There’s an amazing moment in the Amazon series Ride or Die that sums up why the show is so magical. Actually, there are a lot of standout moments, but this one is perhaps the best.

Judith (Hannah Waddingham), an assassin (more on that later) and her best friend Debbie (Olivia Spencer), wife of a British MP, are on the run, looking for the one person who can help them out with their particular dilemma. Judith is temporarily on the outs with the shadowy quasi-government agency who sends her out on secret assassin missions, so she can’t turn to them to locate her target. She and Debbie are holed up in a hostel, sharing a room with a bunch of 20-something women. When Judith and Debbie share their story with the young women, the gals use their social media savvy and network of friends to track him down and arrange a meetup that same day. And it takes them all of three minutes to accomplish this. Girl power, indeed.

Scenes like that are what make this show so popular among women (and women of a certain age, a phrase that gets bandied about a lot in the show.) Just check out any social media platform, where you can read numerous testimonials to the show, which takes the spy drama format and upgrades it by focusing on the friendship dynamics between two women, one of whom is hiding a massive secret from the other.

When Ride or Die opens, we see Judith in action, completing a high-stakes assassination at a mountain resort (in a way that sends her handler into a tizzy because it’s far more dangerous than it needs to be), then we see her bedding a hot guy that she picks up after she gets away. The next time we see her, she has donned the disguise of an ordinary woman, a forensic accountant who attends book club at her best friend Debbie’s house.

Debbie has no idea what Judith really does for a living. And Debbie might have remained in the dark forever, if her husband hadn’t gotten himself into a massive amount of trouble with some shady characters (right after asking Debbie for a divorce.) When David’s woes threaten Debbie’s life, Judith and Debbie go on the run, allowing Debbie to get up to speed on her friend’s secret life.

The two get into spectacular fight scenes, wear fabulous outfits (Waddingham stuns in some amazing gowns, but Spencer does glam well too!) and they scramble to try to outwit who is after them. And it seems like everyone is after them: the Albanian mob, Interpol, Judith’s agency, and a former assassin with quite the vendetta against not only Judith, but Debbie too.

To say much more would ruin a lot of the fun, but I can say that along Judith and Debbie’s eight-episode journey, the friendship is tested, more secrets are revealed, hearts are broken and mended and broken again, and the ass-kicking action hardly ever stops. If you’ve only ever seen Waddingham as Rebecca in Ted Lasso, this show reveals a whole new side to her. And Olivia Spencer gets to be a badass too, even if she’s not physically fighting. She’s the brains behind her husband’s career, and to see her use her powers while she and Judith are on the run is exhilarating. It’s quite a ride, and it’s one worth taking.

Tessa Coates created Ride or Die, and Matt Miller serves as showrunner, with Spencer and Waddingham executive producing. Peyton Reed directed the first two episodes, and Ed Skrein, Calam Lynch, Savannah Steyn, Jamie Parker, Sylvia Hoeks, and the great Bill Nighy also star.

Ride or Die is available to stream on Amazon Prime now. Don’t miss it!