Ponies

Some reveals were jaw-dropping, and that’s not an overexaggeration. There are a ton of unanswered questions and mysteries. Ultimately, the ending of season 1 primes us for a second season, and Peacock would be foolish not to renew Ponies because they’ve created a unique and utterly irresistible spy show.

Plot happens, but the pleasure of the show is in the deepening friendship between the women. Maybe it shouldn’t work but it does. It’s a mashup of genres and tropes, but it is its own thing too – and an unexpected treat at that.

The platonic chemistry between Clarke and Richardson is the glue that binds the whole enterprise together.

Ponies is zippy, fluffy, and a little vacuous, but when it mines the tension between two women learning to make themselves invisible to succeed at work and simultaneously feeling seen and understood within their growing friendship, the show reaches an elemental truth that has nothing to do with American or Soviet aggression.

It’s a wildly entertaining rollercoaster that will have you rooting for the complex characters, questioning who you can trust, and reexamining your own biases in a way that doesn’t feel derivative.

While it lacks the gimmicks and the flash or the pure sex appeal of recent breakout shows, it is rich with warmth, good storytelling and magnetic actors.

Ponies, starring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, has moments of dazzle. But with neither enough depth to leave a lasting impression nor enough entertainment to make up for that, the drama winds up little more than a forgettable distraction.

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.

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)

Season 1 of this show started reasonably strong, but become more and more ridiculous as it went on. Emilia Clarke is fantastic. She can play cute, sexy, funny, scared, your best friend -- great range. Haley Lu Richardson does not find as many notes, and too often leans into a quirky loud American style that becomes a bit tiresome. There is this side look, with her eyes to show she is taken aback / considering something, she continually does which is even odder. She also sounds a lot like she's doing a Jennifer Aniston imitation. The main villain is suitably creepy. The women's sidekicks develop well. The sets are good, but a ton of green screen -- I understand that's the only way to shoot these shows set in the late 70s in another country, but it can be distracting. But I was going to give this a 7, but the last two epsidoes, just a ton of stuff happens (e.g., killings; fights; fires) that are just out of pocket. For example, the secret files of the CIA in Moscow are set on fire. Does the CIA have sprinkler system? Apparently not! People who are extremely dangerous are hurt and left for dead when they of course come back to wreak havoc. I hope they make a second season and calm down, but I'm not as excited about it now as I was for much of the season 1.

Two more episodes and they could have provided a satisfying ending, but again we are given a story that may return in 2 years. I don’t believe the writers and anyone else that contributed to the ending deserves a second season. Going forward I will also make an attempt to shy away from other works that the affiliated actors who are in these inconclusive projects.

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.