
A few episodes back, when Tara gently rejected Roddy’s awkward attempts to flirt with her and sent him home, it signaled to viewers that what we’d just seen wasn’t as simple as it appeared. Slow Horses is already a show full of clever twists, and Tara’s entire interrogation was a complex plan in itself. But the fact that the show presented Tara’s reasons as straightforward is brilliant. It avoids any need to believe in Roddy’s unbelievable rise, and keeps many of the key characters fooled – even though they never thought of him as a successful romantic. He was being used, they were being used, and we, the audience, were being played too. It was a masterful move.