Slow Horses

Slow Horses is yet another underrated gem from AppleTV+, a streaming platform with a high rate of quality programming that they never seem to bother promoting properly. Thankfully, here we are, about to talk about possibly one of the best recent entries in the spy genre.

^{Review by AJ}

The English series revolves around an MI5 division called the Slough House, created to house agents who have made fatal mistakes yet not enough to get them fired. It’s essentially the doghouse for MI5 operatives, headed by slobbery director with a sharp tongue, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). Agents who get sent to the Slough House are essentially in slow career deaths, hence the Slow Horse moniker. 

One such person is talented field agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), who ends up in Slough House after a botched training exercise. Lamb and Cartwright frequently butt head: with the former wanting the latter to resign by giving him the most humiliating tasks. Eventually, they are forced to set aside their grievances when the Slough House inadvertently gets pulled into action to defend the nation against a serious threat.

 First of all, this series boasts an acting ensemble far more excellent than it had any right to be. Oscar winner Gary Oldman stars in his first ever leading role in a television show in his four-decade career, and it’s immediately apparent why. Lamb is just the kind of British anti-hero that allows the thespian to flex his acting muscles liberally. You can just tell how much Oldman enjoys playing the sarcastic, antisocial, and yet gruffly sentimental Lamb. 

Complementing his stellar performance is Lowden’s hot-headed agent River. Their love-hate dynamic forms the emotional backbone of the series. Over the course of four seasons, you learn more about their backstories and what has hardened them. Lowden is the perfect foil to Lamb, a younger agent with idealism and passion still intact – the complete opposite of his boss, a disgraced former star operative himself.

Adding another office drama dimension to the show is the rest of the team, a.k.a. the Slow Horses. Consisting of a smorgasbord of characters you’d find in an office dynamic; they all share an ensemble chemistry that grows from begrudgingly liking each other to slowly leaning on each other. Lamb himself grows from trying to get his subordinates to quit to defending them in his own cantankerous way. In his own words: “They are losers, but they’re MY losers.”

There is something intrinsically English about the show’s dry wit that adds real gravitas to the whole proceedings. Coupled with the theatrical delivery that you can expect from classically trained thespians, you’ve got some Shakespearean flair to go with the ultramodern realism.

But of course, Slow Horses is above all a spy thriller. On that front, the show – an adaptation of a book series by Mick Herron – crafts an intricate espionage plot that does not insult your intelligence. It’s brilliant both technically and dramatically, always knowing where to hold and release tensions across the story. The mechanics of espionage also feels very rooted in the real world. It’s no James Bond here, just pure modern day spycraft that involves a lot of unsexy grunt work. The detailed depiction and the contemporary issues presented like diversity divide, nationalism, and terrorism are presented in compelling ways. Bottom line is - superb writing!

Perfectly paced, smartly written, and stellarly acted, Slow Horses is just way too good to be this under the radar. A definite must watch!