As I made my way through the various acclaimed shows on Apple TV+, the next stop on my journey was Slow Horses. I am currently watching the second season of Severance after having recently finished Silo, which I reviewed the first season of here. Slow Horses has been a nice change of pace from the more serious nature of the other Apple TV+ shows I’ve watched so far (although Severance has its own brand of humour baked in). It’s a spy show that follows a group of MI5 agents that have been relegated to administrative purgatory by being assigned to a department named Slough House that is given menial and unwanted tasks of low importance.
The season boasts a 95% rating on the tomatometer and an 89% on the popcornmeter, and I am fully on the same boat. It’s been a very enjoyable short series in the style of many of the great British crime dramas where it is contained in 6 episodes only. Here are my 4 main takeaways from my time watching series 1 of Slow Horses.
Point 1: Graphic Novel Feel
Something that surprised me while watching the show was the tone. The setting, context and events feel very serious and even heavy at times. Yet the character interactions and dialogue amongst the main group are very juvenile. The main characters fit very neatly into archetypes as well – River is the handsome protagonist who has been wronged into his bad situation, Lamb is the comically rude and unkempt head of the department past his prime but still packing a lot of knowledge under the facade, and so on and so forth. You know the stereotypes and as you encounter each character, your brain will quickly understand who they are very quickly.
Now I know all that sounds like I’m being negative, but somehow the show finds a way to make those tropes work. It’s not trying to subvert expectations at all, but is so good at understanding why those tropes exist in the first place, that it earnestly makes all the elements come together in a great overall story. The show is based on a series of novels rather than comic books or graphic novels, but you are sure to get hints of Kingsmen or The Losers, but more down to earth.
Point 2: Who Doesn’t Like An Underdog Story?
With the series following agents that have been assigned to Slough House, every main character is someone who has committed a big enough blunder at some point that may not have merited a firing, but perhaps the next worst thing. Slow Horses is borne from the fact that these agents work at Slough House and are considered useless and mentally too slow to participate in the important files. We meet River Cartwright, the protagonist, picking through garbage early on to drive the point home.
Of course, the gang eventually get caught up in a high profile case, whether their involvement is wanted or not. Everything is done to make the main cast of characters sympathetic and relatable. It’s hard not to root for them to succeed and the characters that feel hard to get behind, well the show is well aware and deals with them accordingly as well. The likeability is at the core of what makes this show work because otherwise you’d just be following a bunch of fuck-up spies bumbling around.
When the main conflict of the season is put into motion, it becomes very difficult to not be engrossed in the plot itself. Before you know it, you’re hanging onto every twist and turn and are counting on the Slow Horses to succeed.
Point 3: Tense Main Conflict
In the first episode of the show, the tone and stakes are set for the season. A British-Pakistani student named Hassan is kidnapped by a far-right white supremacist nationalist group who announce they will behead him on livestream the next day.
I’ll let you take a breath.
After I tell you this show is about comic book-y likeable characters, that might feel like a hard turn. But I think juxtaposing the two sides is what makes this show tick. As much as we are in the middle of insult slinging and quick witted remarks at Slough House, we are also constantly under the pressure of the countdown of this young man who will be slaughtered in the next hours. This brings in the political interrelations and spycraft that flesh out the show and give it the meat to cling on the bones of the general premise.
Each episode cranks up the tension as things occur between Hassan and the kidnappers. It is difficult to not be invested in finding out what will happen next and how MI5 will eventually save the hostage. Because they do have to save him right? Well, the show isn’t afraid to be bold in some of the directions it takes. You’ll have to watch it to find out.
Point 4: A True Spy Show
I love spy and heist stuff. I realize not everyone equates the two, but to me they are two sides of the same coin. Both require lots of planning and knowledge, there needs to be some illegal things done to get the right information, things will eventually go wrong, there will be tension to see if they can get the job done. If you look at the skeletons of both spy and heist media, they are identical. The stakes are usually different and the type of outcome you’re rooting for as well. But in the end, you’re hoping an undercover operation with low chances of success works out.
Recently though, we don’t get high quality of either. Or at least not in their purest sense. We do get spy films, but they’re more focused on action now for the most part. This show brings spycraft back to its roots. It’s about being sneaky and stealing things, infiltrating situations, deceiving people. It really takes the core concepts of a spy story and delivers on everything in its own way. As much as I love seeing Ethan Hunt hanging off an airplane, sometimes there is just as much enjoyment in seeing someone use sleight of hand to gather intelligence.
And much like the best spy stories, we’ve got plenty of internal politics and games going on. James Bond and Ethan Hunt, the most recognizable modern-day spies, both deal constantly with the ebbs and flows of their organizations’ interactions within their government. To me, this is another integral component of a spy story, and Slow Horses has plenty of that in the tank too.
If you’re looking for a low commitment, good spy show, I highly recommend taking a chance on Slow Horses. If you’re looking for other options of things to watch, maybe check out GCR’s favourites of the year and see if any of those might be more your speed.
