Aahana Swrup
As the end nears in ‘Slow Horses’ season 6, Jackson Lamb and Diana Taverner find themselves finally teaming up against their shared enemy. In episode 6 titled ‘Judgment Day,’ Frank Harkness tracks down the Slough House agents at the safehouses, turning them into sitting ducks who must find a way to defend themselves. As this unfolds, their department head continues his sleuthing, circling around the Russian emissary currently in business with media tycoon Damien Cantor. This directly aligns Lamb’s interests with Taverner’s, allowing the two to work together toward a common goal. While the former is only interested in ensuring the safety of his joes, the latter has to weigh the cost of saving MI5 from the hands of opportunists or owning up to her own blunders. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Lamb Shows Up to a Party Unannounced at the Carrington Residence
Following Sid Baker’s escape from the military airstrip, the MI5 agents are tasked with returning River to the Park. However, the Slough House agent manages to be such a nuisance that they kick him out of the envoy before long. Afterward, he reaches out to Lamb to alert him about Taverner’s failed plan to let Baker take the fall for her Russian operation gone wrong. He also has to deliver the tragic news of Coe’s death before he’s sent out to the department’s safehouse. Meanwhile, the veteran MI5 agent meets up with the Head of the First Desk again to ask her about Natasha Carrington, the woman he has discovered to be in cahoots with Cantor. Furthermore, he learns that the breadth of Taverner’s plan for dealing with this catastrophic fallout involves bearing the Home Secretary’s axe of blame.
Despite their differences, Lamb acknowledges that self-sacrifice might not be the best way to deal with the situation. Instead, comes up with a plan to take down their common enemy in one swing. This takes the agent to Carrington’s house, where the Russian oligarch’s heir is hosting a birthday party for her daughter. Blunt honesty and causing a public scene about his intentions to talk to Natasha about the assassins she has sent after his agents get Lamb inside the house, across from the person of interest. Once he manages to start the conversation, the MI5 agent makes an interesting proposition. Now that Cantor has failed to help her deliver revenge for Vassily, he can offer something better. A Russian double agent who masterminded the entire operation at Kazan.
Taverner’s Holiday House Falls Victim to Frank’s Attack
Things remain tense at the Slough House safehouse, which also happens to be Diana Taverner’s beach house. River’s arrival, bearing news of Sid and Coe, hardly helps ease out any kinks. Between cabin fever and Shirley’s annoyance at Louisa because of an old grudge regarding stolen diamonds, the agents are prone to internal bickering. However, all of that takes a back seat when Flyte realizes that hostile enemies have surrounded their safehouse. Despite their numbers, the agents have few weapons between them. Flyte and Louisa take charge as the only armed members, while Shirley and River make use of their stash of fire molotovs. Once they have managed to suppress the two active shooters, Harkness’ only cavalry, they realize that their best bet is to flee from the scene.
During their escape, the group gets divided into two, sending Standish and Moira with River and Louisa, while the rest are with Flyte. The latter suggests using herself as a distraction to allow the rest to get to the boats parked at the beach nearby, while the other group contemplates a different strategy. Eventually, Flyte is forced into action when one of Frank’s men targets the shed they’re hiding out in. Although she manages to shoot him down, she inevitably falls victim to the former CIA agent when her own magazine runs out. On the other hand, River makes it back inside the safehouse, and Louisa takes a near-fatal bullet, which leaves her under the dubious protection of Moira.
Reece Takes a Life, and Standish Calls For Help
At the safehouse, River instantly gains a new enemy in the form of Jane, the Russian assassin previously assumed to be dead. On the other hand, Louisa has been shot down and only barely manages to return to Standish and Moira’s flimsy hideout. Similarly, Flyte is dead, and Roddy has taken off, leaving Reece on his own. Once Shirley, newly armed with a harpoon from the boats, realizes the same, she has no choice but to teach the kid how the weaponry functions in case worst comes to worst. As such, the horses have been effectively pinned down and seem to be heading towards the same bleak fate. Nonetheless, as things devolve, Moira encourages Standish to try for a Hail Mary and leave the hideout to find help. The administrative worker eventually finds it on the dead hitman’s mobile phone.
With no other avenues open, Standish dials Lamb’s number, hoping he could save his joe’s from certain doom. Fortunately for her, the senior agent is currently chaperoning his and Taverner’s scapegoat, Cantor, to the airstrip where he will be strapped in for a flight straight to Vassily. As such, Lamb uses this opportunity to exploit the billionaire’s desperation by offering him a deal if he manages to call off Frank Harkness. Thus, with one phone call, the lives of the Slough House agents are saved. However, as it turns out, their leader had only lied to Cantor to take advantage of him. In the end, he goes through with his original plan, letting the other take the fall for the Kazan operation.
Slow Horses Season 6 Ending: What Happens to River? Does He Die?
In the aftermath, the death toll racks up high around Slough House, including their unofficial member Emma Flyte. Therefore, the team meets up in a church to pay respects to their fallen colleagues, sharing a drink in their memory. Once they disperse, Standish shares a message with River about his late grandfather’s house. Apparently, a neighbor has recently noticed that some of the lights around the property have been turned on. Although Standish doesn’t understand the significance of this detail, the other agent catches on quickly. Earlier, when he and Sid Baker were at the military airstrip, River had shared a story about how David Cartwright would keep a light on around his house whenever he expected his grandson to visit. Ever since his death, it’s the one thing he misses the most.
