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Created by Tessa Coates, Prime Video’s new buddy dramedy “Ride or Die” pays homage to the beloved genre that dominated in the 1980s while giving it a 21st-century sensibility. The series follows Judith (Hannah Waddingham)
and Debbie (Octavia Spencer), best friends who share a passion for travel, music and antiquing. However, there is a major crack in their friendship. Debbie believes that Judith is a forensic accountant, but she’s actually a deadly assassin who gets paid millions by The Agency to eliminate targets. Though Judith has kept this part of her life a secret from Debbie for decades, when she is forced to reveal the truth to keep Debbie safe, it tests the core of their bond. Action-packed and full of shocking revelations, “Ride or Die” has some promising components, but the show isn’t as thrilling as it could be.
“Ride or Die” opens in Austria at a ski resort. Judith’s handler, Sam (Calam Lynch), directs her to take her target out quietly. Instead, Judith completes the task on her own terms, terrorizing Sam and innocent skiers in her wake. The audience quickly learns this is par for the course for Judith. Known by her code name Whiptail, she is one of The Agency’s top assassins, but her chaotic choices and risk-taking have deeply upset The Director (Bill Nighy), who is pushing for her retirement or complete elimination.
As Judith throws knives and sprays bullets, Debbie is at home in London, none the wiser, attending antique sales, writing her dim husband David’s (Jamie Parker) political speeches, and making massive snack spreads for her and Judith’s book club. Debbie believes Judith also lives a regular life, so she is stunned when their worlds violently collide at a political party. Trying to wrap her head around the deaths she’s witnessed and the revelation of Judith’s true occupation, Debbie must go on the run with her bestie while coming to terms with the woman she thought she knew and the ferocious killer before her.
“Ride or Die” works best when it fully leans into the “Thelma & Louise” aspects of the central storyline. The humor here isn’t as punchy as the beloved 1991 film, but the power of female friendships remains a pillar of the series. Spencer and Waddingham have a robust and genuine chemistry — a companionship that will undoubtedly resonate with countless viewers. Moreover, watching Waddingham as a full-fledged action star is something everyone should be witnessing on a daily basis.
The show goes beyond generic talking points about ageism, career and family life for 21st-century women of a certain age, and gets to the heart of who these two women are and what they’ve meant to each other over the years. Debbie has closed the door on her work as an attorney, and Judith doesn’t begrudge her choices. But she does push Debbie to take a critical look at her life, urging her to put her own happiness and dreams above David’s for once. In turn, Debbie encourages Judith to open herself up to the idea of lasting romantic companionship beyond sexual intimacy. Amid their travels, book club meetings and deep talks, it’s clear that these two simply want the best for one another.
Despite such impressive lead characters, “Ride or Die” begins to lose its luster after the second episode. As the duo tracks an eerie, psychotic killer (Sylvia Hoeks) across Europe, new characters, plots and sidequests, including members of law enforcement and the Albanian mob, are introduced, bloating the narrative and drawing it away from what makes it dynamic in the first place: Debbie and Judith.
Still, even as multiple locations and villains pile up, the bond between Agency handler Sam and tech phenom Queenie (Savannah Steyn) keeps the dramedy from imploding. Their storylines are strong enough to keep audiences engaged even when convoluted subplots and unnecessary diversions bog down the main narrative between Judith and Debbie.
“Ride or Die” is oddly billed as an action comedy, but doesn’t quite fit the genre. While there are a few comedic moments sprinkled throughout the eight episodes, especially when Billy (Ed Skrein), one of Judith’s targets, is on screen, the show has so few laugh-out-loud moments it’s best experienced as a drama. Had Spencer and Waddingham been able to embrace the dramatic nature of the writing, the series likely would have been much stronger for it.
In its final episodes, “Ride or Die” gets back on track. With one of the major (and most choppily rendered) plot threads concluding in the middle of the penultimate episode, “The Geneva Convention,” the rest of Episode 7 and, in turn, the finale “The Song of Deborah,” turns its focus on what makes the show so interesting in the first place: friendship. There are, of course, several outside forces at play, including Judith’s chosen career and the demise of the life Debbie thought she was living. However, as Season 1 speeds toward its conclusion, it’s the deep confidence and love the pair have in one another that may very well save them.
All eight episodes of “Ride or Die” premiere on July 15 on Prime Video.
