the different people that have been killed, so it also means that Helen is now a target.

Helen does some research and seems to deduce that this SY is actually Stephen Yarrick, the police commissioner. After planting a bug at Jason’s funeral, Helen listens in from her car as Stephen and Wallace discuss the implications of the Ambassador’s death. Philip contacted Wallace because he has footage of Stephen, which could well be incriminating. Wallace doesn’t learn anything, but Stephen’s nonchalant attitude seems to hint at him hiding something. This is especially prevalent given the Americans could be behind this, pulling the strings and leading to another war.

As for Sam, he heads over to finish the job for Lenny. However, when he shows up the place is a bloodbath. There are dead bodies everywhere, and also a video camera pointed to a mattress where Kai-ming is dosed and out of it. On the video footage, a gunfight breaks out and Hector himself looks at the camera. “Shit,” Sam says in exasperation.

The Episode Review

So it now seems like Sam’s old job and this current gig are intertwined together. But these agents are quite amateurish. Both Helen and Sam are sentimental and wear their emotions on their sleeves, and can easily have their families and loved ones used against. However, this does also up the stakes, so there is that.

Those nit-picks aside, the show is quite enjoyable, despite its very obvious tropes. You’ve got the “girl who’s the key to everything” with Kai-ming and a wider conspiracy, not to mention the past exploits coming back to bite our characters. However, all that considered, this one is still a compelling watch and we’ll have to wait and see where it goes next.