Our take
Ponies is a fun ride. Centered on two widows who lost their CIA husbands, the unexpected spy series puts their duo into some wacky hijinks as they try to figure it out at a time where one wrong move can launch a world war. That’s because it remembers the world just got out of one. It is set in the Cold War, after all. The show sets believable weight to the stakes the two women face by putting into perspective the kind of world these spies were working with. And so, with this strong sense of setting, Bea and Twila feel more like real people than the serious super spy or the adventurous James Bond-type. Combined with the surprising chemistry between Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, breaking out of type, Ponies finds humor and fun in the uncertainty of the time.
The story
In 1977 Moscow, two "PONIES" ("persons of no interest") become CIA operatives and uncover a Cold War conspiracy their husbands were killed for.
Elsewhere
"Ponies creates a world in which a woman can stand up and assert her right to exist, and that’s very much of interest."
— Roxana Hadadi
"It is a well-made and entertaining period espionage show that, despite the numerous broad strokes it fires, hits its target with solid, entertaining precision. "
— Rendy Jones
Streaming arrival
Who picked it
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
