S04.E02: A Stranger Comes to Town

[Snazzy Daisy]

Synopsis:

Quote

A naïve agent makes a discovery about the Westacres bomber.

Lamb suspects that David knows more than he's letting on.

Air Date: Sep 11, 2024

 

Edited September 5 by Snazzy Daisy

[Snazzy Daisy]

Slow Horses S04 E02 Exclusive Sneak Peek | 'Look-alike'

 

[aghst]

Standish quit but she still in the game, going through River’s pockets to ascertain that he was headed for France.

Lamb knew that she’d have some intelligence.

River just broadcasts that he’s a stranger in town, walks into the mansion and grabs a knife in the kitchen.  How does he recognize Robert Winters in the photo, which he may not have taken?  He takes a photo of the large a painting with his phone — the one Standish gave him? — but doesn’t keep the photo in which he recognizes the fake MI5 identity associated with the shopping mall bombing.

Taverner coolly destroys all evidence of Winters because it would get MI5 and her in trouble and prevent her from doing her job, which she’s good at.

Already she’s pulled a game on Whelan, the first desk, who’s planning to apologize publicly for MI5.  She can’t have that, won’t have it, so she implicates him in a coverup, so that he won’t get in her way.

Lamb doesn’t like the replacement for Standish, wants to end her back to the Park.  Not because he wants Standish back necessarily.  He wants the queen to feed him intel if he gets her out of Slough House.

Another French guy turns up in the UK, to figure out what happened with old Cartwright but also to kill someone who worked for him.  Poor guy is going to regret trying to kill Lamb.

River meanwhile is in trouble and Lamb is racing to find out what David Cartwright did in France, to find ways to help River.

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

We still have no clue on why David is targeted. Adam Lockhead was a sh!tty assassin. He had no backup plan other than to drug and drown David. Really?

Lamb truly anticipates River to charge off and play the hero again. 

Quote

“You don’t blow a joe’s cover!”

Shouldn’t the rejects know this already? It’s Spy 101.

So, Lamb is the next “old man” on the wipeout list. They better send a highly skilled assassin to complete the job this time.

Robert Winters is a Cold War-era "cold body", a ready-made identity for MI5. But Diana has “erased” his connection to MI5 and the incompetent Claude is being blackmailed into cooperating with her.

Well, the Westacres bombing and David’s assassination attempt are indeed connected. River finds a photo of 4 men on a hunting trip. Three of them are recognizable. From right — Robert Winters (the bomber), Adam Lockhead aka Bertrand (the assassin) and an older man who attacks River at the end.

Who’s the man tailing River in Lavande and eventually saving him? French Intelligence? 🤔

 

[paigow]

Agent Smith can only be defeated by Neo

[Souris]

This might be the first episode of Slow Horses I found rather meh. There are only six episodes, do we really need to spend like 10 minutes watching River walk around every room in a house like an idiot? He really is like if a golden retriever was a spy.

That said, the scene at the beginning with his granddad was very well-done and affecting.

Taverner was coolly efficient and "bloody good at it." I immediately feared for the young analyst (?) who brought her the issue.

I did not think the faux River looked like him at all.

Edited September 12 by Souris

[MissLucas]

Man, Whelan really is not cut out for this job. Signing stuff without checking it beforehand??? He's either in over his head or playing a really, really long game.  I loved the scene between him and Taverner in his office - him bumbling along and her carefully managing her frustration while playing him. Callis and Scott Thomas are great together.

I'm kinda surprised the enthusiastic Giti who checked the Winters identity made it out alive of this episode. Flyte is about to learn the more frustrating sides of working for Taverner. I wonder why they showed us her car parked on a disabled parking spot.

Lamb is always two or three steps ahead and it's a joy to watch. Everybody at the office expected him explode when he met Moira. Instead he played it smooth, recognizing that she's a possible asset and then getting her to use her network for him. The fact that she immediately agreed makes it clear that she knew who she was dealing with - no surprise if she's as good as she claims. Which also makes me wonder if her Mary Poppins act was on purpose. Speaking of queens i.e. ladies running the place without being noticed: Doran the record keeper was clearly not happy with Taverner's dogs in her realm destroying records.

The location scouts really managed to find France's most bleak looking village. River's slow walk through the lost place chateau was actually full of clues: it was clearly a spy training facility but not just for adults. There was a nursery and children's drawings hinting at some truly screwed up things going on there. Which makes the idea of a revenge plot suddenly more palpable. It would also explain why there are two French speaking factions involved. The guy saving River is probably DGSE - French secret service.

The new Slow Horse remains mysterious. Less mysterious: Roddy claiming to suffer from PTSD and Marcus falling off the wagon - they are a depressing bunch.

Edited September 12 by MissLucas

[paigow]

14 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Who’s the man tailing River in Lavande and eventually saving him? French Intelligence? 🤔

 

Obviously fake rescue. He let Agent Smith escape

[aghst]

6 hours ago, MissLucas said:

 

The location scouts really managed to find France's most bleak looking village. River's slow walk through the lost place chateau was actually full of clues: it was clearly a spy training facility but not just for adults. There was a nursery and children's drawings hinting at some truly screwed up things going on there. Which makes the idea of a revenge plot suddenly more palpable. It would also explain why there are two French speaking factions involved. The guy saving River is probably DGSE - French secret service.

 

Just like Upshott in season 2, it appears Lavande, France is a fictional place.

I would have guessed it's somewhere in north or northwest France, along the English Channel.

Lavender is in Provence, more near the southern coast, north of Marseille.

It's strange, why they use fictional places while they use the actual BBC logos for the fake news reports.

 

[Bcharmer]

I almost didn't recognize Hugo Weaving... but I don't think I've seen him in anything since Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. 

[paigow]

On 9/12/2024 at 2:09 PM, Bcharmer said:

I almost didn't recognize Hugo Weaving... but I don't think I've seen him in anything since Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. 

Are you a hater of Science Fiction AND Fantasy genre blockbusters?

[Milburn Stone]

What was he playing? I was looking for someone who looked like him and never found one!

 

[Bcharmer]

20 hours ago, paigow said:

Are you a hater of Science Fiction AND Fantasy genre blockbusters?

I remember him the most from Priscilla, which I've seen more recently than the others.  That doesn't mean I "hate" science fiction and fantasy genres.

[MissLucas]

I've never seen Weaving with facial hair so it took me a moment to recognize him. He played shifty dude in the chateau.

 

Edited September 15 by MissLucas

[Kel Varnsen]

Poor dumb River. He goes all the way to France and then just barges into the house instead of doing the smart thing and sitting outside for awhile and seeing if anyone is in there. I feel like someone at the very least needs to buy him, the complete series of Burn Notice on DVD to help him pick up some spy skills if he ever wants to leave Slough House.