Black Doves creator Joe Barton details why Sam can't bring himself to kill grown-up Hector. Although the six-episode Netflix series gains a lot of its narrative momentum from the secret identity of spy Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) and the global crisis that looms after her lover is one of four people who are found dead, there is a parallel storyline with Ben Whishaw's Sam Young as he comes to terms with the fact that the boy he couldn't bring himself to kill years earlier has now returned as a dangerous young man. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Barton was asked about the fact that Sam can't kill Hector Newman (Luther Ford) even though that's what he initially plans to do. The series creator gives a lengthy response, juxtaposing Sam's decision to kill his father with his inability to pull the trigger when it comes to Hector.