“Missiles” begins with a few scenes that perfectly capture the tense yet comedic tone of Slow Horses, as Roddy calls Tara in front of Flyte to track her, and Lamb finds the apartment on his own. The main storylines of this episode follow River and Coe as they go to a Gimball speech, while Shirley and Standish go to Jaffrey’s. In the background, Whelan counters Dennis and Dodie Gimball’s exposing story with blackmail of his own, revealing the anti-immigrant candidate to be the son of a Turkish illegal immigrant. Additionally, Lamb goes with Flyte to find Tara, which is successful. The episode concludes in a dual climax in which Shirley and Standish prevent Jaffrey’s assassination; River involves himself in a hostile misunderstanding with Bowman (Jaffrey’s Chief of Staff); and Coe accidentally causes a paint bucket to fall on Gimball’s head, killing him.
“Missiles” was an extremely strong episode of Slow Horses, building on the tension of the previous episode and utilizing its character pairings excellently. This episode offers a richer insight into minor characters, such as Whelan, in one of the season’s more interesting scenes. Flyte’s manipulation of Roddy by concocting a story about how she was a “honey-trapper” was a perfect example of how fluidly and effectively Slow Horses can hinge a scene on a supporting player. As for the main plots, River and Coe’s dynamic works very well, with each of them flipping between clever and stupid on a scene-to-scene basis. The climax, with River pulling a gun on Bowman, was a great moment on its own that capitalized on the tension implicit in River’s tendency to make a fool out of himself. Gimbal’s accidental death was an amazing moment as well, being both a comedic example of what the agents of Slough House get themselves into and a beat that ramps up the tension for the final two episodes. Shirley and Standish also had great scenes together, especially with the detail of Standish believing Shirley’s theory about Roddy’s attempted murder. The women working together to save Jaffrey was a phenomenal moment, and the caulk gun sniper rifle was an outstanding touch.
Thus far, this season of Slow Horses has done a phenomenal job further exploring its returning cast, especially with Coe, Whelan, and Flyte. However, the small consequence is that many of the new characters have grown in intrigue very slowly. This and the previous episode did great work with Devon, Jaffrey, Bowman, and the Gimballs. However, with only two episodes left, the main antagonistic group of the season feels underdeveloped by comparison. That said, the season has set an excellent precedent with its ability to naturally develop different characters each week, which has resulted in full faith that the next two episodes will remedy this minor issue. Additionally, while the antagonists are largely simplistic at the moment, the conflict and their effect on the protagonists are exhilarating.
Rating: 9/10