Slow Horses

I put off watching this because while I thought it might be interesting in a half novel way to see Oldman muck about as the anti-Smiley I also thought it was likely to be shite

Now I'm sure some of you have seen it and do indeed consider it shite but I otoh have been very pleasantly surprised at how much much I'm having. It is that rare beast that seems to be smart about cliffhanger plot twists and just manages to keep you on the edge of "oh this is ridiculous" but paying off and dragging you back in.

and scott-thomas is all time foxy in it

I really like the show. Have watched both seasons.

much much!

Saw like 2 episodes cos my mum told me to. Thought it was quite good? Don't watch TV much so didn't see any more. Great contribution imago

I like it a lot. Gary Oldman is ridiculously watchable.

Literally started watching it a couple of weeks ago and have now almost finished the second season. Think the third one is out imminently.

Had always thought it was a comedy for some reason, and whilst it does have chuckles, it gets pretty intense at times and is definitely more drama than dramedy.

Oldman obviously having a blast and some of the support great too. It's also not afraid to jettison cast members, which was kind of surprising given how Slough House is a fairly small team to start with

i like how bad of a spy our pretty boy is

^yes it's a simple idea but highly effective

Third one's out end of this month.

It's like a really high-end BBC One Sunday night drama. Obviously I love it, but the surprise for me is that the husband also loves it, despite the fact that he never watches BBC One Sunday night dramas, no, not even Line of Duty.

i think the tone is a lot more fun and flash than that tbh

say to compare it to that submarine one- dreaful, overplotted, heavy THEME THEME THEME overwrought waste of all talent involved

this would undercut almost every large theme moment with a beat such as the duran duran looking spy constantly turning in the wrong direction or Oldman uttering a hoarse delboy faaarkawwf

the ending was underwhelming (our standish/partner/oldman reveal) and i cant for the life of me figure out even in the internal show logic how taverner is allowed remain in situ other than being blinded by her wardrobe but all in all that's not an awful tally in the 'against' column

haven't watched the show but i've been mainlining the books recently, they are very fun and well-written. however, the show seems to be going directly from the books (s1 is book 1, s2 is book 2, etc) so it might be hard to enjoy the books if you've already seen the show.

i enjoyed the slow reveal that gary oldman's v amusing disgusting savagery is both the unsurprising cover for a sensitive heart but also a rather more surprising reaction to having done something truly appalling in the line of duty

Deems would I like this

The submarine one - Vigil - had one great line, and only that:

https://i.imgur.com/SiDlcHX.jpeg

We greatly enjoyed Vigil in our house. Husband watched about ten minutes of it over the back of the sofa, when someone was saying to Suranne Jones "how are you in confined spaces?" and husband gasped and said, "Oh no, my husband was killed by a confined space!" which, well. It was very that.

This is obviously not that, but it does remind me of that other one where Ron Perlman messes about with cameras.

there are levels on which one can enjoy terribly lazy nonsense and look, suranne jones is great and i like endeavour too but all in all that moneybwas better spent on irrigation

gyac- yeah i think so its lively and snappy

I read the first book this year, owing to my desire to stretch out any genre fiction series as long as possible I probably won’t read the second one until the new year

i've only watched season 1 but this show exceeded my expectations. it bears superficial resemblance to other slightly more subdued espionage/police thrillers in some ways, along with itself involving slightly more subdued clock-racing and homegrown terrorism vs the more histrionic 24, but it really is its own thing. it somehow manages to never lose its humor even in the midst of all the catastrophic events and mistakes of the lead characters, even while engaging in some absolutely pitch-black twists at the very end of the season. the right-wing reporter being unceremoniously taken care of was maybe a bit unbelievable, as it seemed like a very public bit of problem-handling, but I'm curious to see where it goes from there. absolutely hateful character, so well-played. Featuring an extremely likable and blatantly flawed crew of heroes, per the concept, plus an appropriately repulsive and "gray hat" performance from Oldman. Kristin Scott Thomas could probably play the icy agency goon role in her sleep, she's vv good. bonus lols from the Coldplay CD being stuck in the car.

the journalist was a brilliant performance, yes. i think its rare to so unshowily but perfectly nail that kind of odious personality, he made me itch with every expression/word

i should remember his name but the guy who ends up romancing is equally good in a role that on paper is just light relief but he absolutely makes it so much better

unlike jamie from the thick of it who is i think the only below par performance

3rd series is good … the first 10 minutes or so is a bit worrying - teasing that it’s become a generic spy thriller - but all is fine.

And Vigil is back with series 2 today, minus submarine. We are thoroughly spoiled.

Enjoying the new season so far

Just starting this show, about 3 episodes in. Really enjoyable. Will wait to read thread until I am at least through season 2.

New season is so good. Jackson Lamb has gone to a whole new level of Jackson Lamb-ness.

season 2 finale incoming

took a break because of frustration at how awful a spy ginger fella is

i know hes meant to be i know thats the joke but

honestly

lol this show repays these little irritations tenfold ofc

Just finished s3 -- for some reason I thought I had one more ep to go, so during the climax I was like "How can they possibly ratchet up the intensity even further???" & then it just ended lol. Fun show, I'll keep watching as long as they want to keep making it.

