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Warning: contains finale spoilers for Netflix’s Black Doves.
Phew. Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw avoided World War III and the assassination of their nearest and dearest just in time to trim the turkey, celebrate a spy family Christmas, and set things up for the already-ordered second season of Black Doves. Next stop for Helen Webb? No. 10 Downing Street.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves. Before considering Helen and Sam’s future, let’s untangle what just went down, from the death of the Chinese ambassador, to the true identity of “civil servant” Jason Davies, to which members of the UK government are up to their armpits in corruption and cover-ups. With major finale spoilers, join us as we dig in.
Who Killed the Chinese Ambassador?
Trent Clark, the trust-fund scion of a London-based crime family who’d been making waves in the underground and expanding internationally. Trent was in love with the Chinese ambassador’s party-girl daughter Kai-Ming and would score heroin for her. When Kai-Ming’s father confronted Trent about the drugs, Trent pushed him over and the ambassador died accidentally when he hit his head on a table.
Why Did the Chinese Think the Americans Had Killed the Ambassador?
Because Kai-Ming’s boyfriend Cole Atwood, an undercover black ops CIA agent, was seen fleeing the murder scene, and – threat of nuclear war between China and the US aside – it suited the UK prime minister and Stephen Yarrick for him to be the suspect to protect Trent Clark and his powerful family. Atwood, Kai-Ming and Maggie discovered Kai-Ming’s father’s body at his apartment but fled because they were high and carrying Class A drugs. That’s when Maggie retrieved the recording device and hid it in a safe at work. Kai-Ming went to hide out in Hector Newman’s club, where she was held prisoner when they realised who she was and how valuable she could be as a hostage. Newman’s goons held her until she was rescued by Sam, Williams and Eleanor.
Why Was the Ambassador’s Murder Filmed?
Because Kai-Ming’s friend Maggie had been spying on her and her father, initially to sell tabloid stories on her party lifestyle to the tabloid press, but later, after being recruited by MI5. Maggie planted the pinhole camera in the ambassador’s apartment and lucked out when she saw footage of the murder. She told her tabloid newspaper contact Philip Bray, and her MI5 contact “Jason Davies”, and the three of them met to discuss what to do with the recording. Maggie hid the device in the safe at the jewellers where she worked, and Jason gave Helen a bracelet from that jewellers as a clue to the location of the recording.
Why Were Commissioner Yarrick and the Prime Minister So Keen to Retrieve the Recording?
Because Stephen Yarrick was on the recording implicating the prime minister in the cover-up and connecting them both to the criminal Clark family. After Trent killed the ambassador, he called his mother Alex to sort it out and she called the prime minister, who sent Yarrick to the scene. The PM and Yarrick were in league with the Clarks (saved in Yarrick’s phone as “Repair Shop”) and presumably using them for dodgy business. Despite it almost causing a nuclear war between the US and China, it suited the UK PM for the Chinese to believe that the CIA had committed the murder, so that his and Yarrick’s involvement would stay hidden.
The Americans were obviously so keen to find the recording because it exonerated their agent Cole Atwood and would get the Chinese to stand down.
Who Ordered the Murders of Jason, Philip and Maggie?
That was Trent Clark, not his mother Alex. Trent found out about the existence of the recording when tabloid reporter Philip Bray contacted Helen’s husband Wallace Webb (the minister of state for defence) about a story he had connecting Yarrick to the Chinese ambassador’s death via a recording. Wallace asked Yarrick about it, which tipped Yarrick off to the existence of the recording. Yarrick told Trent Clark, who followed Philip Bray to a meeting with Jason and Maggie about the recording. Trying to clean up his mess, Trent Clark ordered the murders of Jason, Maggie and Philip, which set Helen on the path to vengeance for her lover Jason, and sent assassins Kent and Williams to look for the device. Sam killed Kent, so Williams teamed up with new assassin partner Eleanor, and the three of them were last seen celebrating Christmas with Kai-Ming.
Who Was Jason Davies Really?
An MI5 agent who’d been tasked with finding the source of several UK government leaks, and who found it in Helen. “Jason” seduced Helen and she confessed to him that she was a Black Dove living under a false identity. However, it turned out that Jason’s love for Helen was real because despite him discovering that she was the one leaking government secrets, he lied in his official report and protected her instead of revealing her as a spy. Mrs Reed gave Helen a thumb-drive containing information on the real Jason Davies, but Helen chose to throw it in the River Thames rather than spoil her memories of their love affair.
How Did Helen and Sam Become “Black Doves”?
This was all pretty straightforward, but just to be thorough for anybody snoozing at the back. Black Doves are freelance spies unaffiliated to any government intelligence agencies who use assumed identities to infiltrate the echelons of power and then sell the secrets they find there to the highest bidder. Helen (real name: Daisy Bradshaw) was recruited after she came back to the UK after a decade on the run in Europe after killing her step-father in revenge for the death of her mother.
Sam was the son of a “trigger man” who’d crossed too many lines in the industry and whose murder was ordered by crime boss Lenny Lines. Lenny commissioned Sam to kill his own father in the Chinese restaurant, which he did. Sam had been on the run for seven years after failing to fulfil another contract killing ordered by Lenny, that of Hector Newman, who was a child at the time. Sam refused to kill Hector because of his age, and went on the run after Lenny’s goons attacked him and his boyfriend Michael at their home. Sam only returned to the UK to protect Helen, who was promising to wage war on whomever had killed Jason.
What Next for Helen and Sam in Season 2?
Mrs Reed has forgiven Helen for breaking the Black Doves’ code of silence and kept her on the books. She’ll prove especially useful when Wallace is made PM and the family moves into 10 Downing Street. Wallace knows that Helen has secrets but told her that he loves her, so it looks like she’s sticking with him.
Despite Sam telling Michael that this was his last job as a trigger man so that they could be together, it proved too dangerous for Michael and his little daughter Ruby. Sam was offered a job by Hector Newman (whom he didn’t kill), and thinks that Lenny Lines will let bygones be bygones between them and so Michael and Ruby are safe, as long as he stays away from them.
However, when Sam killed the Clark family to protect Helen, he put a hefty price on his head. “You will be held accountable” said a mystery voice on the phone. In season two, that mystery voice will no doubt get attached to a face.
Who Was Sitting on Mrs Reed’s Sofa on Christmas Day?
That was Helen and Wallace’s nanny Marie, who is obviously a plant from Mrs Reed, and a back-up option for Dani, who was set to be Helen’s replacement as a spy in the Wallace household until Helen defeated her in a knife fight and warned her off. In season two, Helen’s going to need to watch Marie…
All episodes of Black Doves are streaming now on Netflix.
The post Black Doves Ending Explained: Who Killed the Ambassador, What’s Next for Season 2? appeared first on Den of Geek.
