S04.E01: Identity Theft

[Snazzy Daisy]

Synopsis:

Quote

A London bombing puts Taverner under pressure.

When River grows concerned about his grandfather, Louisa encourages him to go for a visit.

Air Date: Sep 04, 2024

 

[abbyzenn]

So glad to have this show back.   The episodes of these shows go so fast I'm always stunned when the credits pop up.   This season is the first one where I've read the book - while I remember the overarching story line I had to think a bit about some things like who is the new first desk guy (fallout from the ending of last season).  

I do hope this show wins some emmys this year - it certainly deserves to do so.

[Mindthinkr]

I thought I only heard one gunshot…

[MissLucas]

We got to see only one shot, and then Granddad was in shock. The implication is that River or Granddad himself (after recovering) added the second shot to delay identification and gaining time for some investigating before whoever was behind that charade with fake River could react. Lamb put two and two together when seeing the damage and played along. And then added a tough lesson for his team about jumping to conclusions. Bastard LOL!

For a moment I felt sorry for Roddy, didn't last long.

So, Taverner did not get First Desk and instead has to babysit Gaius fracking Baltar? James Callis really made a career playing those types.

 

Edited September 5, 2024 by MissLucas

[SeanBug]

No one really believed River was dead, right?  A lot of time they give stuff like this away, with the millisecond lingering on the car outside Standish's flat.  Checkhov's gun. You don't show something and not explain it later. 

I assume they'll do a flashback at some point to show viewers how it all went down. 

I'm also surprised the team at the bomber's flat didn't realize it could be booby trapped.  Don't they normally take a bomb squad into the homes of people who do stuff like this?  Has no one seen Speed??!!

On 9/4/2024 at 11:14 AM, abbyzenn said:

The episodes of these shows go so fast I'm always stunned when the credits pop up.

I know!!!  Was it a shorter episode?  Maybe it's so well written that we are totally invested, and on streamers with no commercials we aren't spending several 90 second segments sitting thru commercials. 

Poor Taverner.  But so realistic.  He's fine taking the First Desk position but too much of a chicken shit to run a meeting?

Callis is so good at playing a weasel. 

[meep.meep]

Who appoints First Desk?  Judd?

No viewers thought River was really dead.  The "intruder" had a different voice.

And of course Grandpa went to see Standish.

[PaulaO]

I recognized that it wasn’t Rivers voice, but my heart stopped when the shots rang out.  I had to stop the episode and come here to make sure.

[Bcharmer]

I agree. No one thought River was dead. I was only curious about who it was, and how River got that passport at the end. I will rewatch tonight, to see if I missed anything.

[Souris]

I have only ever binged the previous seasons of "Slow Horses." How the hell am I supposed to endure this one-episode-a-week nonsense?? It's barbaric! What is this, the 2000s??

I need a gif of Lamb saying he's always filled with joie de fucking vivre.

Marcus waterboarding Shirley for a paperclip bet! Never change, you two.

Oh, look, it's Emile Bonnaire, and he's still annoying. (My Musketeers is showing.) Taverner must just be constantly chewing glass shards over the fact she STILL didn't get First Desk and this loser did.

Oh the hilarious cringe-fail when Louisa thought River was hitting on her! 

Poor Louisa. Roddy got off easy. He deserved to get hit with something bigger.

I miss River’s floppy hair.

Obviously I knew he wasn’t dead. I saw him in other scenes in the previews!

[pasdetrois]

18 hours ago, SeanBug said:

I'm also surprised the team at the bomber's flat didn't realize it could be booby trapped.  Don't they normally take a bomb squad into the homes of people who do stuff like this?

There are US federal classes in how to respond to and also investigate bomb blasts. Students work for the State Department, military, etc. A core principle is to always assume there is at least one additional bomb ready to be triggered.

