Slow Horses Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Boardroom Politics
Slow Horses Season 2 Episode 5, “Boardroom Politics,” connects the dots between all the storylines, escalating the tension, in a terrific penultimate episode.
It appears as if the finale will be the final showdown as Slough House tries to stop the Russian plot from happening, which I’m betting will keep us on the edge of our seats.
One of the reasons why this season has worked so well is Slow Horses learned from its mistake last season; we’re not following around the bad guys like we did with the kidnappers during Season 1.
Aside from brief moments in this episode, we haven’t spent time with the Russians without a member of Slough House being right there with them. If this was last season, we would’ve seen Pashkin and his goons murder Nevsky.
Instead, we get to witness Jackson and Shirley make that gruesome discovery and be as surprised as they are about this turn of events. Slow Horses Season 2 has really grown and learned what makes a spy thriller work, and it’s been fantastic to watch.
River trying to explain to Duncan and Kelly what’s going on is a wonderful dose of humor in a very tense episode.
Like River, we know what’s at stake, so there’s absolutely no time to explain that yes, Alex is a Russian spy to her loved ones, but River has to do so anyways because they won’t untie him without him being honest with them.
Between their reactions to the news and River’s frustrations, that scene brings such joy. Slow Horses wields comedy brilliantly. It’s one of the reasons why this show works so well. Between River’s scene and Webb being an eagle and generally out of touch with what’s going on, there are some wonderful moments of humor in “Boardroom Politics.”
It’s surprising that Alex and company don’t kill River after he discovers them. They just tie him up and leave him alone, without even someone watching to make sure he doesn’t escape.
For a group that has no problems killing people, it’s a little weird they didn’t treat River as a bigger threat.
You can’t deny that Catherine gets some answers during her chess match — hell, even Jackson doesn’t want to admit it — but, her scenes bring the episode to a lull. It’s not exciting at all.
There’s so much tension in all the other storylines, and then we shift focus to Catherine and things get a bit boring. There’s never a doubt that she won’t win her wager. It’s the penultimate episode; we need the intel and don’t have time for it to be discovered some other way.
Admittedly, I don’t know a better way the show could’ve gone about Catherine succeeding and learning the truth about Katinsky without a seemingly boring chess match. It just isn’t my favorite moment of the episode.
What did you think of this episode of Slow Horses? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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New episodes of Slow Horses air Fridays on Apple TV+.
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Allison Nichols
Allison is in a love affair with television that doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. Slightly damaged fictional characters are her weakness. She loves to spend her free time curled up with a cat and a show to binge-watch. Allison is a Tomatometer-approved critic (Rotten Tomatoes).
One thought on “Slow Horses Season 2 Episode 5 Review: Boardroom Politics”
River’s grandad is the traitor that signed Katinski’s interview and Katinski didn’t have River killed because of his grandad.
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