Episode 1 of Slow Horses' exhilarating second season kicks off with a thrilling sequence, as Richard Bough, a seasoned retiree from the shadows, is jolted from his routine by a fleeting glimpse of a familiar face outside his humble shopfront. Driven by instinct, he embarks on a stealthy pursuit, tailing a balding figure through bustling streets to the train station and ultimately, aboard a crowded bus. With a clandestine message dispatched and his phone cunningly concealed beneath the seat's crevice, fate takes an unexpected turn as Bough succumbs to a heart attack, slipping into unconsciousness.
Unbeknownst to the casual observer, Bough was once a field operative, unjustly exiled on the eve of the Berlin Wall's collapse. His sudden collapse ignites a fresh conflagration within the Slow Horses' ranks, as Jackson Lamb, ever the mastermind, springs into action. Disguising himself as Bough's brother, he seamlessly infiltrates the bus, his keen mind unraveling the mystery left behind. The cryptic message—"Cicada"—beckons, alluding to a covert network of sleeper agents entrenched within British society, their long years of dormancy mirroring the insect's underground hibernation before its emergence.
Dickie Bough, a name synonymous with a past mission to unravel the puppet master behind these spies—Alexander Popov—finds himself at the heart of a conspiracy far deeper than anyone imagined. His abrupt disappearance before the Berlin Wall's fall, returning disheveled and claiming to have been duped by Popov, was met with skepticism and disdain, leading to his ignominious dismissal. But beneath the surface, whispers of a grander scheme linger.
Meanwhile, River's job interview takes an unexpected detour when the interviewer's probing questions about Jackson Lamb cast a shadow over proceedings. Elsewhere, Min and Louisa forge ahead with a new assignment, venturing beyond the confines of Slough House to work alongside Webb, providing security for a pivotal encounter with Russian dignitaries. The stage is set for a season brimming with intrigue, deception, and the unwavering determination of the Slow Horses to uncover the truth, no matter how deeply buried it may be.
At Slough House, the team convenes, eyes glued to the CCTV screens as they meticulously sift through the footage, desperate to unravel the mystery at hand. Their initial hunch zeros in on the bald figure that Bough had been tailing, prompting them to devise a daring plan to retrieve the train's hard drives, hoping to uncover more clues.
Lamb, ever the strategist, plays a cunning move by bringing up River's upcoming job interview, stirring a mix of tension and lighthearted ribbing among them. Yet, beneath the surface, River struggles to shake off the specters of his past, which cling to him like a shroud.
When River confides in his father about the Richard Bough case, the revelation sends shockwaves through him, causing him to hastily excuse himself for a drink, claiming disbelief that the man still breathed. The exchange hints at depths unseen, and River instinctively senses his father's unease, mirroring his own intricate emotions.
Shirley, meanwhile, pulls off a daring heist, infiltrating the datacenter with precision and speed, emerging victorious with the crucial files in hand. The footage reveals Bough on the train, and a chilling detail emerges: the bald man's fleeting touch on his arm, followed by Bough rubbing his own arm in apparent distress after exiting. This fleeting interaction hints at a sinister plot—poison, perhaps—and River shares this grim realization with Lamb, who, despite his disapproval of River's job hunt, acknowledges the solid lead they've uncovered.
It seems the whispers of cicadas, once thought to be but a myth, may have been reawakened, stirring the very foundations of their investigation and propelling them deeper into a labyrinth of intrigue and danger.
