Williams (Elia Lily Hyland) and Eleanor (Gabrielle Creevy) were some of the funniest characters in Black Doves, and these 10 moments were their most hilarious. Though Black Doves is a show about assassins, spies, and international relations, it’s also a Christmas show. As such, it had to have at least a bit of holiday joy and cheer, and it mostly accomplished that through its unique sense of humor. Black Doves‘ jokes and funny moments are a big reason it’s one of the best shows on Netflix, and Eleanor and Williams are a big reason it was so humorous.
The cast of Black Doves was filled with funny characters who had great dynamics with each other, like Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) and Helen Webb (Keira Knightley). Williams and Eleanor, however, proved themselves to be the resident comedians of Netflix’s spy thriller. Both Creevy and Hyland were tremendously cast as the oddball pair of assassins, and their deliveries were exactly the straight-faced type of humor Black Doves needed. Everything about Eleanor and Williams worked, and these 10 moments were their absolute best.
10 Williams & Eleanor Argued About The Apartment’s Cleanliness While Preparing For A Gunfight
The Approaching Hitmen Couldn’t Stop Williams & Eleanor From Fighting About Organization
Near the ending of Black Doves season 1, Williams and Eleanor’s apartment was attacked by the Clarks. Since the Clarks were one of Black Doves‘ biggest crime families, Williams and Eleanor were sorely outgunned. To level the playing field, however, Eleanor decided to get her rocket launcher, but she couldn’t immediately find it in all the apartment’s mess. Instead of simply searching frantically, Eleanor took the opportunity to accost Williams for not keeping the apartment clean, and the two had a short argument about organization.
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Stopping a gunfight to have a commonplace argument between roommates is funny enough, but it’s also so funny that Eleanor and Williams are already having arguments about their shared apartment. Eleanor only became Williams’ partner after Sam (Ben Whishaw) killed Kent, which took place a few days prior. In less than a week, Williams and Eleanor moved in together, got so comfortable with each other that their belongings were mixed together, and already got sick of each other enough to fight. It’s a humorously short timeline for roommate fights to happen, and it illustrates how well they mesh together.
9 Eleanor Confirmed “It’s A Nice Night” To Threaten Michael’s Life
Williams Also Admitted She Might Be A Psychopath
The whole reason Williams and Eleanor were forced to work with Sam in the first place is because Lenny Lines (Kathryn Hunter) ordered them to threaten Michael’s (Omari Douglas) life. One night, they did just that and met Sam outside of Michael’s apartment. Sam ended up asking if Williams was a psychopath, to which she nonchalantly said that she might be, and when she asked if Eleanor wanted to stay there and continue watching Michael through the window, she said “Yeah, it’s a nice night for it.”
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One of the funniest parts of William and Eleanor’s dynamic is how casually they approach such serious topics. Even when someone accuses Williams of being a maniac and when discussing whether they’re going to kill an innocent man and his child, they sound like they’re having a discussion about where to get lunch. It’s that straight-faced humor that makes Eleanor and Williams the funniest duo in Black Doves.
8 Eleanor & Williams Couldn’t Figure Out Ratios When Sam Hired Them
Instead Of Worrying About Their Odds Of Survival, Williams & Eleanor Debated Math
When Sam first approached Eleanor and Williams to ask them for help hunting down Hector Newman (Luther Ford), he gave them the odds of their survival. They weren’t good odds though, and Sam said that there was an 80/20 chance they would die. What bothered Williams and Eleanor most wasn’t the high danger of the job and the likelihood of death, but whether Sam’s estimate was a percentage, a fraction, or a ratio. It was yet another great example of their casual approach to high-stakes situations that added a lot of humor to the more intense moments of Black Doves.
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More than just being an example of Eleanor and Williams’ straight-faced humor, their debate about ratios was funny for another reason: it was kind of stupid. Clearly, neither Williams nor Eleanor knew what ratios, percentages, and fractions actually are, which is funny in its own right. It’s also hilarious that they both honed in on the least important part of everything Sam told them, even though parts of his speech contained vital information like how many people would be at the club and what kind of resistance they could expect.
