Emilia Clarke Leaves Daenerys Behind With Peacock’s Endearing Spy Caper ‘Ponies’: TV Review

The espionage term “ Ponies ,” explains the title card to the Peacock spy drama of the same name, derives from the acronym for “persons of no interest.” In the winter of 1977, that’s exactly who Bea ( Emilia Clarke ) and Twila (Haley Lu Richardson) are: Americans in Moscow by virtue of their husbands’ jobs with the CIA, the women are plus-one invitees to the heart of the Cold War. But when said husbands die in a mysterious plane crash, Bea and Twila enter the arena themselves in search of answers and, whether or not they’re aware of it, a sense of purpose. The idea that women won’t attract Soviet suspicion because they’re overlooked and underestimated, as bureau chief Dane (Adrian Lester) argues to his superiors as a rationale for taking them on, is both simplistic and swiftly belied by the show’s subsequent events. (Without spoiling: the KGB has no qualms about deploying the fairer sex for its own ends, so why would they assume their opponents would not?) But as a pretext for zippy capers and a dual character study that slowly acquires emotional depth, the premise of “Ponies” works just fine. Popular on Variety “Ponies” is the first leading TV role for Clarke, also an executive producer, since the end of “Game of Thrones” over half a decade ago. Creators Susanna Fogel and David Iserson, the writing partners behind 2018 feature “The Spy Who Dumped Me,” reportedly offered the actor her choice of the two protagonists, and one can see what drew her to Bea. The daughter of a Belarussian Holocaust survivor who escaped to New England, Bea’s facility with the Russian language makes her a prime candidate for undercover work - and gives Clarke quite the challenge to prove her range extends far beyond Daenerys Targaryen. (Along with “Heated Rivalry,” it’s been quite the few months for performers flexing their Slavic dialogue skills.) Clarke doesn’t really scan as a first-generation Ashkenazi American to those of us with family who meet the same description, but as a rule-following Wellesley grad, she fits the goodie-two-shoes vibe to a tee. Bea was patiently waiting her turn to put career first while her college sweetheart Chris (Louis Boyer) took a glamorous, high-stakes job half a world away from home. Chris’ death means bookish, polite Bea gets to step up to the plate quicker, and in a much different manner, than she thought. Her ability to blend in gets Bea sent into some incredibly high-stakes situations: liaising with Chris’ erstwhile asset Sasha (Petro Ninovskyi), a technologist with some personal motives for leaking trade secrets to the Americans, and flirting with KGB agent Andrei (Artjom Gilz), who proves implausibly easy to deceive given his day job. This setup lends itself to plenty of comedy as Bea’s inexperience leads to stumbling and rookie mistakes. (One hasty escape route sends her straight into a dumpster.) But it also leads Bea to uncover the resolve she inherited from her grandmother Manya (the always excellent Harriet...

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