Returns – The episode opens with Sam Chapman (Sean Gilder) asking what happened. Driving a stolen taxi, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) proudly says he saved his life. Chapman denies knowing the assailant who survived after being mowed down by the taxi. Lamb asks why he went to Lavande while he was David Cartwright’s (Jonathan Pryce) bagman. Chapman tells him about Les Arbres, an off-grid compound operated by trained killers. He voices concern about being detained if Park finds out what he did. Shirley Danger (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) asks what he did but he ignores her. Lamb agrees to let Chapman do the brief at Slough House.

Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving) meets with his bodyguard (Chi Lewis-Parry) before entering a building where a bodyguard is waiting with a handheld metal detector. Tahir (Khalid Laith) hired him to stage a murder to look like an accident. Harkness attributes the foul-up to a weak link in his organization and promises to complete the job at a discounted price. After refusing to give him another chance, Tahir says if they are linked to the Westacres bombing, it would cause diplomatic damage. Seeing a man in the nearby room with a handsaw, Harkness warns him against killing him there. Tahir says the floor above and below have been removed. Harkness offers him a full refund and five free jobs. Motioning his men, Tahir tells Harkness that he will be paralyzed but awake throughout. Harkness claims a former MI5 agent knows about Westacres. Tahir gives him till midnight to kill them and then, he will work for him.  Harkness promises to bring them there and chop them up himself. David can be seen walking in a congested area.

Upon arrival, Lamb spots several Dogs outside Slough House. Shirley calls Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) to see if the Dogs came inside. He sarcastically says they picked up the Big Dog’s scent. She reminds him that Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) bit him earlier. He attributes it to his being “honey-trapped” and insults her when the call abruptly ends. Lamb tells Shirley and Marcus Longridge (Kadiff Kirwan) that if he is detained, take care of David until River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) arrives. Emerging from the stolen taxi, he pecks on Diana Taverner’s (Kristin Scott Thomas) window and insists she come inside. Seeing her missed calls, he sarcastically apologizes. She accuses him of lying about the dead man who was an assassin and demands to know where River is at. He says River is retracing the assassin’s steps in France and he lied about David staying with Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves). Seeing her reaction, Lamb realizes she never knew. She demands he contact her immediately if sees David or River. Standish looks over to see JK Coe (Tom Brooke) tapping his fingers on his leg. Moira Tregorian (Joanna Scanlan) assures her that it is normal. Standish suggests he is trying to block something out and asks if he could join the search for David. Moira says when she returns to the Park, her position will be vacant. Roddy teases Marcus about getting attacked. Marcus flips him the bird. Moira blurts out that Standish lost David. Standish explains what happened and says Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) is outside the Park in case he shows up there. Chapman warns Lamb of what will happen if David talks. Lamb claims David is out of his mind. He sends Marcus and Shirley out to look for David and asks Standish to witness Chapman’s brief.

Harkness says Bertrand’s passport shows River returning to the country. Patrice (Tom Wozniczka) assures him that the doctor who treated his injuries won’t talk. Grabbing his injured shoulder, Harkness says they must kill the targets or the client will kill them. Patrice questions if they went underground. Harkness suggests they are planning to take a flight. Back at Slough House, Chapman claims David sent him to Lavande for an extraction. In a flashback, young Sam Chapman (Alex Dowding) arrives at Les Arbres to be met by a group of missionaries. He knows David sent them a shipment but doesn’t know the details. The missionaries open the truck to find a shipment of guns, cash, detonators, and passports. They start taking the car apart where more items are stored. Back in the present, Chapman says “cold bodies.” Lamb insists one of them was Robert Winters. Chapman claims they exchanged the goods for a girl. In a flashback, the girl is hesitant to leave. She slaps young Frank Harkness (Jack Staddon) across the face before climbing into Chapman’s car. Chapman sees women working and kids playing. Back in the present, Chapman denies learning anything from the girl who fled when they stopped at a petrol station. He says David must have known she was going to flee. David was insistent on speaking to First Desk. Lamb doubts he is going to the Park. David is walking down a congested sidewalk.

