"Ponies feels like writer/co-creators David Iserson and Susanna Fogel aiming to refine the familiar mechanics of their prior "female buddy spy" story for television, tailoring them instead for the "Americans" crowd. I say that because 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. Moscow, 1977. American-born wives of CIA agents, Bea and Twila, are in contrasting positions."
"The wives become friends right away after meeting at a flea market, where Twila helps Bea in a dispute with an overcharging merchant. Within that argument, the show adequately highlights their respective traits: Twila is perceptive and abrasive, while Bea is kind-hearted to the point of being a pushover. Though unlike her colleague, she speaks Russian fluently due to her Soviet immigrant background."
"Later, at a USSR event, Bea and Twila are informed by their husbands' superiors, Dane Walter (a fantastic Adrian Lester), the intimidating head of CIA Moscow, and Ray Szymanski (a charming Nicholas Podany), a sweet-natured analyst, that Tom and Chris were killed in a fatal plane crash. They're instantly flown back to their American hometowns. Twila despises the podunk Indiana roots that she worked so hard to escape. In Providence, Bea reflects on her lack of self-fulfillment outside of Chris's shadow."
Ponies is a well-made, entertaining period espionage series set in Moscow in 1977. American-born CIA wives Bea and Twila form an uneasy friendship after meeting at a flea market. Twila is perceptive and abrasive; Bea is kind-hearted, fluent in Russian, and married to Chris. Their husbands are reported killed in a plane crash, prompting the women to return to the United States. Twila resents her Indiana roots; Bea reevaluates her lack of self-fulfillment outside her marriage. The series blends buddy-spy dynamics with Cold War tension, using broad strokes while maintaining precise, engaging storytelling.
Read at Roger Ebert
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