Slow Horses shuns the glossy, glamorous clichés of the espionage genre, fearlessly tackling the harsh and flawed realities of life. The fifth season’s opening jolts viewers with a mass shooting carried out by a young radical named Rob Trew. The show portrays this event with raw, visceral imagery that evokes fear and unease.
This scene stands out for its cinematography. The camera remains eerily steady amidst the chaos, with the soundtrack stripped away, leaving only the chilling echoes of screams and gunfire. It’s one of the most visceral and unsettling moments in the series to date. Series creator Will Smith explains that the scene, drawn from Mick Herron’s novel London Rules, was included for its fidelity to the source material. However, Smith acknowledges that it feels more personal and jarring than other events in the series, like the Stansted airport incident or the Istanbul bombing.
According to Smith, the scene’s impact stems from the writers’ deliberate choices. They considered cutting away as the violence began but felt it wouldn’t hit hard enough. Instead, they chose to show the event in its stark entirety, making the attacker’s blank expression all the more disturbing.
Though unintentional, this Slow Horses scene serves as a stark reminder of one of today’s harshest realities. The series strips violence of political debate, confronting viewers with its raw, terrifying nature. It’s both difficult to watch and profoundly necessary—an act of art. Like its flawed protagonists, Slow Horses has a knack for delivering something critical and timely, even without meaning to. This keeps it among Apple TV+’s finest productions.