[Pike Ludwell]

I'm predicting, in this British series, that Marcus and Shirley will "get together". First we'll see Marcus indicating his marriage is over, then we'll see the relationship with Shirley zoom. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

Edited September 6, 2024 by Pike Ludwell

[Snazzy Daisy]

A solid S04 premiere. Love the opening scene — the smooth camera transition from inside the Chickado to outside then seeing an explosion in the background. It heightens the “unexpected” vibe.

Wait, why isn’t Diane on First Desk? And why she doesn’t want Duffy’s replacement (Emma Flyte) on the Westacres case? 👀

Quote

“He used to have a face.”

After identifying (fake) River’s body, Lamb seems shaken by what he has seen. But I think that’s just him, contemplating. He knows that he has to figure everything out before the Dogs do.

Am aware that this show isn’t afraid to kill off its important characters. I would totally believe River’s death IF I haven’t seen S04 trailer and promo images for S04E02. Nice fake out though. 😆

River is seen in a cab holding Adam Lockhead’s passport. Is Adam the intruder and River is retracing his trail back to France?

I like seeing Standish playing dumb about the whole Cartwright situation up until Lamb couldn’t take it anymore. She knows straight away why Lamb shows up at her place, but still… 😆

Roddy heartlessly and casually dropping the bomb about River’s demise to the team is hilarious. Ahh River, you should see how little they mourn you. Well, the rejects are built differently.

Quote

EMMA: “So you’re in charge of the rejects?”

LAMB: “They don’t like to be called that.”

EMMA: “So what do you call them?”

LAMB: “The rejects.”

😂😂😂

 

[MissLucas]

I think Lamb knew from the get-go that the body wasn't River as an old hand like Granddad would keep a kill to one shot - center mass - and not go for such an obvious overkill. But that's just my theory.

ETA: I liked not-Standish but I guess she's not here to stay. 

Edited September 6, 2024 by MissLucas

[Rickster]

Well, I have to admit my girlfriend thought they had killed off River, having seen the fondness British shows have for killing off main characters before.

[Bcharmer]

It was an obvious misdirection, since they never showed the intruder's face. He just ran upstairs to the "loo" and started to run a bath. Which is a pretty weird thing for an intruder to do. But Grandad looked at the photo of himself and River, and realized it wasn't River, and grabbed his gun.  But also, it's possible River had this plan in place all along because of what he told Louisa... so everyone would easily believe that Grandad simply mistook River for an intruder. 

That's all I got.

[Enigma X]

I figured the guy at the door was not River, but he did sound like him to me. It was more convincing (and a misdirect) that the grandfather called him River when he looked through the door. Or am I wrong on that?

To be clear, never at any point did I think the man coming into the house was River, but they did a lot of trying to convince us it was which ultimately cemented that it was not before the scene was even over.

[aghst]

Only Louisa seemed to take it hard about River’s death.

For now, Lamb plays along because other MI5 personnel can be trusted, may be a mole in league with whoever tried to get at old man Cartwright.

That’s a recurring theme though, that MI5 plots against each other, are wary of and distrust each other.  Taverner plotted against River and then the whole Slough House because her little gambit with the white supremacists could have ruined her career.

In season 3, Tearney was trying to cover her tracks, was willing to kill Sloough House personnel.

The message is, not only does MI5 plot against each other, it’s the only way to get to the top and stay on top.

Lamb is great at figuring it out and using it as leverage vs. Taverner and others.  So I’m not that sympathetic to Lady Di being denied First Desk.

Lamb is already way of the new leader of the Dogs.  He puts on a show to “confirm” to her that it’s River’s remains.

Louisa and River’s awkward convo was amusing, when she thought he was asking her out.  But they also talked about how long they would stay at Slough House, with Louisa saying at some point if she can’t get back to the Park she might just quit.

I understand he prestige but the Slow Horses have been better than the regular MI5 agents.

They’ve outwitted, bested and outlived the “real” MI5 agents like Spider and Duffy.  So why do they want to return, just the prestige and the ability to rise through the ranks?

