Black pigeons

In the bleak midwinter

Season 1

Episode 6

Editor’s Rating

4 stars

****

Photo: Netflix

Ah, a season finale: alliances renewed (Williams and Eleanor, yay! Reed and Helen, tread carefully!), alliances closed (Sam and Hector, strategic!), scores settled (bye, London branch of the Clark Family!), pages integrated into one’s own life (Sam attends the Webb Family Christmas, aww!). For all of that Black pigeonsThe first season was an entertaining rollercoaster ride of international and interpersonal intrigue. I love that the focus is on a loving message about the importance of having friends you can rely on.

Every woman for herself, stay cold, stay alive, it’s just business – that big Fortress of Solitude-inspired gossip Williams spewed earlier; What a relief that she changed her mind. First, it is not a viable long-term strategy and most of the good (or at least non-lethal) results we have seen Black pigeons argue vigorously against it. Everyone calls on people they trust for help when they are overwhelmed, and the vulnerability of relying on others has been proven time and time again to save lives. This happens for the good – Sam saves Williams, Michael protects everyone, Sam protects Helen – and the bad, like Trent Clark asking his mother Alex for help after accidentally killing Ambassador Chen.

It turns out to be the most momentous call Trent has ever made, as it ultimately leads to the final moments of his own life, as well as the lives of Maggie, Philip, Jason, Jason’s landlady, Kent, Yarrick, Alex, and Alex ‘Word of mouth leads and threatening MP, and the many other people who have been confronted with everyone else’s guns. Trent is every bit the thing Cole described him as, but still makes two modestly worthwhile contributions to the overall affair. His admission that he deserves punishment for his role in Chen’s death and cover-up is correct and a fitting moment of remorse. The other is his description of his mother as “not a crime boss; “She’s a criminally close person of influence,” which is perhaps the funniest line of the entire season.

The big showdown with the Clarks – included The Tracey Ullman in an all-too-brief cameo – ends with several bangs, thanks to Sam’s insistence on protecting Helen from both harm and unfortunate murder, and also with a whimper when he realizes that the whole revenge plot is some sort of doing nothing was. By removing the Clark Organization’s London leadership from the chessboard, Sam has actually done his nation a service, but how long will it last? In his later pitch, “Let’s form a team/Hey kids, let’s put on a show,” Hector Newman himself points out that the vacuum Sam created won’t stay empty for long. The Clarks are down, but not out, and if you prove something to them, they’ll become even more dangerous. For her part, Helen realizes that revenge for Jason’s murder won’t make her feel better about his death and that she will need another way to process her grief. Perhaps she will find it in her next professional and personal chapter as wife of the new Prime Minister? At the autopsy of the entire operation, Reed shares some key information, including the news that the current prime minister will be stepping down in the spring “for health reasons,” a “sure, Jan” reason if we’ve ever heard one.

I’m excited to see how Helen fares alongside Wallace in an even more significant formal role as he rises to the Prime Ministership, not least because she tracked down and picked up Trent again at the stables where he worked Black pigeonsIt speaks to the idea that nations and their officially recognized organizations can do whatever they want, but individuals and networks outside that structure can be just as important in moving the world in a different direction. This argument is reinforced by the fact that it barely shows the firefight between the CIA and the Clarks in the back yard of the warehouse, and by Jason’s warm-hearted, deeply risky MI5 report exonerating Helen. It’s perfectly convenient to be free again (but who knows what Wallace will look for as time goes on).

The remaining plot suggestions from the first season are everything they should be. Sam receives a fitting, bittersweet farewell from Michael, affirmation and love from Helen on her family’s Christmas, and says goodbye to Lenny. Helen is so confident in what she knows and feels about Jason that she can let go of the additional information Reed has unearthed for her, and enjoys being closely embedded with her family. Wallace learns from CIA station chief Porter that he may be the highest-ranking member of the Tories, without any hint of the Chen murder scandal. Michael and Ruby spend Christmas safely with Arnie and Zack. Williams, Eleanor and Kai-Ming enjoy not dying and later celebrate on Eleanor’s houseboat. I’m hoping for a blood transfusion and/or a large portion of leafy greens for Williams and some leisurely group observation Santa Claus for her too.

This season’s booking with “Fairytale of New York” is a few stubborn, but rightly so. It’s the best Christmas song to sing along with enthusiasm until you get to lyrics that will break your heart (and your voice) while leaving you with a glimmer of hope. It reflects the structure and themes of the show: loud in some places, melancholic in others, funny and spiteful, and sweet in the end.

• It’s a shame that Helen’s solid dating advice to Trent – “Next time you like a girl, maybe just talk to her about her interests instead of trying to buy her love with heroin” – will go unused by him , but it’s pretty evergreen, so she should be able to pass a version of it down to her children in due course.

• It’s easy to miss in the Christmas party montage, but it looks like Webb Family Nanny Marie is sitting on Reed’s couch – is she a visitor or does she live there? Is she a black pigeon? Reed’s daughter? Both???

• Speaking of Reed: The sight of her calmly wrapping Christmas presents in her huge, window-filled apartment and equally equanimously shirking responsibility for everything that has happened in the last 24 hours is one of the scariest scenes of the year. Bad bosses can be toxic in every sense of the word, right? Shudder.