This article contains spoilers for Ride or Die.
Television has no shortage of spy thrillers, and stories about ageing assassins considered past their prime have become increasingly familiar. On paper, then, Ride or Die sounds as though it would struggle to stand out in a crowded genre. The surprise is that Prime Video’s latest series finds its identity through the unlikely pairing of Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer rather than its explosive action and spectacle – although it delivers plenty of both.
Ride or Die follows Judith Burton (Waddingham), a highly skilled international assassin dubbed Whiptail whose double life begins to unravel after a routine assignment goes disastrously wrong. Forced to flee as someone from her past closes in, Judith’s greatest challenge becomes protecting her best friend Debbie Claybourne (Spencer), who suddenly discovers the woman she has known for decades is not a forensic accountant after all. When the pair are forced to go on the run together, long-buried secrets begin to surface, testing a friendship once believed capable of surviving anything.
Creator Tessa Coates paces the story well, with each episode introducing enough twists and action to maintain its momentum. It’s a fun watch and one that’s suited to the binge model it belongs to. Once you press play on the first episode, you’ll struggle to stop at just one, which may help its prospects for renewal given that the series ends on a cliffhanger.
The motive behind the threat against Judith initially feels like the weakest aspect of the plot. While plausible enough within the heightened reality the series creates, there are moments where you wonder whether anyone would really go to such extraordinary lengths for revenge. This becomes much easier to overlook once it becomes clear that the threat against Judith is less about the mystery of who is hunting her and more about exploring loyalty, trust, and the consequences of a friendship built on decades of secrets and lies.
That willingness to embrace implausibility extends well beyond the central plot. Characters survive situations they probably should not – though deaths occur frequently – coincidences arrive at convenient moments, and the series occasionally favours spectacle over logic. Ride or Die is not a show that benefits from overthinking its plot, though it still gives viewers plenty to speculate about.
Fortunately, the performances make it easy to buy into those leaps. While Waddingham has charmed audiences worldwide through Ted Lasso, British audiences have a particular affection for her, thanks to her extensive stage career and appearances everywhere from Benidorm to the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Her charisma is second to none, and Judith feels like a role tailor-made for her strengths.
She effortlessly shifts between suave confidence and gut-wrenching vulnerability as Judith’s past comes into focus, making it believable that someone capable of dispatching targets without hesitation could simultaneously struggle with the one relationship she values most. Waddingham also handles the series’s lighter moments with ease, allowing Judith’s dry wit to surface even in the middle of increasingly dangerous situations. Ride or Die arrives during one of the busiest periods of Waddingham’s career – she recently hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live UK and stars in the fourth season of Ted Lasso out next month – but it could prove to be one of her most memorable roles.
Spencer is equally compelling. Debbie begins as someone entirely removed from Whiptail’s world, but Spencer refuses to play her purely for comedic relief, even though much of the series’ humour comes through Debbie’s perspective. As the series progresses, Debbie grows from being an overwhelmed outsider and overlooked politician’s wife into someone capable of holding her own, without ever losing her warmth and dedication.
Together, Waddingham and Spencer are exceptional. Judith and Debbie’s friendship feels lived in from the opening episode, and you never question why they have remained inseparable for so long, even as the truth threatens to pull them apart. A flashback to 2001 reveals how their friendship began, lending greater weight to the emotional stakes the show favours once Judith’s secrets come to light. Their ending may not be as straightforward as one would hope, but the finale offers both women some of their finest work thus far.
The supporting cast complements them well, particularly Ed Skrein, who plays Billy Donovan, the man Judith is assigned to kill. His charm works well opposite Waddingham, and the unlikely dynamic he forms with Judith and Debbie offers some of the show’s most entertaining moments. Bill Nighy’s The Director is a chilling figure, having taken vulnerable young girls and trained them to kill while stripping away their humanity. Sylvia Hoeks is equally effective as Ana, leaning into the character’s unsettling unpredictability in a way that creeps under your skin, reminding viewers that Judith’s past is not something she can outrun.
Ultimately, Ride or Die is an entertaining, character-driven thriller that benefits from its two leads. It asks viewers to suspend their belief more than once, but rewards that investment with humour, heartfelt emotion, and one of the year’s most enjoyable on-screen pairings. Assassin dramas often struggle to escape familiarity and predictable plots, but Coates proves that even familiar stories can still feel fresh when they are built around characters worth rooting for.
