I reviewed series 1 of Slow Horses recently (read here if you haven’t already). Although I wanted to review each series, I realized that when the characters are more or less the same and you’ve established the general vibe of the show, 6 episodes doesn’t give you a ton of material to write about. In the end, I can do this however I want so I figured why not just combine the two. I also think these two series go well together because after establishing the pillars of the show in series 1, both series 2 and 3 have taken that and ran with it to deepen the lore. So with that, here are my 4 takeaways from series 2 and 3 of Slow Horses based on the books Dead Lions and Real Tigers, respectively. 

Point 1: Keep The Good (Bad?) Times Rolling

The series very early on established its tone and personality. It’s vulgar and a bit immature but also uncompromising in its stakes and storytelling. In that sense, neither of the series here miss a beat on what’s been established. Two keys to ensuring that the momentum just keeps rolling is the following: adapting books so that the stories are already laid out and filming these in such close succession that in 2 and a half years, they have released 4 series and each series ends with a trailer for the next one. I think those two elements make it so that it’s much easier to keep everything coherent despite the breakneck speed of the storytelling. 

Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb has started taking more and more space in the narrative. He’s organically gone from the unkempt boss that everyone hates to the unkempt boss that everyone is annoyed by but trusts to be there for them. His backstory remains nebulous outside of everyone having reactions to this name, but his presence is felt more as he becomes more involved in the field than in the first season. 

Jack Lowden and Kirstin Scott Thomas do excellent jobs in being their respective archetypes: brash young hero and cunning, experienced boss playing at a different level, respectively. Not often that you get a show where you are just as looking forward to seeing the young handsome agent in a tense undercover situation as you are to catch up on the back-channel political strategizing. As Slow Horses jumps between sometimes 4 or 5 parallel events, each feels as interesting as the others due to the strength of their characters.

On that point, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the great complementary roles of Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards as other pivotal members of the Slough House crew. They all get their moments to shine in their own ways and it really makes the whole team come together as one.

At the same time, the show keeps up the relentlessness of its stakes. You may feel relatively comfortable that the two main characters in Lamb and River Cartwright will probably make it out in one piece, but everyone else is fair game. In a show like this, that feels like the special sauce to keep you at the edge of your seat. That feeling that anyone can be killed at any time really brings a tension that many American procedural shows miss dearly. 

Point 2: Cranked Up

It’s one thing to keep the things that work keep on chugging, but to make the subsequent seasons interesting, you have to bring some more juice. And boy does this show have the juice. Without spoiling anything, the second season follows a Russian sleeper cell operation in the UK while the third season follows a rogue security operation gone wrong. 

The first thing that’s very clearly been cranked up is the pacing. It doesn’t take along before you’re following three, maybe four, even five parallel things all happening at once. That may seem convoluted, but it’s a testament to the great writing that I never felt lost. You know what everyone is doing and where they are at all times despite the diverging plots. Despite being sure that things will converge, you don’t know how and all the things that can go wrong along the way.

Meanwhile, something I praised the first series for that I think is even better in these series is the spycraft. We’ve got the investigating, the undercover mission, the fight scenes, the creative kills, and so on. No matter how fun the show is, if a spy show doesn’t do the spy stuff right, it just feels generic. And they nail that stuff.

Another aspect that seems to have been doubled down on these seasons is the wit. The next sarcastic zinger is never far away and it hits every time. I’m just a sucker for that type of dark British humour.

All in all, everything feels bigger and better these seasons, so if you liked the first series, you’ll definitely love these two as well. 

Point 3: Everyone Sucks

Although the premise of the whole show is basically that everyone sucks, man does everyone absolutely suck. I don’t mean that negatively. Well I do about the characters, but as an audience member, this just makes for the best interactions and stories. At every turn, someone is just being the worst person. Whether it’s someone making a political play with no regard for others’ safety or someone not being able to resist taking a hit of coke while trying to rescue someone, the show really finds a way to make everyone be a screw-up in their own way. Literally no one is spared and I just love that. It’s up to you to find the right people to root for. It also grounds a show that otherwise can feel so far from relatable in the terms of the events taking place. 

It really takes the adage that your characters should have flaws and goes “these flaws will have characters.” Maybe it won’t work for everyone, but I love that. 

Point 4: Heart is Where the Home Is

But how do you make a show land when all the characters suck? By making sure that the good guys only suck in more superficial ways and in the end, they still feel like the good guys. And Slow Horses does that by making sure that the final ingredient to everything else I’ve covered is the heart of the main team. Whether they screw up along the way or have their own personalities get in the way, they do feel like they care about each other and the greater good. 

You can only coast on snide remarks and crass language for so long before you get tired. But feeling like you can still root for the right people at the end of the day is the key. And never once did I waver from knowing who the good guys were in every situation the show threw out. River and Lamb of course feel like the main draws, but to me, Standish and Louisa anchor the show through their empathy and emotion.

Overall, I’ve got nothing but great things to say about Slow Horses. Onto the next season! Look out for the Series 4 review soon!