(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
Do you ever walk near scaffolding and worry that something will fall and hit you on the head? Does a construction site set off a deadly Rube Goldberg machine scenario in your mind like it does mine? Slow Horses takes a page from the chain reaction playbook with darkly comedic and fatal consequences. Sometimes gravity is out to get us.
Part of the Slow Horses special sauce is its ability to weave dark humor amid the espionage thrills. I can’t think of another show that deploys a flatulence-aided plan and a story about Stasi torture to construct an escape from MI5 forced lockdown. Mixing genres comes easily to the Apple TV+ adaptation of Mick Herron’s espionage book series, which is why this play on a Final Destination freak death scenario fits the incompetence we come to expect from the spy rejects.
Despite various stumbles, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) still fancies himself a hero who shouldn’t be wasting his talents at Slough House with the other failed operatives. Events in this episode suggest otherwise. You can already hear every single expletive-laden insult Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) is going to hurl River’s way for his part in this fatal catastrophe. Lamb’s way with words is one of his many talents. Weaponizing his bodily function is another. He also has a habit of being right.
Lamb accidentally predicts a catastrophe when he chastises the MI5 Head of Security, Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley), about her team: “At least my lot f— up on an epic scale. They’re not just run-of-the-mill f— ups like yours.” But even the Slough House boss can’t foresee the magnitude of River and Coe’s (Tom Brooke) latest botch job that leaves a political figure dead in the street.
The London mayoral election provides the backdrop for the Season 5 chaos, in which a terrorist group is using a “destabilization strategy” originating from Brit covert agency tactics. They have already ticked the first four off the list (compromise an agent, attack the village, disrupt transport, and seize the media). Next up? Kill a populist leader. With two candidates to protect at different rallies, the already shrinking team is spread thin.
River and Coe are sent by Lamb to protect the most obvious target, taking the only guns with them. Dennis Gimball (Christopher Villiers) is an anti-immigration right-wing figure spewing hateful rhetoric, and his minimal security venue is giving open season to any would-be assassin.
However, anyone who has watched television knows it will be the least likely option, putting the current mayor, Zafar Jaffrey (Nick Mohammed), in immediate danger. The unarmed Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Standish (Saskia Reeves) improvise to stop another tragedy, using a plastic water bottle and a fire extinguisher to thwart the intended hit.
Successfully saving Jaffrey with nothing but their wits emphasizes the calamity witnessed (and caused by) River and Coe. No one was trying to kill Gimball, and yet he ends up in a pool of blood and pink paint.
Much like a workplace comedy, Slow Horses plays around with its onscreen pairings to keep it fresh. Coe and River are an odd couple whose opposing styles cause friction. Lowden doesn’t conceal River’s burning frustration, whereas Brooke emphasizes Coe’s inability to compromise, each to great effect. River has zero patience for the conspiracy-crazed Coe and struggles to see any value in Coe’s insight—even when Coe is right.
This butting of heads continues at the Gimball rally, assessing where the assassin will strike—little do they know it will be them.
The wannabe mayor is practicing his dog-whistle speech in the alley by the stage door, without anyone else in sight. To get a better vantage point, Coe climbs up to the top of the building’s scaffolding. When Coe sees a man get into a fight with Gimball, he alerts River. Instead of taking a beat to ask why a group that has been doing everything so publicly would be so sloppy and secretive about this killing, River leaps straight into the scuffle. Little does he know that the man fighting Gimball is Jaffrey’s campaign manager, Tyson (Abraham Popoola), whom Gimball provoked with racial abuse.
Tyson flees the scene when River pulls his gun, but it is Coe, slowly making his way down the scaffolding, that puts the politician in peril. The moment the first piece of construction equipment moves, the clock starts ticking for Gimball. Anyone familiar with the Final Destination series will know where this is headed.
Tension increases with every step that shows the different moving pieces of this death trap, which is why it is a perfect time to cut to the contempt on River’s face when Gimball thanks him: “Good to see the bulldog spirit’s alive in the younger generation.” Much to River’s horror, Gimble presumes he is a supporter.
Lowden is terrific at action scenes, but it is his deadpan responses and lack of poker face that elevate this performance. The Scottish actor (and soon-to-be Mr. Darcy) is frequently mentioned during Bond casting conversations, but Slow Horses showcases why Lowden is much better suited to play a spy like River. Bond would never find himself caught in an accidental paint death predicament.
While Lowden is more than capable of playing the iconic tux-wearer, the shenanigans at Slough House offer more opportunities to flex his comedic timing talents while still getting to run across London trying to save the day.
Gimball’s tune quickly shifts to accusations of deep state meddling when River reveals he is MI5 and that there has been a threat to Gimball’s safety. “Oh, do f— off,” says River. At the exact moment he finishes this sentence, there is a literal splat from above: a gruesome full stop.
If six Final Destination movies have taught us anything, it is that chain reactions can happen anywhere. In this case, the rope holding the basket snaps, causing it to hit some metal poles, knocking off a can of pink paint. Every inch of me knows how an oversized Rube Goldberg machine ends, yet I still gasped when I heard the “thwack” sound as it connected with Gimball’s head. Not looking forward to the next time I walk near scaffolding!
“What did you just do?” asks River. “I just came down the ladder. What did you just do?” Coe responds. It is a comedy of errors that a stunned, paint-covered River can’t quite believe.
They don’t need to check the mayoral candidates’ vitals as the shocked, frozen-in-place expression and growing pool of blood around Gimball’s head tell a vivid story of a f— up on an epic scale. No one knows their team quite like Jackson Lamb.
The post ‘Slow Horses’ Channels ‘Final Destination’ in Horrific Scene appeared first on The Daily Beast.
