Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Black Doves’ follows the story of a spy whose secrets are threatened with exposure when the man she’d been having an affair with is killed. The protagonist is Helen Webb, whom most people know as the wife of a Conservative MP who is on track to become the PM someday. But few know the real story behind her and the lies that have been spun to keep her in the place that she has occupied for ten years, passing on secrets to the secret organization she works for. With each episode, we discover something new about Helen, and it turns out that her past is just as bloodied as her present. SPOILERS AHEAD
Helen’s Mother’s Death and the Following Murder Changed the Course of Her Life
Before she was Helen Webb, she was Daisy Bradshaw. Or at least, that’s the name she chose when she decided to move back to London after ten years of staying out of the country. She had a different name for it, and in that life, she had a mother whom she loved more than anything else in the world. Her biological father was not accounted for, and it didn’t matter much to her. Then, her mother met a man she ended up marrying, and Daisy had a stepfather and a stepsister named Bonnie. For three years, they were a family, happy or not. And then, Daisy’s mother died. Or rather, she was killed.
Daisy’s stepfather was not a good man, but Daisy didn’t pay much mind to him. That is, until he killed Daisy’s mother. Now, again, because she never really talks about it, we don’t know what happened, but clearly, her stepfather wasn’t brought to justice for his actions. Most likely, he was an abuser who ended up killing his wife, but because it looked like an accident, he was cleared of any foul play. Daisy, however, couldn’t let it go so easily. Blinded with rage, she decided to exact her own form of justice, and she killed her stepfather.
As soon as Daisy killed him, the reality of her new situation dawned on her. She knew she couldn’t stay in London anymore, or she would eventually be arrested and sent to prison for the rest of her life. She couldn’t afford to do that. She had a bright future waiting for her with the Cambridge scholarship, but due to her situation, she couldn’t pursue that anymore. While the investigation was ongoing, Daisy found a way to make it look like her stepsister, Bonnie, was the one who murdered the stepfather. This led Bonnie to receive a life sentence, as Daisy cut all ties with her, packed her bags, and left the country for good.
Helen’s Past Brings Her in the Radar of the Black Doves
Daisy left London around the time she was twenty. For about a decade, she moved around, taking odd jobs and learning different languages, like French, German, and Russian. Eventually, she felt homesick and didn’t want to be tetherless anymore. So, she went back to London, but she couldn’t use her original name as she couldn’t risk alerting the cops of her return. Who knows what they’d found about the murder, and she could still be thrown into jail. So, she adopted a new identity: Daisy Bradshaw. Due to her knowledge of the languages, Daisy thought about getting a job as a translator, which eventually brought her to the Black Doves.
Mrs. Reed saw Daisy’s potential and offered her a different job than she’d applied for. This was when Daisy Bradshaw turned into Helen Dawson. Shortly after, she married Wallace and became Helen Webb, and then, there was no turning back for her. Despite having a new life, she couldn’t simply erase everything that had happened to her and everything she had done. She kept her mother’s lighter as a mark of her love for her, even though she was Helen now, who received a completely different background as part of her cover story. Deep down, she was still the person who would kill anyone who dared to hurt the people she loved. Eventually, it is this person who goes down the path of vengeance when her lover, Jason, is murdered.
Read More: Black Doves: Who is SY? Is Stephen Yarrick Dead? Who Kills Him?
