There are series that are much more than they seem. HBO Max’s disastrous “Perry Mason,” a sort of remake of the ’60s classic, is a good example. “The Patient,” from Disney+, another clear example. Or even “The Devil’s Hour”, which recently launched its second season on Prime Video. But we have the most striking example on Apple TV+: “Slow Horses” is a barely-there gem. promoted inside and outside its catalog. And it is still among the 3 most watched in USA.
“Slow Horses” is much better than it suggests
This series is capable of delivering some of the most hilarious and tense moments in television today – and even more so now, when it comes to a thriller. There is of course no shortage of sources: “Slow Horses” is part of “Jackson Lamb”, the saga of novels written by CWA Gold Dagger award winner Mick Herron. And Jackson is none other than an old glory of tactical espionage that has fallen into ruin.
So far, so good. That is, until a fake far-right terrorist group kidnapped a young Muslim man and executed him live. False because it is in reality a false flag movement by MI5 aimed at silencing the voices of certain conservative media. It was at this point that Jackson and his group became the object of unwanted attention. But this is only an initial premise.
Better yet, that kind of fallen James Bond is Gary Oldman. Yes, the same one who shines in “Dracula” or “The Mole” by Coppola, the eternal Sirius Black in the Harry Potter saga and Agent James Gordon in the Batman saga created by Christopher Nolan. Oldman loads every scene with nuance, sarcasm, idiocy and emotional depth.in a performance somewhat reminiscent of John Turturro in the award-winning film “The Night Of”. An idiotic, lazy guy, with questionable hygiene but imposed leadership.
And the cast, moreover, grows with each season. The fact that Apple TV+ decided to continue banking on it led me to consider watching it: you don’t buy six seasons if no one watches your production. Because yes, Apple didn’t even wait and confirmed that it would adapt the next two volumes of a sixth season of six episodes which will arrive in 2026, we assume. He will adapt the sixth and seventh novels in Mick Herron’s “Jackson Lamb” literary series, entitled “The Land of Spies” and “La Ciénaga” respectively.
A humanist series like few others
In the absence of the return of Ted Lasso, this is one of those rare series where you have to keep hope. AND I wish I had fallen into this dark web sooner, just when the genre is in its lowest hours.. In its own way, ‘Slow Horses’ connects personalities and dense situations that evoke productions like ‘Three Days of the Condor’ (Sydney Pollack but in a much more current perspective).
It is amazing how skillfully and organically the emotional manipulation of the audience is brought to the fore. Or the time devoted to the personal and family situations of each character, the play of lies and half-truths of the media and the stage power of directors like James Hawes, experienced in “Black Mirror” and other British productions. Fart jokes and humanist studies in the same scene.
There is more. The attacks on the secret service and British life in general unfold with aisles of French fleece and with an enviable cast: the Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomasthe BAFTA winner Jack LowdenSaskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Sophie Okonedo, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Kadiff Kirwan, plus guest stars like Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce, who are already a regular feature on the series .
For his part, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù —a regular on “Gangs of London,” co-star of the brutal “Casa Ajena”—joined the cast of the third season in the role of Sean Donovan. The series is said to be at its most improbable moment, with Jack Lowden (who plays River Cartwright) transformed into a double criminal. However, it works. Everything works better than ever. And the action is at a fever pitch, with additions like Hugo Weaving.
Winner of the Best Drama Series award at the C21 International Awards in 2022, “Slow Horses” floats above “La Ciénaga,” the landfill where Jackson Lamb’s team works, and shines like few others. Yeah, I can’t wait to see the fifth and sixth seasons..
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