From Upshott With Love – The episode begins with Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) sneaking into Nikolai “Nikky” Katinsky’s (Rade Serbedzija) office. After hitting him with a paper wad, Lamb informs him that he’s there for Demetrio’s money. Lamb asks if the language school is a cover-up. Nikky claims it’s quite busy before reminding him of Demetrio in the car. Lamb suggests he’s reading the paper. Nikky admits to inventing Demetrio before addressing Lamb by his name.

Nikky claims to have told them everything when he arrived from Moscow. Lamb tells him that he chatted away during the debrief. Nikky admits to being nervous they would send him back to Moscow. Lamb says he wants to know more about cicadas.

River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) asks Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) for an intel update on the “bald-headed” man after getting off the train. Roddy reminds him that he isn’t his PA. River tells him that any information would help since he’s already in Cotswold. Taking the phone, Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) says several taxis departed but it was too dark to determine if the bald-headed man was a passenger.

River tells Sally (Nicola Sanderson) at A & A Taxis that he’s looking for his distraught uncle after he boarded a train at Oxford Parkway and disappeared. Sally says several nights back, a “bald” man took a taxi back to Oxford Parkway. River asks if he might speak with the driver. She tells him that Kenny Muldoon (Colin Mace) takes his break in a nearby café.

Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) and Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) are scheduled to meet Nevsky’s representative, Arkady Pashkin’s security team, Piotr Volodin (Zachary Baharov), and Kyril Asimov (Yerden Telemissov).

Kenny tells River that he transports lots of passengers to Oxford Parkway. River suggests he wants money for information about his uncle who isn’t healthy. Kenny admits to believing the “bald-headed” man isn’t his uncle. After placing some cash on the table, Kenny claims the man changed destinations and paid him 200 to stay quiet.

Nikky claims he overheard two men discussing cicadas. One of the men who he believed was Popov stressed the importance of cicadas’ funding to continue. The other man assured him it would be difficult. The first man said to tell them it is from Popov. Lamb asks what did Popov look like. Nikky admits to never seeing him before saying the “bald-headed” man was possibly Andrei Chernitsky.

Piotr informs Louisa and Min that Paskin is in New York. Louisa says they can accompany them on the bug sweep as long as they’re unarmed. Piotr suggests Paskin receive a report at the Ambassador Hotel where they’ll also be staying. Min asks which hotel they’re staying at now. Piotr says Excelsior or Excalibur. Min follows the men on his bike to Kuznetsov Import & Export. He waits as they enter the building and return with a box. He eventually loses them.

Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) asks Lamb what interest he has in Nikky. He admits to wanting more details about his debrief. She reminds him it had been 20 years since Nikky was debriefed. He says Dickie Bow (Phil Davis) left cicadas on his phone before dying. She assures him that cicada is bogus. He tells her that Nikky claimed to have heard Popov discussing cicadas with the man he believes murdered Dickie.

Kenny claims to have dropped the “bald-headed” man off at a church in Upshott.

Lamb assures Diana that he’ll find who killed Dickie because he’s a former MI5. She tells him that he lacks the resources to run an op from Slough House. He says since Spider Webb (Freddie Fox) has absconded his agents, the MI5 should fund it. She says will it be over if she approves it. He says, “Absolutely.”

Kenny talks on the phone when River gets in the taxi. River asks who he called before grabbing for his phone. A struggle ensues with Kenny putting the note with the phone number in his mouth. When River threatens to strangle him until he passes out, Kenny opens his mouth. River asks where he took the “bald-headed” man. Kenny says it was an airfield.

After informing River that the man was taken to the Upshott Flying Club, Kenny says he offered to pay him 500 quid via PayPal. River tells him that the account was probably created with a fake ID.

Diana tells Spider that she should send him to Slough House. He informs her of his plan to have her meet Ilya Nevsky. She reminds him of Nevsky being off-limits. He says while they don’t want to irritate the current regimen, they also don’t want a Nevsky in power with a grudge against Britain. She tells him that MI5 stopped a seizure of his assets. He admits to having a meeting with Paskin on Saturday. She warns him that he’ll join Min and Louisa at Slough House if it ends badly.

