The Cost Of It All – The episode opens with Kent (Eniko Fulop) and Williams (Ella Lily Hyland) in a physical dispute with Helen Webb (Keira Knightley). Sam (Ben Whishaw) appears and shoots Kent. Williams flees and takes refuge behind a vehicle. Sirens can be heard in the background. Covered in blood, she later visits Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy) and asks if she is looking for a partner. Eleanor asks what she is covered in. Williams says it is Kent. Eleanor laughs. Both women prefer working in a team than solo. Eleanor invites her in. In the present, Eleanor frantically searches for something while complaining about Williams throwing things in a cupboard. Williams sarcastically apologizes for liking things tidy. After locating it, Eleanor joins Williams in preparing for an attack. Kai-Ming (Isabella Wei) asks what she should do. Eleanor tells her to get in the tub. Williams urges her to talk to the man above. They come under fire.

Sam, Helen Webb (Keira Knightley), and Cole Atwood (Finn Bennett) are stuck in a traffic jam. They take off on a foot. Several men pursue them. Elsewhere, Dani (Agnes O’Casey) makes an advance at Defense Secretary Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan). He pats her hand and says his marriage is his business. She voices concern about his welfare. He receives a call from Prime Minister Richard Eaves (Adeel Akhtar) informing him of Chinese Ambassador Chang Hao’s (Dan Li) arrival. At a mall, Sam, Helen, and Cole are still being pursued. She asks how they get to Alex Clark (Tracey Ullman). Cole assures her that Trent Clark will come as long as they have Kia-Ming and then, they can get Alex. Sam receives a call from Williams warning him someone knows they have Kia-Ming. Cole says if it is the Clarks, they are in trouble. Williams tells Eleanor that it is everyone for themselves. Eleanor agrees. They start firing their weapons. In the tub, Kia-Ming covers her ears. Sam carjacks a taxi driver and hands him his cashbox. The gang arrives as they speed away. Sam, Helen, and Cole arrive to find the building on fire. Sam rushes inside as the gang pulls up.

Wallace, Director General of the Secret Service Les Mulery (Timothy Harker), MI5 Agent Perryman (Adam Best), and Mitch Porter (William Hope) meet with Chang. Eaves informs them of an attack on the US embassy that left one guard injured and another missing. Porter accuses Hang of abducting Cole who has been falsely accused of killing Ambassador Chen (Andy Cheung). Hang insists Cole is a CIA operative. Porter tries to deny it but Hang knows better. Hang says they view the actions of Britain and the U.S. as warmongering. Eaves declines to award the key parts of the UK’s military supply contracts to China. Hang warns that their only option is to retaliate before leaving. Elsewhere, Sam rescues an injured Williams from the building. Helen asks where Kia-Ming is. He says the gang has her and Eleanor. She speeds away from the scene.

Eaves calls someone to say they need the recording device. Elsewhere, Williams tells Helen that she doesn’t know if Eleanor and Kia-Ming are alive. Helen suggests they go to Michael’s (Omari Douglas). Sam says no. A short time later, they arrive at Michael’s. He starts to shut the door on them until Sam pleads with him. Sam tells him that Williams is a triggerman and Cole is CIA. Michael says the invitation was for him. Sam claims it made him happy. Seeing a news report about an explosion at a residential property, Michael asks if they are responsible. They all turn to look at him. Williams says no. Helen assures him that they weren’t followed. Sam promises his daughter is safe. The Clarks call to tell them that Kia-Ming and Eleanor are alive for now. Helen asks what they want. The man demands the recording device removed from Kia-Ming’s flat on the night Chen died be delivered to 177 Park Walk at Borough Market. Helen denies having it. The man vows to kill Kia-Ming and Eleanor in the cruelest manner and says her name. Cole asks what is in it for him if he gets them Trent. She promises to stop the people she works for from hurting his family and if he cannot find Trent, she will have Sam execute him. He asks Sam if he will go through with it. Sam says probably and walks away. Helen follows him. He voices concern about Michael shunning him after tonight. She asks if he told him about being a triggerman. He says yes. She admits to telling Jason (Andrew Koji) that Helen Webb doesn’t exist. He asks what Jason’s response was. She claims he professed to love her no matter what. She insists on finding out who killed him and why.

