Slow Horses

[Prriorayingly]

Season four is about to hit our screens. If you haven’t watched it, I thoroughly recommend it. Gary Oldman is superb.

I watched the first three series a few times so I feel I know the Horses well.
I spent most of Series 4 scratching my head - what the hell is going?
Put the last episode on yesterday five minutes in and I paused the screen. No spoilers. But what a plot twist!
What followed was one of the most exciting hours of TV I have ever, ever seen.
Brilliant casting. They are wonderful but Jack Lowden won this series for me.

The bit I loved was Lamb bursting in to the office and whacking the guy with the bottle. Just a little glimpse of his face and it was so angry and focused, an insight into the old Lamb. It just showed what an incredible actor Gary Oldman is.

I wish Coe had got a bit more of his angst in because the twist at the end really hit me in the book knowing a little (although not much) of what he'd been through. I do feel it could have had at least one more episode t tease some of the stuff around Frank's motivations a bit more.

Also his conversation with Taverner about service payments, looking out for his team even if he thinks they're useless. And I think he does think they're useless, but they're his.

In case you've never seen it, I recommend watching Gary Oldman's Saturday Night Live sketch on basketball players trying to act!

I can see where you are coming from with this as this series seemed to be more about the action story whereas the delights of this show are the personalities and their quirks.

It’s actually from the Jimmy Kimmel show, but Actors Against Athletes Acting made me love Gary Oldman even more!

Oops! Oh well, they’re the same sort of thing 🤣

Yes, that's the kind of thing I missed in this season.

Hope this is accessible:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/2024/10/10/jack-lowden-slow-horses-season-finale/

I still have no idea what the point of it all was.

Omg was it Hugo weaving! I didn't spot that at all

I was thinking messianic because of his hold over the women at Les Arbres. Shades of Charles Manson now I think of it.

I wonder if I’m the only person who enjoys slow horses, but also has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on.

Jack Lowden for James Bond. Been saying it for years!

Dottie, are you me?! I'm exactly the same 😆

It felt liked it didn't really bottom out that the guy David Cartwright killed was River's half brother although it was obvious from episode 2 onwards. And was Patrice his half brother too? I thought there was a bit of a connection between him and the new head dog too which will hopefully develop. It feels a bit like a set up for next season, but still very good. And poor Marcus was hard done by after surviving the shoot out last series!

Ahhh! I've only just noticed the guy in the bath! 🤦‍♀️

I'm so overexcited when I watch it that I can't analyze the plot. 🙄

Why did they bomb the Westfield centre?

Loved it but a bit confused over the significance of the letters.

The guy who bombed the shopping centre was one of Frank's sons gone rogue.

And what was it Molly had to tell Lamb? Did we find out what she said?

Yes, I know what you mean (and therefore I suppose what the show was going for), but I didn't FEEL it; didn't feel that he had a hold over them, didn't feel that he had that weirdo messianic vision...
Maybe he was a bit miscast, or not brilliantly written. Or maybe I just don't pay attention properly

I think it was because that central aspect of the story was too compressed in this adaptation. As was David Cartwright’s enforced collusion in it.

The novel had endless detail that I found somewhat tedious - but without it the narrative loses meaning. It’s a bit of a far fetched story anyway - but David’s memories of what he felt at the time, and the number of people who must have died as a consequence of Harkness’s activities, his daughter’s subsequent disdain, and the strain of keeping his grandson safe - that’s what we’re supposed to understand is in his head, muddled up with whatever else, by the end of this series. But we can’t really because the show doesn’t give us enough to extrapolate from.

Ah, I see. I didn't really get any of that. I did have a sense while watching that there was a lot missing/being skimmed over.