With how “Slow Horses” had been progressing, season 4 episode 5 would be one of those set-up episodes that also turns out to be make or break. All the chess pieces slowly start to move across the board and set themselves up for a confrontation, or, as Harkness states in the opening segment of this episode, “calling hello on the way.” It all converges with an action sequence that recalls the fantastic action-heavy last season.
Slow Horses (Season 4) Episode 5 “Grave Danger” Recap:
Where does Harkness go to gather information and regroup?
Suppose the primary question had been how Harkness had been able to gather information about Chapman and Cartwright. In that case, we are afforded the answer this week when Harkness visits the apartment of the librarian of the Park’s archive, Molly. We learn that Harkness had been essentially catfishing her for a week by presumably taking on the cold body identity of Mitch Philpott. As Molly points out, Harkness had a surprising amount of knowledge of old ops, and that’s why he was successful in raising her warning signs.
As it turns out, Harkness is watching the video feed of the camera jammed into the brick wall at Tunbridge Wells, and there he sees River Cartwright being escorted out of the house by Flyte and taken, obviously to the Park. He wants access to the security codes of the Park and is open to maiming Molly by cutting off her finger and eye and even sawing off her good leg if necessary.
While at Tunbridge Wells, River is unwilling to answer Flyte’s questions about Westacres, the photo of the three bombers she recovered on his person, or what he knows about the current events unless he has a chance to speak to his grandfather. The only problem is River is out of the loop, and Flyte already failed in her search at Standish’s house, so she doesn’t believe him. That same disbelief and disillusionment are slowly seeping into Flyte for her boss, Diana, as well, whose actions regarding Lockhead’s passport and having to bring that into her directly without logging it in is against protocol.
How does the rest of Slough House assist in the investigation?
Meanwhile, Lamb is driving the taxi carrying Cartwright and Standish, and his acrimonious relationship with Cartwright threatens to reach a boiling point. Though it is pretty clear to Lamb that whoever is in France, Cartwright is definitely unwilling to talk about, which Lamb clearly wants the old bastard’s lips to loosen up for.
For the other Slow Horses, it’s all about regrouping. Ho manages to track down and decipher the man responsible for Moira, who will be sent to Slough House. It turns out that it is the current First Desk, Claude Whelan, who has a predilection for “ladies of the night” that Moira had unwillingly acquired the knowledge of, which led to her banishment.
For Louisa, Shirley, and Marcus, it is about returning to Slough House and hatching a plan. They have struck a dead end in understanding why someone would attack River by calling his mother, but his mother cares less about River and even less about her father, so that door is closed. At the office, they soon conclude (not amicably) that the assassin must have used a backstreet doctor to patch himself up. Moira reveals that while she doesn’t have access, she knows about the existence of a database of all these doctors in the field, and she could make a few calls.
How do Taverner and Whelan plan to cover their bases?
The distrust Flyte has been feeling towards Taverner is not unwarranted. As it turns out, even without the help of faulty devices in the office and Whelan’s general incompetence, he too finally tows back to the company line of protecting secrets and ensuring that news should not be released about two of their cold body IDs being used as a death squad throughout the 2010s. Whelan agrees with Taverner that Giti needs to be reminded of her job and the consequences of being a potential whistleblower. At the same time, they would have to arrest the guilty party to ensure “everlasting silence.”.
As Flyte reveals angrily to Cartwright on the return trip to London, it’s these differing agendas of the spooks that led to Flyte being “dicked around” like a goddamn ragdoll that is what is making her angry and disillusioned. River, offended that he is put on the same boat as Taverner (ironically), tries to convince her to get the photograph out there so that they both could not just stop another Westacres but, more importantly, manage to save his grandfather; otherwise, he would hold Flyte responsible. Sure, River won’t reveal the true intention of meeting with his grandfather because, as he remarks to Flyte, that is between them initially.
How does Lamb question Cartwright about France?
He is not wrong, considering what he learned at the end of the last episode and what Lamb manages to coax out of the old bastard by bringing him to the graveyard where his wife is buried and emotionally torturing him by still lying and confusing him that he had shot his grandson. This ultimately leads to Cartwright’s guilty conscience revealing what we had already known in the last episode but further expanded upon: the woman in the exchange had been Cartwright’s daughter, and Cartwright had dealt with Harkness by supplying him with guns and cold bodies because he had a list of targets he wanted to off.
