Black Doves episode 3, "The Coming Night," begins with another flashback to Sam's Ben Whishaw) past.
After Reed (Sarah Lancashire) gives Sam a referral to Lenny (Kathryn Hunter) to become a hitman, Sam accepts the job and kills his first person in a diner. And, that, my friends, is how Sam started down this road as a hired gun.
Episode 3 reveals the origins of Sam and Michael's relationship
In another flashback six months later, Sam begins to teach Helen (Keira Knightley) the ways of a "triggerman." Sam shows Helen how to defend herself. At a bar that night, Sam shares that his dad was a legendary hitman, and Sam is out to follow in his footsteps. It's also the night that Sam meets Michael (Omari Douglas), and they date. In fact, we see the couple's first date together at an Asian restaurant, which is also the same place Sam killed the man in the previous scene.
Then, we get a montage of Sam and Michael's relationship over the next several years to 2017 and beyond. During a party, Sam sees Helen on TV with Wallace Webb (Andrew Buchan) after the Conservatives, also known as the Tories, win an election in the UK.
That night, Sam is hired to kill the Newmans, the leaders of a local crime family. Sam kills them, but he can't bring himself to kill Hector, a young boy who was in the backseat of the car when Sam shot them. Sam is making quite a name for himself as a triggerman.
In the final scene of the flashback, Sam is attacked by another hitman at his apartment with Michael. Sam kills him.
Lenny asks Sam to kill Hector Newman
In the present, Lenny and Sam are catching up at Lenny's about Hector (Luther Ford) missing from the compound he'd stormed days earlier. Lenny asks Sam to kill Hector, and they'll "be square." If he's a Lannister, he'll pay his debt to Lenny.
Sam enlists the help of Williams (Ella Lily Hyland) and Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy), Lenny's other assassins to take out Hector.
Meanwhile, Helen tries to get to the bottom of this mystery of who killed Jason. She reveals to Sam that Stephen Yarrick (Sam Troughton) is involved in the death of the Chinese Ambassador and also in Jason's (Andrew Koji) death as well. She asks Sam to shake down Yarrick at a Nativity play at their kids' school. He also reveals that Kai-Ming (Isabella Wei) is being held by Hector. Sam reveals Williams and Eleanor will help him kill Hector and save Kai-Ming.
Shortly after, Sam does just what Helen asked and pulls a gun on Yarrick to find out what's on the recording everyone is looking, including the Brits, Americans and CIA, and the Chinese. Stephen doesn't reveal much information, but he does say that he's not scared of Sam. In fact, he warns Sam that he should be afraid of the people who are blackmailing him. Sam does give Yarrick's phone to Helen.
Helen, then, texts someone from Yarrick's phone and claims that she's going to find them. They respond, "Not if we find you first." Well, then.
Dani, Wallace's assistant, is one of the Black Doves
As Sam, Williams, and Eleanor travel to Hector's compound, Helen attends the government Christmas party with her husband, who is being hit on by her husband's very flirty new assistant, Dani (Agnes O'Casey). When Wallace walks away, Helen gets a call from the person she texted earlier. Then, she receives a video of Stephen Yarrick being tortured and murdered.
Wallace meets Chinese investigators trying to find out what happened to the Chinese Ambassador. The Chinese believe that Cole Atwood, a CIA agent and friend of Kai-Ming, killed the Chinese Ambassador in Kai-Ming's apartment. In other words, the Chinese believe the Americans killed the ambassador. The Chinese investigators claim they will stop the investigation if the British government approves some defense contracts. Wallace does not accept the offer.
Shortly after, Helen and Wallace leave the party early. As they leave, Dani, the assistant, says something that clicks with Helen: "The door closes, a window opens," which is what Reed told her when she became pregnant with her twins and Helen tries to leave the Black Doves. So, Dani, the assistant, is also part of the Black Doves. What a twist!
Sam kills his father in Black Doves
At the end of the episode, there's another flashback to the day Sam was attacked by the Newmans with Michael. He calls Helen and asks her for help. A very pregnant Helen shows up, and she helps Sam and Michael get out of the situation. Sam leads Michael down the fire escape, and she takes Michael away while Sam, who was shot, flees.
Helen calls Reed and begs for an exit plan for Sam and cleanup on aisle wherever Sam lives. In exchange for Sam and Michael's safety, Reed makes Helen commit to keep spying on her husband for the Black Doves. That's one way to help!
Finally, Sam, Williams, and Eleanor make their move to rescue Kai-Ming and kill Hector. One last time, we flashback to Sam's first job, and there's a huge reveal. The man Sam killed for Lenny was actually Sam's father. What. A. Bombshell. Reveal.
Black Doves episode 3 is such a brilliant episode. The pacing and methodical plot is fantastic. The flashbacks and insight into Sam's past are such and important part of the story. It reveals his motivation for all of his actions, the debt he feels that he owes Helen, and how the end of his relationship with Michael has haunted him for years.
Next up is Black Doves episode 4!