Failure’s Contagious
Diana Taverner, the woman overseeing this operation, gives the greenlight to apprehend their suspect. Tackling him to the ground, it turns out he’s the wrong guy.
The real culprit is the person on the other side of the airport, currently waiting to go through the biometric passport control. Given how fast they get through those gates, it’s incredibly unrealistic (as anyone who has used these will tell you!) ..
Our suspect, a man with a bag of explosives, heads into the toilet near arrivals and swaps bags. With alarms wailing, Cartwright charges after him as he heads down to Stanstead International train station. He makes it in time and confronts the man….only for him to pull the string and blow the place sky high.
We then jump to Slough House, where we meet Jackson Lamb, the head of MI-useless. Lamb is a rejected MI5 agent who has taken up residence at the safehouse in order to help out his friends.
Sid is the only one Lamb looks on favourably, while the rest just seem to be along for the ride, itching to get their hands dirty and get back in the field. For now, their job entails all the grimy, nasty work, including sifting through rubbish and scouring numerous data logs.
Cartwright and Sid are tasked with finding intel on Simmonds. Sid manages to dupe Hobden into letting his guard down in a diner, after spilling tea over his laptop. After grabbing his USB stick, she copies the files over. ..
Cartwright returns to HQ and meets Karl Unger, the man who fed him the wrong intel during the explosion. Unger tells Cartwright that he was wearing a blue tee and white shirt when he was killed in the explosion. Cartwright realizes this and is relegated to Slough House.
We learn that the exhilarating incident we saw at the start of the episode was actually just a training exercise.
Greg Simmonds, the sleazy businessman who made a video for a right-wing nut job claiming that those coming over to the UK in their dinghies should be confronted by the Navy, is giving a speech with a logo that looks very similar to that of the Tories. This show isn’t even being subtle.
MI5 believe that Simmonds has been funding hate groups and that’s why Cartwright has been so dead-set on finding him. However, Lamb soon puts him in his place, pointing out that after 5pm he has no business in the office. If he continues though, Lamb promises to make his life hell. River Cartwright heads back home and speaks to his grandfather, David. David tells River that he’s proud of him and that he’s doing the right thing by standing up to Simmonds. ..
David and Hobden discuss Hobden’s past, which includes being a communist in his youth until he switched sides. David believes that the MI5 had uncovered this information, which may have led to his current situation.
The young man is snatched off the streets by a group of hooded thugs that night. They’re parading him on TV that morning, with a right-wing nationalist group by the name of Sons of Albion taking all the credit. They’re even promising to cut his head off by sunrise. ..
While Slough House want to try and work the case, believing Hobden is a part of this, Lamb implores them to get back to their desk and continuing working their own mundane jobs. Well, Cartwright is having none of that and decides to head out in the streets.
The Episode Review
Slow Horses starts out strong, despite the political messaging in the show. However, it can be difficult to follow the story because there are so many important elements that are left out. It’s still early days, so we’ll have to wait and see where this one goes next.
Suspicion is a gripping thriller with strong acting and a well-developed premise. The show has potential to be one of the most popular on television, but it needs to continue to produce quality episodes in order to maintain its audience.
