A Stranger Comes To Town – As the episode opens, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) arrives at David Cartwright’s (Jonathan Pryce) house. He enters the bathroom to find David armed with a shotgun and a murdered man in the tub. David cocks his gun. River urges him to put the gun down. David asks if the dead man is an imposter. River suggests asking him something that only he would know. David asks what year he met his KGB counterpart in Berlin. River says 1982. When River gets the next question right, David puts down the gun. River unloads the gun and assures David that it is okay. Looking at the dead man, River is shocked by how much they look alike. David claims the man offered to run him a bath and called him Gramps. The man isn’t armed but River suspects something is off about him because they look alike. Finding Xanax in the man’s pocket, River suggests he intended to drug and drown David. The man has a return train ticket to France, a Le Blanc Russe Café receipt, and Adam Lockhead’s passport. David activates his panic button. River stresses the importance of David getting his statement right. Once alone, River puts his phone and what appears to be his wallet in the man’s pocket, loads, the gun, and shoots him before vomiting.

Agent Giti Rahman (Kiran Sonia Sawar) tells Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) that the MI5 issued Robert Winters’ first passport 28 years ago. Diana insists that Giti utilize her office to investigate Winters and only report to her. In the elevator, Diana requests Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) to move Giti to a remote location. Elsewhere, Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) tells Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) that David had a flight fund hidden in his garden. Jackson points out that David’s passport is expired. He claims River shot the man to conceal his true identity to buy him time to investigate. She admits to giving River her cash and phone SIM. She says the man had a train ticket to France, Adam Lockhead’s passport, and a receipt from a café in Lavande. Jackson asks David if he is familiar with a town called Lavande. Confused, David mistakes Catherine for Rose. Jackson insists David is embellishing his dementia. Elsewhere, River arrives in Lavande. The French taxi driver (Farid Larbi) says Lavande doesn’t get a lot of tourists. River tells him that he is looking for a friend and pays him.

Claude Whelan (James Callis) practices his speech for Diana. He haphazardly searches for his new phone. She insists he delay the speech and focus on the condolence letters for the families of the bombing victims. She fears there may be a follow-up Westacres bombing. He claims his pitch to change the culture of the Park is how he landed in his role. She voices concern about the response. He assures her that everyone will adapt nicely. She leaves with the signed condolence letters. In Lavande, River tries to talk to a local couple but they ignore him. He asks an unshaven French man (Mikael Fitoussi) for directions to Le Blanc Russe Café. The man says it is in the square.

At Slough House, Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) sees a gun in Marcus Longridge’s (Kadiff Kirwan) bag. He admits to having money issues. She scolds him for gambling. He insists it is a sign of progress because it was only the once. He informs her of his plan to sell the gun to pay his debt. She warns him of what will happen if the gun ends up in the wrong hands. He says if she was his friend, she would loan him 10k to keep him from losing his house and Cassie. During his fit of anger, he calls her a “reformed cockhead.” Lamb hits Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) with a box and demands he dig up information on Lavande. He tells his team that River is alive. Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) is relieved. JK Coe (Tom Brooke) points out that Lamb’s text never mentioned River being dead. Roddy claims to have PTSD from nearly getting killed in the Westacres bombing. Lamb says someone sent an assassin who looked like River to kill David and River shot his face off and left his ID to make it look like him. Louisa suggests they help River but Lamb insists they stay put. Roddy vows to keep River’s computer. Lamb finds Moira Tregorian (Joanna Scanlan) cleaning his office. She claims Whelan thought Slough House needed a strong manager. He invites her to join him for lunch. When she leaves to get her coat, he orders Marcus and Shirley to put his office back like before.

Diana calls Giti to tell her that the MI5 created a fake ID for Robert Winter, not Robert Winters, 30 years ago. Giti says so the bomber isn’t connected to MI5. Diana claims there is nothing in their database for Robert Winters. She tells Flyte to release Giti. Flyte complains about babysitting Giti. Diana sarcastically apologizes before ordering Flyte to work on River’s case. She has Robert Winters’ passport shredded. Back in France, River visits the Le Blanc Russe and asks the manager (Fred Bianconi) if he remembers a man who looked like him. The manager claims the man lives in Les Arbres. Victor (Eric Savin) watches River emerge from the café. He tells a man on the phone that it is him and he is walking toward Les Arbes.

Whelan denies ever working in the field. She tells him that Giti brought it to her attention that Robert Winters was one of theirs. He was a “cold body” with a legit identity created by MI5. Whelan demands to know why she never informed him earlier, so he could have notified the Prime Minister. She says that would have been a disaster and Robert Winters has been scrubbed. He warns that it will be impossible to cover it up and refuses to go along with her. She implements him in the cover-up by having him sign a sequester order for Giti without his knowledge. Whelan asks if she is trying to get back at him because he got the job and she didn’t. She claims to have not applied for it. He suggests she knew they wouldn’t give the job to her, so she withdrew her application. Diana assures him that it isn’t a difficult job and she has been doing it anyway. He insists she is suffering from institutional burnout. She says her main concern is preventing a repeat of the Westacres bombing.

Patrice (Tom Wozniczka) approaches a policeman (Jamie Hogarth) outside David’s house to ask for directions. They strike up a conversation about the shooting. The officer tells him that the grandson was fatally shot. Upon leaving, Patrice hides a camera inside the stone wall pointing toward the driveway. Inside his car, he notifies Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving) that David’s grandson, River, died and he is unable to make contact with Bertrand. Frank says Bertrand’s passport pinged coming into France. Patrice warns that it may be River, not Bertrand (Adam Lockhead). Frank tells him to focus on his second target who worked with David for years. Back in France, River scales over a rock wall and makes his way down a path where a house stands in the distance.

Lamb suggests Slough House is a step down from Moira’s job at the Park. He asks what she will do once she straightens out the reprobates. She feels reprobates is a bit harsh until he reminds her of Roddy, Marcus, and Shirley. He asks if she is concerned about Slough House harming her reputation. He says the Slough House is a place for screw-ups and agents who piss someone off. He agrees to help her get back to the Park if she agrees to find out if David ever traveled to France. She accepts his offer. Back in France, River breaks into Lockhead’s house, retrieves a knife from the kitchen, and ascends the stairs to a vandalized nursery. He snaps a photo of a mural before making his way to the attic where he discovers a photo of Frank, Robert Winters, and two other men. Smelling smoke, he races downstairs to find the house on fire. Frank hits him. River tries to fight back but Patrice knocks him down and takes his knife.  A struggle pursues. Victor intervenes and helps River to his vehicle before knocking him out. He speeds away from the burning house as the episode ends.

 

Slow Horses Review

River stages Adam Lockhead’s body to make it look like him. Lockhead utilizes the alias, Bertrand. River goes to Lockhead’s house where he is attacked by Frank Harkness who also sets the house on fire. Believing River is Lockhead, Victor rescues River. Frank and Patrice want David, Bertrand, and David’s KGB counterpart dead.

Lamb strikes a deal with Moira. In exchange for intel about David’s visits to Frank, he will see that she gets her job back at the Park. He believes David faking his dementia. Catherine is hiding David at her flat.

Giti learns Robert Winters was created by MI5 28 years ago. Diana has Flyte to take Giti to a remote location while she destroys Winters’ passport and files in their database. Whelan refuses to cover it up but it’s too late because she already implemented him. He believes she got passed over for Director-General of MI5. She claims to have never applied for the position.

The episode deserves a 5.8 out of 10. Get more Slow Horses recaps here. Join our newly established forum to see what others are saying. Support our site by donating. Learn about our advertising packages here.