After watching Death by Lightning, we’re now hooked on another historical drama, this time one only based loosely on real events. Ponies is an 8-episode show on Peacock staring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson playing “persons of no interest” working for the CIA in Societ-era Russia after their husbands–both CIA agents–are mysteriously killed near Moscow.
The show hinges on Richardson and Clarke, and they’re both excellent here. Richardson’s character, Twila, doesn’t speak a word of Russian, but she’s completely fearless. Clarke impressively learned to speak Russian for her character, Bea, and she consistenly holds her own with native speakers.
We’re 5 episodes in at this point, and I love how each episode stands on its own without feeling repetitive or procedural while also contributing to the broader story. It’s thrilling, it’s funny, and it’s even sensual at times.
From a historical perspective, it’s also fascinating to see the unwritten rules of spy vs spy (and how both sides consistently push those boundaries). There’s a great line from one of the other characters along the lines of, “They spy on us because we spy on them.”
I definitely recommend Ponies, and I’m curious to hear your thoughts.