Aahana Swrup
Episode 5 of ‘Slow Horses’ Season 5 features many unforeseen plot twists and turns as pieces finally begin to fall into place. The unintentional assassination of Dennis Gimball progresses the destabilization strategy of the hidden enemy group, who continue to lurk in the shadows. However, MI5 comes one step closer to unveiling the latter’s entire plan with the arrest and detention of Tara, Roddy’s mysterious girlfriend, believed to be a pawn in the overarching scheme. Through some long-winded interrogation sessions and a little nudge in the right direction from Jackson Lamb, Emma Flyte uncovers some substantial intel. Meanwhile, Shirley and the other agents at the Slough House snoop through Roddy’s possessions. In doing so, they edge closer to unraveling a secret that Claude and the others at the Park might just overlook to their own detriment. SPOILERS AHEAD!
The Next Stage of the Destabilization Strategy is Afoot
The horses return from Jaffrey and Gimball’s separate rallies with two very different outcomes. While Shirley and Standish insist that they had stopped an assassination from taking place, Lamb remains reluctant to believe them since Jaffrey isn’t the politician who died. However, once he meets with River and Coe, who unsuccessfully attempt to lie about their mission, it becomes obvious that Gimball’s death is only a fortuitous accident that their enemy can thank the agents for. As per Coe’s theory, the unseen attackers were using an old MI5 method of the destabilization strategy to weaken the country, presumably in preparation for a bigger strike.
Unfortunately for the agents, the next step of the plan, blinding one’s opponents, could mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Thus, in order to get a better understanding of his elusive enemy, Lamb finds himself arriving at the Park, hoping Taverner might have some answers for him in light of Tara’s recent arrest. Nonetheless, Claude refuses to trust the head of the Slough House, insisting he was only looking for a way to save his and his agent’s skin. Still, Taverner can recognize the credence behind Lamb’s theories, which compels her to go over Claude’s head, ordering Flyte to ask Tara about the Destabilization Strategy.
Consequently, answers that were previously hidden behind an act of innocence begin to unravel. Tara reveals that she got involved in the entire charade after dipping her toes in Libyan protests against Britain. Before she knew it, this exposed her to a group of extremists who wanted to execute actual acts of violence to make their voices heard. As such, through a bout of extremely bad luck, she found herself forced to carry out the honeypot mission with Roddy as the target. Yet, by being on the inside of their scheme, she was also able to learn a thing or two about their organization’s secrets. Therefore, she’s able to tell Flyte about how the others used to often talk about bodies falling from the sky.
Claude Organizes an Undercover Sting
In the aftermath of Tara’s interrogation, the MI5 finds itself with two leads to follow. First, they knew the woman had used Roddy to help the attackers break into the Park’s database. The fact that they had no idea what intel was excavated as a result of this breach remains concerning. Therefore, when she offers them the specific code she was told to use, the opportunity to identify the breach’s purpose through recreating it in a controlled environment becomes available. Unfortunately for the other agents, this means employing the help of Roddy, who is all too smug to be let out of his containment. On the other hand, Claude manages to catch onto another possible clue. During her conversation with Flyte, Tara had implied that she’s scared for her life since the extremist group would surely kill her when she next sees them. This leads the MI5 Director to conclude there must be a plan for the woman to meet up with the others again.
Therefore, Claude puts on the “good cop” hat and attempts to convince Tara to reveal the nature of her expected communication with the others. In turn, the woman has no choice but to spill that she was instructed to meet the other men through an elaborate, secretive system at the subway. From there, the director manages to convince the young woman to help MI5 catch her collaborators by stepping into the field herself as an undercover agent. Although Tara is scared for her life and insists she isn’t the right person for the job, she eventually gives in, knowing that she’s the Service’s only hope of catching the bad guys. Ultimately, even though Taverner thinks the entire plan is doomed to fail, Claude goes through with it, sending Tara out to the subway, fitted with trackers and plenty of backup, including one Emma Flyte.
Tara Pulls a Bait and Switch on the MI5—Again
As Flyte escorts Tara to the subway station at Piccadilly Circus, Taverner’s attention remains on figuring out the purpose of the code she previously used on the MI5 database. Meanwhile, Lamb takes off on a personal quest of his own and pays a visit to Molly, who has recently been fired from the Service. Still, despite everything, Lamb believes the latter might have something he needs in this trying time. Simultaneously, the agents at the Slough House curiously rummage through Roddy’s box of memorabilia, and they begin to realize that Tara’s connection with each step of the destabilization strategy runs deeper than previously assumed. Back at the Park, Claude finds himself delivering yet another inspiring pep talk to encourage the young woman to go through with the mission.
In doing so, the MI5 director ends up revealing details about Flyte’s plans to follow Tara and keep her company every step of the way. In the end, the emotionally fragile woman finally commits to the mission and walks into the subway station. However, in the blind spot between the stairs and the platform, her entire demeanor changes as she ditches her jacket, which she knows to contain a tracker. Around the same time, the code she had supplied to Taverner begins to work, in the worst way possible. As it turns out, the code is meant to send the entire MI5 system into a blackout. As a result, the reality of the situation begins to come forward. Tara had never been an innocent victim of the attackers. Instead, she is an integral part of the team and has put on a show to execute the next step of the Destabilization Strategy: blinding the MI5 by making their systems defunct.
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