7 Sam & Williams Tried To Find The Moral High Ground In A Car Full Of Assassins
Eleanor Brilliantly Called Sam & Williams Out On Their Flawed Moral Codes
After they agreed to help Sam, Eleanor and Williams had to ride in his car to the discotheque to kill Hector Newman. On the way there, they got bored and started making conversation, and Williams started arguing with Sam about his moral code as a triggerman. The two exchanged insults and tried to find who was at fault for the entire situation with Lenny until Eleanor calmed them both down by pointing out that they were “literally a car full of assassins trying to find the moral high ground.”
Eleanor called out all of Williams and Sam’s hypocrisy in the funniest way possible.
Williams’ fight with Sam and Eleanor’s complaint was hilarious because it perfectly pointed out how absurd the entire situation was. Even as they were on their way to kill dozens of men in cold blood, Williams and Sam couldn’t set aside their differences for long enough to get there. It’s also hilarious that a group of hired killers who have personally shot, stabbed, and murdered countless people would act morally superior. Eleanor called out all of Williams and Sam’s hypocrisy in the funniest way possible.
6 Eleanor Proudly Asked “Did You See That?” After Killing A Man
“Go Bang Time” Was A Great & Festive Action Sequence
Once they finally arrived at the discotheque, Eleanor had another hilarious moment. As they approached the club in their festive disguises, Eleanor shot a man on the fire escape above her without looking. While it was an impressive kill, what made it even funnier was Eleanor proudly asking Sam and Williams if they had seen what she did just moments before the body fell behind her. Eleanor seemed like a proud kid showing her parents a finger painting, not an assassin killing someone in a particularly flashy way.
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The entire intro to Black Doves episode 4, “Go Bang Time,” was hilarious. From the contrasting image of Williams, Eleanor, and Sam wearing festive Christmas costumes while brutally murdering people to the times when they complained that Sam had gotten his estimates of Hector’s men wrong, there were more than a few laugh out loud moments. It was also an impressive showing of Black Doves‘ sleek and efficient action sequences, and “Go Bang Time” was just masterful all around.
5 Eleanor Found Out That Kai-Ming Was “Fit” And Teased Sam About It
Eleanor Also Called Kai-Ming A “Little Junkie Barbie”
Before they attacked Hector Newman’s discotheque, Eleanor wanted to know who they were looking for. Sam, however, didn’t want to describe Kai-Ming (Isabella Wei), even though Eleanor desperately wanted to know if she was “fit” or not. Once they actually found her, Eleanor took a moment to tell Sam “She is fit. It wouldn’t have killed you to say it, would it?“ Later on, after they got Kai-Ming in the car, Eleanor called her a “little tiny doll, like a little junkie Barbie” and agreed to babysit her on those grounds alone.
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Throughout Black Doves, Eleanor displayed the straight-faced and dark humor she and Williams were known for the most. Her comments about Kai-Ming prove that. Even after they had killed 17 people and failed their main objective of killing Hector, Eleanor was still looking for ways to crack jokes and circle back to the weird things she hones in on. It’s like Eleanor couldn’t let go of a good joke, which ended up benefiting Black Doves tremendously.
4 Eleanor Really Did Have A Rocket Launcher & She Got It For Christmas
Eleanor’s Family Was Fairly Messed Up & Helped Her Become An Assassin
Early on in Black Doves, Eleanor mentioned that she wanted to bring a rocket launcher to the assault on Hector Newman’s discotheque. At first it seemed like one of the funny and odd things she would normally say, especially after she explained that she had it since the previous Christmas. Then, when the Clarks sent men to kidnap Kai-Ming, Black Doves revealed that Eleanor really did have a rocket launcher stowed away in her closet. Keeping military-grade weaponry in a London flat is hilarious in its own right, but the fact that Eleanor had bragged about it a few days earlier makes the joke even better.
Keeping military-grade weaponry in a London flat is hilarious in its own right, but the fact that Eleanor had bragged about it a few days earlier makes the joke even better.
Getting a rocket launcher for Christmas would be odd for most people, but it seemed very in keeping with what Eleanor revealed about her family. Just a few minutes prior, Eleanor had told Kai-Ming that her father ran a crime family that dealt heroin, and that she had witnessed her mother asphyxiate a man with a plastic bag. She even went on to give herself some armchair psychology and determine that her early desensitization to violence helped her become a professional assassin. The rocket launcher as a Christmas present was just the cherry on top of a very troubled childhood.
