Susanna Fogel and David Iserson on ‘Ponies’: ‘We have an open marriage creatively’

Ponies is a charming Cold War era spy thriller starring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson as Bea and Twila, two embassy wives in ‘70s Moscow. When their CIA agent husbands die under mysterious circumstances, they convince the Moscow station chief to let them be spies as no one will consider “ponies” (person of no interest in spy speak) like them a threat. What follows is a thrilling ride packed with warmth, humour, emotion and fabulous fashion.

Aesthetic draw

David Iserson, who co-created the show with Susanna Fogel, says they were interested in the aesthetic of the time and the place. Speaking from New York over a video call, David, who is also the showrunner, says, “I have been collecting things from the Cold War period in the ‘70s, like this watch,” he says pointing at his wrist and laughing.

David Iserson, co-creator of ‘Ponies’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

“I also have collected cameras and alarm clocks. When we were approaching Ponies, we read a lot of books about the era. We went through archives and collected photographs to try to capture the look and the feel of 1970s Moscow, which was far more brightly coloured than the period is often portrayed behind the Iron Curtain. We had a lot of conversations with people who lived there at the time.”

Together and apart

Susanna, the director, also speaking from New York, says, “We met about 10 years ago at a dinner party. We were just two writers constantly trying to motivate ourselves to get the writing done. We would sit in coffee shops, writing and talking about the business together.”

Those conversations led David and Susanna to write and direct 2018’s The Spy Who Dumped Me, starring Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon as best friends running riot in Europe after one of their boyfriends turns out to be a CIA agent. “Since then, we’ve done some writing together and some writing apart,” Susanna says. “We have an open marriage creatively.”

Spy saga

The two began talking about Ponies during the promotions for The Spy Who Dumped Me, Susanna says. “People were asking, ‘Do you have anything else with spies, women, and friendship’. That idea, combined with David’s pre-existing love for Cold War lore, led to conversations about Ponies.”

Susanna Fogel co-creator of ‘Ponies’
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Ponies had quite a long development process, Susanna says. “We had different studios involved at different times. It was one of those Hollywood stories of perseverance. When it came time to open a writer’s room, we had written a few scripts on our own.”

Division of labour

David, Susanna says, has a lot of experience, running rooms of different TV shows, both comedy and drama — he has written and produced episodes of Mr. Robot and Mad Men. “He was in charge of the whole arc of the season, and I had my eye on how we were going to make it happen directorially.”

When they got to shooting, David says, the division of labour changed. “There is so much that goes into making a show. Susanna focused on the directing piece, while I figured out what was happening in the next episode. It is great to have a director you can trust throughout the process.”

Secret sauce

Speaking about placing women in roles that blend invisibility, grief, and force within the Cold War espionage framework, David says, “We are both drawn to female protagonists and friendships.”

The two always knew they wanted to tell a story about women, says David. “We were interested in this time period and what it said about the arc of feminism.” During research, David says, it became clear that the CIA had very little success running spy missions in Moscow.

Organic route

“They were trying to do unconventional things, and the Soviets would not suspect that a woman would be a spy. It felt like a natural, organic way to tell this story, to have two women who were not trained as spies, to be the spies in the show.”

Haley Lu Richardson as Twila and Emilia Clarke as Bea in ‘Ponies’
| Photo Credit:
PEACOCK

Invisibility as superpower

“One thing we were interested in,” Susanna adds, “was the idea that for these women, their superpower was they were invisible. People did not assume they could do more than what they seemed capable of as wives and cute girls of a certain age.”

Twila and Bea recognising that they could get away with things in spaces where people were underestimating them enabled them to find their power, Susanna says. “We liked the idea of meditating on that through this world.”

The idea of people discovering they are capable of more is a theme the creators like to explore, Susanna says. “These women proving that, and learning about themselves in the process in ways they did not expect, felt like an interesting way to explore it.”

Ponies is currently streaming on Jio Hotstar

Published – February 09, 2026 02:09 pm IST