Slow Horses Review: Visiting Hours (Season 1 Episode 4)

On Slow Horses Season 1 Episode 5, “Visiting Hours,” the Slough House group goes into survival mode. Jackson smartly, and very quickly, realizes that they will be blamed for the absolute disaster that is Diana’s operation, and so he scatters the team to grab the rest of the group.

“Visiting Hours” doesn’t rush. It takes its time and follows all the moving pieces of both Slough House and the Park as they scramble to react to the murder of Alan Black, the undercover agent involved with the kidnapping.

Despite the slower pace, “Visiting Hours” never drags. It is action-packed, ensuring that you stay engaged throughout the hour.

It’s refreshing when a show knows how to properly pace both an episode and the season overall. This is currently what is impressing me the most about Slow Horses.

There’s one central case to the season, and that’s the focus. Slow Horses hasn’t crammed the episodes in with a bunch of side-storylines that have little to no impact on the season overall. Instead, it makes sure to keep all the focus on the kidnapping and all the offshoots of that storyline.

It is becoming quickly apparent that Louisa is the best that Slough House has to offer.

She really shines on “Visiting Hours,” demonstrating what I would think are the basics to be good at her job — remembering addresses and staying aware of her surroundings — and yet River and Min fail to even rise to that threshold.

It’s fantastic that the show is finally taking the time to develop the people who make up Slough House.

We’ve mainly focused on River and Jackson, and so it is about time some of the other characters start to get a little more developed. Pretty soon, we were going to lose interest in the random other characters if Slow Horses hadn’t taken the care to make them stand out more.

Well, there is one person who has fallen down the list of Slough House characters I care about, and that’s Struan, the guy being obviously manipulated by Diana and failing to recognize it. I may have been yelling at him to grow a spine…

Sure, it is easy to understand why he is so desperate to please Diana and make his way back to the Park, but it doesn’t make him likable. It actually makes him hard to root for. Now, if he suddenly wises up and starts protecting Slough House somehow, then I will be cheering for him.

Stray Thoughts

• The ringing from the lights or something in the interrogation scene is extremely aggravating.
• I still don’t care about the kidnappers and their unhinged murderer who has appointed himself as their leader.
• River going back to see Sid is such a stupid move, but it is also sweet.
• River, Min, and Louisa trying to recap the events so far is one of my favorite scenes.
• Remind me not to mess with Catherine.

What did you think of this episode of Slow Horses? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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