Weekend Watch: Slow Horses Season 4
Jackson Lamb and the gang face a new crisis
Image Credit: Apple TV+
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, a return to Slough House. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
Given Apple’s faith in spy series Slow Horses (and a desire to film as much of the show around its stars schedules as possible), creator/showrunner Will Smith and his team make two seasons at a time. Which means there’s not as long to wait for new episodes as, say, The Rings Of Power. And that’s a very good thing, as Slow Horses continues to be one of the best examples of the genre –– and just TV shows –– around at the moment.
I’m already on record as a fan of the series and am always happy to see it return. And now that the show has passed the point where I’m at with Mick Herron’s source books (Season 4 adapts Spook Street), I can enjoy the story without necessarily knowing where it is headed.
As per usual, things are not well in the state of Slough House and the UK in general –– a bomb has been detonated in a busy shopping centre, and MI5 is scrambling to figure out the who and the why of it all, while also tracking down anyone connected to it.
On the personal front River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is dealing with his grandfather David’s (Jonathan Pryce, given a welcome chance to show his considerable acting range after a few seasons as a supporting character) slide into dementia, a fact not helped by David being a former head of MI5 with a long list of enemies.
At the centre of it all, though, is Gary Oldman having the time of his life and career as the slobby-yet-incredibly-smart Jackson Lamb, the farting, scratching, lank-haired overseer of Slough House’s disgraced agents. He’s so utterly watchable whether he’s denigrating one of the team (even as we know he’d kill for them all without ever admitting it) or slyly trying to information out of MI5’s bosses, including the icy Diana Taverner (an ever-superb Kristin Scott Thomas).
New recruits this year include James Callis, who is wonderfully slimy as new MI5 boss Claude Whelan, Joanna Scanlan (like showrunner Smith, a veteran of working with Armando Iannucci) as Moira Tregorian, the officious new arrival at Slough House who wants to organize everything, much to Lamb’s disgust and Tom Brooke as mysterious fellow new House officer JK Coe, whose withdrawn style hints at him having been through some truly terrible times in his former career.
The show’s dialogue remains witty and sharp, and while this is not a show that is necessarily driven by action, its set pieces have become more and more impressive. The world is finally beginning to catch on to just how good Slow Horses is (it has scored a batch of Emmy nominations this year at last), and that’s a welcome embrace for a reliably fun show.
The first episode of Slow Horses Season 4 is now up on Apple TV+. Episodes will drop weekly through 2 October.