Quick answer: Williams and Eleanor’s first kiss in Black Doves Season 2 is as chaotic as their relationship: it happens while danger is still unfolding, with a live grenade in the mix. The moment pays off a slow-burn connection built from sharp banter, professional trust, jealousy and two assassins who are much better at handling weapons than admitting they need somebody.
Spoiler warning: This article discusses major relationship developments in Season 2, including the first kiss and the characters’ confessions.
Why the grenade makes their first kiss feel unmistakably Black Doves
Most television romances give a first kiss room to breathe. The characters find privacy, the music softens, and the danger temporarily disappears. Black Doves does the opposite. Williams and Eleanor arrive at their romantic breakthrough in the middle of the work they know best: a violent situation where hesitation can get someone killed. The live grenade is not just an outrageous prop. It is a concise expression of the show’s comic grammar, where tenderness and peril occupy the same frame.
The scene works because it does not transform either assassin into a different person. Williams remains direct, awkwardly confident and quick to act. Eleanor keeps her dry humor and instinct for deflection. Their feelings become visible without the series asking them to abandon the danger, competence or irreverence that made their partnership entertaining in the first place.
The romance was built through partnership before either woman named it
Williams and Eleanor do not begin Season 2 as a conventional couple waiting for the plot to catch up. They are colleagues whose timing, arguments and shared appetite for chaos make them an unusually effective team. Their chemistry is apparent in the way they work together, but the characters are not immediately ready to interpret that chemistry as romance.
Netflix’s interview with actors Ella Lily Hyland and Gabrielle Creevy makes that distinction clear. Creevy said she initially saw the pair as good pals in Season 1, while Hyland described the connection as something that developed naturally as the story was written. Creator Joe Barton told Tudum that the chemistry became obvious when the actors read together: he could see them becoming “this little gang.” Read the Netflix Tudum cast interview.
That gradual development gives the first kiss weight. It is not a sudden twist pasted onto two characters who have barely shared a scene. It is the consequence of a partnership that has been accumulating small signs of attachment: knowing how the other thinks, trusting the other under pressure, and noticing when a familiar joke no longer feels like enough.
Williams says it first — and makes the confession sound like Williams
Williams’ emotional breakthrough arrives before the kiss. In Episode 4, while the pair are under fire, she tells Eleanor: “I love ya. Probably. Definitely, actually.” The wording is funny because it sounds like Williams trying to correct an operational detail in real time. She starts with a hedge, then abandons it almost immediately. The danger around them leaves little space for a polished speech, and that is precisely why the confession feels honest.
Joe Barton told Netflix that he found the situation fascinating because these two people have a strong working relationship, and suddenly one of them has feelings that are inconvenient for the job. The confession is both romantic and practical trouble: what happens when the person you trust to cover your back is also the person whose rejection could hurt you?
Hyland told Tudum she loved the scene when she first read it. She was moved by the mix of humor and unfiltered passion, especially because Williams had not previously shown that side of herself so openly. The performance keeps the character’s awkwardness intact rather than smoothing it into a generic romantic declaration.
Why Eleanor takes longer to answer
Eleanor’s hesitation is not proof that she feels nothing. In the Netflix interview, Creevy described Eleanor as avoiding what is happening because she is not ready to admit it. She also suggested that Eleanor enjoys the chase and takes pleasure in watching Williams become vulnerable. That gives the romance a useful imbalance: Williams is unexpectedly blunt, while Eleanor is more comfortable keeping the emotional question open.
Creevy also offered a deeper explanation. She said the pair do not have families or a nurturing network around them; they are used to fighting for survival, so allowing another person close is frightening. In that context, Eleanor’s reluctance is not simply flirtation. It is a defensive habit. A person who has learned to rely on herself may find it harder to accept that someone else has become a source of safety.
The show’s action-comedy makes this emotional problem visible without turning it into a lecture. Eleanor can face a gunfight with apparent ease, but being honest about affection requires a different kind of courage.
