‘Slow Horses’ Season 6 keeps the blood pumping
‘Slow Horses’ Season 6 keeps the blood pumping
The acerbic, darkly comedic spy thriller series is as good as ever heading into Season 6.
“You’re finished, you’re foolish, you failed,” Mick Jagger chides during the opening credits of “Slow Horses.” The song is the ideal opener for the Apple TV series, which follows a group of misfit MI5 agents who, through various mistakes mostly of their own making, find themselves in a backwater division of the agency called Slough House.
Through five seasons, the so-called “slow horses” of Slough House — despite their general incompetence — repeatedly find themselves at the center of grave threats to British security. They continue to narrowly avoid catastrophe after catastrophe, but in the Season 6 premiere, they become the target — both from above and from outside the organization. The show hasn’t lost its edge in the sixth season; on the contrary, I’m more intrigued than ever to know exactly where “Slow Horses” will take me next.
For the operatives of Slough House, little has changed heading into Season 6. Diana Taverner is First Desk, but it hasn’t benefited the slow horses, despite their deeds being partially responsible for her promotion. But when former members of Slough House start turning up dead, Jackson Lamb has to scramble to protect his joes. Meanwhile, River Cartwright is feeling more isolated than ever after the death of his grandfather David, and just when things look their darkest, his father — ruthless mercenary Frank Harkness — resurfaces.
The first episode makes it crystal clear that Season 6 will be no picnic for the slow horses. Struan Loy, who was dismissed from Slough House in Season 1, is brutally burned alive in the storage unit that has become his home, and River is next on the hit list. Any illusions that Diana Taverner will cut the slow horses a break this season are dispelled when she reminds Lamb (and the audience) of her casual ruthlessness, slipping an all-too-casual joke about his shooting of Charles Partner into the conversation in front of the traumatized Catherine Standish.
The return of Frank Harkness at the end of the Season 6 premiere also sets the stage for a dramatic season with potentially deadly consequences still to come. Hugo Weaving is fantastically sinister as the grim, snowy-bearded Harkness, and he’s clearly got plans that involve his son River for the episodes ahead.
“Slow Horses” puts together a fantastic cast in general, but this season virtually guaranteed my buy-in by adding Kyle Soller to the ensemble as an assassin hunting Slough House agents. Soller was incredible as Syril Karn, the fanatically dedicated but woefully incompetent security agent in “Andor,” and brings the exact right amount of menace to his role in “Slow Horses” — at least one episode in.
Singling out Soller feels wrong, however, as Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, and all of their co-stars consistently bring their best to “Slow Horses” each and every season. Having not read the Mick Herron novel series, I have no idea where “Slow Horses” is going this season — all I know is I’ll be glued to my seat for the remaining five episodes. New episodes of “Slow Horses” premiere on Apple TV on Wednesdays; the streamer costs $15 per month after a seven-day free trial.
Apple TV
Apple TV (formerly known as Apple TV+) is a subscription video streaming service for $14.99 per month, offering a growing slate of original series, films, documentaries, and specials. Unlike other platforms that combine licensed titles with originals, Apple TV is built entirely around exclusive programming, making it the home of critically acclaimed hits such as “Ted Lasso,” “Severance,” “The Morning Show,” and “Silo.” Its lineup continues to expand with award-winning dramas, comedies, family-friendly shows, and blockbuster original films like “CODA,” which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.