Season 4 of Apple TV+’s Slow Horses ups its emotional complexity as well as its stakes, keeping its slyly sharp focus on character rather than spectacle.
Director: Adam Randall
Genre: Spy, Thriller, Drama, Dark Comedy
Number of episodes in Season 4: 6
Release Date: September 4, 2024 with a two-episode premiere, followed by weekly episodes till October 2
Where to watch: Apple TV+
We’re back in the cramped, dingy and messy bustle of Slough House with season 4 of Slow Horses on Apple TV+, and the stakes have never been more personal. Even so, the occupants of MI5’s gloriously unglamorous reject bin still spend the majority of their time complaining to each other about each other. But that’s why Slow Horses works as well as it does. It’s consistent ability to successfully undercut both serious and unserious moments with humour remains intact, even if the fart jokes have been dialled back – don’t worry, they haven’t disappeared entirely – for more emphasis on upping the emotional ante.
After an apparent terrorist attack, the higher ups at MI5 are on high alert for any other incidents while the Slough House team are still relegated to mundane grunt work. But when one of their own is embroiled in a rather sticky situation, they must work together to get to the truth and work out whether the seemingly unrelated incidents have a common denominator.
Despite the cold open hinting at terror threats and mass panic, season 4 is in fact a lot more intimate, narratively speaking. It’s not quite at ‘the call is coming from inside the house’ levels, but the personal stakes feel even greater for the Slough House team this time around. There’s a poignancy and an emotional complexity to this season’s narrative, with some genuinely sombre moments coming in the latter half, but it doesn’t ever feel mawkish or trite. Slow Horses continues to strike the tonal balance that has worked so well throughout the entire series, balancing serious and not-so-serious moments with a deftness that might not work on a show that isn’t as confident it can pull it off successfully. (And with a good dose of humour thrown in.)
Season 4 is still as sharp and witty and funny as ever, even if some of the running jokes do linger a little too long. Dialling back on crude humour to lean into the repertoire of its characters, the series has developed a habit of very effectively undercutting moments of heroism or threat with pointed physical comedy. And it works really well for the most part, even if some aspects of its action do stretch credulity at times, as there is enough of an edge to everything happening as to not ever feel silly.
That being said, the ‘evil plan that must be thwarted’ does teeter on the brink of being cartoonish at times, and season 4 falls back on a lot more action-tropey set pieces in comparison to the banal realism that has made Slow Horses so compelling up until this point. But the satirical edge isn’t missing completely, as the series consistently reminds its audience that a lot of these guys are where they are because of their apparent incompetence, idiocy and indelible talent for mucking up the job.
While Oldman is still on fine form as Jackson Lamb, this season in particular feels like Jack Lowden’s chance to shine. He’s never been better as River, managing to walk the line between capable and comedic, even when the season is asking for a lot more emotional complexity, in a really well balanced and entertaining performance. The rest of the returning cast – Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa, Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley, and Saskia Reeves as Standish, in particular – are equally as engaging and given a good chunk of screen time, even if their individual narratives do feel a little one-note.
Since the pilot episode of Slow Horses, nobody has given incredulous side-eye quite like Kristen Scott Thomas, and her interactions with series newcomer James Callis’ Claude Whelan – who has pipped Taverner to the First Desk job – offer up quite a few of the season’s most biting moments of humour. The most exciting new addition is perhaps Ruth Bradley’s Emma Flyte, the new ‘Head Dog’ – which, as a title, doesn’t feel particularly polite to use – and a welcome counterpoint to her thuggish predecessor. She is really engaging, especially as a female character with agency and something to do narratively speaking, and fits seamlessly into the serious/unserious dynamic that every other cast member has embraced whole-heartedly.
While Lowden takes it, the runners up for season 4’s MVP come in the form of Jonathan Pryce – returning as David, River’s grandfather, – and Hugo Weaving, as mysterious new bad guy. The former carries a lot of the season’s emotional heft, giving a really heartbreakingly vulnerable performance as the series delves into the harsh realities of aging and ailing memory, and the latter seems to relish chewing on the scenery, all but twirling an evil moustache, as his nefarious plans come together. It’s a testament to the series’ writing that, as it becomes an embarrassment of riches in terms of acting talent, everyone is given a chance to shine.
And such impressive performances really highlight how much this series values its characters. While season 4 ups the action and the stakes, it doesn’t ever lose what made Slow Horses feel so fresh in the first place. It does stretch credulity at times – particularly in regards to the limits of the human body – but the series continues to prioritise facilitating the affection that audiences have established for these characters over the past three seasons. The genuinely compelling – and surprisingly poignant – narrative is just a bonus, because it’s in the spies that this spy caper has always found it’s magic. And season 4 is no exception.
Slow Horses Season 4 will be available to stream globally on Apple TV+ from September 4, 2024, when the season premiere will be out on the streamer. The rest of the episodes will follow a weekly release schedule, with the finale on October 2.
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