Since television first captured the public’s fancy in the 1950s, shows about detectives and spies have predominantly featured men in the main roles. There have been distaff outliers, from Anne Francis as the title character of the 1965 ABC private-eye series Honey West to Jennifer Garner as agent Sydney Bristow in the 2001–6 ABC espionage show Alias. And it would be criminal to forget Angela Lansbury as mystery author and amateur sleuth Jessica Fletcher on the long-running CBS program Murder, She Wrote, which aired from 1984–96. Sometimes, male and female costars worked in tandem on the TV investigative beat. But for the most part, the manly likes of Magnum, MacGyver, and Mannix (and the actors who portrayed them) were up front, grappling with bad guys and getting the glory.
The situation has changed over the past couple of decades. More women have claimed positions of power in the entertainment business as producers, directors, and writers. That representation may be in part responsible for the proliferation of female leads on television thrillers. Two of the most successful shows on broadcast TV are procedurals about feisty, offbeat women working as police consultants: High Potential and Elsbeth.
Recent imports on cable and streaming services have continued the trend. Killing Eve starred Sandra Oh as a British intelligence officer and Jodie Comer as her psychopathic nemesis and had female head writers for all four of its seasons; Happy Valley, created and written by Sally Wainwright, introduced Sarah Lancashire as a Yorkshire cop under major personal and professional stress; and The Fall honed in on Gillian Anderson as an Irish detective pursuing a serial killer. Now, the skillfully executed crime drama Furious and the nonstop adventure comedy Ride or Die have entered the conversation.
‘Furious’
Although inspired by the 1987 film Black Widow, the eight-episode Hulu series Furious goes its own way with rousing results. Black Widow (not to be confused with the 2021 movie about the Marvel superheroine) was about two women on opposite sides of the law — one who marries and murders a succession of wealthy men for their money and a Department of Justice analyst who is determined to bring in the killer. Revising and updating that plot, Furious pits fledgling FBI agent and former New York City cop Alice Black, played by Emmy Rossum, against the seductive and deadly Catherine Grace, played by Lola Petticrew. Alice is a vortex of self-destruction, regret, and sorrow, having left the NYPD under a cloud when her career was derailed by an abusive relationship with her then-boyfriend and fellow officer Marshall Connelly. As for Catherine, she was a victim of sex-trafficking as a minor and feels totally justified in taking down a string of affluent, amoral men — collateral damage notwithstanding. An uneasy alliance between the local cops and an FBI unit is slapped together to stop Catherine, with Alice caught in the middle.
The issues vexing Alice and Catherine are not as different as they initially seem and draw the two adversaries together like magnets attracted by mutual tragedy. Needing to navigate many shades of gray and slowly reveal layer after layer of damage, both Rossum and Petticrew are superb. Rossum, whose breakthrough part was the ingenious daughter Fiona on the ensemble dramedy Shameless, is devastating as the broken yet resolute Alice. Opposite her, Petticrew, a significant cast member on the Peabody Award-winning Irish historical drama series Say Nothing, is somehow simultaneously scary and heartbreaking as the self-styled avenging angel Catherine. They get expert support from Scoot McNairy as Danny Kelly, Alice’s torch-carrying former partner on the NYPD; Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Nora Washington, Alice’s FBI supervisor with a drinking problem and a long-simmering office rivalry; Jake Lacy as loose cannon Marshall; and Hope Davis as Emma Easton, the compromised daughter of an unsavory billionaire.
Furious creator and head writer Elizabeth Meriwether was previously best-known for coming up with the well-received Hulu dramas The Dropout and Dying for Sex and the durable Fox sitcom New Girl, all of which featured women as lead characters. Meriwether has scored another triumph with Furious, which just aired its final episode for now and has already been renewed for a second season.
All episodes of Furious can be streamed on Hulu and Disney+.
‘Ride or Die’
Whereas Furious is serious, gritty, and mostly set in New York City, Ride or Die is flamboyant escapism with an international scope. It’s also a fun-filled buddy comedy graced by a pair of immensely likable actors — Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer — and loaded with action sequences that don’t quit. Leaning into the odd-couple aspects of their team-up, Waddingham (taking a break from her costarring duties on the sitcom Ted Lasso) brings glamour and danger to the party as accomplished assassin Judith Burton, and the down-to-earth Spencer (Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner for The Help) provides heart and warmth as politician’s wife and strategist Debbie Claybourne. Despite their many years of friendship, Debbie — an American married to a Member of Parliament — has always believed that her British BFF Judith is a forensic accountant. That changes when the spy agency that employs Judith orders her to kill crime boss Billy Donovan (Ed Skrein) at a charity gala attended by Debbie and her husband David (Jamie Parker).
In a masterpiece of bad timing, David informs Debbie of his plans to divorce her at the gala. She decides to get drunk and disorderly. Minutes later, David gets caught in the crossfire between Billy and the Albanian mob before Judith can complete her hit. These events force Judith to admit her true vocation to Debbie, leading to a series of mishaps, shootouts, and capers involving stolen money and backroom government deals. Feeling betrayed, Debbie wants to end her friendship with Judith, until they learn that there’s a contract out on each of them. Their only chance for survival is to stick together, go on the run across Europe, and recover a sizable cache of loot. Meanwhile, the Albanians are gunning for them. Even worse, one of Judith’s fellow assassins (Sylvia Hoeks) is on their tail.
Tessa Coates, who created the series, wrote or co-wrote half of the eight episodes of Ride or Die, and she’s concocted a rockin’ road trip with the women. Adding a touch of gravitas and class to the project, the venerable Bill Nighy is aboard as the director of the agency that sends Judith on her missions. Of course, none of this would fly without the presence of the Waddingham-Spencer duo. They may appear to be seem an unlikely combination, yet they have an easy, tangible chemistry that radiates off the screen and invites you to join them on their excursion.
All episodes of Ride or Die can be streamed on Prime Video.
Updated 9/1/26 to include photo for “Ride or Die.”
