Blog Post 2: Culture in Media - Slow Horses
I started watching Slow Horses in 2023 when season three of the show was released. Since then I have fallen in love with the show and when the final episode for the fifth season came out on October 29, 2025 it was safe to say that I was watching it. The show is a spy thriller with plenty of mystery, suspense and drama to go along with it and one of the top performing shows on Apple TV+. Season 5 Episode 6 was titled “Scars” and wrapped up the season as the character Claude Whelan (James Callis), First Desk of MI5 panics for answers after MI5 has been shut down by terrorists. The terrorists demand 100 million in reparations for their country, Libya—although it’s important to note that they are not working for Libya. If they don’t get the money, they threaten to attack a place of worship. Having no other choice, Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas), MI5’s Second Desk transfers 100 million to the terrorists. In the meantime the Slow Horses, MI5’s “undesirables” track down the likely target should the terrorists go through with their plan, a church where Zafar Jaffery (Nick Mohammed), the Mayor of London is giving a sermon. Fortunately, the Slow Horses are able to put a stop to the terrorists as they planned to go through with their attack even after getting the money. As all seems to wrap up, it isn’t until River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is visiting his grandfather—David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce)—that he realizes one of the terrorists was unaccounted for. Calling up Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), River pieces together that there will likely be another attack on Claude. Fortunately River is able to save the day saving Claude as he was going for a run in the park.
The episode features a great diversity of actors playing very unique roles. While some of the actors have been typecast in the past, the roles in Slow Horses are not. The cast features Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the cruel, dismissive, and foulmouthed leader of the Slow Horses. Oldman is best known for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and, The Dark Knight trilogy. The cast also features Jonathan Pryce as David Cartwright, River Cartwright's grandfather who has dementia and was the former Second Desk at MI5. Pryce has appeared in shows like Game of Thrones and movies such as, The Two Popes and Brazil. Notably the cast has less known actors as well. Arguably the star of the show, River Cartwright who is played by Jack Lowden, someone I had never heard of until watching Slow Horses. Well not a big name, Lowden has appeared in some shows and movies like Dunkirk and BBC’s War and Peace.
Along with the cast, the producers and other people working on the show put a lot of effort into it. The Showrunner, Will Smith, had the cast and crew “tend[ing] to film two seasons of Slow Horses back to back” (Listworld CO UK). This is an unusual format for shows but it keeps them releasing new seasons every year. Critics praise the work put into the show and the show itself. As Stuart Heritage from “The Guardian” puts it after finally watching the show “Yes, I’m late to the Slough House party. But now that I’ve caught up on all four seasons, I feel silly. I’ve been missing one of the most sensational shows on TV” (Heritage, "The Guardian"). It is clear that the show has an effect on its viewers.
The style of the show plays a big part of this, filmed on sets and on location in the streets of London where the show takes place. The characters dress plainly in clothes that most people would wear, normal, everyday street clothes. I find the show shares many similarities to other action, thriller tv shows. It has the same style and format with rogue upstart agents that go against their higher ups orders and in the end against all odds come out on top. I however, find the show very unique as well, especially when it comes to character stereotypes.
Throughout the show we can see character stereotypes but unlike most shows we can see that Slow Horses tries to break the stereotypes. The entire crew in Slough House is made up of the “undesirables” and screwups who are full of flaws that aren’t usually seen in most spy-thriller, action tv shows. Shirley, who was introduced in season three of the show, is addicted to cocaine. We see other stereotypes broken as well with characters like Roddy Ho, the genius hacker/“guy in the chair” who is best described as an insufferable, egotistical, oftentimes clueless and terrible person to work with. The role for the genius hacker is usually a role meant to be comedic, funny and the best friend of the main character.
I think this aspect of the show is one of its greatest strengths and makes it appealing to many demographics. Not only can we see the flaws in the characters, but we also get a look into the daily office life in Slough House which reflects closely to the life of everyday viewers. We can all see ourselves in characters like Catherine Standish as she has to deal with her dysfunctional coworkers. I think in this sense the show is not only targeted to action and spy lovers but also those who love cynical work humor and those who enjoy character driven stories.
I enjoy this aspect of the show greatly as it makes the show feel not only relatable but also thoughtful, showing that the writers actually care about what they write. Often when I watch a tv show or movie that is a spy thriller, the characters are fit, charismatic and make no mistakes, in Slow Horses it is the opposite and that makes it so unique, memorable and worth sharing. Critics agree that the show is a success as critic Stuart Heritage writes “Slow Horses is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. Don’t wait as long as me to discover it for yourself” (Heritage, "The Guardian") as he put off watching the show due to it being on yet another streaming service that he would have to subscribe to.
I find that the subscription is vastly worth it (I use my parents account though) as I have watched the show multiple times. I started when season three was coming out and I quickly binged the first two seasons before watching along as the season three episodes were released weekly. Then just before season five was released I binged all four of the previous seasons to catch myself up to where I left off. Of course I have my family to thank for this infatuation as the show has very limited social media presence. Unlike most shows these days the show has not social media accounts dedicated to it. The marketing through social media comes from AppleTV, SeeSaw Films—the production company—and accounts from the actors. Regardless of this people leave reviews praising the show all across social media.
In conclusion the show is an outstanding hit leaving a lasting impression on viewers. While it doesn’t reflect on the culture of the U.S. it does reflect on British culture as it reflects real world issues going on in the UK, issues like immigration, race and the climate. The show has helped me understand how much of an issue immigration is in the UK especially in regards to race and the culture of the immigrants. Surprisingly this theme has appeared in multiple seasons of the show reflecting on heavy topics that most other shows (especially spy-thrillers) don’t address.
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