I do wonder if they will eventually run out of obnoxious supporting characters from previous seasons to bring back for heel turns and nasty on-screen deaths

That final episode...nothing interesting happened? All the big plot points landed in episode 5 (except the Standish/Lamb conversation), this was mostly just a bunch of people shooting at each other. Maybe I'm looking for the wrong show.

As a show, it’s very good at managing changes of mood and tension within an individual episode.

otm

i trust it fully at this stage, especially when i know its fucking with me

xxp the baddies get their comeuppance, surely that counts for summat?

sophie okonedo as devalera now pls

Fun show, I'll keep watching as long as they want to keep making it.

^OTM

watched through to the end and fully agree it was a poor wrap up with the time and focus on all the wrong things

but the best season overall

The "next season" previews make it look like it's already shot?
There weren't any scenes hinting at it but here's hoping Oldman finally has to team up Buddy Comedy-style with an increasingly Alzheimer's addled Pryce.
Also Oldman's slobby surliness makes me wish he'd also played Johnny Rotten in Sid & Nancy.

Yeah, friend of mine saw them shooting some Christmassy stuff earlier in the year but that's clearly season 4 which they must have recorded at the same time as this one.

yes its reported as back to back filming

I think it was only this season that I realised what a silly show this is (and that's ok).

and scott-thomas is all time foxy in it

oh just wait

If it turns out they’re ex lovers i might die of happiness

Who’s the LOTR fan that came up with Elessar Intelligence Services

probably Douglas

hilarious how lamb is always two steps ahead of the other horses

A bit less enthused about s2 which feels very patchy and which was all over the place. Dmac was like, it’s part of its charm but idk, when your man the silent assassin doesn’t notice a whole phone slipped into his jacket pocket I was kind of out on it?

HOWEVER

the final scene is shot at St Michael’s Cornhill, one of my favourite churches I’ve ever been to, I have always wondered why it hasn’t featured in film more because that door is so distinctive and the blue is so beautiful.

Also how did your man go from Nigel Farage cutout except actually elected to Home Secretary, I must have missed the exposition on that

we could ask the same of many irl cabinet members tbf!

agree S2 is weak at points

S3 is the best imo so

There weren't any scenes hinting at it but here's hoping Oldman finally has to team up Buddy Comedy-style with an increasingly Alzheimer's addled Pryce

ive not read the books but ive had an idea or two about pryce since early in season 1 tbh and im getting more certain all the time

I was in the wine shop the other day that standish visits - the person on the till hadn't seen the series

Bottle Apostle, right? But which one?

Haha a friend of my wife's lives near the Slow Horses HQ (Barbican).

E9

My uncle lived in Great Arthur House, the yellow and while council flats opposite Barbican station - it's funny seeing it appear all the time in closeup, as if it's a different location every time, not right outside the Slough House office. Then they use the distant shots of the building when the Horses commute into the office.

Well that was intense

Also ;_;

We're late to the party having only just finished S2. Verdict: A bit confusing in places with all the Russian double-bluffers but also thoroughly entertaining!

xpost ;_; ;_;

I feel that this show has broken an implied contract and expect to be compensated justly

in other words ;_;

otm

Feel like we shd close the thread & head down the pub

live by the push knife die by the push knife

That was one of my favorite episodes of the whole show

Yeah it was p great!

"less jokes, more tension" seems like a good adaptation of the formula

also i've never seen camden town look like bladerunner before

I absolutely loved how this week's episode was a tour of crappy carparks and rubbish food courts. It was so seedy.

also i've never seen camden town look like bladerunner before

Did make me raise an eyebrow when the dad started his "look at us now" speech, claiming they were in some sort of shithole backwater. Camden can be hellish but it is pretty central!

Unless he was claiming this for the UK in general in which case fair enough.

I absolutely loved how this week's episode was a tour of crappy carparks and rubbish food courts. It was so seedy.

OTM

Did make me raise an eyebrow when the dad started his "look at us now" speech, claiming they were in some sort of shithole backwater.

I guessed they meant it in contrast with the restaurants/clubs where Taverner meets people.

Now that I think about it a bit more, they are obviously playing up the difference between the life you lead when you're First Desk: lovely holiday home, fabulous townhouse, fancy restaurants, etc, vs the life you lead when you've been shunted out of Slough House: living and dying in a shipping container or a shitty flat.

I love that this season all three story lines are taking place outside of Slough House - no one is stuck in the office behind a computer or rifling through files, or just sitting around farting. Everyone is on the move and even Jackson is acting like there are real stakes.

A couple things that don't add up for me.

So now we're meant to think that Sid did actually go to Kazan to do the hit, but then how to the GRU get her real name (assuming that it indeed is her real name)? I have a hard time thinking she went on the job using her name. If it wasn't actually Sid and that they used her identity (River's assumption), WTF would they do that? Was Taverner seeing her up (unlikely given the apparent anguish in agreeing to give her over)?