A man watches Louisa tells Min as they discuss Spider’s plan.

River asks Kenny if the “bald-headed” man has an accent. Kenny tells him that it may have been Polish or Czech. River asks if he boarded a plane. Kenny says he isn’t sure but there was a car in the parking lot. River asks how far are they from Upshott. Kenny says about two miles before asking if he’s going to talk to his wife. River asks what he’s hiding. Kenny admits to investing some of the money in dog racing.

River contacts Roddy to have him trace a mobile phone number. Roddy tells him that one number is missing, up his a**. River searches the office at the Upshott Flying Club.

Marcus Longridge (Kadiff Kirwan) asks how River knew the number belonged to the man. Roddy asks who he is again. Marcus reminds him that it’s Lamb’s joke before calling him a “dick.” Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) asks Roddy to put a rush on it. Roddy says the phone number belongs to someone in Estonia. They’re talking to River when Kenny pulls out of the parking lot.

Min informs Louisa that he and his son, Lucas are going out to dinner. She suggests he should’ve prepared for the bug sweet because it will be his first. He admits to having second thoughts about Spider’s assignment. She asks if he’d prefer working with Lamb before accusing him of taking the easy way out. He assures her that Slough House’s work isn’t easy. She tells him that her career isn’t going to end there. He asks if it’d be best for him to stay at his place tonight. She says do whatever.

Catherine reminds Roddy of what River said about the “bald-headed” man boarding a plane at Upshott airfield. Roddy says not according to the radar logs. She suggests he took a morning flight from Heathrow Airport. Shirley asks Roddy who tracked Dickie’s killer on the CCTV. He points out that he hacked the CCTV. Catherine says it was nine hours from the time Kenny dropped the man off at the Upshott airfield and the first flight departed for Estonia.

At the café, Min receives a call from Lucas to say he can’t make it. He calls Louisa to get a dial tone.

After a 5-mile walk, River meets up with Lamb. He informs him that the “bald-headed” man met someone at the Upshott airfield before flying to Estonia. Lamb asks how he found out. River says a taxi driver told him. Lamb suggests the man probably wanted him to find his trail because it was too easy. River asks why would he target him. Lamb gives him a new ID, dossier, car, and cover story to investigate the “bald” man’s contacts at the Flying Club. He tells him to find out if the man is cicada. River says Andrei Chernitsky murdered Dickie before asking if he already knew. Lamb says Nikky allegedly saw Alexander Popov. River admits to feeling excited about the detail.

Min follows Kyril from a local eatery.

Lamb says the dark side of the wall that cicada was known as “sleeper,” on the “dead lions” on the outside. River asks why would cicada remain asleep for so long. Lamb tells him that they hold grudges. River informs him that Duncan Tropper owns the Upshott Flying Club. Lamb suggests he’s expecting him.

Kyril puts a gun to Min’s neck. He says, “A man who sticks his nose where it is not wanted gets his head blown off” before cocking his gun. The episode comes to an end.

 

Slow Horses Synopsis

Nikky claimed to have overheard Popov and Andrei Chernitsky discussing cicadas in Moscow. He identifies Andrei as Dickie’s killer.

Kenny, a taxi driver, picked Andrei up at Oxford Parkway and dropped him off at the Upshott Flying Club on the night Dickie was murdered. A phone number is traced to Estonia.

Lamb convinces Diana to fund a Slough House op to find Dickie’s killer. He hands the detail over to River.

Min and Louisa meet Kyril and Piotr to discuss the security detail for Spider and Paskin’s meeting at the Glasshouse. She isn’t happy when Min goes off to have dinner with his son Lucas instead of learning to sweep for bugs. When Lucas can’t make it, he follows Kyril from a café until he finds himself being held at gunpoint.

Slow Horses Review

Much improvement is noted from the first episode. However, it’s as if they’re throwing everything in, hoping something sticks. In the meantime, actors are being limited airtime. Having the Slough House workers on the same investigation could’ve eliminated this issue.

The episode deserves a 6.5. Get More Slow Horses recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking the link.