Slow Horses Recap: Blind Your Enemy

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A smart way to keep viewers engaged is to subvert their expectations by making the most obvious conclusion a surprise. People who love to come up with complex theories often overlook what’s right in front of them. While it’s usually true that the simplest explanation is the best, clever shows like Slow Horses intentionally try to mislead the audience. For instance, you might look at the partnership between Roddy and Tara and assume she’s far more capable than he is. But on TV, those assumptions about seemingly obvious things are often wrong. Maybe Tara is actually falling for Roddy, despite their differences?

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.

J.K. Coe seems to have been surprisingly accurate in his predictions, specifically regarding a “destabilization strategy.” His insights were significant enough that Lamb felt confident sharing his discoveries with Taverner and Whelan, despite the risks. However, Coe’s contribution is overshadowed by the tragic, accidental death of Gimball. The story reveals that if Gimball had survived the night Mayor Jaffrey was saved from assassination, the Libyan terrorist group behind the strategy would have fallen apart. We see, in the aftermath of the attempt, one of the terrorists almost killed by his own leader due to Jaffrey’s survival. Luckily, news of Gimball’s death appears on a large screen in the airport parking garage, allowing the plan to continue. The terrorist, witnessing this, simply remarks, “This country is fucking mad.”

Honestly, after all the craziness with the mayor’s security detail, Lamb is totally thrown. He doesn’t really acknowledge that Shirley and Catherine saved Jaffrey’s life – he calls it ‘assaulting him with a water bottle’ – but he’s immediately fixated on Gimball’s death and how his agents could have let it happen. He texts River, suggesting they meet at this…unpleasant place called “Piss Underpass,” and heads out, convinced he’s about to have a seriously intense conversation. Meanwhile, River and Coe are in full damage control mode. Coe takes some cash from River to get new clothes, and then uses the leftover money for cherries – pitted ones, no less! Coe doesn’t seem super worried about crafting a believable cover story for blowing the assignment; he’s way more interested in selling cherry pits! Though, he does figure out that the only other person around was a Black man getting into a fight with a known racist, and he doubts that guy will come forward, especially after the racist ended up with a split head.

River claims Gimball was accidentally hit with a paint can, and they arrived on the scene too late to stop it. While it looks bad that they didn’t prevent the incident while protecting him, the consequences of other explanations would be far worse. This leads to a particularly memorable debriefing. River suggests the terrorists might have deliberately dropped the paint can to make it look like an accident, but Lamb quickly rejects this idea, pointing out the group’s history of blatant violence – like blowing up a penguin enclosure. In a hilarious moment, Lamb asks River to name just one person who would have a reason to target penguins, and River can only come up with “Batman.”

Lamb doesn’t believe his team’s explanation and is frustrated they didn’t tell him the truth sooner, wanting to get the evening moving. The episode really highlights Gary Oldman’s performance; he dominates every scene, much like Hercule Poirot revealing the solution in an Agatha Christie novel, as he’s always a step ahead. Lamb finds River’s apology insincere because River consistently avoids taking responsibility for his mistakes, and even Coe’s small change in behavior – going without his hoodie – seems like a clear sign of guilt. When Lamb finally shares his theory with his superiors at the Park, he presents undeniable evidence that their Libyan opponents are retaliating for a 2013 coup attempt. As Lamb puts it, “We’ve been the aggressors, and now we’re facing the consequences.”

The plan calls for misleading the enemy, but the team gets sidetracked when Tara references a Libyan proverb about resilience, which they misinterpret as a threat to the airport. The rest of the episode focuses on a risky sting operation led by Whelan – a clear sign that things will go wrong. Tara has convincingly portrayed herself as an unwilling participant in the terrorists’ plot. When the team suggests using her upcoming meeting with the group for a sting, Tara pretends to be hesitant, encouraging Whelan to act as her protector and support the plan.

The betrayal at Piccadilly Circus was bound to happen, but the show handles it well, switching back and forth between Tara trying to escape her handlers and Park’s clumsy attempt to fix a security problem at MI5. It’s a scene highlighting how badly both sides are failing, culminating in Tara easily losing her surveillance team and a computer program shutting down all of Park’s monitors. Now, the safety of London depends on Lamb, despite his questionable methods.

Shots

Taverner’s first impression of Tara’s political involvement might frustrate those who try to create change online. He described it as typical for someone her age and education level – lots of online posts and not much concrete action.

Roddy keeps facing rejection. Tara eventually tells Flyte that she’s not attracted to him, and Flyte agrees, saying Roddy doesn’t seem to be anyone’s ideal partner. Luckily, Roddy’s strong self-belief helps him cope with the constant embarrassment.

Commentator Lamb jokingly observed that competitor Coe appeared flushed and disheveled, quipping that he looked like he’d just finished an intimate encounter.

It was good to see Naomi Wirthner return as Molly Doran, the park archivist with a history with Lamb. She’s a surprisingly tough character and shares his cynical attitude.

Lamb told Taverner that Whelan was acting foolishly, and advised him to resign before being completely embarrassed by continuing to work for him.

We’ll discover how helpful River’s grandfather will be to the investigation – he seems to think it involves honey – and Jonathan Pryce delivers a heartfelt performance in his short appearance.

We overextended ourselves trying to assist Libya after the coup. It proved to be more than we could realistically handle. Tara deserves credit for remaining calm while Whelan made this dismissive comment.

“I really don’t get it. Why would she take off her coat?” It seemed like something wasn’t clicking in her mind – she was completely puzzled.

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2025-10-22 11:55