Things are rapidly on the uptick in ‘Slow Horses’ season 5, where an unseen enemy continues to present a very visible problem to the population of London. A series of vehicular explosions sends the city’s traffic into gridlock, creating unexpected chaos. Meanwhile, the Slough House finds itself in lockdown under Emma Flyte’s watchful eye. With each new catastrophe, Coe’s theory of the destabilization strategy begins to take hold, compelling Jackson Lamb to find a means of escape for himself and his agents. Simultaneously, Roddy Ho finds himself at an interrogation table across from Diana Taverner, who puts his love life under a scrutinizing microscope to find any actionable information about his suspicious relationship with Tara. Thus, episode 3, ‘Tall Tales,’ remains ripe with sleuthy maneuvers and startling revelations. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Taverner Dissects Roddy and Tara’s Relationship
Following Roddy’s detention by the MI5, he is taken to the Park, where he’s put in isolation in the lead-up to an interrogation. The agent takes this turn of events in his own flippant and eccentrically weird way. He seems convinced that the entire arrest is a misunderstanding since he’s desperate to believe there is some reality behind his relationship with Tara. Naturally, this mindset makes Diana Taverner’s job all the more difficult when she comes in to interrogate him. On more than one occasion, she finds herself undercutting Roddy’s fabricated tales of grandeur with the pitiful reality of what his dating life looks like. For instance, she reveals to him that his last relationship was with a bot, likely sent to gather information on his preferences.
If Roddy’s reaction to this news remains difficult, his refusal to admit the facetious nature of Tara’s relationship with him is something else. Still, Taverner remains steadfast in her investigation to uncover what the mysterious woman could have possibly wanted from the other agent. The answers eventually come as the latter accidentally blurts some vital information in an attempt to convince the senior agent that Tara had no interest in his MI5 work. Roddy reveals that in one instance, in an attempt to impress his date, he had shown her how to hack into the MI5 database. Even though he claims she couldn’t have replicated his technique, he also reluctantly admits that he had left Tara alone with the database for a short while. As a result, Taverner realizes just how significant a security breach had happened and slipped right under the MI5’s noses.
An Attack Transpires at the Regent’s Zoo Park
While MI5 is still running circles around attempting to find the origin behind the mass car explosions in London’s traffic, another tragedy strikes. At the Regent’s Zoo Park, a bomb goes off in the penguins’ habitat, which was sneaked into the establishment by a homeless man. When Emma Flyte learns about the attack, she has no choice but to leave the Slough House under Devon’s supervision. Once on the scene, the Head of the Dogs learns that a stranger, claiming to be a climate activist, had paid the homeless man to deliver the bomb to the zoo. Soon enough, the news of the wildlife tragedy overtakes every news outlet.
In the meantime, Devon continues to keep an iron grip on the agents of the Slough House, swiping weapons from Lamb’s grasp before he has the chance to make a go at them. Soon enough, Coe, who received special permission from Flyte to hold onto his phone during the lockdown, learns about the penguins. This compels him to double down on his destabilization strategy theory. Even though his co-workers had been taking his theory with a grain of salt so far, Lamb realizes that it can’t be a coincidence that four stages have been checked off in order. Nonetheless, when he tries to persuade Devon into allowing him to contact the Park to alert them about the strategy’s next possible danger, the security agent remains firm in her refusal to lift the lockdown or pass along Lamb’s messages.
Lamb Creates a Misdirection to Break Free of the Lockdown
When it becomes clear that Devon cannot be reasoned or convinced into playing along with Lamb’s plan, he resorts to reliable manipulation. He jumps into a story about the olden days, particularly a story about his time in Berlin during the reign of the Stasi. He tells them about one of his agents who was captured by the enemy and tortured within an inch of his life. Nonetheless, he refused to give up the name of an instrumental agent. As a result, the Stasi agents ended up finding a local woman whom their victim had grown fond of during his assignment. They continued to torture the innocent woman and killed her even after she revealed that she was pregnant with the British agent’s child. Still, the latter remained tight-lipped. Shortly thereafter, the Stasi realized the reason the agent remained silent was that he had no information about the person they were trying to find.
In the end, the British agent was allowed to walk away with his life. Although bleak, the story contains various hidden messages, prompting the other horses to use the tools around the room as weapons in a snap revolt against Devon and the other Dogs. Fortunately enough, everyone manages to read these signals, allowing them to jump into action when the time comes. Ultimately, they manage to overpower Devon and the others, earning their freedom. As per Coe’s theory, the next step in the strategy would be the assassination of a prominent political figure. Consequently, Lamb sends him and River to Campbell’s rally, expecting him to be the natural talent of the attackers. On the other hand, Shirley and Standish go to Zafar’s rally as a safety measure. Lastly, Lamb chooses to go out on a mysterious solo mission of his own, prepared to do what it takes to save the day. Read More: Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 2 Recap: Incommunicado
