Summary
- Slow Horses is based on Mick Herron’s book series and features a group of MI5 rejects known as the “Slow Horses”.
- Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Jackson Lamb adds depth to the character, showcasing both his repulsiveness and redeeming qualities.
- Season 4 of Slow Horses will introduce new challenges and a major death, raising the stakes for the dysfunctional team.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first three seasons of Slow Horses
Slow Horses, Apple TV+’s dark comedy spy thriller, has become a huge hit. Well-received by viewers and critics alike, it has earned an impressive 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes, certainly helped by its casting of legendary actor Gary Oldman as the show’s obnoxious yet likable lead. However, despite its reputation, the show being three seasons in might be off-putting for anyone hoping to tune in for Slow Horses season 4.
Slow Horses follows Oldman’s character, Jackson Lamb, and his team of Slough House agents, placed in the dumping ground for MI5 rejects. Each of the previous seasons have seen the agents, referred to as the “Slow Horses”, become embroiled in a new threat in the world of espionage. The successful run looks to continue in Slow Horses’ upcoming fourth season. Although it’s certainly worth watching the series from the start, there are some key things to know if you’re planning on jumping in when it returns to screens.
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10 Slow Horses Is Based On The Book Series By Mick Herron
The Fourth Season Will Cover The Events Of Spook Street
Slow Horses is an adaptation of the successful Slough House spy series by author Mick Herron. Herron subverts the generic expectations of espionage fiction: the series concerns a group of MI5 agents who have been pushed aside by the agency mainstream due to their various failures as operatives. They are relegated to a small office to perform menial desk duties, and are given the nickname “Slow Horses” as a pun on their base of operations.
The outcast protagonists of Slow Horses are key to its charm, and this is also the case with the television adaptation. Hot-headed young agent River Cartwright (played by Jack Lowden) is the series’ closest iteration of the James Bond archetype. The Slow Horses’ boss, slovenly and obnoxious veteran Jackson Lamb, couldn’t be further from the ideal. The good news for viewers is that they’ll be around for a while. The show has been renewed for a fourth and fifth season, and Oldman is interested in adapting all nine books for television.
9 Gary Oldman Plays The Notorious Jackson Lamb
The Series’ Most Memorable Character Is Brought To Life By Oldman’s Talent
The team behind Slow Horses struck gold when they bagged Gary Oldman to play Jackson Lamb. He brings the character to life in all his repulsive detail: sporting unwashed hair and grease-stained clothing, Lamb takes his personal misery out on his unfortunate underlings at Slough House. He’d much rather berate them for their shortcomings than offer support and guidance, and seems to have a particularly strong dislike for River when he joins the team.
His criticism usually comes from having the team’s best interests at heart.
Over the seasons, however, Slow Horses offers glimpses of Lamb’s redeeming qualities. Despite appearances, he has a brilliant mind, honed from his long career that stretches back to the Cold War, the golden age of spy-craft. He is often three steps ahead of everyone. His secret loyalty to his Slow Horses also endears him. Though hardly a nurturing mentor, his criticism usually comes from having the team’s best interests at heart.
8 The Slow Horses Are A Dysfunctional Team
Each Character Battles Career Failures And Personal Issues
The individual failures of its imperfect agents drive Slow Horses’ humor, as well as its more emotional storylines. River is demoted in season 1 because of a fatal mistake made in a training exercise. Other characters battle addictions and vices: season 2 saw the introduction of agents Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Marcus Longridge (Kadiff Kirwan), demoted for substance abuse and gambling, respectively.
A sort of camaraderie develops from the Slow Horses’ shared experiences as failed spies. Their disenchantment with the bureaucracy of the Regent’s Park headquarters manifests in a fierce loyalty to their new colleagues. Slow Horses uses this to devastating effect when members of the team betray one another. The first season saw two members of the team defect to work for Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas), the self-serving and devious Deputy Director General at MI5.
7 Diana Taverner Manipulates The Slow Horses To Serve Her Own Aims
Taverner and Lamb’s Battle Of Wits Are A High Point In The Series
Slow Horses finds a compelling secondary antagonist in Diana Taverner, a prime example of the inherent duplicity of the espionage world. She will often call on the Slough House team to perform her dirty work, particularly in complicated cases where MI5 needs to be able to claim plausible deniability should operations go awry. Taverner will side with anyone to further her ambitions: previous seasons have seen her collude with unsavory right-wing politician Peter Judd (Samuel West).
Taverner has a history with Jackson Lamb, who matches her devious wit. Their secret, park bench meetings throughout the first season provide the Slow Horses writers the opportunity to show off their talents. Lamb is able to manipulate Taverner in turn to get what he wants. Her complicated relationship with the team will no doubt continue, as Taverner usurped Director General Ingrid Tearney(Sophie Okonedo) at the end of season 3.
6 Slough House’s Veteran Agents Have An Interesting History
The Cold War Era Of Espionage Haunts The Narrative
Lamb’s old-fashioned approach to spy-craft is a product of his service in the Cold War. This golden age of espionage is also represented by River’s grandfather, who has since retired from his role in the Secret Service. Season 2 of Slow Horses brings Lamb’s history to the fore, as the team gets involved in a Soviet conspiracy involving the murder of another veteran MI5 agent.
