After last week’s cliffhanger, we now find Min surprisingly bonding with his Russian counterparts after they held a gun to his head. The Russians feign friendship and get Min drunk on vodka before sending him home on his bike with a warning. I have a feeling Min will not make it home alive.
Cartwright sets out on the mission Lamb gave him. He arrives in a pub and check in under the name Jonathan Walker, telling Kelly, the pub employee that he’s a journalist. Back in London, Catherine questions Lamb’s decision to send Cartwright after Dickie’s killer alone. Catherine is surprised she’s never heard of Chernitsky, given she has been privy to a lot of high-level information over the years.
Lamb’s phone goes with news: One of the slow horses is dead. As suspected, the Russians got Min so drunk he couldn’t ride his bike home, and Min ended up colliding with a car. The driver appears to be genuinely surprised, but this was definitely no accident. Lamb and Catherine pull up to the scene to confirm it is Min, and Lamb is visibly angry. Catherine goes to inform a distraught Louisa of Min’s death.
Cartwright has no knowledge of the situation unfolding in London, and becomes suspicious of the father of the pub employee who checked him in. The man wanders the streets of the small town and asks Kelly who is staying at the pub. He appears wary of Cartwright’s journalist cover story. The next morning, Kelly tells River she has time to show him around the village – and asks if his funds extend to a private aircraft. Surprised, River discovers she’s also a pilot. Could her father be the cicada River is hunting?
River not-so-gently asks Kelly about her life, and her parents. Her father is not a pilot, but he does own the flying club. Her parents moved to this small town from London when she was a child.
Lamb returns to the office and hands Roddy Min’s smartwatch, which still has blood on it. Lamb wants to know exactly where Min went before he died, clearly suspicious Min’s death was a murder. Louisa arrives to speak to him, adamant she doesn’t need to speak to a shrink at the Park but she wants Lamb to ensure she stays on the oligarch job.
Diana and the Park are monitoring a protest march in London. Webb shuffles his feet in the background like an anxious child needing to tell his mother he’s messed up. Diana informs him she already knows about Min’s death and scolds Webb for being callous when he calls Min’s death a win for the service. Diana may not be a huge fan of the slow horses, but deep down she has a soft spot for them. She informs Webb that Louisa will be staying on the operation, and Webb questions whether they want Lamb involved – even though he was the one who asked for the slow horses in the first place.
Cartwright and his personal tour guide (who may or may not be the daughter of a cicada) arrive at the airfield. He snoops around the office, taking pictures while she gets the plane ready to fly. She catches him taking photos and has him put his phone, keys and wallet in a locker… where her father may be able to get to them while River is in the air.
Lamb meets a friend at the laundromat, who hands him an envelope containing background details on the woman who killed Min. Lamb’s suspicions are confirmed when his friend informs him the woman has connections to Moscow. Sure enough, while River is being flown in circles by Kelly - a man arrives at the airfield, and River spots him watching the plane. Kelly is certainly a talented pilot, as she terrifies River with many flips and dips. Very relieved to be back on solid ground, River staggers from the plane just as the man leaves the airfield. Kelly tells River not to worry about her father, but River is sure the man went through his things.
Lamb spends his day tailing Min’s killer through the city when he gets a call from River informing him the suspected cicada is onto him, and went through his things while he was in the air. Lamb points out the daughter probably took him up in the plane to give her father the opportunity to do so – and how would he have known River’s things were in the office otherwise? But River tries to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. Before they end the call, Lamb informs River that Min is dead, and that he knows it was no accident.
River receives a dinner invite from Kelly’s mother – no doubt an excuse for her father to interrogate him over a meal. He calls Louisa to check in, but she ignores his call to meet up with her new partner, Marcus for the oligarch job. The Russians express their condolences to Louisa, as if they had nothing to do with Min’s death.
Diana catches up with the Minister and is frustrated to learn he won’t choose another day to do his speech – which coincides with the protest march the Park are monitoring. Diana is frustrated with Peter for causing more work for her and her squad, and the two trade barbs before she’s forced to attend the speech herself.
Cartwright shows up for dinner, bouquet of flowers (with hidden microphone) in hand. Kelly’s mother outsmarts River instantly by sending him to fetch some tonic from the shed, no doubt giving her time to check for hidden recording devices. In the shed, River meets Duncan and the two have a civil conversation about the article “Jonathan” is supposedly writing.
Louisa, Marcus and the Russians check out the boardroom and scan for any spyware before their big meeting takes place. The Russians become suspicious when Marcus gets a phone call, but all continue onwards to meet the oligarch in person. Louisa debriefs the man on their security plan, and covers all the bases. She answers every question the man asks, and ensures the plan is secure. The oligarch twice tries to get Louisa and Marcus to drink something, but they decline. The big meeting is set for the following day.
Once they leave, Louisa questions Marcus on his phone call, asking if Lamb or Diana were checking up on her. Marcus reveals he’s a gambler – it’s what got him placed in Slough House, and the call was about a bet. Louisa’s face says it all, as Marcus could be easily blackmailed via his vices. She tells Marcus not to gamble while they’re on the job, adamant he won’t mess this operation up for her.
The casual dinner interrogation begins, as Kelly asks “Jon” why he wants to write about their small town. River prepared his answers well, and the conversation finds it’s way to the anti-capitalism protest march that the Park are monitoring. River asks their views on the march and Duncan promptly dodges the question.
Min’s killer, Rebecca, arrives home to find Lamb in her apartment. Lamb questions her on Min’s death, and tells the woman Min had a family, kids, a life. Rebecca asks Lamb to leave, but he tells her he knows she speaks Russian and is aware of her Moscow ties. “You are not safe,” Lamb warns her, says he knows the accident was orchestrated. After Lamb applies some pressure, Rebecca finally confesses that she wasn’t the one driving the car that night, and it wasn’t the car that killed Min.
Roddy and Shirley realize the man they are looking for ditched his phone into a bag belonging to an Estonian folk band, so the cicada’s phone went to Estonia without him. The man checked in under the passport Philip Jones but did not board the flight.
Catherine calls River to tell him Chernitsky did not leave the UK as they thought he had. Something River now knows for sure, as Chernitsky has just arrived for dinner at Kelly’s parents house under the name Leo. A stunned River shakes his hand and realizes he’s in trouble... In a small town with a killer and no backup. How will he get out of this one?
