The odious Home Secretary continues with his own political aspirations to privatise elements of the British secret service – and sets in motion a series of events that threaten the security of the country along with rekindling internal animosities within the service itself.
The death of a British operative in Istanbul a few years earlier is central to season three of the excellent Slow Horses. The slovenly Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) continues to berate his team of MI5 losers but the kidnapping of office manager Standish (Saskia Reeves) forces him into a degree of prior unseen action. Naturally, it involves ‘The Park’ and deputy head of the department Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) – only more prevalent this time round is the tension between Taverner and her boss, Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo). And then there’s River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), so tightly wound to claw his way out of Slough House that he’s an easy target to jump to false conclusions and risk everyone around him to save the day. He finds himself in direct confrontation with Head of Security, the bullyboy Duffy (Chris Reilly) and his team. Still smarting from season two, The Dogs get nasty.
It’s a pretty straight forward narrative of secret documents that cannot be allowed to come to light and various interests involved to find or destroy said secrets. With the archives now located in a bunker outside of London, it’s about who can get to them first – and find them among years of pre-digitised records.
As with season two, Slow Horses has settled into more ‘traditional’ spy storylines. Unlike that season, however, the engaging plotline is dominant. Whilst important, the relationships between the various colleagues become secondary. They are still beautifully crafted and more screen time given to the ‘losers’ such as a still-grieving Louise Guy (Rosalind Eleazer). And however results are achieved, it’s only too apparent that The Park still needs the Slough House team even if there’s a reluctance to admit to it. And that, of course, will lead its legions of fans into season four.
Rating: 79%
An Opinion or Two 