Chris Connor reviews the sixth episode of Slow Horses season 3…
Slow Horses’ third season concludes with a hugely satisfying, action-packed finale. We pick up in the aftermath of the shootout at the MI5 storage facility where Louisa, River, Sean, Shirley, and Marcus are squaring off with The Dogs. Full of tight action sequences that show the series’ production values. There is a sense of jeopardy throughout, as we know the show as with the books before it is not against killing main cast members so none of the Slough House crew are as safe as one might think.
Lamb, Standish and Sarah Dunn face a fight for survival against the Park’s operatives in amongst the chaos in London. These scenes are the closest we’ve got to seeing Lamb in the field, showing the ability to stay one step ahead of his opponent, using his surroundings and booby traps, recalling the home invasion sequences in Skyfall. We also see Lamb and Standish butt heads about Charles Partner’s principles with Catherine seemingly quitting the service, this looks set to be a major thread in the fourth season.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Sophie Okonedo are hypnotic as Taverner and Tierney, striving to stay on top and secure the coveted First Desk position. It shows the narrow-minded, egotistical nature of both as they look to put their careers ahead of that of the public and the service. We’ve been short of quality scenes between Lamb and Taverner this season but fans clamouring for those will be rewarded come the episodes end.
The finale builds on the build-up of the earlier episodes and as a pair of episodes, the final two are full of action, humour and heart, a wonderful advert for all that makes the show the success it is. This season has done a wonderful job translating Mick Herron’s Real Tigers to the small screen, largely faithful but expanding on background details and fleshing out the character’s backstories and their relationships with one another. The biggest departure is accelerating David Cartwright’s mental state which will be a major part of the next season, which we are likely to see at some stage in 2024.
Slow Horses is as sharply written as ever with pitch-perfect performances, with plenty of books still to adapt we can be hopeful of seeing these characters on screen for the next few years and if they continue to deliver in this quality fans will devour them.
Chris Connor
