Critic’s Rating: 5 / 5.0
5
Oh. My. God. Has your pulse slowed down yet? Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 5 just hit us with the most nerve-wracking, heart-pounding hour of the entire season — maybe even the entire series.
If you weren’t on the edge of your seat, screaming at the screen, you weren’t paying attention.
Holy hell. Holy hell. Holy hell.
Whelan’s dirty little secret. Harkness and his ruthless mindgames. Flyte versus the Terminator. Lamb versus David. And Ho versus a bot?
Yeah, there was a bit of humor packed into this relentless hour, but make no mistake — this was Slow Horses at its most intense. And yes, once again, River found himself in trouble!
Let’s catch our breath and break down the madness.
No One Will Miss You, Molly
Within minutes of “Grave Danger,” the tone was set, and it escalated the moment Molly opened the door to reveal Frank Harkness.
How the hell she made it out alive, I have no idea — I was practically dying just watching their scenes together.
Harkness is one crazy SOB, and we didn’t need David to tell us that. Molly isn’t stupid, but seeing her cave to Harkness’ demands so quickly was disappointing.
Sure, she’s not an agent, but given how tough and mean she is with anyone visiting her archives, you’d think she would’ve held out a little longer before giving him the access he wanted.
That’s precisely why Harkness didn’t kill her — he wanted to send a message; one of which was to show MI5 just how weak they are, not only in their personnel but in their entire security system.
Molly should feel embarrassed because, in the end, she gave River up to save herself. Granted, she’s not an agent and doesn’t follow a code, but she should’ve shown more backbone.
Now, she will either quit or be fired because she won’t live down the humiliation of being a hard-ass in the office, folding when it really mattered, and putting real agents at risk — like River.
Still, her ordeal was intense as hell and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. She kept a brave face throughout and didn’t cry or break down, so she deserves some credit for that.
At first, I thought maybe she’d give Harkness access in a way that would alert The Park, but unless there’s something we haven’t seen yet, that didn’t happen.
I can see her leaving the agency and Moira stepping into that role. Moira would be an invaluable asset to Slough House.
Molly will have much explaining to do when she delivers all those letters Harkness left behind. The only name I recognized was Claude Whelan, the guy with the dirty little secret.
But I imagine the letters are for heads of other agencies, either to expose David or as blackmail to start a new Harkess Terminator program — aka a deniable assassination squad if you want to get technical about it.
Whelan’s Dirty Little Secret
Whelan was another surprise, especially with how quickly he shifted his stance on accountability and transparency. Considering the huge skeleton in his closet, it’s ironic that he’s the first to demand the curtains be pulled back.
I’m sure the news media and the public would find Whelan’s affinity for prostitutes a hell of a lot juicier than Cold War bodies. Not that those aren’t important or uninteresting, but Whelan’s dirty little secret is way more salacious.
Had Whelan not screwed up by bringing Giti into the fold to try and outmaneuver Diana, she might’ve found herself at First Desk by now.
She could have forced Whelan to resign, and it would have been so much fun to watch her play him. She still might, but she’s got a big mess to clean up first, and there is no time to play the long game with that information.
You have to wonder, though, if Whelan’s hiding even more secrets, especially after his comment about putting Giti in a concrete box. Those were odd words, whether he meant them or not.
It also makes you wonder if there are other agents in Slough House who were placed there by higher-ups to protect other dirty secrets, just like Whelan did with Moira.
Diana certainly has a lot to untangle, and I can see her finally getting the position she desperately wants.
And when she shows Whelan, Giti, and Molly the door, she might want to leave it open just a little longer — for Flyte.
Don’t Let the Door Hit You in the Ass
If anyone can explain how Flyte became a Dog, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee. Sure, she’s smart, and she’s got a sharp tongue, but as an agent? Forget it.
Even if she hadn’t been up against the Terminator, she still wouldn’t have been able to think on her feet. Everything she did when he showed up was a disaster — spy failure at its worst. And we’ve all seen River in action, right?
Flyte’s got her head so far up her own ass she can’t see the forest for the trees.
I get that she didn’t want to give River the chance to escape, but after Patrice — who the hell names their Terminator that?! — blew away her two agents; why didn’t she uncuff him?
If she had, maybe she wouldn’t have been knocked out. But no, she wanted to be the “by the book” agent, and because of that, she got two agents killed and almost got River killed, too.
She’s lucky he was there, handcuffed to the door and all, or she’d probably be dead.
Whatever smarts she had vanished the moment things went south, proving that following the rules doesn’t always cut it when you’re a spy.
It was almost laughable when she told River she left the Met to escape incompetence and corruption, only to find it worse at MI5.
How do you think she’ll feel when she finds out the guy who hired her has his own dirty little secret?
But that’s not her only issue. Flyte’s unhappy because she can’t win — she thinks everyone should play by the same rules, but that’s not how things work. And I guarantee she didn’t see the Terminator coming.
I don’t expect Flyte to stick around much longer, and honestly, good riddance if she doesn’t. (Do you think Taverner knew she wasn’t cut out for this job?)
As for the Terminator, he’s a cold, calculating killing machine, exactly what Harkness trained his men to be. He’s clearly terrified of his boss and follows orders without question, but I wonder why he didn’t kill River.
My guess is Harkness wants River for his new Terminator program — that’s why he’s still alive. I did catch a flicker of humanity on Patrice’s face before he took River to the car, though. Maybe he’s planning to save River from the same fate?
David made a mess of everything, trying to save his daughter. He went rogue with Harkness and dragged poor Chapman into it.
It’s understandable, but he was blinded by emotion and didn’t see the bigger picture. No wonder Lamb can’t stand him.
Lamb was brutal when he interrogated David, but he had to get answers — that’s what a good agent does. Maybe Flyte could learn a thing or two from him, especially if she wants to be a real Dog.
On a lighter note, Ho might want to dial back the bravado because the look on his face when Coe told him the girl he was talking to was a bot was priceless.
But credit where it’s due — if it weren’t for Ho, we wouldn’t have found out about Whelan!
So, what do you think, TV Fanatics? Is the Terminator going to deliver River to Harkness, or does he have other plans?
Will Flyte stick around or finally say goodbye? And what’s next for Whelan and Molly? With only one episode left this season, how do you think it’s going to end?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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