SERIES REVIEW – Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and the cast return as disgraced MI5 agents in the Apple TV+ spy thriller and black comedy series Slough House. Oldman is funnier, more cynical and wittier than ever, while his men are not always on top of their game (and that’s putting it mildly – but it’s their sinister nature that makes us love them!), and the action, emotional charge and betrayals are – as in season two – twice as strong as in the previous season.

The Slow Horses burst back into the already high-quality Apple TV+ line-up last November with a new season that picks up where the first season left off, with a thrilling, poignant and cruel ending that doesn’t stop at thrills and black humor. While the first season at times seemed unsure of what it wanted to be, the second season ups the ante – as well as the action and drama.

The perennial underdogs who somehow make it big

Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and co return as disgraced MI5 agents at Slough House, a dumping ground for British intelligence officers who have made more than a few potentially career-threatening mistakes. In the previous season, we met Oldman’s Jackson Lamb, the leader of a motley crew of would-be spies, and Lowden’s River Cartwright, who began his spy career by botching a training exercise.

The Slough House team also includes ex-alcoholic Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves), Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar) and Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns), who have been romantically linked since season one, and tech genius Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung), who all get a bigger storyline and a lot more to do this season. Aimee-Ffion Edwards joins the team as Shirley Dander, who is also tech-savvy and a general badass, and Kadiff Kirwan’s Marcusa joins the Slough House Season 2 team.

While the main plot of the first season revolved around the abduction of a young Muslim man, the stakes of the second season are much higher, both for the “Slow Horses” (the original title of the series in English) and for Britain as a whole. At the start of things, a former MI5 agent, Dickie Bow (Phil Davis), is found dead on a bus, and it’s clear to Lamb from the start that it’s not a simple heart attack, as the police claim. The season then dives deep into the sleuthing of sleeping Russian agents, Cold War secrets and a possible terrorist plot, the purpose of which would be a spoiler to give away but could cause some pretty serious tragedies…

Here, the pace never slows down for a moment

The second season doesn’t let off the gas in any of the six episodes, and you’re left guessing who’s involved in what and who might live or die. The Slough House agents may be real ‘losers’ (as we hear in every episode of Mick Jagger’s stunningly hit and catchy theme song ‘Strange Game’), but it becomes clear early on that their job is as dangerous – perhaps even more dangerous – than that of the top MI5 agents in ‘Park’. By the time we get to Episode 3, “The Drinking Game”, we’re fully invested in all the Slough House agents, including newcomers Shirley and Marcus. So, when things take a sharp turn, the catastrophic events are devastating.

Louisa and Min and their relationship play a huge part in the second season as they work on an assignment outside of Slough House to get them reinstated in the Park. Seeing the two of them come to the fore is rewarding and gives the team much more depth. Standish also gets a chance to shine, and clearly doesn’t get enough credit for his work as an agent. Last season he seemed to be limited to office work and keeping everyone in line. In the second season, he’s coming into his own and working for the good of the team as a whole.

River is still fighting to prove herself

River, of course, alongside the other protagonist, Oldman’s Lamb, and still at the centre of it all, finally gets the chance to prove himself to MI5 – and perhaps more importantly to him than he would like to admit, Lamb. River goes into full spy mode this season, assuming a new identity and working undercover. Will he screw up this time, as he did in the infamous training exercise that kicked off the first season? It will be fun to watch and find out.

River’s problem is probably that he’s too focused and too determined to prove to everyone around him that he can live up to the legacy of his grandfather, legendary MI5 agent David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) – and sometimes River’s greatest quality, his ambition, blinds him to what’s right in front of him.

Gary Oldman at the top of his game

Oldman, of course, proves once again why he is one of the best actors in the world, as Lamb, the clever, cynical, perpetually blasé and irresistibly witty leader of the House of Slough. You can practically smell his pungent stench, even through the screen, as he constantly torments those around him. After all, as MI5’s second-in-command Diana Taverner (the ever-powerful Kristin Scott Thomas) points out, he has some questionable personal hygiene practices, or lack thereof. But there is little doubt that she knows her stuff, even if she is exiled to Slough House. Oldman is given even more opportunities in season two to brilliantly embody Lamb, perhaps with more jokes than in season one, even more quips, and even more insight into the legend he once was.

This time Lamb also meets his nemesis Nikolai Katinsky (Rade Serbedzija), a once legendary KGB agent, and the dynamics of the two of them playing off each other are among the true highlights of the series. They’re brilliant master spies, but they’re both losers in a way…

Countdowns, thrills, murders and dark humor at the top

The team in “Slow Horses” is even less spared than in the first part: there will be ruthless showdowns and assassinations, Russian agents who are above suspicion yet often life-threateningly asleep or very much active, and a fearsome, ruthless Russian assassin. For these and many other exciting, humorous, stylish moments, Slow Horses is one of the best series of last year – with the second season is now in a tie with this year’s Better Call Saul.

This time, all the characters on the team get a chance to shine, you’re guaranteed to love them all – with their own stupidities – and you’re never sure whether they’ll make it out alive or not. Each plot thread works seamlessly together to create a gripping, overarching story arc that’s guaranteed to get your pulse racing. Since the series has been renewed for a third and fourth season, it’s exciting to think that this series could get better and better over time, given how much the second season upped the ante.

“It’s a strange, strange game…”

Look no further than Slow Horses if you’re looking for a professional spy thriller with plenty of dark humor and intrigue. It’s at once irresistibly witty, gripping, and captivating. Season two takes everything that worked well in season one and expands it exponentially. I’m already on pins and needles for the next season!

-BadSector-