Slow Horses has always been an excellent character drama first and foremost, and this episode proves how effective it can be, even though it is predominantly dialogue-heavy. “Tall Tales” follows Roddy as he’s interrogated by Taverner and the rest of Slough House as they’re kept under lockdown by the Dogs. Minor subplots in the episode include another destabilization attack, this time on a penguin enclosure at the zoo, as well as an exciting reveal that the climate activist who sabotaged the petrol is mayoral candidate Jaffrey’s son. Roddy, despite being in denial about how he was manipulated, ends up confessing to Taverner that his supposed girlfriend, Tara, more than likely has access to the MI5 database. Additionally, the plotline at Slough House climaxes with Lamb telling a somber, brutal story about an agent who was tortured in Berlin, along with his pregnant lover, and never revealed anything. They manage to escape the distracted Dogs, steal Devon’s gun, and go to prevent the likely assassination of Jaffery or Gimball.
While the explosion midway through was exciting, “Tall Tales” was an incredibly engaging, well-paced, dialogue-driven character drama. The episode sustains a great deal of tension with characters simply talking to each other. With that, the ambience of London traffic and the gradual chaos added an incredible flavor and anxiety to the episode. Additionally, the twist with Jaffrey’s son further enriched both characters, adding extra tension to the potential assassinations and upcoming storylines. Lamb’s monologue was incredibly engaging, and it was great to see Slough House be successful in something when they coordinated to take down the Dogs. This was particularly refreshing due to River’s strange characterization throughout the show, as he rides the line between efficiency and stupidity. “Tall Tales” balanced this extremely well, with him trying and failing to warn Shirley, not believing Cole’s destabilization theory, yet coming around at the end and taking Lamb’s subtle orders, helping to free Slough House.
Finally, by centering most scenes around character interaction and dialogue, “Tall Tales” effectively showcases how the show finds comedic moments in scenes of heavy tension. Beyond banter and jokes, the episode blends humor and intrigue in a fascinating way. For example, no other show would include a fart joke that causes the audience to question whether or not said fart was part of a calculated scheme. Additionally, Lamb claiming that the torture story was made up was funny if he was to be believed, but also added to the mystery of his backstory and psyche. The ultimate showcase of this tonal balance was with Roddy and Taverner. Roddy’s childish ramblings are equal parts pathetic, hilarious, and genuinely interesting in terms of him being potentially compromised. Overall, this was an excellent episode of Slow Horses, showcasing some of its greatest stylistic strengths while setting up for a thrilling second half of the season.
Rating: 9/10