‘Slow Horses’ Delivers in Season Four
Jack Lowden in Slow Horses | Credit: Apple TV+
Our favorite misfit MI5 agents are back at it again in Slow Horses. A bomb exploding sets the agency and city on edge, and River (Jack Lowden) pays a visit to his ailing grandfather with tragic results.
I have been consistently impressed with this Apple TV+ show. Through these four seasons, it has delivered interesting spy action, thrilling character moments, hilarious dialogue, and tragic consequences. Slow Horses has been consistently effective in creating some of the most thrilling storylines, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
This season effectively shows the impact of the past on the present. River is forced to confront some of the decisions in MI5’s past, which means confronting decisions made by his grandfather. All of this happens against the backdrop of David’s (Jonathan Pryce) mind growing increasingly cloudy. His inability to separate the past from the present doesn’t just make things emotionally difficult for River but poses an actual threat to him and the rest of the team. This helps to increase the tension and stakes throughout the season.
Everything is, of course, heightened because the slow horses need to keep everything under the radar of The Park. Now led by Whelan (James Callis), forcing Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) to take a step back, the agents at The Park are doing things a bit differently than we have seen before. And the power play between these two goes from humorous to tense throughout the season as we realize there may be more to Whelan than meets the eye.
Ruth Bradley and Gary Oldman in Slow Horses | Credit: Apple TV+
While this season is heavily focused on River and his attempts to unravel the threats to his family, we get plenty of wonderful moments with the rest of the slow horses that we’ve come to know and love.
Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) is, of course, instrumental in everything that happens this season. Once he realizes what’s happened to River, he immediately hops into action, doing what he thinks is best, even though it’s often quite unorthodox.
Despite her quitting at the end of the previous season, Standish (Saskia Reeves) is back! She is roped back into the utter madness of Lamb and the slow horses. Though she has tried to leave the service (and Lamb has refused to let her go), she is willing to pitch in and help her team, often doing the dirty work that no one else sees.
Standish’s replacement, Moira (Joanna Scanlan), is a terrible match for Lamb and the rest of the team. The juxtaposition between her proper and prim demeanor and everyone else is a wonderful source of humor throughout. We also learn more about MI5 as a whole and some of the actors at The Park through the information she is able to help uncover.
All of these characters and more converge together and discover the links between the past and the present. We learn how the secrets of some people with power have had ripple effects throughout the organization, London, and beyond. And all of this creates a great backdrop for a new season, which is reportedly coming out this year.
I am thrilled to spend more time with our favorite group of dysfunctional spies. After so many seasons of really excellent TV, I’m excited to see what is next for this crew.