In the moment, Sid had told River that she would keep the lights on for him. Now, after surviving the target on her back, she is proving the honesty behind this statement. By evening, the Slough House agent arrives at his grandfather’s house, where he sees Sid through the window. Once inside, he tries to prepare a romantic setup while the shower runs in the background. Although he’s flustered because of his nerves, something else seems to be going on with the agent. He’s constantly stretching out the palm of his hand. Notably, it doesn’t seem to be the still-healing hand, which recently sustained both a bullet and a stab wound. Eventually, River’s condition worsens enough that he passes out in the middle of the room.
The season ends without any conclusive resolution about the newfound threat that looms over River. It’s possible that Sid isn’t alone at the Cartwright house and she was, in fact, being used as bait to draw out the other agent. If this is the case, Vassily could potentially be behind the ambush, likely still holding a grudge about the Kazan incident. On the other hand, this development could also be related to Frank Harkness and something he told his son while they shared a drink at the safe house. He had made claims about David Cartwright’s mysterious past, insisting that it was much darker than River thinks. Considering this attack happened at David’s house, there’s a considerable chance that it is connected to the departed agent. Either way, it’s unlikely that the Slough House agent is actually dead. Instead, he’s more likely to have fallen victim to a trap of some kind.
Does Louisa Survive?
At the beach, the Slough House agents took heavy fire from their enemies. Emma Flyte, the former Head of the Dogs, lost her life in the process of saving the others. For a moment, it seems like Louisa might be heading toward the same fate. When she and River leave the hideout to check out the safehouse, she takes a bullet to the abdomen. Although she manages to return ot the hideout afterward, the wound, paired with their vulnerable position, casts a dark cloud over her chance of survival. Nonetheless, in that dark hour, Moira steps up. She asks Standish to teach her how to use a gun so she can stay put and keep her and Louisa safe while the other goes out to find help.
Ultimately, it seems Moira’s gamble paid off. Standish is able to contact Lamb, which takes Harkness off the board. Additionally, he asks Taverner to send out a rescue team to her beach house. As a result, help arrives for Louis before it’s too late. In the aftermath, she is able to join the other surviving Slough House agents at the church at the unofficial memorial. She’s still recovering from her injuries and has to use a walking aid. Whether this is temporary or permanent is yet to be determined. Either way, she seems sure of one thing: she has no interest in returning to the Secret Service, preferring a civilian’s life to the dangers of the agency.
Does Taverner Lose Her First Desk Position? How Does She Save Herself?
At the start of the episode, Diana Taverner seems to believe that the only way out of this mess for her is through. After accepting money from Peter Judd for an unauthorized retaliatory operation in Kazan, the First Desk Head unwittingly indebted herself to Damien Cantor, the wannabe right-wing media mogul. This makes her compromised, and the fact of the latter’s collaboration with Russia only worsens the matter. As such, by confessing the truth to the Home Secretary, Taverner would be admitting to treason and facing the consequences for it accordingly. Fortunately for her, Lamb comes up with a different idea. While her plan may deliver some just desserts, it won’t save the Slough House agents who are currently being slaughtered because of her mistake.
Therefore, Lamb proposes an alternative: using Cantor as their scapegoat. When he meets Natasha, this is the same story he sells her. Vassily is thirsty for revenge. However, with Sid Baker in the wind, that remains impossible. Yet, Natasha can come out on top by offering him an alternative. Together, they can paint Cantor as a double agent who worked with Russia only to then turn around and fund an off-the-books MI5 operation. This way, Vassily gets his revenge on the billionaire. Meanwhile, Taverner can pass off Peter Judd as an intentional mastermind behind the whole thing, saddling him with the treason charge. At the end of the day, MI5 has cleaned up the fallout from this arrangement, and she gets to pocket all the credit for it, which helps her hold on to her position.
Why Did River Let Frank Go?
During the final confrontation at the holiday house, River Cartwright and Frank Harkness find themselves face-to-face with each other. The agent is evading an attack from Jane, a formidable opponent. Alternatively, his father has withdrawn from his mission after receiving new orders from his employer, Cantor. Thus, when he sees his son falling down the stairs with the Russian assassin on his toe, he doesn’t think twice before killing her. Afterward, the father-son duo shares a tense drink with stunted conversation. River and Frank’s relationship has always been unconventional given the latter’s absence from his life on account of his mercenary pursuits.
As such, they have been estranged from one another for the bulk of their lives. Therefore, when River overhears the sound of MI5 backup arriving, he tries to hold his father at gunpoint as a way to prevent him from escaping. Yet, Frank calls his bluff and takes off without inviting an attack from his son. Essentially, River lets his father go because of the complicated relationship between them. Even though there’s no love lost between them, the agent can’t fathom the idea of shooting at his father. Still, he expresses a desire for him to get caught when he points the other agents in the direction of his escape. Nonetheless, the damage has been done, as Frank ultimately escapes to freedom.
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