Summary
The explosive – in more ways than one – premiere of Slow Horses Season 4 sets up a couple of new mysteries that are sure to be linked, but the characters and the writing remain the clear highlights as ever.
River Cartwright is dead. Not really, of course, but the premiere of Slow Horses Season 4 would you like you to believe so, at least for a while. Episode 1, “Identity Theft”, keeps River sidelined for the majority while Jackson Lamb and the rest of Slough House process his apparent demise, which may or may not – though obviously will – be linked to a terrorist attack on London’s (fictional) Westacres Shopping Centre.
London’s Burning
The attack, or at least its fallout, kicks off “Identity Theft”. It’s framed mostly from the perspective of Roddy Ho, who is waiting in a fried chicken shop for a supposed Slough House holiday party. Problem one is that Lamb would never arrange such a thing. Problem two is that even if he did, it wouldn’t be in Chickadoo (also fictional).
Problem three is that while Roddy is leaving with his leftovers, there’s a giant explosion behind him which he initially doesn’t hear because he’s listening to Montell Jordan’s “This is How We Do It” on his headphones. But the screaming and sprinting of passersby eventually gives it away.
The cause of the explosion is a car bomb driven right into Westacres. Intelligence – though as is typical of Slow Horses, the word is doing a lot of heavy lifting – suggests the driver was 28-year-old freelance IT consultant Robert Winters, who doesn’t seem the type.
The new First Desk, Claude Whelan, arrives on the scene with Diana Taverner, who is still functionally the head of MI5 after the events of Season 3, even if she’s not officially in charge. In fact, the new Director General seems keen to have her do his job for him at every opportunity.
David Cartwright Shoots And Kills River – But Not Really
The first – and last, until the end of the episode – we see of River, he’s having a drink with Louisa and telling her that his grandfather, MI5 legend David Cartwright, is losing it. He seems to have a very rapidly progressing form of dementia, which is worrying for someone with a head full of so many secrets.
He also struggles to recognize River sometimes, which is the detail that allows us to buy into the idea that he may have splattered his grandson all over the bathroom with a shotgun. After Louisa advises River to visit, he presumably does just that, though the fact we don’t see who actually turns up at David’s place gives the late twist away immediately.
David is indeed struggling. He’s becoming paranoid. He invites “River” in without being sure who he is, and follows him to the bathroom with a shotgun where he declares that the man isn’t his grandson and shoots him in the head.
Gone to the Dogs
The second clue that the body in the bathroom isn’t River’s is Jackson Lamb, who is called to the scene by Emma Flyte, the new Head of the Dogs, to identify the body. The corpse is possessed of River’s ID and wallet, and Lamb pretends to recognize the rest of him, but his demeanor gives it away. When he’s asked if River had any distinguishing marks, Lamb quips, “Well, he used to have a face.”
This isn’t to say that Lamb is especially loving towards his employees, but seeing one with most of his head missing probably wouldn’t sit well. This raises some questions. Why would River fake his death at the exact time that London is besieged by a terror attack? How are the two seemingly unconnected events connected?
It’s up to Flyte, Duffy’s replacement, to find out by tracking down David, who has been on the lam since the incident. But Lamb, who is also looking for the OB, isn’t about to make that easy for her.
There are no clues about the connection in Robert Winters’ video manifesto, either, which worryingly implies that more attacks are to follow, perpetrated by his “brothers”. As if to prove the point, when the Dogs – incompetent as ever – raid Winters’ apartment, they find it explosively booby-trapped.
Jack Lowden and Rosalind Eleazar in “Slow Horses” | Image via Apple TV+
Grieving Process
In the meantime, the crew at Slough House, which now includes Standish’s replacement Moira Tregorian, learns of River’s apparent death through a wildly unsympathetic Roddy.
When I say unsympathetic I mean it – he’s nicking River’s computer when he reveals to the others that Lamb has told him River is dead, and reveals that he now has a girlfriend to soften the blow for the others.
It’s Louisa who is especially struggling, since based on the available information, it seems like her directing River to David’s place the previous night was directly responsible for his death. It’s important to note that while Lamb and the audience know that River is alive, the rest of Slough House don’t, and they’re left to process the news as though it’s very real.
Lamb Finds David, and River’s Real Fate Is Revealed
Towards the end of the episode, Lamb follows a hunch right to Catherine Standish’s place, where he eventually finds David asleep in the bedroom. Standish has been hiding him, and saw River briefly before he departed, which is why she wasn’t remotely shocked when Lamb floated his theory that the corpse in David’s house was a convenient imposter.
David’s headspace is likely to prove a real obstacle for Lamb in coming episodes since it’s going to be hard for him to explain what happened, and why, if he can barely remember who he is. But that’s a problem for later.
In the meantime, the ending of Slow Horses Season 4, Episode 1 finally confirms that River is indeed alive and is being driven through the French countryside, in possession of a woman’s passport. Wherever he’s going, the driver assures him that they’re almost there.
Read More: Slow Horses Season 4, Episode 2 Recap