Learning Wallace is home, Helen rushes home and apologizes to Marie (Molly Chesworth). Jacqueline Webb (Charlotte Rice-Foley) and Oliver Webb (Taylor Sullivan) are making pudding. She tells Wallace that she was Christmas shopping. He asks what she bought. She claims it was a gift for him. He asks if she is happy with them. She says yes. As they continue to talk, they get an unexpected visitor. He goes to answer the door while she retrieves her gun. Perryman asks to speak with her. Wallace says she knows a bit about the embassy. She tells them that she visited Vanessa Robinson at the embassy today. Perryman says Vanessa received a call from an untraceable number about a security detail. She denies seeing anything that could help him. Oliver calls for her. Perryman leaves. After receiving a call from Mrs. Reed (Sarah Lancashire), Helen tells Wallace that she has to go out. He professes to love her hopelessly. He loves their home and kids. Surprised, she promises to not be late before leaving to meet with Reed. Helen tells her about Perryman’s visit and says for years, she has risked everything for her. Reed asks her to hand Cole over or the Chinese might start carrying out their threats. Helen asks her about the Clarks. Reed says it is an international criminal organization. Helen believes the Clarks are responsible for Yarrick, Phillip, Jason, and Maggie’s deaths. She suggests they want the recording device because it shows who killed Chen. Reed assures her that it would be impossible to take down the Clarks. She claims to have found a connection between Jason and the murder of a Chinese diplomat. She believe he isn’t worth dying for. Helen denies telling Jason anything about herself. Reed orders her to deliver Cole to the Albert Embankment at 6:30am and threatens to void her contract if she doesn’t return to being a mother and wife.

Cole cannot get into contact with Trent. A news report about the Chinese government believing an American MI5 agent murdered Ambassador Chen grabs Sam, Williams, and Cole’s attention. Wallace is watching the news report from his home. Cole insists they are talking about him. Williams questions what Helen is doing while Eleanor and Kai-Ming are waiting to be skinned alive. Michael tells her to keep it down. She curses his daughter, Ruby, and swallows some more pain pills. He insists they leave. Michael starts to kiss Sam but pulls back and asks if he wants to be with him. Sam opens his mouth to speak when Reed calls.

Reed tells Sam that she brought him back to sort it out and put an end to it once and for all. She explains that Helen has gotten too close to something too big. Although Helen needs to be protected, the Black Doves also need to be protected. Reed will give Sam an address where he’ll go alone to finish it. Sam agrees they have a deal. Reed also makes it clear that she will need Cole Atwood. Sam wakes up Williams to ask where Cole went. Reed sends him the location. Sam tells Michael that he has to go, but he promises this will be the last one. Sam says he really wants this. When Sam sneaks into the house, someone puts a gun to his head. Alex Clark (Tracey Ullman) asks if Sam came there to kill her. Sam admits he did. Sam is knocked out. Reed waits for Helen. Dani tells her they’re not coming, and they can’t be trusted anymore. Helen wakes up and remembers the jewelry she received.

She says Phillip was a tabloid reporter and Maggie worked as an assistant in a jewelry shop. She goes to a jewelry shop where she says she’s looking for a ring similar to the one she already has. Helen injects James (Sam Parks) with something causing him to pass out. She closes the shop before breaking into the safe. She finds a small video camera and remembers Jason saying he might be in trouble. Before Helen can leave the shop, Dani enters. Helen thinks this is probably for the best since they won’t have to dance around it forever. She thinks Dani moved too quickly. Reed let Dani off the leash since she doesn’t trust Helen anymore. Dani asks if there is anything she should know about Wallace and the kids. They get ready to fight. Helen holds a knife to her neck and says she’s not going to kill her. She wants Dani to tell Reed she’ll have to visit her face-to-face if she wants to replace her.

Helen goes to her car where she watches the video on the camera. She finds a video of Ambassador Chen (Andy Cheung) arguing with Trent Clark. Trent ends up pushing him and killing him. Stephen Yarrick and others arrive to help clean up the scene. They try to make it look like an overdose. Stephen says he’ll have to phone the Prime Minister who will be furious. Reed calls Helen because she knows she has the recording device. She wants Helen to remember that she works for her.

 

Black Doves Review

After five episodes, Black Doves finally begins making some revelations. The problem with that is that everything revealed in this episode was already known. Unless viewers were only partially paying attention to the story, they should know everything already. It’d be easy to only partially watch because the series is less appealing than watching paint dry.

We have more romantic flashback scenes with Helen and Jason and Sam’s relationship with Michael is on the mend. Once Sam mentioned that this would be his last job, there was a 99.9% chance that he was going to end up in trouble and he did. The scriptwriters likely thought they had created something very clever here, but it’s really basic to the point the story could’ve concluded three episodes ago.

If the show wasn’t overloaded with ping-ponging scenes and just utter mindless dialogue, it would’ve reached its conclusion much sooner and with much more impact. After five episodes, there’s a good chance viewers are still looking for at least one person to cheer for but they’ll need a magnifying glass and the ability to overlook a lot of character flaws.

The action scenes are pretty bad and lack any authenticity. If they were stronger, they could probably make up for the insubstantial story. The episode scores a 4 out of 10. Get more Black Doves recaps here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. See what others are saying here.