Chris Connor reviews the first two episodes of Slow Horses season 3…
Slow Horses has been one of Apple TV+’s biggest hits over the course of its two seasons. It is an immaculate translation of Mick Herron’s source material with foul-mouthed Gary Oldman heading up a set of disgraced MI5 agents. The latest season is based on the third in the series, Real Tigers. It sees the Slough House crew up against a series of rogue agents with a vendetta against The Park and upper echelons of MI5.
The season kicks off in fine style in Istanbul with an appearance from Fantastic Beasts star Katherine Waterston entangled with Sope Dirisu’s Sean Donovan, head of security. While light on actual Slow Horses, this opening 10-minute sequence is thrilling and sets the pace from the outset. It will surely be addressed in later episodes.
Outside of this, the Slough House residents are as we left them, finding ample ways to spend their time and avoid the frustration of their dwindling espionage careers. The first episode largely sees us catching up with the various members of the crew, River doing menial tasks and Louisa trying to fill the void left by Min’s death in season 2. The remainder of the crew carry a series of their own frustrations, Marcus goading Shirley into trying to quit.
The key event of the opening episode sees Donovan and his associates kidnap Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves), seemingly in order to get at Jackson Lamb. This sets into effect a sea of panic across the slow horses as they try to work out who their enemy is and how best to combat them.
The sense of urgency is upped in episode two with a video of a seemingly imperilled Catherine, shared with River who is tasked with retrieving some documentation from the park. With Slow Horses no longer allowed access, this is easier said than done and what ensues is a thrilling cat-and-mouse sequence with River trying to outfox the dogs and get what he needs in time to keep Catherine alive.
The opening two episodes prove why the show has earned the level of acclaim it has to date. A frenetic, action-packed opening for the series that reintroduces us to our crew with an intriguing new mystery to boot. It is as ever a perfect interpretation of Mick Heron’s source material and the cast across the board from Jack Lowden and Gary Oldman to Saskia Reeves and Kristin Scott Thomas continue to be perfect for their respective roles.
The quality has not suffered in the slightest with this third season looking set to match the high-bar set by the opening two. The new additions to the cast, seem set to slot in seamlessly and with a fourth season already in production we’ll likely be watching the Slough House crew for some years to come.
Chris Connor
