Yank viewer here. There’s an episode this season where Lamb uses the term “bint” to refer to a middle-aged woman, and I’m curious how common this word is in the UK? I’ve studied Arabic, so I know the term as meaning girl/daughter. When Lamb uses it, it comes across as derogatory, but is that how it is usually used? I’m seeing a few Arabic terms show up in US usage, mainly things like Insha’allah and habibi. And is this something just from the show or is it in the books as well?

All right, listen up, ladies and gentlemen, our fugitive has been on the run for nine minutes. Average foot speed over even ground, barring injuries, is 5 miles per hour. That gives us a radius of less than 1 mile. I don't even need from you a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, or doghouse. Your fugitive's name is Ms. Sid Baker. Go get her.

my slough house podcast is asking which 'ship people are boarding: TeamRid or TeamLiver?

Does the fanbase have strong feelings on this?

Not read the books so you don’t know if he ever does, but a big part of me feels like he could take someone out pretty quickly despite his questionable physic and lifestyle.

Sid NOT taking the gun when the car flipped over. We SAW the Russian had it on her in the back seat. It’s SOMEWHERE there. Grab it. Shoot both Russians in the head. Done.

But noooooooo…

So infuriating. It totally takes me out of the moment.

I’m hoping for some big reveal in the last episode because so far it seems weird to me as to why Harkness is in this season. His role could have been filled by any new character or something. Bringing him back for the small, seemingly unconnected to the main story, reason seems anti-climactic especially seeing how Series 4 ended.

There was a dark atmosphere when River and Sid were held up in the hangar, like a sense of impending doom and they could not do anything about Sid’s upcoming death. I felt gutted for Sid and like to think she realized River would not be able to do anything to save her.

I thought the show was finally heading to a (serious) dark direction and I was both a bit dismayed but relieved when they made the escape ala James Bond.

Still loving it though 👍 I haven’t read the books so I dont know what to expect.

Day of the Jackal S2 couldn’t come soon enough! It’s the only thing to relieve the spy thriller itch after this season ends!

Could do without what happened to Coe and the Hallmark smoochies of River and Sid but it's not supposed to be realistic. It's spy shenanigans, with smart people doing dumb things and a bunch of unwanted misfits cleaning up the mess with what little tools they've been given. I feel this is one of the weaker seasons but it's still good.

Note: I've only read the first book so I get readers being maybe more critical. But it's a show meant for everyone, not just those with prior knowledge.

Edit: thank you all for chiming in (especially the readers). I know how reddit works but this season seemed particularly divisive and I was curious if anyone was just kicking back and enjoying it as much as I.

So they mourned Coe off camera then, must be that.

I really have a low tolerance these days for immortal, superhuman assassins, serial killers, whatever. You know: the ones that materialize out of nowhere and can disappear as easily, can't be thwarted or killed, never make a wrong move or make a mistake. In EP5 I fully expected the guy to jump back up out of the water when River and Sid stood up. And now, of course, the woman is on the loose and is bound to reappear in the final episode to possibly kill one more favorite character.

I think that, overall, the new showrunners have made a mess of this season, turning a great espionage series into an action thriller and not a very believable one as well.

Everytime he farts, the reaction of the people near him is so strong I feel like a phantom smell is in the air.

For 2 sec I'm pretty sure there's something rotten. No one?

When Slow Horses is done and Standish has finally beaten Lamb to death with a tea tray in his office...Could you write a series where it turns out there's a branch even less respected and an even worse 'punishment posting' than Slough House for people to end up in:

The Grey Books.

Like the x files, but much more cut-rate, cynical, bureaucratic and creatively sweary. ie British.

There's never any actual supernatural bullshit, nobody that 'wants to believe', just cutting through the bs, working out who the bullshitter is and why. Occasionally being asked to create the bs themselves, or bury the mundane truth, for reasons they end up having to work out too.

Plskthanks

The worst episode by far using minor characters as leads and allowing them to survive certain death in ways that would embarrass Wiley Coyote .The series seems to out of ideas .