Taverner watches Claude Whelan (James Callis) mingle with his team. Flyte reluctantly tells Taverner that Lamb knowingly identified the assassin as River who is still alive. Taverner recalls warning her to never trust Lamb which is why she checked the blood work. Flyte apologizes for not updating her on the case and explains how Lamb lied about David being with Standish. Taverner threatens to get rid of her if she goes behind her back again. Flyte suggests the Met protocol is the same as MI5. Taverner claims to like her and offers her a pen to write her resignation. Flyte receives a call from the old building. Elsewhere, Lamb, Chapman, and Standish are en route to the old building. Utilizing Lamb’s phone, Standish notifies Marcus, Louisa, and Shirley. Flyte asks the upscale hotel concierge (Eliot Giuralarocca) to keep David there. Louisa is on the phone with Standish when she sees Flyte heading toward the old building. Standish informs Lamb. Chapman shows no concern for her, only himself. At the Park, Taverner tells Whelan when David arrives she will debrief him. He demands she tell him about River. Agent Giti Rahman (Kiran Sonia Sawar) is working when they enter. He admits to authorizing a search of the Cold Body Program. Giti has located another cold body, Adam Lockhead. Standish assures them that Lockhead has nothing to do with what is going on at present. Whelan disagrees and shows her Lockhead’s passport renewal. She suggests River swapped passports with Lockhead. Giti says Lockhead arrived in France the day before the attempt on David’s life and returned to France the day after David went missing. Whelan points out that a cold body carried out the bombing and another one tried to kill David. Taverner orders Giti to make sure Lockhead’s passport gets to Interpol and DGSE. Whelan refuses to let Taverner debrief David and insists their ID programs be audited and released to the public. She warns him against getting the management consultants involved. Giti informs them that Lockhead is returning to London.

Aboard a train, River tosses his jacket in a restroom waste bin. Flyte receives a call from Taverner asking her to send a car to St. Pancras to pick up River who is due to arrive soon. River puts on another jacket and looks at a photo of the Les Arbres mural. Lamb sends Chapman and Standish to retrieve David. The Dogs arrive as they enter the old building. Standish waits to create a distraction while Chapman tries to convince David to leave with him. As Old Dog (Nick Moss) and Young Dog (Robbie O’Neill) enter the hotel, Standish sets off the fire alarm. Chapman is still trying to convince David to leave with him. The concierge points to where David was sitting to find the seat empty. Chapman helps David into the stolen taxi. Lamb says he is responsible for what happened in France. Chapman argues that David has a clean record while he was kicked out of MI5. He goes to retrieve his Flight Fund.

Flyte arrives at the train station as the train is arriving. Having a drink nearby, Harkness watches the Dogs race toward the train. River emerges from the train and spots them approaching. Tattoo Dog (Joshua Lacey) searches the train. River walking down an isolated hallway. Within minutes Flyte, Tattoo Dog, and Beard Dog (Leroy Kincaide) spot him. A pursuit ensues and ends when River boards a train. They can only watch it pull away. Flyte suggests he is going home. Harkness updates Patrice on the situation at the train station. He tells him to access the system to see what they know and not to kill Chapman until he gives up David’s location. Elsewhere, Chapman checks live security camera at his place. From the roof, Patrice sees him walking toward the building. Once inside, Chapman has a drink, checks his gun, and stuffs his flight money into a bag when he hears a noise. Cocking his gun, he looks out the window. On the balcony, Patrice smashes a metal pipe into the window, hitting Chapman. He climbs through the window, kicks Chapman’s gun out of his reach, and kicks him in the face. Chapman tries to hit him with his baton. Patrice grabs the baton and repeatedly hits him. Chapman offers to disappear but Patrice insists on killing him. He demands to know where David is at. Chapman spits in his face. Patrice beats him until all goes quiet.

River arrives at David’s house. Utilizing a spare key, he enters and spots a cop outside as he ascends the stairs. He removes three sketches from a box and compares them to the Les Arbres mural. One sketch has a similar fish. He sees Flyte pull up outside. Armed, the Dogs search the house to find it empty. Believing the Dogs are gone, River emerges from the attic to come face-to-face with Flyte. The episode ends.

 

Slow Horses Review

The episode did little to progress the story forward. It was more or less a game of cat and mouse for the Park, Slough House, and Les Arbres. Whelan and Giti discover another active cold body, Adam Lockhead whom David killed. Diana and Whelan believe River is traveling with Lockhead’s passport.

Chapman and Standish find David before Flyte. Tahir threatens to kill Harkness after his failed Westacres. He hired Harkness to detonate a bomb in the Westacres parking lot to take out a target. Instead, it kills multiple people and the target is still alive. The episode deserves a 5.8 out of 10.

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