The first kiss is a payoff, not a promise that the danger is over
Netflix’s Season 2 ending explainer places the first kiss in Episode 5. Eleanor returns Williams’ feelings while they are again under gunfire, and the pair kiss amid the chaos. Tudum’s separate interview describes the live-grenade detail, underlining how deliberately the show refuses to give them a safe, conventional romantic setting. Netflix’s Season 2 ending explainer.
The important point is that the kiss does not solve the characters’ problems. They still have to work together, and their work remains dangerous. Their new honesty changes the stakes rather than removing them. A partner can be trusted with a weapon and still be difficult to trust with your heart. For Williams and Eleanor, the relationship is now another thing they must learn to navigate under pressure.
That is why the scene feels earned. The grenade does not make the romance less sincere; it makes the characters’ circumstances impossible to ignore. Their world offers no guarantee of a quiet moment, so they take the moment they can get.
What the actors say the relationship gives them
Creevy described Williams as “home” for Eleanor: someone who understands her humor and sees her clearly. She called Williams a safe place in a dangerous world. That is a revealing description for a relationship between two assassins. Their jobs are built around reading threats and anticipating betrayal; the rarest thing they can offer each other is the feeling of being understood without having to explain every instinct.
Hyland and Creevy also spoke about how closely they worked together. Hyland said they often felt like one entity on set, sharing each other’s nerves and instincts about whether a scene had worked. That behind-the-scenes connection may help explain why the partnership feels so lived-in on screen. The chemistry is not only about flirtation; it is about rhythm, listening and a shared comic sensibility.
The actors even floated a future Vegas wedding, complete with white tuxedos and cowboy boots. It was a playful wish rather than a plot announcement, but it shows how enthusiastically they have embraced the pair’s potential. Fans can enjoy the fantasy without mistaking it for confirmation of a Season 3 storyline.
Why this romance adds something new to Black Doves
Helen and Sam’s relationship has long been shaped by history, loyalty and the damage that comes with a life built around violence. Williams and Eleanor offer a different version of intimacy. They are still figuring out what they mean to each other, and their relationship grows through present-tense teamwork rather than a long shared past.
Their romance also expands the show’s emotional range. Williams’ confession reveals a softer side beneath her hard-to-rattle exterior. Eleanor’s response shows that her bravado can conceal fear of being known. The result is not a break from the show’s dark humor; it is another expression of it. A grenade can be a threat, a prop in an absurdly timed kiss, and a reminder that these characters cannot separate love from danger.
My take: the first kiss works because the series lets the characters stay funny and difficult. It does not reward them with a sudden peaceful world. It gives them a moment of connection inside the one they already inhabit — and that is a more convincing romantic payoff for Black Doves than a perfectly staged candlelit scene could have been.
Frequently asked questions
Do Williams and Eleanor kiss in Black Doves Season 2?
Yes. They share their first kiss in Episode 5, after Williams has confessed her feelings and Eleanor returns them.
Does their first kiss happen with a live grenade?
Yes. Netflix Tudum describes the first kiss as happening with a live grenade in the scene, keeping the romance closely tied to the show’s dangerous action.
When does Williams tell Eleanor she loves her?
Williams confesses her feelings in Episode 4 while the pair are under gunfire, saying, “I love ya. Probably. Definitely, actually.”
Who plays Williams and Eleanor?
Ella Lily Hyland plays Williams, and Gabrielle Creevy plays Eleanor.
Why does Eleanor hesitate before admitting her feelings?
Gabrielle Creevy told Netflix that Eleanor is avoiding the vulnerability of admitting what she feels. Creevy also noted that the characters have little experience of being nurtured, which makes letting someone close frightening.
Have the actors suggested what should happen next?
Hyland and Creevy joked with Netflix about wanting a Vegas wedding for the characters, with cowboy boots and white tuxedos. That is their playful hope, not confirmation of a future storyline.
Sources and further reading
- Netflix Tudum: Williams and Eleanor’s romance, explained by Ella Lily Hyland and Gabrielle Creevy
- Netflix Tudum: Black Doves Season 2 ending explained
- ITV News: Black Doves stars on playing Welsh and Irish assassins
- Radio Times: Black Doves Season 2 cast and characters
By Shivam Das
