‘Ride or Die’ Review: The second-best female-led series released on Prime Video this year
Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham are the star power behind a very bingeable action-comedy
Tessa Coates has put together an Anglo-American cocktail of an action-comedy with Ride or Die, and on July 15, Prime Video made all eight episodes available. With an Oscar winner like Octavia Spencer (Truth Be Told) and Emmy-winner Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) at the helm, one could make a case for the series on star power alone. But if you are in the market for a female-led caper with some bite that doesn’t just follow the old tropes, this is your midsummer must-watch.
Two women on the run from criminals and their past
The story is built around two lifelong friends whose quiet routine is about to be shattered. On one side, you have Judith (Waddingham), a British assassin of three decades’ standing whose codename is Whiptail. She has been making war criminals disappear for a covert London agency, but she has been testing her handlers’ patience of late over what they see as too much “artistic flair” in her work.
Then there is Debbie (Spencer). A Yale Law alum and American expat in London, she has put her own ambitions on the back burner to manage the political rise of her husband, David (Jamie Parker), an MP with his sights set on 10 Downing Street. For twenty years, they have been inseparable, even running a book club together, though Debbie is under the impression that Judith is nothing more than a run-of-the-mill forensic accountant.
That illusion is shattered at a high-society gala where their paths cross. Judith is there to eliminate Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein), a money launderer hiding behind a charity front. Debbie is in attendance to back David’s green transportation bill, which is not faring well in Parliament. The night goes sideways when David tells Debbie he has hired a divorce lawyer and she heads for the bar. Before Judith can do her job, a rival faction makes its presence known with deadly purpose. She comes across a trail of bodies, among them David, who is found with a message for “Whiptail” in his hand.
From there, it is a cat-and-mouse game of European proportions. Their covers are blown and they are running from Interpol’s Jacques Boucher (Jacky Ido) while trying to get to Donovan first. They have the odd help of Sam (Calam Lynch), the tech whiz at the agency, and Mrs. Williams (Cathy Tyson) and her daughter Queenie (Savannah Steyn), a pair of expert forgers, even as the steely Director (Bill Nighy) severs ties with his asset. And then there is Ana (Sylvia Hoeks), an elite assassin called Redback, who is after them.
Self-discovery, breathtaking vistas, and sharp wit: Ride or Die is television’s ultimate comfort spy-thriller
There is no mistaking it: with Ride or Die, Prime Video is not out to reinvent the wheel. The series has its narrative missteps and will at times want you to leave your logic behind. One has to wonder at a certain point in the show why characters in plain view would think the way to go undetected is to make a beeline for the exit and grand-theft-auto their way to liberty.
And then there is the matter of tone. For all the tension an espionage plot should bring, Ride or Die is a remarkably easy watch. It is not for want of twists; the spy work is grounded in something far more human and relatable. You could call it a gorgeous travelogue of Europe’s finer spots as much as a story of self-discovery, which makes it ideal for a weekend of binging.
Hannah Waddingham puts on a fine display, commanding the screen in the midst of some jaw-dropping action and hilarious set pieces. But past the snappy repartee, one finds universal truths being put forward: the vagaries of love and friendship, office politics, the chaos that is adulthood and the residual angst of being young. The narrative does more than address the viewer; it holds up a mirror.
At the centre of it are two women who could not be more dissimilar and have no intention of conforming to whatever box society has put them in. They will defend each other to the death but are not above a brutal dressing down. A feminist series in every sense, it stands alone on its merits. Indeed, aside from the formidable female-driven tale of The House of the Spirits, one will not find a more engaging story on Prime Video this year.
