As police arrive at the crash scene where we left off in Slow Horses season 4 episode 5, Emma (Ruth Bradley) staggers to her feet. As she gets her bearings, Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) calls for an update and is stunned to learn one man killed four Dogs. Taverner asks to speak to River, but Emma informs her he was taken.
Back at MI5, Taverner tells Whelan (James Callis) they need to find and eliminate Patrice and get River into an interrogation room to figure out the extent of this situation. But Whelan decides he's taking command now, issuing a shoot-to-kill order on River in the hopes of containing this whole cold bodies fiasco. Taverner protests, but he doesn't back down. If he's wrong, only River dies; if she's wrong, it could be a disaster. But first thing's first, where is River?
Read on for a full breakdown of Slow Horses season 4 episode 6, the season finale.
Father and son
Patrice (Tom Woznickza) brings River (Jack Lowden) to a restaurant where Frank (Hugo Weaving) is waiting. River goes to talk with him alone. Once he sits down he says "hello dad," and Frank confirms the truth when he says back "hello son."
River pieced together their connection when he confirmed the mural at Les Arbres was identical to birthday cards his mother sent him. River asks if Frank and his mother were ever in love? She was, Frank says, but for him everything at Les Arbres was about securing means to build his own loyal army. That army is now depleted, but River can help with that. Frank can tell River is underappreciated at MI5, but he has potential, which Frank can unlock, teaching him to think counter intuitively: stand still while you're pursued; when someone offers you their hand, show them your fist. But River is not a fan of Frank's TED Talk.
Frank then tries to play a bit of the father, sorry River had to be raised by David (Jonathan Pryce). River preferred it to being a child soldier. Frank claims his children/assassins are loyal, but River correctly guesses Robert Winters blowing up Westacres was more of an attack on Frank, not London. As they talk, River pulls out Standish's phone (which he finally turned back on while being transported in the trunk) and tries to call Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar), but Frank can tell what he is doing. He forces River to hand over the phone, hoping he isn't too attached to whoever he called.
The Slow Horses rev into action
Standish (Saskia Reeves) and David arrive at Slough House to hide out. Louisa asks Standish if she just tried to call her, but Standish reminds her River has her phone. Even though the line is now dead, Louisa gets Ho (Christopher Chung) to track it.
Ho also found CCTV footage of Patrice kidnapping River at the crash scene and learned there's a shoot-to-kill out on River. This puts Louisa, Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan) on high alert, so much so, Marcus goes to buy his gun back (unfortunately the dealer is not sympathetic and makes him pay two grand more than what he sold it for). Meanwhile, Louisa heads out and tells Ho to contact her as soon as he figures out where River is.
But first Louisa heads to the crash scene, where she finds Emma, who's not thrilled to discover Louisa is actually a Slow Horse. Louisa couldn't care less, instead wondering why the Park wants River dead? Despite Emma not thinking River is a threat, Whelan overruled everyone. Ho informs Louisa that River is at St. Pancras, but the Dogs figure it out too and are on their way.
While the members of Slough House appear in top form as one of their own is in danger, there's always bound to be a screw up. That comes from Moira (Joanna Scanlan). As Lamb (Gary Oldman) gets to Chapman's office, he finds the former agent dead. He also sees there's a message on his phone. It's from Moira, letting Chapman know David is at Slough House and that she left the same message on his mobile. Lamb checks Chapman just to make sure, but his phone is gone, meaning Patrice has it and now knows where David is.
Under attack
Frank makes one last push for River to join him, building a new business together as father and son. But River tells him no. Rejected, Frank admits he's under pressure from not only the authorities but his client, so he needs to close all loose ends, which will include River if he doesn't change his mind. But while Frank is threatening him, River's eyes move toward something. Frank checks and sees it's a group of policemen arriving on the scene. So Frank gets River up and leads him at gunpoint out of the restaurant.
As Frank and River head outside, Louisa, Emma and the Dogs arrive on the scene as well, creating chaos as everyone is barking orders. Eventually, Frank has had enough, pulling out a grenade and placing it in River's hoodie, pushing him toward everyone while he makes a run for it. Louisa and River fumble around trying to get rid of the grenade, with Louisa finally grabbing it and tossing it in the river just before it explodes. With the shoot-to-kill order on River rescinded (how or why isn't really explained, but whatever), they all chase after Frank, who's heading toward the train station.
Action also comes to Slough House. Shortly after Marcus returns with his gun, Patrice breaks in and starts shooting the place up. Ho, Standish, Moira and David barricade themselves in Lamb's office, searching for Lamb's gun, while Marcus gets in a fire fight with Patrice and Shirley tries to help. Even JK (Tom Brooke) gets in on the action, boiling a kettle of water and throwing it at Patrice, scalding him. It works, allowing the three agents to get to a better position, but Patrice keeps coming. Patrice is able to shoot JK, but he gets to safety outside. Marcus then returns the favor, hitting Patrice, which gives him and Shirley time to get into Lamb's office. Marcus knows he's still out there though, so despite Shirley's protests he goes back out.
Moments later a gunshot goes off, but we don't see who was hit. Shirley gets Standish to give her Lamb's gun, which she aims at the door as someone approaches. It's Patrice, who opens fire into the office. Shirley is able to avoid getting hit and returns fire until she empties the gun. It goes quiet. Moira says she found another bullet for the gun, but just then Patrice bursts into the room. He's about to shoot Shirley when Lamb arrives and knocks him out.
With Patrice subdued, Shirley goes to check on Marcus. Lamb tries to stop her, but she goes anyway and finds Marcus' dead body. She goes to kill Patrice when JK reappears, telling her killing Patrice won't help her pain. With his behavorial science knowledge, he tells her Marcus loved her and he wouldn't want her to do this. This convinces Shirley to stop. JK, however, won't have those regrets, so he kills Patrice.
Frank's fail-safe
After chasing him throughout the train station, River remembers what Frank says: when you're being pursued, stay still. So he stops running and goes to sit down at a restaurant in the station, where Frank is hiding out. Rather than try and fight, Frank gives River his gun and lets himself be arrested. But why?
When Taverner interrogates Frank he says it's just a matter of time until he is let out. Taverner soon finds out why. Lamb was told by Molly Duran (Naomi Wirthner) about five envelopes Frank left at her apartment. They are for the heads of service, Whelan included. If Frank isn't released in 12 hours, all the dirt he has on these people will be released on the internet. So it appears Frank's release is inevitable, putting him at large for potential reappearances in future seasons.
Lamb is there for his team
Perhaps everything the Slow Horses have been through these four seasons is finally softening Lamb. Not only did he fight for Marcus' family to get benefits that reflect a field operational agent, but he followed through on getting Moira back into the Park, where she uses her knowledge of Whelan's shady activities to snag better benefits.
Meanwhile, River takes David to an assisted living home, which the old spymaster is none too pleased with. He said River promised he would never put him in a place like this, but River has no other choice. He can only hug his grandfather and leave. Lamb then gives him a call and tells River to meet him at a pub.
He wants River to sign documents to account for his movements in the field, which River initially sees as pointless office work. But Lamb invites him to stay for a drink, so long as River pays for it himself and shuts up. So the two Slow Horses share a drink together to end the season.
All episodes of Slow Horses season 4 are now streaming on Apple TV Plus.
