Ride or Die

A well-made series full of great action, acting, and intrigue that’s all pulled together and elevated by Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham’s effortless chemistry, talent, and charm.

Despite all the narrative improbabilities and a regular defiance of physics, Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer are so distractingly funny and charming that a viewer goes along for the ride.

Right away, you know that “Ride or Die,” Prime Video’s eight-episode series, will be in the vein of action/comedy flicks dating back to the ‘80s, yet somehow it works.

Ultimately, Spencer and Waddingham’s connection is the lifeblood of Ride or Die, and that alone is a good enough reason to watch the action-comedy.

Shaving at least one plotline — or even cutting down to seven episodes — could have made this a more focused season from start to finish. .... The overall success of Ride or Die lives and "dies" by its two leads (pun intended), and Debbie and Judith's friendship is ultimately why it sticks the landing.

The bond between Agency handler Sam and tech phenom Queenie (Savannah Steyn) keeps the dramedy from imploding. Their storylines are strong enough to keep audiences engaged even when convoluted subplots and unnecessary diversions bog down the main narrative between Judith and Debbie.

It feels designed as background TV — cute and inoffensive, but if you end up finishing it, I expect you'll be on your phone a lot of the time it's on.

One of the best series of the year. what incredible chemistry the two leads have. i didn't expect to like this as much as i did. so well written. can't wait for season 2. Octavia and Hannah are so good together!

Really enjoyed it. Story line was very interesting. Hoping to see another season.

This was pretty good, a girl-buddy movie. Too much angst but I didn't mark it down for that because it was under control. I also didn't mark it down for girl-beats-up-big-dude because they out-smarted the criminals too. Plot was more than single-threaded which made it interesting. We'd say: "give it a watch because you'll enjoy the entire series."

This series kicks off with a professional assassin (Hanna Waddingham) deftly completing an assignment. When she returns to her “regular” life, we meet her best friend of 20 years (Octavia Spencer). Pretty quickly, they get into a situation where the truth comes out and they end up on the run. There are some decent action beats sprinkled throughout (plus the expected intrigue), but there’s also a lot of discussion about the truth and their relationship. Fortunately, they’re both up to the roles with Waddingham gamely handling most of the fights, while Spencer copes with the confusion before coming into her own. Both of these women are accomplished at comedy, but they don't get much opportunity for that here. As the series progresses, showrunner Tessa Coates focuses more and more on their strained friendship, while the action fades a bit. If you enjoy watching these women work, it’ll prove more enjoyable, as long as you're not expecting the typical action series. (Eight 5-minute eps with a 2nd season obvious from the closing shot)

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]