Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 5 Review: Grave Danger

The pieces begin to fall into place on Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 5, “Grave Danger,” as Lamb gets answers from David and we get a bit more information from some unexpected sources.

David provides Lamb and Catherine with the backstory on why Chapman was sent to France years ago, and it confirms what we already knew — River’s mom was there. It’s great to have that be confirmed and not just a theory, but the person I wish was there hearing all of this was River.

There’s potential for some great character work and development to happen through River learning this, and it’s unclear if there will be enough room to allow this to happen on Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 6, “Hello Goodbye.” A lot of stuff needs to happen for the season to wrap up this season-long case.

Odds are “Hello Goodbye” will feature River’s being brought to Harkness, who will fill in any missing gaps that River hasn’t already put together. Let’s hope that Slow Horses gives River a bit of time to react and process things before the plot needs to be moved along, and his focus is diverted elsewhere.

It wouldn’t be realistic if River came out of this unchanged. At the very least, we need to meet River’s mother. Between the flashbacks and Louisa speaking to her on the phone, Slow Horses appears to be hinting that we’ll be meeting her soon.

Slough House, Roddy and Moira specifically, make a decent amount of progress during “Grave Danger.”

I’ve said it before, but the people in Slough House are why we tune in every week. We love them, and so anytime we get to explore the dynamics of Slough House a bit more and spend time with them is a win.

Even though they’re currently not a part of the action, the show wisely finds a way to include them in the case development on this episode. Between Roddy discovering why Moira was sent to Slough House and Louisa attempting to round up the team to be useful, they manage to learn a good bit.

Hopefully, now that they’ve spotted Patrice on old surveillance footage, they can track him down in the present and save River (because he definitely needs saving). Then, we can finally have River reunited with the rest of the group.

With new characters, it takes a while to get a read on them, especially when they either rarely speak or are delegated to more plot-specific duties with not a ton of time devoted to fleshing them out as characters.

After “Grave Danger,” Emma Flyte and J.K. Coe have wormed their way into our hearts, or at least mine. Emma has had a bit more moments to shine during Season 4, but Coe has been silently lurking in the background for the majority of the season.

This is the most Coe has ever spoken, and he not only profiles Shirley extremely well but crushes Roddy’s spirit. It’s absolutely fantastic, and there are lots of ways the show can utilize his character going forward. If he ever goes out into the field, it would be fun to see who he gets paired with.

Flyte has the potential to be a fun foil for Slough House. She’s very different than Duffy, and the show would be remiss not to let her continue her post for a couple of seasons. Perhaps she and River could form a begrudging working relationship, similar to the one between Lamb and Diana.

Here’s hoping both of them stick around next season because it would be a waste to lose these two characters after we finally got to know them.

What did you think of this episode of Slow Horses? It’s looking like we’re in for one hell of a finale with  Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 6. Any theories on what’s in store for us? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Slow Horses airs Wednesdays on Apple TV+.

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