After a thrilling premiere that set the stage for yet another season of conspiracies and espionage, Slow Horses raises the stakes in episode 2. What initially seemed like an isolated attack begins to reveal a more complex web of danger, with Roddy Ho — the chatty, underestimated hacker of Slough House — suddenly thrust into the spotlight. While it may almost feel justified to want to silence him forever, it still makes no sense to place him at the heart of an international conspiracy.

Roddy survives by sheer luck

The episode opens with Roddy arriving home, dropped off by his new girlfriend, Tara, whose presence had already sparked suspicion. Inside his flat, he hears noises upstairs and, armed with a decorative sword straight out of Final Fantasy, prepares to confront an intruder. To his surprise, it’s not an enemy but Jackson Lamb, who has finally decided to take Shirley and Catherine’s concerns seriously.

Roddy insists he’s not in danger and mocks the idea that having a girlfriend could be suspicious. But Lamb refuses to leave — and for good reason. Moments later, the sniper who executed Rob Trew in the previous episode infiltrates the building using a duplicate key to Roddy’s apartment. Just as he’s about to pull the trigger, Lamb intervenes, and Roddy — who had been pretending to sleep — leaps into action. Together, they manage to push the intruder off the balcony, leaving him gravely injured but still alive.

Shirley, who had been keeping watch outside, rushes in to chase the attacker, but the whole operation spirals into classic Slough House chaos. Despite her tenacity — even stabbing the man with a syringe she found — Shirley cannot subdue him. He escapes back to the infamous white van, disappearing once more into the night.

The ghost of Tara

The inevitable question remains: Is Tara, Roddy’s new girlfriend, working with the terrorists? Lamb is convinced she is. The clearest evidence: the intruder had a real key to the apartment. Roddy admits he’d lost his keys days earlier, until Tara “found” and returned them. The truth is obvious: she copied them and passed the duplicate to the group.

River Cartwright and JK Coe are sent to check Tara’s address, only to find an elderly woman and her grandson of Polish descent. No trace of Tara. In reality, she’s across the street, watching the agents from another apartment — anticipating MI5’s every move. Her role is clearly far more central than anyone imagined, perhaps even as a leader within the terrorist cell.

Diana and Peter Judd: a shady deal

Meanwhile, Diana Taverner receives a late-night visit from Peter Judd, the familiar politician from earlier seasons, now reinvented as a private “relations consultant.” Judd reveals that the assault rifle used in the Abbotsfield massacre had been stolen from a major arms fair in Docklands just weeks earlier. By this point, anyone following Slow Horses knows that if Judd is involved, nothing good can come of it. He reveals that the assault rifle used in the Abbotsfield massacre had been stolen from an arms fair in Docklands just weeks earlier.

Judd hands over the list of missing weapons in exchange for a promise: that the manufacturer’s name will not be made public. Diana accepts the information but makes it clear that MI5 will investigate the company. Once again, a political scandal intertwines with terrorist threats. And with that, she postpones yet again her resignation request — one she has already considered three times before.

Claude Whelan in the crosshairs

Elsewhere, MI5 Director-General Claude Whelan is ambushed during his morning jog by a man who introduces himself as Carl. At first, Claude assumes it’s an admirer from the news. But Carl quickly reveals himself to be an investigative journalist hired by Dodie Gimball, and finds himself face to face with a reporter hired by Dodie Gimball, the sharp-tongued columnist and wife of the mayoral candidate he had dismissed back in episode 1.

Carl corners Claude with questions about a supposed affair at a Copenhagen conference, and Whelan’s guilty reaction all but confirms it. The threat of scandal looms large, as politics and private lives collide.

Slough House under lockdown

By the episode’s end, Diana storms into Slough House with an armed MI5 team. Roddy is arrested for questioning, and the rest of the misfit spies are locked down in their office, cut off from the outside world. Lamb, characteristically unbothered, barely glances up as his team is detained.

The terrorists’ real plan

Bit by bit, the true objective of the terrorists comes into focus. Their aim isn’t just to kill but to spread chaos. They manipulate a group of young climate activists, convincing them they’re striking a blow against the oil industry. Armed with a chemical canister, the youths infiltrate a refinery, record themselves “protesting,” and contaminate the petrol supply.

The next morning, the horror unfolds: cars across London spontaneously burst into flames. Panic spreads through the city. The public believes eco-activists are behind the attacks, but the terrorists remain the true architects of the chaos. Their full plan is still unknown — but it’s clear their ambitions are much larger than anyone had anticipated. And yes, it’s worth returning to Judd’s scene with Diana, because he also mentioned ‘another client’ from the oil industry.

Titled Incommunicado, this chapter balances sharp tension with the dark comedy that has always defined Slow Horses. Putting Roddy at the center brings a touch of absurdity and levity, preventing the season from becoming too bleak after its harrowing opening.

Jackson Lamb remains the undeniable star, his acerbic wit cutting through the tension, while the messy, dysfunctional teamwork of Slough House once again proves to be the show’s strongest element. He is always at least two steps ahead of the rest.

As the terrorists escalate their attacks and London plunges deeper into chaos, Slow Horses continues to thrive on disorder — both within MI5 and on the streets. Episode 2 leaves us with one certainty: the worst is yet to come.