The Black Doves season 2 finale, “Peace Summit,” begins with Sam (Ben Whishaw) at a bar looking quite sad. Patrick (Sam Riley) of Kestrel approaches Sam and reveals that his service contract is complete. He pays Sam his rate and offers him a job. Instead, Sam turns the tables on him. He tells him that Jerry’s funeral is the next day, and he warns him that if he sees him again, he’s going to kill him.
I don’t like this version of Sam, but it’s nice to see he has some of that swagger back.
Helen (Keira Knightley) wakes in the morning to find absolute chaos in her home. It’s the day of the Peace Summit, and Helen will be traveling to the event with Wallace (Andrew Buchan). After organizing breakfast for the kids with Marie (Molly Chesworth), Helen calls Reed (Sarah Lancashire), but she gets her voicemail. That’s strange, she thinks, so she calls Sam and asks if Reed made it home.
Helen is catching signs from Sam that something is wrong. Wallace is also being cold. Helen is officially wary of everyone at the moment.
Sam attends the funeral of Jerry (Samuel Barnett), and he hears the eulogy from Jerry’s best friend. It hits Sam right in the heart, and it awakens something inside of him. Outside, though, Laila (Ambika Mod) catches up with Sam. She’s also looking for Reed, and Laila knows Sam did something wrong. Laila threatens Sam if he did something to Reed, but he’s over it. He tells her where he’s going.
Dani has been working for Kestrel
Then, we see a flashback to Dani (Agnes O’Casey). On her way to work one day, Patrick (Sam Riley) and Kestrel approach her on a bus and flip her. She gives them information that leads to the murder of all of the Black Doves agents. She’s likely how they all got the information on Wildflower.
On the morning of the Peace Summit, Dani uploads some kind of virus that stops all the Black Doves’ computers from working.
Then, everything hits the fan.
Kestrel kidnaps Cecile Mason and Katia Chernov
Kestrel begins their attack. Ahead of the Peace Summit, Kestrel’s assassins take over the Black Doves building and kidnap Cecile Mason (Neve Campbell) and Katia Chernov (Slyvia Hoeks).
Laila sees the huge attack in the city, and she runs to Sam and asks him if he’s ready to end this once and for all. They quickly loop in Williams (Ella Lily Hyland) and Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy), who are always down for a fight.
Patrick and Kestrel bring everyone together, including Reed, at Black Doves headquarters, and then we get the big reveal of the season.
Who is Vita?
At Black Doves HQ, everyone is in a circle, and that’s when Patrick gives Katia a hand. She walks to Reed, who recognizes her instantly.
Katia is Vita, and she’s now the leader of Kestrel. She’s had a vendetta against the Black Doves after everything that happened with her father.
Wallace confronts Helen about her past
Meanwhile, Wallace and Helen are rushed to a safe location amid the attacks around the city. When they arrive, Wallace questions Helen about her past and if she is Lily Morris. Helen lies to him, and that’s when he shares some pictures of her when she was younger. It’s not going well for our favorites!
Minutes later, our ragtag group of assassins learns that Kestrel has taken over the Black Doves HQ. They are planning an attack, but they are too late.
Vita kills Cecile Mason
Vita confronts her mother, Reed, after all of her wrongs, including leaving her in a Soviet orphanage after her mission went wrong because of her lies. She also kills Cecile Mason.
Then, Vita’s real mission is revealed. She’s taking down the Black Doves at a global level. They will be blamed for this attack and many deaths around the world, and she’s pinning it on Reed and Helen.
Vita tells Helen to kill Wallace
While this is happening, Helen gets a text asking her to put in an earpiece. She does, and it’s a line directly to Vita, who explains what Helen must do. Helen needs to kill Wallace with the gun Kestrel has placed under the seat. Then, she has to turn herself in and reveal she is a member of the Black Doves.
And she must do it, or her children will be killed. Maria, their nanny, has been working with Kestrel, and her kids will be killed if she doesn’t kill Wallace.
In the middle of all of this, Helen texts Sam and gives him their location. She needs his help, and he jumps from the car when he gets a chance to come save Helen and Wallace.
