'Slow Horses' season 6 review: Apple TV spy thriller goes dark & takes a few stabs
These horses work fast. The name is a lie. We've been fooled. Slow Horses is back on the small screen once again, delivering its sixth season just as you're clamouring for more spy thriller escapades and witty remarks. Adapting two novels, 'Joe Country' and 'Slough House', from Mick Herron's 'Slough House' series, season six puts our ragtag team of spies in jeopardy. Much of this is because MI5's new director general Diana Taverner's (Kristin Scott Thomas) shady activities are coming back to bite her, placing her in the presence of Damien Cantor (Harry Lloyd), a wealthy CEO of an influential right-wing media company, who is looking to apply pressure to advance his and his associates' agenda.
At the same time, hitmen Jane (MyAnna Buring) and Jim (Kyle Soller) are on a rampage killing former Slough House mouth-breathers. Once Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his underlings—Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves), JK Coe (Tom Brooke), River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) and Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards)—learn about this pattern and about their disappearance from MI5's database, they go dark and try to unravel the conspiracies at play. The crew must also protect Reece Nesmith (Lenny Rush), a kid holding crucial information. They reunite with Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) and Sid Baker (Olivia Cooke), even though everyone thought Sid had died previously. River's dad Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving) is involved in the bloodshed, too.
While Slow Horses has definitely found its lane and vibe, and it's not trying to fix something that isn't broken, there are some new winds blowing in its sails. This means that a new showrunner, Gaby Chiappe, has entered Slough House (hopefully she wasn't brutalised by JK). Chiappe and co(e). are also adapting two books at once for the first time. It's probably a smart choice since you can absolutely sense that there wasn't that much juice to squeeze out this time around. Season six is lean and mean, somewhat predictable, and humble in terms of ambition, but really enjoyable and watchable nonetheless.
When it comes to the writing, there's very little to excavate at Blake's grave since the show is pretty inert politically despite swimming in those waters, whilst plot is sadly the king here and the dialogue is slightly less biting than you're used to. However, you still get your annual dose of lively dark humour, plus most of the performers are still given material that emphasises their strengths. There is no standout character arc or performance this year, but River and Sid's alliance in particular is dynamite. Lowden and Cooke are a delightful duo even when they have a bit too much mean-spirited bickering to deliver (Oldman has to sell enough of that on his own as it is). Brooke, Chung, Edwards and Reeves are a steady support system.
At the end of the day, these characters and actors are some of the biggest reasons why we come back every year; it's always fun to spend quality time with them. Only Rush (by the way, feel free to boo the actor whenever he's on screen because he will apparently be on that upcoming wizard show that shall not be named), Weaving and most disappointingly Thomas—considering her billing—are giving the series next to nothing as performers. Rush's interplay with Oldman and Chung is especially forced. Thankfully, none of them really have the screen time to destroy the big picture.
Let's look at pure positives for now, though. The one element that stands above the previous seasons is the photography. New cinematographer Eben Bolter elevates the show's visual style to new heights, working in tandem with returning director Adam Randall. Episode four is a real highlight; it'll be a difficult challenge for the series to make a more dynamic, striking and vibrant episode in future. Hell, this might currently be the peak for television this year in general as far as imagery is concerned. Lighting, compositions and camera placement are all first-rate. Even composers Daniel Pemberton and Toydrum stepped up their game for episode four so improvement is clearly infectious.
If we're singing the same tune and you also consider Slow Horses to be one of your favourite TV shows of the 2020s, you will not be too disappointed and you will enjoy this season. It is still a great series. Getting a six-episode run that won't stick with you for months and feels slightly slim was more or less expected at some point, especially when the bar is as high as it is. But when you have excellent actors, fun characters, strong craftsmanship (aside from uneven stunt choreography where solid vehicle action is followed up by shoddy gunplay) and some deadly stakes, you're in safe hands. How do we feel about Consistent Horses? Not too shabby, methinks.
Smileys: Cinematography
Frowneys: None
Are you sure you were supposed to create a container fire and not contain a fire?
3.5/5
Where to watch:
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