Apple TV Plus saddles up for lots more Slow Horses

For what feels like the first time in a long time, a streamer, Apple TV Plus, put its faith behind a television series

Apple TV Plus saddles up for lots more Slow Horses
Gary Oldman Photo: Apple

Considering entertainment is one of America’s greatest exports, it’s frequently tossed off as a frivolous, albeit expensive, exploit, especially in the television business. Aside from all the exploitative labor practices that run pervasively throughout the industry, shows frequently get canceled before they can even find an audience. Meanwhile, the once-described saviors of cinema, Netflix, has begun chipping away at lower and mid-budget projects in favor of more Red Notices.

But lo and behold, Apple, a company with more money than should exist, has decided to use some of its fortunes to greenlight two more seasons of Jon Le Carré-inspired spy series, Slow Horses. Ahead of the upcoming second season, Apple renewed Slow Horses for a third and fourth season.

Based on author Mick Herron’s book series, Slow Horses is an anti-James Bond espionage show in the vein of similar Gary Oldman-led film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and other works by spy novelist and former spy John le Carré. Slow Horses exists in a more grounded world of international spy games, where the spies are drunk and their headquarters are dingy. Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the disgraced head of MI5 dumpster Slough House, a purgatory for disgraced agents placed on ice after a big-time oopsie and where Slow Horses derives its name. Unfortunately, while Lamb may be content to drink his way to retirement, others still have the drive to spy on British civilians and possible terrorists.

The first season wrapped up in late April, and we were big fans of it. Our own associate editor Ali Foreman wrote in her review:

Slow Horses’s first season is chock full of characters, lines, and moments that will work brilliantly for fans of spy thrillers—not gritty spy thrillers, not action-packed spy thrillers, but straight-laced, classic, by-the-book ones. There are more episodes on the way (and more books to adapt). But for now, this conventional addition to an already crowded genre counts as a confirmed kill.

While Apple was quick to announce the third and fourth season pickups, they’ve been slow to announce a release date for the second season. There is no release date as of now, but the show is expected to drop later this year.

 
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