As Cartwright explains, Harkness wanted to create a deniable assassination squad by raising killers from birth and earning their loyalty via that methodology. It turns out that Cartwright’s daughter had wanted to be with Harkness, that at some unknown point in time, she had fallen for him, and Cartwright couldn’t allow that to happen, and Harkness, knowing Cartwright’s connection, had managed to squeeze him.
Catherine, though, asks the important question: Why are they targeting him now? Lamb finally realizes and answers it for David—because the old bastard can link them to Westacres. Thus, not only is he unsafe outside, but he will also be unsafe if sent to The Park because they would also want to wash their hands clean off Westacres (which they already are scrambling to do).
Lamb meanwhile remiss Standish that she had promised River that she would protect his grandfather, and in quintessential Lamb fashion, he asks her to break the old bastard’s bubble that he wasn’t responsible for the death of his grandson, even though the man wouldn’t remember. Meanwhile, Harkness is visited by his “son” at Molly’s home, where we finally learn his name is Patrice. Patrice reveals that he has Chapman’s phone. He is also shown the credentials of Lamb and the Slough House members, and Patrice manages to pick out Lamb, Marcus, and Shirley.
As Harkness derisively points out, Patrice had failed to take out a unit comprised of rejects and “shitheels.” As Molly watches, bewildered, he manipulates Patrice by derision, commanding him to be vigilant and not devolve into self-indulgence before ordering him to return to his station and wait for orders. Molly’s expression mirrors our own—this is a peculiar fatherly relationship Harkness has with Patrice, and one wonders where it will ultimately go.
What is the Park and Slough House planning to capture Patrice and Harkness?
Back at the Park, Whelan and Taverner mentally prepare themselves to either sack Giti or buy her silence but are blindsided by Giti informing them that she had traced the identities of the people in the photo sent by Flyte to her and First Desk (which Whelan had forgotten to check in his mail). As Giti reveals the identities of the bombers and Harkness before being instructed by Taverner to bring them in, both Taverner and Whelan realize this has already spiraled out of their control. There is no box big enough to lock this down.
Meanwhile, at Slough House, Ho has tracked down the responsible backstreet doctor by collating a suspicious death. CCTV camera of the alleyway reveals Patrice limping into the chamber before walking out, doused with painkillers and none the wiser. Truly a Terminator, as Marcus remarks, and like the T-800.
Ho informs Louisa that River is back in London and has been arrested by the Dogs, which she passes on to Lamb after deriding Ho for not telling her earlier. She also informs Lamb that the killer hunting Chapman is on the loose. Considering Chapman hasn’t checked in, Lamb decides to make a stop at his office while instructing Standish to take David back to Slough House while ensuring the Park doesn’t catch a whiff about it.
Slow Horses (Season 4) Episode 5 “Grave Danger” Ending Explained:
How does Harkness capture River?
Ever since Harkness had forced his way into Molly’s apartment and managed to access the Park’s systems, he had been keeping a close watch on the GPS tracking Flyte’s cordon carrying River Cartwright. His instruction to Patrice would be carried out by the bullish assassin when he manages to knock out three refuse workers and steal their truck.
Harkness walks out of Molly’s house with three minutes left of his plan coming to fruition, but unlike Molly had been fearing, he doesn’t kill her. Instead, he literally wants to send a message in the form of five envelopes left across Molly’s desk, addressed to five different people, presumably containing sensitive and damaging information.
As River’s car drives through central London, the car at the front of the Cordon collides with the refuse truck, which destroys it. As their car tries to move out and finds themselves stuck in traffic, Patrice dismounts from the truck and starts shooting. He manages to kill the two guards in the front, while Flyte tries to protect Cartwright by not unlocking his cuffs that are attached to the door.
Patrice walks up to River’s window and breaks through the glass, trying to drag him out, while Flyte walks out of the car and starts shooting at him. Patrice dodges as her revolver runs out of bullets, and both she and River try desperately to slow Patrice down. River hits him in the leg while Flyte tries to knock him out by punching him across the face until Patrice locks both of Flyte’s hands and then leverages them to bash Flyte headfirst onto the side of the car, knocking her out.
To River’s surprise, though, Patrice doesn’t kill him. Instead, he takes the gun off one of the dead security personnel and shoots through the cuffs before hijacking another car, pushing River into the boot of that car, and driving away from the chaotic scene. This is clearly the appointment Harkness had been talking about when he was walking out of Molly’s apartment, with the episode ending on a foreboding note.
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