Summary
The secret agents try to find the hostage before it’s too late in another thrilling installment, full of quit-wit, espionage action, and shocking twists.
We recap the Apple TV+ series Slow Horses season 1, episode 2, “Work Drinks,” which contains spoilers.
Slow Horses season 1, episode 2 recap
The adrenaline-fuelled premiere delivered many twists and turns, ending in hooded crooks capturing a seemingly insignificant student. Episode two opens with this hostage given one day to live before a live beheading. “Work Drinks” instantly offers real stakes and a time-sensitive countdown that adds intensity to the series, making for a riveting watch. As MI5 attempt to pinpoint the hostage’s location and save the student, the ‘Slow Horses’ at Slough House do their own digging.
In a captivating performance, Jack Lowden leads as River, a determined everyman desperate to prove himself. Once again, he skips work to do some genuine investigating of his own. His pestering approach and dogged persistence ends in no further information, so he decides to stalk the fascist journalist, Robert Hobden, instead. As they walk the back streets of London, it has a real Sherlock vibe to it. Director James Hawes (Black Mirror) brings a unique British feel to the thriller, something sorely lacking from other Apple TV+ shows.
With the shamed spy gone rogue, initiating his own private investigation, Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) has England’s finest trying to solve the case too. All they have discovered so far though, is that the brickwork in the background of the hostage video indicates they’re located in London. The Slough House employees helplessly watch as the news just repeats the same old footage. Even the plucky, high-spirited Sid seems helpless to the student’s fate.
The ending
Meanwhile, Jackson Lamb taunts his workers, whilst sat at his desk, feet resting on the table, toes poking through his socks. He appears to be just lazing around, smoking cigarettes, and downing whisky shots, but the disgraced spy has got to be devising some ingenious plan in secret. Don’t underestimate this potty-mouthed, wisecracking drunk.
As the episode builds, tensions rise, will they solve the case in time, will the hostage escape? Episode two delivers greater twists and more explosive action sequences than its predecessor. There’s that sarcastic banter fresh from the premiere as well, with Oldman delivering some hilarious one-liners in addition to the continued quick wit of Sid. It’s another excellent script as the large ensemble tries to crack the case before the hostage is killed.
What did you think of Slow Horses season 1, episode 2? Comment below.