Echoes of Lamb’s past exploits also influence his personal relationship with his dutiful secretary, Catherine Standish. Standish has struggled with alcoholism since her last employer, former Director General Charles Partner, died by suicide. Slow Horses soon reveals that Partner was actually taken out by Lamb, under the instructions of David Cartwright. Unbeknownst to Standish, Partner had betrayed the intelligence service as a KGB mole. After Standish and Lamb’s climatic break-up in season 3, season 4 will have Lamb struggling in her absence.
5 River’s Relationship With His Grandfather Is Important In Slow Horses
The Former Agent Is Beginning To Show Signs Of Dementia
Throughout Slow Horses, David Cartwright (played by Jonathan Pryce) has served as his grandson’s mentor and confidant. He is an imposing figure even in old age, but while he remains sharp, Slow Horses hints that the elder Cartwright is losing his edge, showing the early signs of developing dementia. River must come to terms with the sudden role-reversal in his relationship with the only father-figure he has ever known.
This familial storyline will become central in season 4, which will adapt the fourth book in the series, Spook Street. The novel’s official description asks: “What happens when an old spook loses his mind? Does the Service have a retirement home for those who know too many secrets but don’t remember they’re secret? Or does someone take care of the senile spy for good?” River’s emotional nature is often his greatest obstacle. Perhaps season 4 will finally prove the secret truth of River’s career – that he was never cut out for MI5.
4 There Are Several Different Factions At Work In Slow Horses
The Team Contends With Interference From Both Inside And Out Of MI5
With Taverner in charge, the Dogs are sure to make a reappearance
Other notable groups appear throughout Slow Horses. From the first season, Slough House agents are kept in check by members of MI5’s internal security division, known as “The Dogs”. The division is responsible for conducting internal investigations within the intelligence service, but are more often employed by Taverner as her personal attack dogs. Nick Duffy is the ruthless leader of the group. Though he met a satisfying death in season 3, with Taverner in charge, the Dogs are sure to make a reappearance.
Even beyond MI5, external forces are at work. Slow Horses season 3, for instance, introduced the concept of “Tiger Teams”, an external special unit designed to expose MI5’s security weaknesses. They become central to the plot when Sean Donovan, seeking revenge for the death of an agent he was romantically involved with, goes rogue. While Tiger Teams can come from anywhere, the season 3 iteration came from the private security firm “Chieftain”. They poached River’s longstanding rival, James “Spider” Webb, after he was fired from MI5, although were unaware of Donovan’s real motivations for joining their operation.
3 Several Members Of The Slow Horses Are Dead Or Missing
Unanswered Questions About One Character’s Fate May Set Up Her Return
It is already confirmed that there will be another new Slough House team member in season 4, which will once more shift the team dynamic. Season 1 featured House Of The Dragon alum Olivia Cooke as agent Sid Baker. Clearly too competent to be in the Slow Horses team, she was revealed to be shadowing River on Taverner’s behalf, just before she was shot. At the end of the season the show teased that she was still alive, but her whereabouts remains one of Slow Horses’ most burning unanswered questions.
Agent Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) was one of the original Slow Horses. His friendship with Louisa developed into a romance that was cut short by Min’s shocking death in the second season. His loss was devastating for the whole team, but particularly for Louisa, who sought to torture the man she believed was responsible. As she grew closer to River in season 3, we may see a new romance developing between the agents.
2 Each Season Of Slow Horses Centers On A New Antagonist
Season 4 Has Already Cast Its Villain
The good news for viewers jumping into Slow Horses is that each season focuses on a separate storyline. The first season involved a right-wing domestic terror plot that turned out to be more complicated than it seemed. Slow Horses went international in the next season, then turned back to focus on MI5 itself in season 3. The fourth novel, Spook Street, quite literally opens with a bang – a bomb planted in a London mall kills a crowd of 40 people.
Spook Street’s antagonist, ex-CIA agent Frank Harkness, is one of the series’ most memorable figures. Hugo Weaving has already been cast to play the character, giving Slow Horses the chance to resolve Weaving’s missed opportunity to play a James Bond villain. The Matrix actor is the perfect choice for the series’ new antagonist.
1 The Slow Horses Came Through Their Season 3 Ordeals Unscathed
Season 4 Will End Their Lucky Streak
Though there have been several major deaths in Slow Horses, most of the Slough House team has miraculously survived the dangers they’ve come up against. They may be MI5’s most unwanted, but the Slough House agents possess a certain pluckiness that has made them surprisingly hard to kill.
In the upcoming season, the team won’t be so lucky. Season 4 has teased one major death for the Slow Horses already. We don’t yet know who is going to be killed, but judging by the impact of Min’s death, this next loss will be devastating for the team. The next series of Slow Horses will raise the stakes, hopefully without losing the dark comedy and emotive undercurrent that makes the show so unique.
Slow Horses
Slow Horses is an adaptation of CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning Mick Herron’s first novel in the “Slow Horses” series, which follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 – Slough House. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes.
