Slow Horses – Season 3 Episode 2 “Hard Lessons” Recap & Review

Hard Lessons

Episode 2 of Slow Horses season 3 starts with River bolting out Slough House and rushing over to the bridge. He makes it there, and he’s given a message from none other than Spider (James Webb). He too is being blackmailed into giving up info and with lives on the line, River is tasked with getting the Prime Minister’s vetting files from Regent’s Park.

He has until midday otherwise Spider’s family are going to die. And to show how serious these people are, a laser pointer ends up on Spider’s chest. He pushes River to leave, and he does so… but only after taking a fake diamond from Spider’s tie.

River races through the underground to Regent’s Park Station. He races to the Embassy and hands over the diamond to Duffy. He’s not sure whether this is even genuine and is certainly suspicious. In fact, Duffy decides that River needs to tag along while they find out if this diamond is genuine.

Thankfully, River is saved by Taverner, who brings him into her office. She berates River for being a walking disaster… but time is ticking. River takes all of this on the chin as he glances at the time. He realizes he only has 20 minutes left to get the files. Taverner knows there’s something afoul but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she lets him go and watches as he heads down to the basement.

Elsewhere, Louisa notices the car under the bridge being taken away for parking on double yellow lines. She searches the car, after an altercation with the workers, and finds Sean’s name and address. Back at the office, Jackson realizes that Slough House has been compromised. It would seem that they have a tap on the phones and the whole building surrounded.

In order to cause some confusion, Jackson has Ho call in a fake threat to the police. Unfortunately, time is of the essence when Duffy realizes the diamond’s a fake. Down in the basement, River’s mission is made all the more difficult when Hobbs decides to tag along with River for this journey. Naturally, it ends with River knocking him down (but not out).

Meanwhile, Jackson finds the tail out the front of Slough House and has both Shirley and Marcus tail him. Unfortunately, he quickly realizes something’s afoul and they lose hm when he’s picked up in a van. However, they get a ping on Cartright’s phone and learn where he is.

Jackson susses something afoul and meets with Sam Chapman after losing his tail in the laundrette. He’s figured out what’s going on with River and Catherine, while also knowing that they’re ex-military. They could well be private security, hired by someone who wants to penetrate the Park. There’s only three names that come to mind and two of them are tied up. So that leaves Chieftain, the self-proclaimed “New d*cks on the block”.

Jackson figures out who may be behind this, while River races around the building. He does eventually find the file after using Hobbs’ pass but he’s stopped by Jackson. He tells him to get out before he “screws them all”. River is forced to abandon ship and trust Jackson, with Molly telling him to leave out the back through a service hatch.

Whatever is going on, Catherine’s kidnappers don’t seem like outright awful people. They do confirm that they’re going to move Catherine in about 20 minutes but keep her well-fed and apologize for the gun incident, telling her they needed to make it “look real”. As for River, he makes it out of Park and receives a call from Jackson, who confirms that a Tiger Team have Catherine. Unfortunately, he’s stopped by Duffy and his goons, who show up and bundle him into a car.

The Episode Review

We learn a little more about the kidnappers in this episode, all wrapped around a nail-biting race against time. The entire break-in to Park is well constructed and certainly intense until the end, where Jackson seems to know more than he’s letting on.

The subplots also work surprising well too with just the right touch of humour and tension to keep things ticking over. One thing’s for sure though, this situation has escalated to another level and quite what will happen next is anyone’s guess!