As I recently had to explain to a friend, Slow Horses is not a western show about horses, nor is it particularly slow in any way. It’s quite the opposite, really. Based off the 2010 novel of the same name, it’s a fast-paced spy thriller about a group of MI5 rejects who find themselves in the middle of a domestic terrorism plot in London. It also happens to star Gary Oldman, the legendary English actor who’s won more awards and racked up more box office returns than 99% of his contemporaries. In other words, it’s a series worth paying attention to.

Slow Horses kicks off its proceedings with a rapid foot-chase through an airport, as we follow River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) chasing down a suspected jihadist who most likely has a bomb in his backpack. There are many pulse-pumping sequences like this throughout Slow Horse’s six-episode first season, but I found this one especially riveting. In the end, things don’t go River’s way. Consequently, he ends up banished to Slough House, an MI5 offshoot specifically put together to station agents who screwed up, either in the field or in the office. This is a clever way to open this series, as it introduces River, who’s actually the main protagonist, to the audience in a manner that endears him to it. He’s shown to be a brave, impetuous, and generally decent bloke. However, his new boss at Slough House, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), is immediately shown to be mostly the opposite.

From the off, Oldman chews the scenery as Lamb, a vulgar, ornery has-been who revels in his abuse of the lowly Horses, or “Joes”.* You’d think that would make Lamb rather unlikable, and perhaps he is at first, but Oldman plays him in such a way that he’s always simultaneously humorous and enigmatic. There’s an intrigue to his character, one that feels tailor-made for an audacious actor like Oldman to sink his teeth into. I felt instant joy watching Lamb torture River with seemingly meaningless tasks, as I knew, in order for the series to work, there had to be a reason behind it. And given how quickly this show moves, I didn’t have to wait long to discover that my expectations were warranted.

Since River is one of the few Horses who hasn’t had the life sucked out of him, he’s eager to redeem himself and return to MI5. When he goes above and beyond his brief, he uncovers a clue that might be crucial to foiling an ongoing domestic terrorism plot involving white nationalists and an unfortunate Pakistani student, Hassan Ahmed (Antonio Aakeel), who they kidnap and intend to behead on a livestream. This storyline is depressingly believable, and quite honestly, not what I expected from a spy series. I also really appreciated the boldness of the narrative, which wasn’t preachy or politically-charged. Sure, the villains are far right nut-jobs with a racist agenda, but that’s about where the politics begin and end. This is mainly a story of good versus evil, with a few fart jokes here or there.

Frankly, I was shocked by how funny I found Slow Horses to be, despite its rather serious storyline. I mentioned fart jokes, of which there are a few, but there’s a lot more to the humor than that. Besides its whirlwind terrorism plotline, this series is about the relationships and rivalries these agents form in their work-life. I was quite smitten with the friendship between River and fellow Horse, Sid Baker (Olivia Cooke). Their constant taunting was both amusing and charming, but never cloying. The same goes for the interplay between fellow Horses Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar) and Min (Dustin Demri-Burns), who are clearly into each other but have to postpone their burgeoning romance due to, you know, crazy white dudes in balaclavas.**

Then there’s Lamb, who is hilarious on his own, but even better when playing off his bitter rival, Deputy Director-General of MI5 Diana Taverner, played by the pitch-perfect Kristin Scott Thomas. Taverner is a straight-laced, dead serious operator, so when she’s paired with Lamb, it’s like watching an unstoppable force (Lamb) slam against an immovable object (Taverner). Their rivalry is a blast to observe, and as the series progresses, you realize that compared to Taverner, Lamb is actually fairly honest in a world of double-dealing, even if he has a few secrets of his own.

Even with its banter and humor, Slow Horses is able to change tack and revert back to its perilous terrorism plot with ease. The writers deserve credit for striking this balance with aplomb, while also progressively turning up the intensity from episode to episode. There’s a race-against-the-clock element to this story that really entertains, and even when I missed something in the dialogue, I didn’t care because I didn’t have time to. The plot really moves, and at only six episodes, this season should be easy for most prospective viewers to burn through in only a few sittings.

While the show’s pace is a strength, it’s also occasionally a weakness. The dialogue is snappy and witty, but it’s often loaded with crucial details that one could easily miss with some of the more potent accents on display here. Slow Horses is also fairly clunky from time to time, relying excessively on extended spells of exposition that force too much information onto its viewers at once. There’s a good deal of tradecraft and lingo in this dialogue as well, so it’s quite easy to miss one line of dialogue while attempting to decipher another. I tend to prefer my fiction to show rather than tell, and Slow Horses definitely leans heavily on the “tell” side too often.

However, that’s not the only “clunkiness” on offer here. There were a number of times that the supposedly competent MI5 agents made glaring, unrealistic mistakes that rightfully should send them to Slough House in season two. Also, there are at least three consecutive episodes where certain characters are shown to be driving around, and yet, when other characters need to catch up to them, it only takes those characters like 20 minutes to do so. This was perplexing to me, and while I’m sure there’s an explanation for this, it certainly isn’t adequately given on screen. I know this is a nitpick, but nitpicks add up, and I certainly have a few more.

Rather than harp on those, I’m going to wrap up by reiterating what I liked about Slow Horses. Its greatest strength is its characters, with River, Lamb, and Taverner comprising a compelling trio of leads that are surrounded by colorful, interesting individuals. Oldman is particularly excellent; he single-handedly gives viewers a reason to keep tuning in. Slow Horses is also quite funny and warm, despite featuring a main plot that’s brutally realistic and tense. If it were a bit less clumsy in its storytelling, it would be damn near flawless. Then again, given that it’s based on the first novel of a series and that first novels tend to be a bit clumsy, this is a forgivable defect. Like the novels, I expect this series will find its footing with each successive installment, and I plan to be there for each one.

If I had to score it, I’d give season one of Slow Horses a 7/10.

Notes:

* This show’s title, Slow Horses, is a wordplay on “Slough House”. Therefore, those demoted to Slough House are dubbed the “Slow Horses”.

** One of the show’s greatest flaws is that we just don’t get enough time with most of the Horses. River, Lamb, and Taverner are the show’s primary focus, relegating everyone else to minimal screen-time. Still, I was a big fan of Sid, Louisa, Min, Roddy (Christopher Chung), and Standish (Saskia Reeves), and I really hope that future seasons flesh out these characters some more.