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The fourth season of Slow Horses is in the books. It arrived at a good time for the Apple TV+ show, as it had just won an Emmy for writing for its third season. Every season of Slow Horses is well-constructed and well-paced. This is due, in part, to each season being based on a different, single book in Mick Herron’s series, and in part due to the British nature of the show meaning each season is a mere six episodes. Slow Horses tells its stories with little filler or stalling, because the spy show doesn’t need it. Now that the fourth season is out, here is our ranking of the four seasons thus far.
4. Series 1: Slow Horses
Herron’s book series is called Slough House, but the first book is called Slow Horses, an in-universe play on the derisive nickname of the MI5 office the group works at. Wisely, they figured Slow Horses made for a better name for the show. While the first season gets the benefit of being fully fresh, it also has to lay groundwork other seasons do not, and also the story of the first season is the least enjoyable of the four. It’s a good season, but Slow Horses didn’t wow out of the gate.
3. Series 2: Dead Lions
While this is the next season in the show’s run, it is a decided step up in terms of quality. The interplay between Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb and a mysterious Russian counterpart is really enjoyable, and a way for a show set in modern times to still have some Cold War elements in the mix.
2. Series 4: Spook Street
Are you a bigger fan of Oldman’s Lamb, or Jack Lowdon’s River Cartwright? Your answer might decide where you have this season. If you love River, this River-heavy story may get the fourth season to the top of this list. For the Jackson partisans, though, it might be missing a bit of the same magic. That being said, Hugo Weaving’s Frank Harkness is by far the best villain the show has had in terms of a character.
1. Series 3: Real Tigers
Had this been the final season of Slow Horses it would have not disappointing. The action in the third season is intense, the stakes are sky high, and everybody gets a big moment. It’s almost impressive that the fourth season was able to follow the third and not feel like a letdown or unjustified. No wonder this season won Slow Horses its first Emmy.
