Beatrice and Twila are two married woman living in Moscow with their respective CIA agent husbands, Chris and Tom. After their husbands are killed during a mission, Beatrice and Twila return to the United States. To learn more details about their husbands' deaths, they contact the Moscow station chief, Dane, and offer to work as CIA agents. Dane is unsure, but feels like they may serve a purpose, as the KGB would not suspect that women employees at the embassy were under cover agents. They return to Moscow, and begin their official work as secretaries. Dane sets up a meeting where they will hand off material to a potential source, codenamed C.K. Solar. Beatrice, posing as a Russian schoolteacher, meets with him, but they are interrupted by Vasiliev, a KGB agent.
2
"Hanging on the Telephone"
Susanna Fogel
Susanna Fogel & David Iserson
January15,2026(2026-01-15)
Twila rescues Beatrice from Vasiliev by setting the bar on fire. The two women escape back to the embassy, where Dane proposes that they need formal training in spycraft. Vasiliev confronts C.K. Solar, who is named Sasha, but believes his story that he was on a date. C.K. Solar opens the package from Beatrice, and finds a camera for him to photograph electronic schematics. He completes his assignment, but the camera had a light leak, rendering the photos unusable. Beatrice, under training from another spy, Emile, breaks into Sasha's apartment, and narrowly avoids him catching her as she escapes. Beatrice gives Sasha another camera and returns home. Vasiliev, believing Beatrice is a Russian woman, calls her on a phone in her apartment that is listed as belonging to her cover identity. One Shep's friends from college, George, visits, and ends his trip having sex with a prostitute. She meets Vasiliev after, and he murders her.
3
"Backstreets"
Viet Nguyen
Susanna Fogel & David Iserson
January15,2026(2026-01-15)
At the urging of Dane, Beatrice prepares to go on a date with Vasiliev. She is nervous, and is coached by Twila on how to make Vasiliev interested without having sex with him. George calls Twila to tell her that the woman he had sex with has been found dead; Twila begins researching further and discovers a large number of prostitutes that have been similarly murdered. Beatrice goes on a date with Vasiliev; she takes him back to Sasha's apartment, as she cannot take him back to her home at the embassy. She convinces Sasha to sneak out, and bring Vasiliev inside. Outside, Sasha encounters Twila; they plan a listening device in Vasiliev's car. In a flashback, one of the women reported murdered is noted by Tom; Emile hides the murder weapon.
The series is created by Susanna Fogel and David Iserson. Fogel directs the series, with Iserson as showrunner. Jessica Rhoades executive produces for Pacesetter Productions and Alison Mo Massey co-executive produces along with Katherine Bridle. Universal Television are producers. In August 2024, Emilia Clarke became attached to star and be an executive producer on the series.[3]
Filming began in Budapest, Hungary in February 2025.[6][7]
Release
The series premiered on January 15, 2026, on Peacock.[8]
Reception
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 95% approval rating based on 22 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "As much a buddy adventure as it is an espionage caper, Ponies' likable trot of a story gradually achieves full gallop thanks to Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson's tag-team charisma."[9]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 75 out of 100 based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10]Vulture praised Clarke and Richardson's on-screen chemistry and how the series allows them to "put a spin on the types you may already associate with them" such as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones and Portia in The White Lotus.[11] Likewise, Variety calls Clarke and Richardson's chemistry the "glue that binds the whole enterprise together".[12] In a more mixed review, Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Ponies might have "moments of dazzle" but their lack of depth makes it a "forgettable distraction".[13]
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