3 Williams Shot Down Michael’s Idea To Bandage Her Wound With Sanitary Napkins
Even While Bleeding Out, Williams Couldn’t Help But Be Sarcastic
After the shootout at their apartment, Sam took Williams to the one place he knew would be safe and the last place he should have taken such a wild person: Michael’s apartment. Williams had been shot at her apartment and needed medical attention, and in his panic Michael suggested she should plug the wound with sanitary napkins because he had seen it in a movie. Instead of understanding that Michael was out of his depth, however, Williams took the opportunity to sarcastically say “if I do get the strong urge to suture myself with a fanny pad I’ll let you know.”
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One of the best things about Williams is her commitment to the bit. It’s one thing to be cavalier and overly casual before a fight, but her smug and sarcastic humor is obviously strong enough for her to say funny remarks as she was bleeding out on Michael’s couch. There wasn’t a moment in Black Doves where Williams should have been more serious than then, especially since Eleanor had also been kidnapped, but she was so dedicated to telling a good joke that she couldn’t let the moment pass.
2 Williams Told Kai-Ming “It Might Be A Good Time To Dabble” Before The Shootout At Their Apartment
Williams Clearly Didn’t Think Kai-Ming Would Survive The Gunfight
As the shooting at Williams and Eleanor’s apartment started, Kai-Ming began to freak out. She asked the assassins what she should do, and Eleanor told her to hide in the bathtub to avoid the gunfire, which was actually helpful advice. Williams’ advice wasn’t nearly as constructive, as she asked Kai-Ming if she was religious and told her that it “might be a good time to dabble. You know, have a chat with your man upstairs.”
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As a whole, Black Doves used humor extremely well. The little jokes and moments of tongue-in-cheek dialog helped make the series a lot more cheery and helped it fit with the Christmas theme better. It also helped to break up the tension of suspenseful scenes like the shootout, and keep them from becoming completely dark moments in what was supposed to be a holiday show. Humor is extremely important to Black Doves, and Eleanor and Williams were masters at it.
1 Eleanor Called Heroin A “Seven Out Of 10 Overall” & Williams Called It A “Crèche For The Criminally Insane”
The Most Hilarious Exchange In Black Doves Came When Kai-Ming Got To Know Williams & Eleanor
Before the shootout at their apartment started, Eleanor and Williams had to find a way to pass the time until they could move Kai-Ming. While Williams watched the street for anyone following them, Eleanor chose to ask Kai-Ming about her heroin abuse and what it’s like to take the drug. Kai-Ming told a heartbreaking story about how heroin feels great initially, but it eventually takes away everything that makes a person who they are. After her story, Eleanor tried to sum up by saying “What’s that, like, seven out of 10 overall then?” and Kai-Ming agreed.
Substance abuse isn’t a laughing matter, but Eleanor’s wild oversimplification and complete disregard for the negative consequences of heroin abuse were hilarious.
Substance abuse isn’t a laughing matter, but Eleanor’s wild oversimplification and complete disregard for the negative consequences of heroin abuse were hilarious. Her discussion with Kai-Ming was the absolute best use of their straight-faced and inappropriately casual sense of humor in the entire show, and Williams adding that their apartment had turned into a “crèche for the criminally insane” only made it funnier. It was probably one of the funniest moments in Black Doves as a whole.
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Black Doves
Black Doves is a drama series that centers on the complex interplay of espionage and personal relationships. Focused on Helen Webb, a seasoned spy striving to balance her covert missions with a turbulent family life, the series delves into themes of loyalty, betrayal, and sacrifice. Starring Keira Knightley, it examines the moral ambiguities faced by those who live double lives in service to their countries.
- Release Date
- December 5, 2024
- Network
- Netflix
- Cast
- Keira Knightley , sarah lancashire , Ben Whishaw , Andrew Koji , Andrew Buchan , Omari Douglas , Kathryn Hunter , Sam Troughton , Ella Lily Hyland
- Character(s)
- Sam Young , Helen Webb , Stephen Yarrick , Uncredited , Bill , Eleanor , Reed , Jason , Williams , Arnie , Alex , Richard Eaves , Michael
- Creator(s)
- Joe Barton
- Producers
- Jane Featherstone , Chris Fry , Joe Barton
- Seasons
- 1