Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 3 Review: Penny for Your Thoughts

Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 3, “Penny for Your Thoughts,” is a stand-out episode that features some emotional notes while reminding us of all the reasons why we fell in love with this show in the first place.

Throughout the show so far, David has been a tertiary character. We’ve mainly only gotten to know him through his relationship with River, and while those scenes were never boring, it’s fair to say that they didn’t stick out much in our minds when we think about the show.

We’ve gotten glimpses of David’s past work for MI5, whether it’s tidbits he drops when he’s helping River or the reveal that he and Jackson are involved in Charles’ death on Slow Horses Season 1 Episode 6, “Follies.”

All this is to say that David’s not a new character to us, but he’s one that we don’t have a particular attachment to. However, Slow Horses Season 4 so far has done a phenomenal job at making David a more empathetic character.

It’s hard not to feel for him throughout “Penny for Your Thoughts” as he struggles to remember where he is and what’s real. Jonathan Pryce delivers a phenomenal and devastating performance.

The rest of the episode is a great mixture of typical Slough House humor, suspense, and case progress.

River’s still in France, being held hostage by people who surprisingly don’t want to kill him. Before being chased by an angry mob and a dog, River manages to gain a bit of intel on the bomber’s organization, which seems to prove that the bombing is connected to the attempt on David and Jackson’s laundromat friend’s lives.

The scenes with Jackson’s friend trying to shake his tail with the assistance of Jackson, Shirley, and Marcus are insanely good and beyond stressful. You can’t look away, and the tension builds until it culminates in Jackson pulling a Roddy and running the guy over with a car.

It is a great burst of action to close the episode.

Hopefully, Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 4, “Returns,” gives us a bit more backstory on why this weird cult-type group is targeting David. We are reaching a point where if we don’t get clued in, we’re going to start losing interest.

Jackson chatting with his newly rescued friend should be our way in, allowing us to understand more of what’s going on.

While it’s not always like Jackson to clue in his team, a debrief including Shirley and Marcus, who were just attacked by one of the bad guys, would make sense. If I were them, I’d be demanding answers as to what happened, and perhaps they picked something up while watching and/or fighting this guy that could prove useful.

Stray Thoughts

• First Desk is actually showing initiative and looking into things. Good for you, bud.
• Emma leisurely walking through Catherine’s apartment and then panicking when she can’t find David is so funny.
• I should not love Roddy as much as I do. Brothers in cuffs…
• You can’t deny that the new Slough House guy keeps us on our toes.
• Emma is proving to fit in well. She can easily handle Roddy; now she just needs to work on Jackson.
• Do we think David is on his way to the Park?

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

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Slow Horses airs Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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