They’ve done some of the best work of their careers and have to realize how brilliant Lamb is, despite the exterior, putdowns.

 

[Milburn Stone]

On 9/6/2024 at 2:34 PM, Snazzy Daisy said:

After identifying (fake) River’s body, Lamb seems shaken by what he has seen. But I think that’s just him, contemplating.

I enjoyed these moments of "the face looks like it's thinking one thing, but it could be thinking another." Another was Jonathan Pryce as he approached the bathroom with his rifle. He looked like he had gone mad, about to kill his own grandson. But in reality he was pissed off, and knew he was endangered, by an intruder pretending to be his grandson. (Right?) And the same expression worked for both. That must be pretty difficult for an actor to pull off.

But wait. What was the intruder's game? Does someone intent on assassination take a bath first? (Asking only in the event there was something I missed or some inference I failed to make. I'm happy to live in mystery if the show wants me to. :))

[Snazzy Daisy]

26 minutes ago, Milburn Stone said:

But wait. What was the intruder's game? Does someone intent on assassination take a bath first? 

To lure David into the bathroom, for containment purposes. Maybe.

 

[paigow]

If killing Old Cartwright was the endgame, all this deception is pointless. The guy walks miles to the store in his slippers...

River is no longer an elite operative, so stealing his identity would not provide access to super-classified intel...

[MissLucas]

The plan behind the ruse is a mystery. Getting hands on Granddad and trying to extract MI5 dirt from his dementia addled brain? Not sure how much of that intel would be valid though. And using him to blackmail River also makes not much sense. Guess we'll have to wait and see. 

I'm much more interested in whatever's going on between Taverner and Baltar (sorry, haven't stored his name yet). I suspect sooner or later the mask of ineptitude will fall and his backstabbing weasel side will be revealed - because he's played by James Callis.

[paigow]

20 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I'm much more interested in whatever's going on between Taverner and Baltar (sorry, haven't stored his name yet). 

Claude Whelan

[Athena5217]

On 9/8/2024 at 7:29 AM, Milburn Stone said:

But wait. What was the intruder's game? Does someone intent on assassination take a bath first? (Asking only in the event there was something I missed or some inference I failed to make. I'm happy to live in mystery if the show wants me to. :))

I’m guessing it was to drown him. He might have even being trying to make it look like an accident, e.g. Grandpa Cartwright fell asleep in the tub and drowned himself.

[MissLucas]

But what's the motive for killing Grandpa? Revenge rarely shows up in spooks fiction as it's a waste of resources. Is there something nefarious going on that he could stop? Despite age and dementia? 

[Kel Varnsen]

On 9/5/2024 at 8:53 PM, Bcharmer said:

I agree. No one thought River was dead. I was only curious about who it was, and how River got that passport at the end. I will rewatch tonight, to see if I missed anything.

I was probably 98% sure he wasn't dead what with never showing his face when he went in the house. But in the back of my mind that other 2% wondered if it wasn't some kind of double fake out. 

Also did the Alka-seltzer actually mean something since Lamb first looked for it in the bathroom then bought some in the shop. Or was he just hungover?

[LisaM]

Joanna Scanlan! One of my favorite actresses.

[Ilovepie]

I have not read the books, so I only started this based on all of the good things I've seen about it. I started this four days ago and finally got to this season and holy moly! I admit I gasped out loud when Old Cartwright blasted whoever was in that bathtub. I didn't think it was River, but I couldn't relax until the end when they showed him.....

I loved all of the interactions at Slough House - everyone being their quintessential selves. The waterboarding/gambling, Roddy being a dick, Louisa grousing about Slough House.

Loved the interaction between Standish and Lamb.

Not sure about the new lady, but she seems a step up from Duffy. Guess time will tell....I won't miss those goons.

I did feel bad for Diana for a second, but she is such a weasel herself it passed quickly.

Now I gotta slow down so I can savor the episodes I have left. I'm bummed I'm almost done!