Season 4 of Slow Horses is a bit different because the stories behind the terrorist attack as well as the attempted murder of David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) were only – somehow – explained in episode 4, and the adrenaline only increases. The constant tension and a very real threat to the characters we love means that everything is at constant risk all the time.

Now we know who is behind the bomb in the London shopping mall and who wants to kill the two Cartwrights, but the last personal connection between the two things has not been verbalized, even if indirectly.

The big villain of the hour is the scary Frank Harkness, played by Hugo Weaving, who is in London to resolve his business. The bomb that killed and injured so many people was commissioned by an Islamic terrorist group, which is furious that it was not “discreet” enough (I still don’t understand the degree of discretion in attacks like this) and left loose ends. It was to avoid attracting attention that they hired Harkness and with so many loose ends they considered that the contract was not fulfilled and to end it, they were going to kill him right there and then.

Although it is bizarre to hear a mercenary discussing discounts and refunds while watching the entire preparation for his execution, at the last minute he manages to get an extension of a few hours to erase the traces that could expose the agreement. This means that the Cartwrights have to die by midnight, as well as Sam Chapman, David’s employee who was in Lavande decades ago and in contact with the villain.

This is obviously not good news for the nags who are also trying to escape Diana Tarvener’s (Kristin Scott Thomas) loose dogs. I’m telling you, anxiety could have been the title of the episode. River is on a train returning from France (after narrowly escaping the strange citizens of Lavande) and David is lost somewhere in London.

After saving Chapman, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) asks him to explain what is happening with Cartwright and the story is incomplete: Chapman was sent to Les Arbres, a mercenary training camp, taking weapons and money in exchange for a pregnant young woman, whose name he does not know or the reason why David was interested in her. The young woman did not want to leave France, but the deal was made. As soon as she could, she fled. When asked about River’s grandfather’s reaction to this, Chapman explained that he seemed to be expecting her to run away and did not get angry. Lamb seems to have put together a good part of the puzzle there, don’t we? We will return to this later.

Aware that Chapman is still at risk and that the hours fly by, we then see our “heroes” running from MI5 while the real risk surrounds them ever closer. From both sides.

When it is inevitable, Lamb shares the truth with Diana: River (Jack Lowden) went to France to find the person who tried to assassinate his grandfather, David was with Standish (Saskia Reeves) and is now lost, but no one really believes him. Everything is to buy time.

When Chapman separates from the nags we know that he is already gone and in fact, ends up being killed before leaving the country, but David is found very confused believing that he is going to inform MI5 about the attacks, but not even he knows very well what is happening. Standish once again saves the day (it is fun to see her in the field and how Lamb trusts and likes her, even though he denies it all the time). David may now be safe, but River is still exposed and Frank Harkness himself is on her trail.

Like a great action thriller, it is a nervous game of cat and mouse without River suspecting all the risks. He is obsessed with the image he photographed in Les Arbres and goes straight to his grandfather’s house to go through his old photos, locating and understanding what it is. The problem is that this time he fails to fool Emma Flyte and ends up being arrested by MI5.

As for the other loose ends. Diana is on bad terms with her boss, Claude Wheelan, who is not as foolish as she expected, but she insists to him that MI5 has to cover up the involvement of local agents to identify who is behind the attack and the two disagree on how to work. Diana has more information to already be able to figure out what is going on, but she clearly still does not understand how David is involved in everything.

But we already know, I insist again. Let’s get to the spoilers!

River’s mother is the young woman David rescued from Les Arbres by doing business with terrorists to save her. Therefore, Harkness wants to kill him for an extremely personal revenge. If you haven’t already, sorry to break it to you, but River Cartwright is Frank Harkness’ son, and David did everything he could to keep his grandson out of his clutches. He’s still doing it. The deal with the Islamic group was a miscalculated opportunity that Harkness made to make money and – once in London – settle accounts with the past.

Having said all that, I haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll find out: Flyte’s “independence” and determination to locate the Cartwrights without informing Diana can only mean one thing: she’s on Harkness’ team too.

What a season! Looking forward to the next revelation!

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