Picking up just moments after the end of the previous episode, Slow Horses season 3 episode 5 starts with Duffy (Chris Reilly) giving orders to the Chieftan team to attack the main facility door while also turning the lone escape route into a shooting gallery should River (Jack Lowden), Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar) and Sean (Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù) try to get out that way. He also sends Hobbs (Chris Coghill) and Sturges (Nick Blood) to take care of Standish.
Now that Tearney's (Sophie Okonedo) big move is underway, she goes to have a chat with the person who set the whole thing in motion, Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas). Taverner admits it, wanting Tearney out so she can become first desk. Taverner knows Tearney commissioned an illegal device that could wirelessly hack encrypted computers, but when it failed she had Alison, who was going to leak the details, killed. When Tearney didn't resign after that, Taverner took action into her own hands, becoming Sean's anonymous MI5 source and setting him up with Chieftan.
Tearney compliments her on a well played strategy, but says she is in control now, as Duffy and company are going to snuff out everyone at the facility and only the Slow Horses can save her now. "Have they ever saved you before," Tearney asks? To which Taverner can't hold back a small smile.
Assessing the situation
Sarah (Eliot Salt) invites Standish down from the attic now that she has helped them, telling Standish (Saskia Reeves) they hope to use the information to oust Tearney from MI5. Though Sarah does wonder why Standish helped them? She says she has no sympathy for Tearney and how she operates. But Standish may not be completely in line with her captors, as she carefully manages the tea they gave her.
Meanwhile, at the facility, River and Louisa wonder what they should do with Sean and Ben (Charlie Row) going rogue looking for the file. However, they soon have a bigger problem as Douglas (Sion Daniel Young) gets in touch and explains operatives with guns are approaching the door. River goes to check it out.
When River sees Duffy he guesses everything is fine, but the more he thinks about it the more he realizes they are not there to help them, they are there for them. He calls Lamb (Gary Oldman) for backup, but Lamb says the only available options are the recently fired Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) and Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards).
Thankfully, the pair are at Slough House turning in their badges when River calls. While they don't pick up initially, they hear River's message that Duffy and Chieftan are going to storm the building and they need help. They go to answer the phone, but the line is cut. River thinks they are on their own, but thankfully Marcus and Shirley decide to come to their aid.
Enemies at the gate
Louisa wants to know what Sean is looking for and they are risking their lives for. He tells her it's the Footprint file that Alison was going to leak.
At the front gate, River tries to tell the Chieftan team they do not have permission to enter the facility and that he is operating under orders from Tearney, but they don't care and start entering the code for the door. Douglas could enter the override code to prevent them from getting in, but under pressure he can't remember it, so River shoots the doorpad, locking the door. That doesn't stop them though, as they use explosives to blow the door. River gets into a shootout with the Chieftan ops, killing one and grabbing his gun. Douglas panics and gives himself up. A Chieftan op asks Duffy if they should kill Douglas even if he is unarmed and being compliant, but Duffy tells them to bring Douglas to him.
River gets back to Louisa and they catch each other up on the situation. As they work to block the Chieftan operatives from getting back to the file room, Louisa becomes convinced Sean is on to something if MI5 is doing all of this.
When Duffy talks with Douglas, he asks him what Sean told him. Douglas says all he knows is they wanted to look at the Grey Books, he told them where they were but then they went off on their own. Duffy seems satisfied and is going to let him go, but then Douglas can't stop talking and admits he knows it has something to do with Tearney. He immediately recognizes his mistake and tries to bargain, but Duffy shoots him in the head.
As all of this is happening, Tearney and Taverner are still having their drink and chat. Taverner wonders why she didn't just destroy the file. Tearney believed just destroying the file would cause greater suspicion, so she moved it around hoping it would get lost in the flow of things. Taverner suggests that's what she should do now with her career, but Tearney counters, saying one of them will disappear based on how things play out in this situation.
Advantage Tearney
Unfortunately for the Slow Horses, things are looking good for Tearney right now.
Lamb and Roddy (Christopher Chung) arrive just outside the house where Standish is being held. Lamb goes in alone, telling Roddy to "do something" if he's not back in 30 minutes. Lamb knocks on the door posing as a beggar and when Sarah opens it just enough he slams it into her, knocking her out. Standish explains to Lamb that Sarah, Ben and Sean are looking for a file that proved MI5 killed Alison, which lets him understand why Duffy is attacking River and Louisa.
But they are about to have their own problems, as Hobbs and Sturges arrive at the house, causing Lamb, Standish and the reawaken Sarah to try and protect themselves. Roddy also sees them arrive and gets out of his car to try and help.
At the facility, the Chieftan ops break through the barriers River and Louisa set up and another shootout begins. Thankfully Marcus and Shirley arrive with Marcus' personal illegal armory. They see Duffy has set up a kill box for River and company if they come out the escape hatch, so they need to clear that to give them a chance. However, they are quickly pinned down by Chieftan men.
Finally, Sean finds the file, now they just have to figure out how to get out. Ben wants to help, grabbing a gun off a dead Chieftan operative, but he unfortunately gets shot in the neck in the process. It only gets worse, Chieftan throws a grenade into the room and when it goes off it blows River and everyone back as the episode comes to an end.
Slow Horses season 3 episodes premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV Plus.
