Black Doves Recap ‘A Little Black Dove’: Helen’s history, Sam’s more recent past, and an expanded cast of characters as the story picks up
- Cherish
- Jul 5
- 4 min read
Black Doves Season 1 Episode 2 Recap and Review
Black Doves found its footing with its second episode that began with Helen’s backstory and ended with a wrinkle from Sam’s past. Ten years ago, a 28-year-old woman named Daisy, who recently returned to England after a decade abroad, was looking for a job. She spoke French, Russian, and German, and though she did not have a university education, she once earned a scholarship offer from Cambridge. She had a stepsister named Bonnie Weir who was serving a life sentence for the murder of their father – Bonnie’s biological father, Daisy’s stepfather. Daisy was a brilliant young woman without formal higher education and a checkered family history, not a great fit for the international conglomerate she applied to join but a good potential Black Dove.
Mrs. Reed gave her a quick primer – the Black Doves deal in the currency of information. They were spies for a capitalist organisation that sold to the highest bidder. It was an intriguing prospect for a woman on the run from a painful past. Daisy was not even her real name. The Black Doves gave her a new one, Helen Dawson. Her first assignment was a then rising young politician named Wallace Webb – now her husband and the Secretary of Defence.
The character histories we were given in this second episode gave the story the emotional weight it needed but did not really successfully get from the Helen-Jason love story that was meant to anchor it. Even here, I was far more interested in the relationship between Helen and Wallace, especially when they first met, the nerdy politician who gave a speech that was earnest but did not really land on his modest audience, the beautiful woman he met at the bar, the casual hook up who left but came back, Helen tenderly describing him to Sam as a gentleman. There was a universe of story possibilities in the relationship between Helen and Wallace, the business relationship (from Helen’s POV) that lasted a decade and produced two children. I hope this is something the show will explore further down the road.
Perhaps it was Wallace’s stressful job that prevented him from noticing odd things about his wife, like her coming in very late after surviving a bombing. Sam had identified Jason’s assassin as Elmore Fitch, a former marksman for the SAS who went freelance. Sam and Helen went to his apartment that was very much a trap; they survived the explosion by jumping off the balcony at the last second. Aware now of the danger, Sam waited outside whilst Helen checked every room in her house before he drove off.
The caution was not enough. Elmore Fitch confronted Helen in her kitchen, threatened her children, and asked her about two things, a camera and the whereabouts of Kai-Ming Chen, the Chinese Ambassador’s missing daughter. Fitch also confirmed that he killed Jason, just another job, he did not know who from. They fought in the kitchen whilst Helen’s husband and children slept upstairs. Helen got the better of him and marched him to her garden shed where she shot him.
Did it seem a bit odd that Elmore Fitch made no noise to wake Helen’s husband and perhaps save his own life? Sure, but I figured a man like him knew his life was forfeit the moment his activities came to light. Dying by Helen’s hand was an easier way to go. The next morning, Helen reminded her husband of their past talk about getting security in the house.
Wallace told Helen he would go to Jason’s funeral and someone named Stephen would be there as well. Helen got their first and planted a listening device that just happened to be near where Wallace and Stephen decided to have a chat about matters involving national security. China was claiming that the Americans killed their ambassador, and the British helped cover it up. It was a scenario that could lead to war. Phillip Bray (one of the three killed in the same night, along with Jason and Maggie) contacted Wallace and told him he had a story and footage of Stephen that was linked to China. Stephen denied there was anything to it. Helen wondered if Stephen was the SY Jason and Phillip were talking about.
With everything happening around Helen’s life, Mrs. Reed wanted Sam focused on keeping an eye on her. But Sam had his own problems. A crime boss named Lenny (Kathryn Hunter, immediately impactful) met with him, accompanied by the assassin Williams and her new partner Eleanor, to call in a debt. Seven years ago, Lenny hired Sam to kill Hector Newman. Sam left London without completing the job. Now, Lenny threatened Michael’s life if Sam did not complete the job he owed her.
When Sam went to stare at Michael and his daughter from outside their window, Williams and Eleanor were there too, a stark reminder of Lenny’s threat. Sam had no choice but to go after Hector, who was running his own drug operation. However, he arrived to a dingy place already littered with dead bodies.
A camera in one of the bedrooms told him what happened. The missing Chinese Ambassador’s daughter, Kai-Ming Chen, had been there. Some men arrived shooting, and Hector and his men had to drag Kai-Ming out of there. What did a drug dealer have to do with this high stakes game of nations?
Rating: B+
Strays
💌Helen mentioned ‘Black Doves’ to Jason, though how much she actually told him, we do not yet know. She lied to Mrs. Reed about this.
💌According to Mrs. Reed, Maggie Jones went to school with Kai-Ming Chen. Phillip Bray wrote tawdry articles about her party lifestyle. Apart from calling her multiple times before he died, she had no link to Jason Davies.
Episode Title: A Little Black Dove
Episode Writer: Joe Barton
Episode Director: Alex Gabassi
Original Air Date: December 5, 2024