Ponies

I was all in after the first episode. Absolutely love the depth of the characters, and the complicated yet complimentary dynamic between Bea and Twila. I was such a fan of the strong, capable female portrayed during a time and place where it almost seems farfetched in this genre. To me, however, it felt believable with the incredible talents of the cast. What a cliffhanger! Genuinely hopeful for at least another season.

Very interesting series. I loved the acting and the story. So many plot twists — the first episode surprised me and kept me hooked until the end. 2 Big Fat Thumbs Up

Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson play wives of two recently murdered CIA operatives. They return to Moscow, where they hesitantly assume spy duties to discover the truth. Since they are wives, they’re considered “Persons of No Interest,” hence the acronym title. This series has two things that make it stand out: Russia in the seventies and the two leads. Clarke’s expressive forehead, caterpillar eyebrows and sweet smile make her a charming presence, while Richardson is doing her best Natasha Lyonne impression. Their chemistry holds the show together. The spy elements add interesting plot points, although some of their daring exploits challenge realistic thinking. For an old-fashioned espionage thriller, it’s entertaining, while never especially tense. (8 one-hour eps with an cliff-hanger ending, even though a 2nd season has been announced)

While the two actresses deliver performances that are often engaging and occasionally manage to draw a smile, they do little to hide the script’s many shortcomings. The storyline is absurd if it is meant to portray Cold War–era Russia. With intelligence services depicted as laughably naïve and blatantly caricatured, and situations that are as ridiculous as they are implausible, it becomes difficult to maintain any interest through all eight episodes. Once again, this feels like a show that was written by 12-year-olds who have read a couple of bad spy novels — and aimed at 12-year-olds who have never read anything in their lives.

Tonal trainwreck. Haley Lu Richardson's character, apparently written for a 1980s teen sex comedy, walks around Soviet Moscow dropping smug sarcasm everywhere, but only the showrunner could think she's as hilarious as she’s meant to be. Her complete ignorance of the Cold War and the KGB is confounding considering she lives in Russia and her soon-to-be killed husband is a CIA agent. Madcap nonsense here lives next to brutal violence (the graphic murder of a prostitute comes to mind) and just like the second season of Susanne Fogel's The Flight Attendant the smugness factor is extremely off-putting.