Shoot Them: A review of the TV series "Slow Horses"
Gary Oldman directs rogue British intelligence agents in the Apple TV+ spy thriller.
Agent Cartwright (Jack Lowden), a promising MI5 agent, is sent to Slough House, a second-rate department of similarly delinquent colleagues, after a failed test. The "horses" are run by the oppressively toxic Jackson Lamb (Oldman). Suddenly the department is given a second chance and an opportunity to prove itself, but the proposed case acquires suspicious details and turns out to be more complicated than expected.
There are still no equals for the British in the deployment of spy dramas. Any filet-o-clock turns into either a poisoned tea or an adrenaline-fueled conversation that keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat in suspense. "Slow Horses," based on the book of the same name by popular British writer Mick Herron, offers an old-school formula: an inside look, not from a brave Bond perspective, but from deliberately marginalized former employees. Over six classic, long-winded episodes, a dynamic, not always folding, but engaging emotional transaction emerges that is hard to reproach for being unnecessary or boring, even if gaps in the script hint at it.
The entire canvass of "Horses" is tied to the kidnapping of Pakistani student and hopeful standup comedian Hassan. The responsibility is taken by the far-right group Sons of Albion, which stands for the "purity" of the British nation. There is still a painful relevance to this, especially for Europe, albeit formally a former Europe. Who would have thought (seasoned viewers for sure) that a full house on the bailout would be right up there with the Slough House outsiders. But why them exactly, and is there no hand of the intelligence services themselves in what happened?
Will Smith, not an Oscar-winning screenwriter, but a well-known author in small circles who specializes in comedy series ("The Gush," "The Vice President") and family movies ("The Adventures of Paddington"), is in charge of the script here. Humor, despite the seriousness of the operational work, is given almost equal place here, with which the series sometimes pulls the rest of the attention.
The undeniably magnetic link here is Oldman as the down-to-earth, sarcastic usurper who treats his underlings almost like fighting meat. Jackson Lamb sleeps in his office, wears leaky socks, smokes, and constantly spews accumulated fumes, all the while running a secret game, distinct to himself, obscure to others. Lamb's own past is filled with all sorts of betrayals and top secret, but he still values his losers and does not intend to turn them in to MI5's leading "Lady Di" Diana Taverner (the always winning Kristin Scott Thomas). The cast is complemented by the combative Louden ("Dunkirk") and Olivia Cooke ("The Sound of Metal"), with Jonathan Pryce ("Game of Thrones") and Sophie Okonedo ("Ratched") stopping by on guest rights.
Referring simultaneously to the somber "Spy, Get Out" (the elusive Agent Smiley was also played there by Oldman) and the tragicomic "Killing Eve," "Horses" runs only toward the end, and on its own terms. "Get to know death, you'll see it a lot," Lamb tells Cartwright. That really strange thing -- at least that's what Mick Jagger sings on the title track of the Strange Game series -- shows up where it wasn't expected, comes to see someone it hasn't seen in a long time. Lamb's exiles can't wait to get out into the field, hack the system, figure out the far-right, uncover a conspiracy in the heart of London. Without much support from their boss, they succeed, forming a small herd of seemingly cornered but still effective personnel who can't just be shot, will still come out clumsily honest from the dirty underhand intrigues. As a hymn to mistakes, the Slow Horses, pleased with themselves, go into their second season; the rest of us can only join in.
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