TV

Slow Horses

Based on the Slough House novel series.

Photo: Jack English/Apple TV+

When an MI5 agent screws up big time they’re sent to Slough House, a sort of intelligence purgatory. While Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb, the frequently drunk boss of the “Slow Horses” is eager to antagonize and berate the agents under him, it’s not too long before the agency gets involved with something much more serious.

The Apple TV+ show, now in its fourth season with two more already ordered, is based on the Slough House novel series by author Mick Herron. Jack Lowden, Kristen Scott Thomas, Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce, and more star alongside Oldman.

  1. Episode 6 Old Scores
    Slow Horses Season-Finale Recap: Professional Humiliation Lamb scrambles as a seemingly innocuous character turns out to be the guy behind the guy responsible for the whole mess.
  2. Episode 5 Boardroom Politics
    Slow Horses Recap: A Ticking Bomb As Slow Horses careens toward its season finale next week, it’s leaning on another classic action trope: a bomb about to go off.
  3. Episode 4 Cicada
    Slow Horses Recap: Thumbs-Down Gary Oldman’s Lamb will calmly walk into danger to get to the bottom of Min’s murder. (Don’t ask him to run, though. His heart can’t take it.)
  4. Episode 3 Drinking Games
    Slow Horses Recap: Acceptance Comes In Pour one out for Min Harper who died as he lived — making terrible errors in judgment.
  5. Episode 2 From Upshott With Love
    Slow Horses Recap: Walk Into It After the combustible season-two premiere, “From Upshott With Love” taps the brakes a bit too hard.
  6. Episode 1 Last Stop
    Slow Horses Season-Premiere Recap: Cicada New season, new book (Mick Herron’s 2013 novel Dead Lions, the second in his Slough House series), clean-ish slate.
  1. Episode 6 Footprints
    Slow Horses Season-Finale Recap: Home Alone An incident-packed, drum-tight finale sets the table for a fourth season.
  2. Episode 5 Cleaning Up
    Slow Horses Recap: Checkmate So this entire season has been about Ingrid and Diana moving pieces around the board.
  3. Episode 4 Uninvited Guests
    Slow Horses Recap: Best-Laid Plans The more we learn about Ingrid, the more questions come up.
  4. Episode 3 Negotiating with Tigers
    Slow Horses Recap: Corrupted Files It’s delightful to see the buffoonery of insiders and power players who are constantly left with their pants around their ankles.
  5. Episode 2 Hard Lessons
    Slow Horses Recap: Keep Walking These first two episodes have felt as busy as the climaxes of previous seasons.
  6. Episode 1 Strange Games
    Slow Horses Season-Premiere Recap: Ringo Level Our lovable spy rejects are back, and it’s maybe alarming how comfortable it feels to find ourselves in another twisty story.
  1. Episode 6 Hello Goodbye
    Slow Horses Season-Finale Recap: Family Matters How is it possible that Lamb is River’s best father figure?
  2. Episode 5 Grave Danger
    Slow Horses Recap: Concrete Box The Slow Horses are plunged into as much chaos and crises as possible before the finale.
  3. Episode 4 Returns
    Slow Horses Recap: Moving Target The mad scramble to secure David Cartwright turns this episode into a tense action-thriller.
  4. Episode 3 Penny For Your Thoughts
    Slow Horses Recap: That’s a Big Dog David Cartwright probably knows more than he’s letting on. Or he’s completely lost in his own mind. Either way, he’s actually lost in London.
  5. Episode 2 A Stranger Comes to Town
    Slow Horses Recap: Tourist Season River goes rushing into a situation utterly unprepared and without a plan, as he’s wont to do.
  6. Episode 1 Identity Theft
    Slow Horses Season-Premiere Recap: Identifying Marks Not even the supposed death of one of his agents can keep Lamb from being his usual caustic self.

More on Apple TV+

  1. close read
    Shrinking Doesn’t Work Without Harrison FordIn a show that threatens to be too much, he’s giving just enough.
    By Jen Chaney
  2. tv review
    Disclaimer Is a Flaccid, Pretentious SlogAlfonso Cuarón’s first episodic outing takes all the wrong lessons from prestige TV.
    By Nicholas Quah
  3. encounter
    The Steed of Slow HorsesJack Lowden is a breakout in the spy procedural by way of Office Space.
    By Nicholas Quah
  4. tv review
    Slow Horses Got the Chance to Get ComfortableWhen a series perfects its formula, even the weakest seasons feel like a triumph.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  5. finale thoughts
    Hugo Weaving’s Slow Horses Villain Knew He Was Asking Too Much“There’s humor in the fact he even makes the offer.”
    By Nicholas Quah
  6. race to the bottom
    Slow Horses Competence Index: Many Jobs Well DoneWell, this is awkward: In the season finale, Slough House’s finest rose to the occasion.
    By Brian Grubb
  7. race to the bottom
    Slow Horses Incompetence Index: Honeypots and PowerPointsJust about everyone is on a path to peril. It would be pretty depressing if it weren’t so damn fun.
    By Brian Grubb
  8. taxonomy
    Mapping the Apple TV+ UniverseFrom mystery-solving women to big-brained sci-fi, these programming blocs reflect the tech company turned streamer’s obsessions.
    By Nicholas Quah
  9. they’re proud of you
    Dad TV Is for Everyone NowIn the streaming era, the irresistible optimism of a competent hero working to restore the social order defies age, gender, and parental status.
    By Kathryn VanArendonk
  10. it takes two
    Michelle Pfeiffer Will Finally Play a David E. Kelley TV CharacterNicole Kidman will be there too.
    By Jackson McHenry
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