It's time to return to Slough House with the premiere of Slow Horses season 3. But before we check in with Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his team of disgraced spies, episode 1, "Strange Games," begins in Istanbul.
Sean Donovan (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù) and Alison Dunn (Katherine Waterston) joyfully lie in bed together, debating whether they should ever leave. They do, and while Alison goes to get ready, Sean begins rummaging through her desk. She catches him doing this, wondering what he is looking for. He reveals he is trying to find a sensitive file, Footprint, that he was told she is going to leak, but he does truly have feelings for her. Alison's not buying it though, demanding he leave. Once he does, she pulls out the file from hiding and arranges to drop it off with her contact.
Sean doesn't give up that easily though, following her as she leaves her apartment. When Alison spots him, a chase throughout the city begins. Alison is able to lose him long enough to get to the stadium where she meets her contact (Firat Dogruloglu). She gives the file to him and goes to leave, but he grabs her arm. Sean arrives shortly thereafter. He spots Alison's car, but it's not Alison driving it, it's her contact. Sean desperately searches the stadium, eventually finding Alison — she had been thrown over the railing and fell to her death.
Spying on spies
It's one year later when we head back to London and Slough House, which is overrun with files that the team has been tasked with inventorying. River (Jack Lowden) sees it as nothing but busy work, getting into an argument with Standish (Saskia Reeves) over how much effort they should put into it. As they leave for the day, River tells her she's acting like martyr with the files. He immediately feels bad about it but she is gone before he can apologize. As he leaves, he gets bumped into by Sean, who is going in the same direction as Standish.
Lamb, meanwhile, is at the doctor's office getting his annual physical. His doctor warns him he needs to exercise and watch what he eats, but Lamb doesn't care, fine with whatever time his current lifestyle will give him. Backing that up, he stops at a pastry shop window to look at the delicious deserts, but he notices someone eying him, who then begins to follow him.
Standish attends an AA meeting. Sean is also there, sharing his story, which Standish responds to. After the meeting, he asks her if she would like to get a coffee. He tells her he is back in London after losing someone, which caused him to start drinking. Standish tells him the emotion will always come out, which Sean agrees, adding there will always be a reckoning. Standish clocks Sean making a signal to someone else at the restaurant. Alarmed, she tries to leave, but Sean tells her she can't until they talk about Jackson Lamb. Standish is able to make a break for it out the back and tries to contact Slough House, but when a woman (Eliot Salt) asks her for directions and slows her down it proves to just be a distraction, as Sean arrives and drags her to a car. Standish is able to drop a hairpin on the ground before she is driven away.
Lamb, still being tailed, decides to stop and see if the guy will come to him, taking out a knife in anticipation. But the man gets into a car and drives off before he comes close to Lamb.
Catching up with the Slow Horses
Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar) is alone at a bar when she gets hit on by a guy (Henry Davis) who won't shut up. She eventually tells him if he can be quiet and wait until she finishes two glasses of wine, he can come home with her. He manages to do it, but this affair is short lived, as Louisa throws him out when she catches him taking some of her ice cream without asking. It was more than just rude behavior that concerned Louisa, as she checks the ice cream to confirm the diamond she pocketed from the end of Slow Horses season 2 is still in there (it is).
Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) and Roddy (Christopher Chung) are also out, reluctantly so as Roddy maneuvered them to join him so he can get Shirley's help in asking Louisa out. But Shirley quickly puts Roddy back in his place, smacking him when he mouths off.
Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) is being punished for her mismanagement last season by Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo). That includes being sent to run an errand at a storage facility, making sure that a file arrived safely, which nervous facility manager Douglas (Sion Daniel Young) confirms.
Lamb on high alert
The next morning Lamb can't find Standish, which raises a red flag. He asks Louisa, Shirley and Marcus to do some digging. River brings up the guy that bumped into him as a possible person of interest, but when he asks what else he can do, Lamb tells him to do nothing.
Shirley and Marcus find that Standish hasn't been home since the day before, while Louisa figures out that Standish went to the coffee shop with a man that matches the guy River bumped into. Outside the shop she notices the security cameras have been disabled and finds Standish's hairpin. Lamb investigates by going back to his doctor's office and getting confirmation from the receptionist that the guy who followed him was tracking him since his appointment. This all leads Louisa and Lamb to one conclusion: Standish was abducted.
The scene flips to Standish, gagged and locked in a shed. Sean comes and gets her so they can take a picture with a gun to her head. He then sends that picture from Standish's phone to River, following up with a call and telling him if he tells anyone about the picture Standish dies and to get to a meeting spot immediately.
New episodes of Slow Horses season 3 premiere on Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.
