Here’s a little sports reference for you: Apple is the Shohei Ohtani of not properly promoting their shows.
Apple is one of the Top 10 biggest companies in the world. However, when it comes to making sure nobody watches their streaming platform…
As of September, according to Nielsen, Apple TV+ isn’t even one of the Top 10 (TEN!!!) streaming platforms! It sits behind Pluto TV, Paramount+, Roku Channel, and Tubi! The streaming platform falls well behind all other competitors despite the ridiculous list of great shows it houses: TED LASSO, PACHINKO, SEVERANCE, SHRINKING, FOR ALL MANKIND, and BAD MONKEY, just to name a few. And yet, outside of TED LASSO (and the fucking MORNING SHOW, which costs $50 billion to make), we don’t hear much about any of those shows, save for a few pop culture moments for SEVERANCE.
That leads me to the main point: you need to watch SLOW HORSES, a fucking excellent British spy dramedy that has something for everyone, that is also not being watched by enough people.
Giphy Images.
This show, which is somehow four (4!!!) seasons deep, has racked up over 20 nominations for the Emmys, Golden Globes, British Academy Television Awards, and other award shows. Luckily, the most recent season, its fourth, finally got a bit of a pop in the cultural zeitgeist, so it seems as though the show has picked up steam.
One way I know this? I caught onto the hype just this past September! Sure, I had heard about SLOW HORSES, but after countless hype around the recent Emmys, I figured why not dive in… and then I dove in and watched all four seasons over the course of just one month.
Instead of some long, eloquent, wannabe-poet breakdown of the show, let me just list the reasons you need to be watching SLOW HORSES:
- Perfect genre blend of both great spy-mystery and also dark comedy
- You will be trying to piece the story together, while also laughing
- The comedy element is top tier, and perfectly dark at times
- The spy element, including the action, pulls no punches
- There are action pieces that’ll make you go “oh shit!” at times
- Each season’s storyline feels big and incredibly intriguing
- They perfectly pull you in each time, right from the jump
- Not your average spy story; these are relatable, human spies
- It feels fresh & different, but also what you look for with the genre
- We all like James Bond, but SLOW HORSES spies feel more human
- They all have their issues, and are fleshed out perfectly
- The cast is absolutely fucking dynamite, top to bottom
- Gary Oldman does his usual thing as one of the leads
- Jack Lowden is the star of the show, in my eyes
- Every actor crushes their role; you’ll love all the characters
- Everything with the story is earned, and there are real stakes
- They waste no episodes; you will never be bored by it
- At no point did I go, “this is a filler episode!”
- So many shows these days feel bloated, this does not
- You will never feel that any in this series is safe at any point
- It wants you to be invested, and gives you good reason to be
- The show looks and sounds fantastic
- So many shows these days look fake, or overly glossy
- SLOW HORSES is gritty, lived in, and looks great
- The environments play so well into the story
- The wait between seasons is CRAZY SHORT
- Season 4 just ended, and Season 5 likely debuts in the summer
- The end of each season features a trailer for the next one!
- Shows in the 2020’s sometimes have YEARS between seasons
- SLOW HORSES keeps getting better, and better!
- I call this “pulling a VEEP”
- I’d argue since Season 1, it has just improved
I could go on, and on, and on, but I will leave you by stressing one of the above points again: this is a perfect blend of both the spy & dramedy genres and is at the level of the best of the best from both. You get the spy & action quality of the Bournes and Bonds, as well as the humor of dark comedies such as an In Bruges or a Coen Brothers project.
So, jump on in, give SLOW HORSES a chance, catch up through Season 4, which just ended, and get ready for Season 5, because unlike HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, STRANGER THINGS, or these other big time shows, the next season is already nearly completed, and just around the corner.