Without much time, Helen tries to stall. She explains to Wallace what is real and what is not real. Everyone hears Helen’s speech, but it gives everyone time to get into place, including Sam at the parking garage where they are located and Laila, Williams, and Eleanor at the Black Doves HQ.
Helen pulls out the gun and shoots, which happens to coincide with the moment that Laila, Williams, and Eleanor arrive and light up Kestrel.
Just in time, Helen shoots the window out and tells Wallace not to speak, and he listens to her. Sam arrives, and he rescues Helen from Wallace’s security officers. They steal the car and head to the zoo to save her kids.
Katia (Vita) and Dani die in the shootout
In the shootout, it’s a bloodbath. Katia is shot. Dani gets blown up by a hand grenade in an elevator. It’s carnage.
Vita and Reed have their moment as Vita dies. Reed follows her upstairs, and Vita asks why she never came to find her. Reed explains why she didn’t come find her because she knew that she couldn’t care for her. She wanted Vita to have peace, but that would not have been possible without her around.
Eventually, Vita bleeds out and dies as Reed continues to live on, somehow.
Helen saves her kids and kills Marie
Finally, Helen and Sam arrive in time to save her kids at the zoo. Sam takes her kids to the car while Helen deals with Marie, who claims she wouldn’t have hurt the kids.
Helen shoots her in the head anyway for the years-long betrayal of working for Reed behind her back and all this business with Kestrel.
With the kids back in the car, Sam offers Helen an exit plan. They could leave the UK immediately and get out of there. He really wants to do that, but Helen isn’t going to do that, not to her kids, not to Wallace, and not to herself. She’s not willing to throw away the life she’s built, and Sam tells her that it’s now time to face the music.
Mr. Conteh reveals that the Black Doves have survived, but some Kestrel agents escaped
After the shootout at Black Doves HQ, Mr. Conteh reveals that the Black Doves will survive, but they have sustained losses, and some members of Kestrel have escaped. He apologizes to Reed for not trusting her. She tells him that he shouldn’t have trusted her.
Laila, Williams, and Eleanor leave and head to the jazz bar.
Wallace lies to MI5 to cover for Helen
Wallace is questioned about what happened at the car park with Helen by Officer Perryman, the MI5 agent who hasn’t escalated anything about Helen’s case yet. It seems that there is no CCTV footage around the city of what happened. It’s all been wiped.
He also claims that he has a lot of questions about Helen’s past that he needs to investigate, but Wallace isn’t totally cool with that. Officer Perryman realizes something is fishy, so we’ll just have to see what he’s going to do about it.
Sam tells Helen that she’s leaving
Finally, Christmas has arrived in London, and we catch up with Helen and Sam again. Sam asks about Wallace, who hasn’t looked at Helen since this whole incident. It’s clear that he’s mad about everything, and justifiably so.
Sam tells Helen that he’s leaving again. He’s getting out the game, and she’s not ready for him to go. She tells him that he needs him, but he tells her that she doesn’t but to call if she really, really does.
Helen asks for a promotion
After saying goodbye to Sam, Helen is leaving the square, and she bumps into someone. That person turns out to be Patrick of Kestrel. He gives her a business card, one with a dove on it.
It’s a threat that Kestrel has survived, and they’re coming for the Black Doves. Reed hands Helen some information about Patrick’s latest location and whereabouts.
Helen also uses the opportunity to get a promotion. Black Doves has been decimated. It’s only Mr. Conteh and Reed in charge. Dozens of agents are dead, and there’s growing mistrust among everyone in the agency. Helen sees that as an opportunity. She doesn’t want Reed to be her handler anymore. She wants Reed to be her partner, and Helen wants an executive position.
Sam goes back to Italy
At the end of the season, we see Sam return to Italy, the place he was all that time ago when Reed found him. He wants to work at the bar and restaurant again, but how long will he last before he returns to the game or is killed?
Finally, in the final scene of the season, Wallace is ready for answers. He sits down with Helen around Christmas, and he asks her to start by telling him her actual name. It seems like all the truths are going to come out now.
And that’s when the season ends! What a fantastic season of Black Doves. Netflix’s best spy show completely flipped the script in season 2, and it worked out impressively well. Now, there are some big changes heading into season 3, assuming Netflix renews the series.
We’ll share more news about the season as we find out! Stay tuned.
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