Slow Horses review: Motley crew of MI5 misfits return for another thrilling mission

Jack Lowden and Gary Oldman in 'Slow Horses', now streaming on Apple TV+. (Image courtesy Apple TV+)

British spy thriller series Slow Horses is back with a third season on Apple TV+. The show, based on Mick Herron’s Slough House series, centers on a bunch of MI5 agents who’ve screwed up so monumentally that they’ve been banished to a life of drudgery in a department known pejoratively as Slough House, a euphemism for the titular slow horses who work there. The show has always operated at a very high level, but the latest season takes it up a notch, creating a perfect blend of spycraft, thrills, and dry comedy.

Slough House is led by the seemingly washed up Jackson Lamb (a perfectly acidic Gary Oldman), introduced this season in the same way he was in the pilot episode - startling himself awake with a particularly aggressive fart. Oldman clearly relishes playing the disgusting and uncouth Lamb, and you can almost smell him through the screen. But beneath that exterior, the spymaster is still sharp as ever, and is always two steps ahead of everyone else. And 4 steps ahead of his misfit team, as he likes to remind them.

The thorn in his side is River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), who was relegated to Slough House when he managed to blow up Stansted Airport in a botched training exercise. The only reason Cartwright wasn’t booted from the service is because his grandfather David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce), a retired MI5 legend, pulled all the strings he could to keep River employed. Lowden, last seen in the excellent 80s set miniseries The Gold, plays River with the right mix of action hero meets charming, who’s not quite as good an agent as he thinks he is.

Meanwhile, the real agents at the Park are run by Diana Taverner (the queen Kristin Scott Thomas), called Lady Di behind her back, who is constantly exasperated by the antics of Lamb and band of losers. The rest of the Slow Horses are rounded out by a bunch of memorable characters who’ve all screwed up to varying degrees. Special mention must be made of obnoxious techbro hacker Roddy Ho (a perfectly smug Christopher Chung), who was booted to Slough House not because of any mistake he made, but simply because he’s a prick.

The latest season, based on the plot of the book Real Tigers, shows off that Apple-sized budget with a cold open that involves a boat, car, and foot chase through Istanbul, resulting in the death of an agent. After the opening credits (Strange Game by Mick Jagger, a fan of the books, who wrote this song specifically for the show), the action moves to London to find Slough House directly targeted when one of their team, Catherine Standish (played by Saskia Reeves), is kidnapped for no discernible reason. The horses scramble to save her, and in a fantastic and funny set piece Cartwright frantically talks his way deep into the bowels of MI5 to retrieve a secret file. They are thwarted at every turn by the kidnappers who turn out to be a team of rogue MI5 agents led by disgruntled operative Sean Donovan (an enigmatic Sope Dirisu last seen in Gangs of London). Donovan has his sights set on revealing a secret that could shake the foundation of MI5, and the slow horses are just a pawn in a much larger game.

Each season is self-contained, so you can jump right in. The show is now adept at explaining the Slough House setup through context and a few lines of dialog, so as not to slow down the plot machinations. The dialog gives British sarcasm a shining showcase. Oldman is a delight, never missing a chance to remind the horses that they’re a bunch of screw-ups. And Thomas especially has perfected that withering look every time she has to deal with the Horses. One can almost imagine her crossing out lines in the script saying ‘I can say that with a look’.

Slow Horses comes from strong pedigree. Showrunner Will Smith (no, not that one) was one of the writers on foul-mouthed political comedy The Thick Of It, whose alumni have gone on to create excellent and varied fare like Veep and Succession. The show follows the typical British television format with a brisk and efficient 6 episodes in each season, perfect for a quick and entertaining high quality diversion. The short episode order serves the thriller aspect well; any longer would undoubtedly result in filler, a common problem with most streaming thrillers, including Apple’s own Hijack from earlier this year.

Smith’s writing is a masterclass in economic storytelling, using every story beat in every scene to advance both character and plot. Here’s just one example - when Cartwright and another agent see Lamb fumbling in the pantry, they immediately know Catherine hasn’t come in to work that day because Lamb would never deign to do anything by himself if he could get an underling to do it. Meanwhile, Cartwright whips out his phone to record the expected disaster of Lamb attempting to make coffee. But it turns out Lamb is only in the pantry to fish out the spare house key that he knows Catherine keeps in there so that he can send someone to check on her. Plot, character, and a sprinkling of comedy, all in just 45 seconds.

The first two episodes dropped together last week, and the rest of the season will be released every Wednesday. The next 4 weeks will undoubtedly fly by quickly as the horses claw their way out of their predicament, save everyone, and still somehow manage to screw up enough to not get any credit. Meanwhile, the fourth season is already in production with Hugo Weaving set to guest star. Like Lady Di snidely remarks, the Slow Horses aren’t going anywhere, but we’re not complaining.