Black Doves season 2 episode 3, “P is for Poison,” begins shortly after the events of season 2 episode 2 when Sam (Ben Whishaw) kills Jerry (Samuel Barnett).
Helen (Keira Knightley) sneaks out late at night and breaks into Dani’s flat to ask a favor. Dani (Agnes O’Casey) isn’t happy to be helping her, but she agrees to wear a special spy contact to look for Wildflower files at work while Helen watches on as Dani sneaks through the archives.
Unfortunately, someone else shows up right as Dani finds the file empty. It’s Mr. Conteh (Babou Ceesay). Dani lies about what she’s doing, but Patrick (Sam Riley) doesn’t seem to care. He questions her about Reed (Sarah Lancashire). Helen finds out that they know where Reed actually is. Dani reminds Helen that now she owes her a favor.
Sam is given his next target, Alexi Chernov
Sam completely falls off after killing Jerry and goes to stay with Lenny (Kathryn Hunter), who takes his gun. In the morning, Patrick surprises Sam at Lenny’s and gives him a very anti-Black Doves speech before giving him his new target: Alexi Chernov.
Sam brings Williams (Ella Lily Hyland) and Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy) back in the fold for the latest mission, but they don’t answer when Helen calls with a plan to find Reed. They have bigger fish to fry at the moment. Helen doesn’t take no for an answer, and she recruits Laila (Ambika Mod) to kidnap one of Patrick’s most loyal men so she can learn where they are keeping Reed.
Helen continues calling Sam until he answers, but he’s clearly frustrated with her and the Black Doves. Shouldn’t he actually be mad at Patrick? It seems Sam might be opening up to the idea of working with Kestrel.
Sam finally calls Helen back, and Helen sends him to Laila’s flat, where she’s going to meet them to interrogate one of the Black Doves about Reed’s location.
Sam and Helen argue about what to do next
After meeting back up, Helen and Sam get into a big argument. Sam doesn’t think they should try to save Reed and the Black Doves at the moment. It’s too dangerous. Helen balks because she wants to know more and keep the life she has. It’s worth preserving for her. Sam doesn’t, and he’s not going to continue all this to receive nothing in return. Helen mentions an event she has to go to with Alexi Chernov, who is his next target. Sam plays it cool, but behind Helen’s back, he calls Willliams and asks her to bring the poison when they meet up.
Before the event, Helen has another memory of Reed telling Helen to kill someone on her behalf. Helen doesn’t do stuff like that, but she does on this occasion. Perhaps, this is the event that was recorded by Patrick and used to blackmail Sam.
Helen’s past is called into question by British authorities
As she gets ready for the event, Helen is pulled into a meeting with a security officer, Officer Perryman, to go over Helen’s security clearance. The officer questions Helen about the name of the cemetery in Kenya where her parents are buried. He also asked what the name Bonnie Weir means to her. Allegedly, this Bonnie person, who is actually Helen’s stepsister, continued to make calls to the government, claiming that she’s her stepsister. Helen cuts the meeting short, but Officer Perryman reveals that Bonnie died in prison a year ago before leaving.
He’s clearly on to her, but it’s unclear what he plans to do next.
Sam kills Alexi Chernov while Helen is at dinner with him
Later, Wallace and Helen have dinner with Alexi and Katia Chernov. There are a lot of things happening politically, but it’s quite boring compared to what’s happening in the kitchen. Williams, Eleanor, and Sam are helping out in the kitchen planning to kill Alexi.
Katia and Helen head into the bathroom, and Helen questions Katia about Ida, the housekeeper who turned up dead and how the attack in Paris was no robbery. While they’re there, Wallace changes his dinner order to get the soup. When it’s served, Eleanor, disguised as a waitress, makes a scene at the table to make sure the poison finds its mark.
After dinner, everyone leaves. In the car on the way home, Alexi dies because of the poison.
Laila shares Reed’s location with Helen
Immediately after, Helen learns Reed’s location. Just then, Helen calls Sam and chastises him for killing Chernov in front of her without her knowledge. She tells Sam that they’re not going to let Kestrel win, even though the walls are clearly closing in on her.
In the morning, Helen is planning to break Reed out of where the Black Doves are holding her and get to the bottom of this mystery.
The Black Doves target Laila and Sam
While all this is happening, Mr. Conteh gets a text from someone with Laila and Sam’s faces. The text says, “We’ll pay the same price for both.” So, now, there’s a hit out on Sam and Laila. Most likely, the Black Doves suspect that Sam and Laila are involved in the murder of several agents, and now, they want to take them out. Mr. Conteh gives the word.
Then, Laila gets ambushed and shot near the local pub by someone, most likely the Black Doves.
The episode ends with Sam receiving his final target, and it’s Wildflower, also known as Reed, the person he’s going to rescue from the Black Doves the next day with Helen.
That’s an incredible twist to end the third episode of the season. Halfway through this mystery, everything is starting to come into focus. It’s clear that Sam was not randomly chosen by Kestrel to pull off these murders. His access to Helen is what makes him the perfect man for the job.
What will Sam do now? We’ll find out in episode 4 on Netflix.
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