Following an uneven third season (albeit one that saw the series get some long-overdue Emmy recognition), Slow Horses is back for a fourth season. And I’m happy to report that this one is much less bloody and violent and, on the whole, a much stronger story (even if some of the central mystery feels a bit too neatly tied into our central core characters).
When we left the members of Slough House – that would be the unit where MI5 sends their screw-ups and those who piss off the upper management, as Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman, doing some of his best work in the series this time around) reminds us in the early going of the season – they had managed to foil an attempt to take out the team after they discovered particularly damning evidence of a massive government cover-up. Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves, the heart of the team) had finally walked away, resigning following Lamb’s reveal that her former boss was dirty. Diana Tarverner (Kristen Scott Thomas, given less to do this season, but still an asset to the series) appears poised to ascend to First Desk after years of trying for it. And River Cartwright (Jack Lowden, given center stage this season and he makes the most of it) came to the realization that not only does his beloved grandfather David (Jonathan Pryce, brought to the center of the fourth season’s story) have dementia, but he remains willing to do whatever it takes to protect MI5 – even destroying crucial evidence of their costly mistakes.
Season four picks up a relatively short time later, with Standish still resigned, David Cartwright’s memory lapses only getting worse (and more dangerous, as a former agent with access to firearms and a host of paranoia has the potential to be a deadly combination), and there are two new members to the Slow Horses: Moira Tregorian (Joanna Scanlan, taking a “What if Delores Umbridge wasn’t evil but was cunning and really good at her job?” approach to the character that works wonderfully), Standish’s replacement, and J.K. Coe (Tom Brooke, excellent in the role for reasons I won’t spoil), a mysterious loner who won’t engage with the team. And there’s a new individual working alongside Tarverner – Claude Whelan (James Callis, giving a performance Battlestar Galactica fans will recognize as Baltar-lite, but still just as smarmy as one would hope for out of this excellent actor). Our mystery this time around starts with a car bombing at a mall in London during the Christmas rush by a man from France who is using a passport connected to an old “cold identity” of MI5. And when an incident occurs at David Cartwright’s house that might be connected, it’s clear the Slow Horses are about to be pulled into some sort of trouble linked to David Cartwright and Lamb’s past work as agents.
This season of the series works because the case is intimately tied to our central characters – that would be River and Lamb. And it wobbles a bit at the climax for those same reasons – it’s tied too closely to our central characters. It all just resolves a bit too nicely in the end. A story like this, tied in with David and Lamb’s past and River’s own revelations about what his grandfather did and how that impacts what is happening now, only works with actors of the caliber of Oldman, Pryce, and Lowden to sell it. And sell it they do. Our central villain – Frank Harkness (a good Hugo Weaving sporting a not as strong American accent that keeps reminding you of his time as Agent Smith in The Matrix) – doesn’t quite work as well as past baddies of the series, largely because the series is less concerned with his motivations and more concerned with exploring who he is now and who he was in the past. And that’s my main issue with the season – you’ve got Weaving here, you know he’s great, let him show us who Harkness is and why he’s a threat rather than taking the time to tell us.
But that’s really my only issue with the season. It’s wholly enjoyable to watch (if you don’t start pulling too hard on the threads surrounding the character of Harkness), the action is top notch, the writing is fun, and we get some great moments from the show’s expansive supporting cast. Another new addition this season is Ruth Bradley as Emma Flyte, the new head of the Dogs and boy, is she a fun add-on to an already stellar cast. I’m genuinely excited to see how to fits into the story in season five (which has already been commissioned), since we’ve rarely had a character who was willing to speak truth to power at MI5 without finding herself sent to Slough House as a result.
Oh, and lest you think the Slow Horses manage to save the day and prove they don’t belong in their sequestered hovel, don’t worry. The series still remembers that this motley crew, while good at certain facets of their work, still routinely fall victim to their vices and shortsightedness that sent them to their exile. For every hard-fought win, we see just how they manage to fumble the ball and miss the mark when a traditional “hero story” would have them skating through obstacles with ease. It’s a hallmark of the series and one that plays out throughout the season without fail.
So, if you’ve been a fan of Slow Horses since the beginning, you’re going to enjoy this latest installment. And if you haven’t checked it out, what are you waiting for? At six episodes per season, this is one of the tighter and easier binges on television. With rich, complex, and fallible characters, Slow Horses isn’t concerned with showing you the flashy side of intelligence work. Rather, this is the story of the washed up, broken characters who manage to find the holes in theories and plans because they are willing to look where others won’t. Smart, funny, and emotionally resonate (there’s some sad, dark moments this time around that will undoubtedly reverberate into season five), this latest Slow Horses season is well worth your time.
The fourth season of Slow Horses premieres on September 4 on AppleTV+. All six episodes were provided for review.
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