Slow Horses Season Five Early Review

The following is a spoiler-free review of Slow Horses Season 5, the first two episodes premiere this Wednesday on Apple TV+

For those who are in the know, exclaiming that Slow Horses is easily one of the best dramas on television currently isn’t anything surprising. Even more so, this can seem an egregious statement considering that the series can be found on Apple TV+, which has consistently put out incredible content; however, it just hasn’t had the streaming viewership numbers in comparison to the other giants. That aside, it has consistently been producing dramatic sagas since 2022, and while each season can be viewed as a single entity, it does benefit viewers to have prior knowledge of previous seasons and storylines. Now in its fifth season, with no intent of stopping, and having multiple books to draw inspiration from, the castaway spies find themselves in yet another swirling drama in which they are both playing equal parts savior and culprit.

This season immediately begins on a downbeat note as most of the members of Slough House are dealing with personal crises from the events of last season, which saw a member of their team killed and River Cartwright’s (Jack Lowden) father at the center of the previous plot against British Intelligence. While their issues are very much present throughout this season, the larger narrative centers around a horrendous public shooting of innocent civilians in a town square right in the heart of London by several foreign terrorists, hellbent on causing as much damage and chaos to the British government as possible in order to enact revenge. Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his band of misfit spies are thrust into this narrative by a connection with one of their own, Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung), an elite hacker who is blindsided by receiving a female’s attention who is connected to the terrorists and have chosen Ho as being one of the targets for elimination in order to sew even more confusion within the spies’ ranks.

Similar to previous seasons, the series doesn’t stray too far away from unfolding a narrative comedy of errors that both elevate Slough House to being a major player in preventing the next attack on their soil, but also exposing exactly why each member was placed there in the first place. It’s a charming formula executed to perfection that continually compels the viewer to root for the success of the spies, and yet, inevitably, when they mess up, and they always do, there is no question as to why MI:5 hasn’t fired them but simply placed them in career limbo. What makes this season feel just slightly less than stellar in comparison to its previous entries is its chosen antagonists and their motives behind their efforts of destabilization. It isn’t until too deep within this season that their motives are revealed, and even when they are, they seem so minuscule in comparison to what MI:5 would face daily that the overall story hardly feels significant in the bigger structure of the series. At best, it’s mildly interesting, but it is an extremely difficult undertaking to capture the same magic and intrigue as the previous season and its main villain. The only small rationale that might be considered is that the viewers are given a reprieve in narrative density before being thrust back into the darker family dynamics of spies in the next season.

While the fifth season continues many of the successes that make Slow Horses such a must-watch, it is not as strong a product as its previous four seasons. Thankfully, this series has built upon enough fan credit that it is allowed a small regression. Even this feels incorrect to say, as its small regression is still miles ahead of many current series with no signs of slowing down. What this season does accomplish is pushing forward several minor narratives, such as the fallout within the MI:5 circus after this season’s conclusion, Slough Houses’ status as the residential government scapegoat, and River Cartwright’s inability to deal with his family’s history. But what remains to be true, and one of the series’ best features, is that despite being held on the sidelines, Jackson Lamb is and will always be the smartest person in the room. Thankfully, Lamb remains one of the standout characters who will always keep the show moving in the right direction.

still courtesy of Apple TV+

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