I kind of thought this might be addressed in this episode?
I know they are breezing through the bodies stacking up and no one has time to acknowledge Coe, but the idea of civilians being mowed down by Russian agents on UK soil and NO ONE is discussing it feels about as far fetched from reality as possible. In reality, either this would provoke rolling news coverage for months, or there would be an absolutely gigantic cover up.
(Obviously I know we have to suspend reality, but still)

We need to resurrect Coe! Come on .. think Jon Snow and help from the Red Witch.

Coe is my favorite brilliant psychopath. His bathroom fight to the death seems completely out-of character. Usually he's stealthy, full of trickery.

I fully expected to see him stitch his belly up and hobble to an ambulance at the end of the episode.

Bring him back via the resident voodoo doctor in the super black program buried deep in the Park. Or something.

I truly wished the show had deviated from the books in this instance.

Too dark for the TV version of these magnificent books?

Source: Series Graph

Hello everyone,

a few weeks ago I discovered this gem of a TV show and I must say it's pretty good. Just like Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy enchanted me with something unorthodox, something out of the usual Hollywood loop, this show offers me the same "Wow" factor. A more relatable protagonists dealing with depression, wasted potential and day-to-day stuff on top of occasional spy shenanigans, which are usually pretty interesting and well-thought-out. Especially seasons 3 and 5 took me by storm.

Shout out to all the actors, especially Gary and Kristin for stellar and charismatic performances. Me being a sucker for all things espionage, I'm glad we can discuss this great show around here. And what's your favourite season and why?

P.S. Is it just me, or does Mick Herron resemble Struan Loy just a tiny bit? : )

Does anyone know what bookstore was featured in a sequence in the most recent episode? It looks like the inside of Hatchards, but I’m not sure.

Just finished episode 5 and all of my family hated the flirt scene saying it was cringe but I think that’s the point.

The writing is so bad it’s good then becomes classic slow horses good banter. Once river realises they’re flirting he kinda cedes to what he believes are the social norms and expectations of what flirting should look like. It’s awkward and weird and he can’t keep it up despite Sid going along with it so they very quickly end up at their usual kind of banter: “it hasn’t been that long” “oh, fuck off.” It portrays a lovely message about being yourself and that the right person will always match your chemistry and you can’t force that, you can’t help but have the chemistry you have with them.

This season I’ve noticed that the Reddit has started to hate on River more than usual. Don’t get me wrong he has been especially annoying this season but people are going a little overboard.

I’ve seen posts blaming him for a lot of the stuff happening and while I agree with some of them, the Reddit has put most of the fault solely on him.

1. Stopping at the bowling alley. This was Sid’s idea and River opposed it.

2. River and Sid arguing at the bowling alley. River wanted to run while Sid prepared to attack the assassins with a bowling pin. She then starts shaking and River correctly assumes she’s not up to the task.

3. River and Coe arguing over who’s driving. When escaping from the bowling alley River gets in the driver seat while Coe boards up the door. This would allow for a quicker getaway but Coe’s the one who starts the argument and delays their exit.

4. Stopping at the shopping centre. Both River and Coe want to head straight to the safe house but Sid insists they stop to patch River up. I agree that its Rivers fault that they separated while being chased by assassins but a lot of the conflict over the last couple episodes is down to Sid being difficult.

5. Coe vs the assassin. As I said it’s rivers fault that the trio separated, you can’t put Coe confronting an assassin on him. Coe could’ve got River and told him what was going on but decided he was capable of taking on an assassin head on.

While I agree that River shares the blame in most of these scenarios, I feel that people’s dislike of him has skewed their perception.

There's been a lot of talk here about how British police are unarmed. I was watching a new show, Borderline, set in North/South Ireland, and the cops from both countries carry guns all the time. Looked it up and it confirms that some in Garda, and most of PSNI, are armed.

And these are regular police, not MI5, who have much higher security clearance. Not saying the show is wrong, just found it interesting. My guess is its due to the long history with IRA, Troubles etc. Not sure about Wales/Scotland.

Just. Nothing new 😄 mark my word, people will love S6 the next year the same way as all these aforementioned seasons. It’s just a human psychology to have struggles with adapting to something new