I Never Knew How Much I Needed To See Roddy Ho & Diana Taverner In An Interrogation Room Together

Warning: This review contains spoilers for Slow Horses Season 5, Episode 3Slow Horses season 5, episode 3, “Tall Tales”, is a constrained episode, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less action-packed than the first two episodes of the season. The Slow Horses are in lockdown, and while Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) is obviously no match for Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) in a cell at the Park, Flyte (Ruth Bradley) is a formidable zookeeper for Lamb (Gary Oldman) and the other animals at Slough House.

Everyone’s on the same side in “Tall Tales”, but the years of distrust between the Park and Slough make extracting any information a slog. We are on to step 3 of Coe’s “Destabilization List”, an archaic conspiracy about the steps a terrorist (or clandestine government group) can take to work toward destabilizing a country. Step 3 is “Disrupt the Transport,” and, thanks to Irfan Jaffrey (Bilal Hasna), the green-haired youth who bought something sinister from a group of terrorists in the previous episode, petrol in several cars has caught fire, shunting London into gridlock.

Season 5 Moves At A Brisk, Satisfying Pace

The Slow Horses Feel More Like A Unit Than Ever Before

Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) looking unamused in Slow Horses season 5, episode 3.

Slow Horses is no 24 when it comes to telling a story in real-time, but the speed at which season 5 is being told makes even leisurely episodes like this, where characters are seated for most of the runtime, still have momentum. That “falling down a flight of stairs” energy that makes Slow Horses such a delight is still present even when it’s just Lamb sitting at his desk, drinking wine first thing in the morning.

As for the plot, we don’t learn a lot more about why a terrorist cell is weaving its way through the streets of London, but we do see the next step in their plan. One of the terrorists offers some money and some drugs to a man on the street, and all he has to do is throw an innocent-looking thermos into an exhibit at the zoo. One large explosion and 22 dead penguins later, Coe is rattling off step 4 in the “Destabilization List”: “Seize the Media”.

Three steps are a coincidence, but with four, Lamb is perfectly on board with Coe’s theory. River (Jack Lowden) and the others think the theory is ridiculous, but even they admit that if Lamb is willing to get out of his chair to warn the Park, then people had better take heed. Slough House, after five seasons, seems to finally be developing an internal language among its residents. It’s one filled with taunts, disrespect, lies, and foul-smelling emissions, but it’s an understanding all the same.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the Horses more in sync. Charged with guarding the Horses while Flyte checks out the penguin bombing, Devon Welles (Cherrelle Skeete) forgets Flyte’s warning to ignore Lamb. However, his long, unnerving story about Stasi torture bewitches Welles as much as it does the audience. Gripped by his tale, Welles is caught off guard when the Horses spring into action with a lighter, an aerosol can, and a fire extinguisher. After Welles and the other Dog are tied up, even Lamb has to admit he can’t believe everyone was paying attention for once.

Roddy & Taverner Are The Perfect Odd Couple

A Last Minute Reveal Gives Us A Different Perspective On The Attacks

Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung) leaning back during an interrogation in Slow Horses season 5, episode 3.

While the Horses are free, one still remains in his cage. Roddy is absolutely off his rocker in the Park cell, flexing his muscles and shouting to his captors from behind a one-way glass about the vastness of his power. It’s a wonder we’ve never had Taverner and Roddy in a scene before. It’s a hilarious collision of Taverner knowing exactly how to get to someone, and Roddy’s own blown-up sense of self, making him completely unreadable. How can you catch someone in a lie about being honey-potted if they legitimately believe they are god’s gift to women?

Taverner manages to learn that Roddy inadvertently gave access to MI5’s servers to his “girlfriend,” and suddenly that “Destabilization List” is looking a lot more worrisome. Particularly because Step 5 is “Assassinate a Populist Leader”. We’re led to believe that the leader will be right-wing mayoral candidate, Dennis Gimball (Christopher Villiers), but the last-minute reveal that Irfan is the current Mayor Zafar’s (Nick Mohammed) wayward son, suggests the Slow Horses are once again a few steps ahead of the Park, but still a step behind their quarry.