Slow Horses Recap: Tourist Season

As a long-time connoisseur of spy thrillers and a seasoned critic with a penchant for the intricate plots that twist and turn like a cobra, I must say that “Slow Horses” is a series that knows how to keep its audience on their toes. The latest episode, with its suspenseful narrative and unexpected twists, is no exception.

River Cartwright appears to be a competent operative, perhaps the standout member among Lamb’s unconventional team. However, he found himself at Slough House due to being undermined during a trial period. His pedigree is enhanced by his grandfather David, a former high-ranking intelligence officer, who set River on the nepotistic career path he was meant to tread. Despite this, for the second time in four seasons, River has ventured alone to a small town, where his presence creates immediate suspicion among the locals he’s interacting with. Throughout the second season, he delved into the “cicada” theory concerning dormant Russian sleeper agents hidden within British society, waiting for instructions to act. He managed to make it through that ordeal, but his enemies were always one step ahead of him, making it difficult for him to discern friend from foe.

Once more, we need to clarify: What is River’s next move? In an impressive episode that brushes aside minor concerns about investigation tactics (the series is performing exceptionally well), we learn the truth behind the events at David’s residence and who was shot in River’s bathroom. Despite Lamb’s suspicion that David might be exaggerating his dementia, it seems he had enough mental clarity to recognize that the man claiming to be River and heading upstairs to draw a bath was not his grandson. As David explains, one clue was the stranger addressing him as “Gramps,” which River never does. When the genuine River arrives to examine the situation, he’s intrigued to find several leads to the intruder’s identity and past locations, such as a passport and a receipt from a café in Lavande, France. And so, that’s exactly where he decides to go.

According to an article penned by Brian Grubb for Vulture recently, he describes this individual as being extremely good-looking, kindhearted, yet potentially the least intelligent person to have ever existed.

In essence, it’s clear that David’s grandfather is responsible for this predicament due to his actions. With a questionable version of events surrounding the shooting, which the Park could potentially exploit, and a hasty press of a warning button that leaves River with minimal time to react, David resorts to drastic measures by shooting the deceased man in the face, maintaining the illusion of his identity for as long as possible. Concurrently, he conceals his grandfather with Standish and makes his way to Lavande, a town so unappealing that taxi drivers remark tourists seldom visit. Despite this, David spends 95 Euros on a cab ride to this dismal location, where the initial residents refuse to engage with him, and a ferocious guard dog confronts him. However, he successfully obtains the address for a bar/café named Blanc Rousse and directly inquires from the bartender if they’ve seen anyone resembling himself. He doesn’t even consume the latte he pretends to order.

From there, River moves forward only to find himself in a dangerous situation involving spinning blades. Predictably, he gets injured. The number and form of his opponents are unclear, but one of them is portrayed by Hugo Weaving, who has maintained his impressive presence 25 years after his role as Agent Smith in The Matrix. Throughout the town and even back in London, River is under constant surveillance. In London, an operative manages to extract information from a police officer outside of David’s house, leaving behind a monitoring device. (It appears that incompetence is not exclusive to Slough House on this series.) The episode ends with River being knocked unconscious by a man he believes is there to save him. Given his lack of readiness for this unexpected excursion, it seems fitting that he encounters such a predicament.

In the ongoing efforts of Lamb and his team to manage River’s predicament remotely, Lamb emphasizes, “A Joe in the field needs to stay undercover, so we don’t tip him off.” Meanwhile, another significant revelation from the series premiere, the Westacres bombing, is being investigated by The Park. Agent Giti Rahman (played by Kiran Sonia Sawar) brings attention to Taverner about the passport of suspected bomber Robert Winters, revealing that it was legitimately renewed numerous times but was issued from The Park’s old headquarters 28 years ago. In response, Kristen Scott Thomas’s character, Taverner, takes this potentially devastating information in stride and swiftly devises a plan to conceal it. She praises Giti by assigning her to this High Priority Assignment, where she will report only to her. This results in a humorous scene where Flyte, clearly out of her depth, acts as Giti’s caretaker, even cooking her an omelet.

Despite informing Claude, who is her superior in title but not practice, Taverner employs a tactic of burying information deep down because Claude advocates for openness at the agency. Though she manages to conceal her skepticism towards his transparency speech, Taverner firmly believes that secrecy and mystery are essential in MI5. Given the obvious reasons, it would be detrimental to the agency’s reputation if it were linked to a shopping mall terrorist bombing. To avoid suspicion, she skillfully convinces Claude to authorize the disposal of incriminating documents related to Robert Winters, one of many problems she regularly solves “every single day.” This will lead the investigation on a more roundabout path.

There’s no question that the path will pass by Slough House, and if I know Slough House, it won’t be clean or organized when we get there. In one of the funniest side plots, a temporary office administrator tries to clean up Lamb’s messy lair, and he does so with a tight-lipped grin, inviting the woman out for lunch on his dime. As they leave, he mutters to his colleagues, “I can’t stand being in there like that. Put it back just as it was.” A pig needs its mud puddle.

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Is there any extent to which David Cartwright might be overdramatizing his dementia symptoms? He seemed vigilant enough to suspect he was being observed, and quick enough to identify the correct individual despite the resemblance to his grandson. However, his bewilderment and tears offer a clearer narrative. As we uncover the previous relationship between David and Lavande, it’s likely we’ll discover more.

As a movie enthusiast, I’ve got to say that Lamb was the first one to figure out River’s past actions, and that’s not a surprise. Even though he might label River’s actions as “arguably a bit crazy,” there’s definitely an admiration for his boldness in there.

Marcus has resumed his gambling habit, enthusiastically discussing using money from a firearm transaction as an investment for a guaranteed win to settle a substantial debt. He tells Shirley that a relapse is a positive indication and just par for the course in this situation. It’s all part of the journey, he implies.

Here’s a possible way of paraphrasing the sentence in natural and easy-to-read language:

2024-09-11 16:54

Slow Horses Recap: Tourist Season

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