For someone who made it into middle age as a spy, Frank going back to mediabro seemed like such a dumb idea. He knew that Lamb is close by and could easily tail him back to his client... unless that's what he wanted to happen?

I'm not sure if these are plot holes or if they're pointing to larger plans, which is always hard to tell with spy media. That said it's still a great episode.

Great season so far. Love the cat & mouse games between the assassins and the horses. The show must be trying to echo The Americans with the pair of assassins. The guy even looks a bit like Philip.

Classic to see River brooding alone while shit goes down with Coe and Sid. And River being too late to help :(

Pair of assassins isn’t exclusive to The Americans though. Boris & Natasha erasure!

great episode, ;_; obviously

there's a lot going on that feels "off", which is great. i'm trying to figure out how those assassins keep locating them wherever they go, they're barely bothered when they get away, they just show up at their next location. interesting that consistently, they're not going where River goes, they go where Sid goes...

i mean that's not a spoiler really, but it's more about how they're one step ahead on this particular wing of their pursuit that is interesting. unless they're just really, really good at their job.

distracting that the russian assassins keep taking pot shots from some distance and missing e.g. coe in the car, river and sid on the payphone in quick succession. although they bungled the moira hit too, perhaps they are supposed to be a bit inept despite their demeanour.

Yeah they’re not that good. And Diana’s behaviour is getting sillier with each episode !

Sid’s description of River’s attitude was also spot on

I've read the first, but not the second of the books this series is based on. They've diverged a lot from the first book. They also did the dirty on Coe because in the book he dies but kills his knife fight opponent as well

Are they going to leave out the chylde pron on laptop guy, or saving him for next series?

Thanks for sharing Coe's TRUE ending BB

what was distracting about the russian assassins was them dissing british food, which i assure you nobody who grew up in soviet / post soviet russia would do, that was just silly. and there were sausage rolls in soviet russia.

Sid’s description of River’s attitude was also spot on

that's what was missing from the last couple of seasons: somebody like Sid or Louisa clearly explaining to River the various ways he fucks things up

Well that was a bit thrilling

Temporary thread derail: I recently watched Antonioni's L'Avventura for the first time ever, and wondered why Gabriele Ferzetti's main character Sandro annoyed me so much the entire time (apart from being a kind of arseholish non-character with exactly one facial expression), and now I got it: he looked and acted just like Claude Whelan! Or, y'know, maybe vice versa.

It’s feeling a slightly different show in S6: I’m missing the abrupt shifts of tone and grim humour….Can’t believe it’s the season finale next week.

Just smashed theough S3. Easily my favourite so far

xpost I don’t mind the change, it keeps it from feeling like it’s retreading old ground etc - but it’s not so abrupt as to be jarring. For me, anyway!

People upthread keep mentioning a "ginger" guy. Struggling to think who that is?

To me this season feels miles better than the last couple (that felt a bit rushed/flabby/coasting)

Love the direction & cinematography, music is fantastic, dialogue feels miles better too

msybe they have squandered hugo weaving a bit? he has gone from apex protagonist to numpty

I think he’s much more interesting as a numpty!

Last three episodes have been some of the most enjoyable TV in ages. I don’t miss the humour when it’s so good at SUSPENSE.

Also: Hampstead Waterstones! I got all my teenage haircuts on the street outside the ballet venue.

I'm a bit bothered by Taverner being so uncommanding this season. But otherwise it's good.

Another banger, and finally some of the dangling threads are starting to come together.

Also just realized that Cantor is played by Viserys aka Daenerys's brother on GOT. Hoping for a Momoa cameo next.

Oh and River's line about the light was heartbreaking.

lol I've been to Butlins. Definitely the weirdest place I've seen Autechre

Sid and River sitting and having a nice lakeside chat completely unbothered by Coe's death

I don't think Sid knows about Coe, does she? So it's more "River not telling Sid that he found Coe dead"

things moving along nicely this season, even tho i only understand half of the plot intricacies
why use Sid's name for the hit job in Kazan, why not some random fake name or really dead agent? Why kill all the retired SLow Horses just to get Sid? and then why not kill Sid directly on the parking lot? I'm feeling a bit dumb

Baader: Diana explained that the real person who did the hit is someone she isn't willing to lose, so using Sid's identity was used so if the Russians got the name, Diana could feed her to them to preserve her more valuable asset. That way, they think they get the assassin and stop investigating any further. Diana erased Sid from their records to sell the fiction more, though now I don't remember why the rest of the Slow Horses get erased too. Then the Dog who got murdered stole the hard copy of the Slow Horse roster which made the Russians think everyone on the list was part of the hit.

I'm sure you're all right about the decrease in comedy but I dunno I still find myself chuckling frequently at the infighting and the unique ways shit gets fucked up.

i think - when it wants to be - the dialogue is much funnier this season