User Reviews

A fun, smartly written and well acted take on spycraft in the modern era that centers around rejects from MI5 who somehow succeed despite their own shortcomings.

8 out of 10? Are you yanking my pizzle? This show is entertaining but the writing leaves such a gap in the whole disbelief factor that you might as well watch a Marvel series. What would be an awesome show suffers from handholding and awful dialogue. Dude literally does a standup routine to save his life? Is this Disney?? Like who thought this was a passable, realistic fare for a spy show?

Epic performances and sardonic humor with incredible twists. Best show on TV.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Actual clown show. I tried my hardest to get into this because believe it or not, the writing quality *is* solid, the acting is great, and it has great dialogue and banter. Unfortunately... all of this is quickly ruined by an unbelievably deluded plot that expects the audience to believe in an imaginary inverse-reality where "right-wingers" are all evil terrorists who kidnap gay Pakistani Muslims, then force them to make ransom videos. Sorry, but I can only suspend my faculties so far. When the entire plot of your show hinges on the audience believing that the inverse of what happens in objective reality is a believable scenario... we're just having our intelligence insulted. If the writers wanted to make a believable plot, it would actually be a human rights worker or journalist being kidnapped by a Muslim, and "the right" doing their utmost to help/save the hostages while "the left" conveniently pretends it's not actually happening and refuses to report the identity of the perpetrators. 1/10 for being delusional and propagandistic.

This show took a few episodes for me to warm up to it and I almost gave up on it in the beginning because it’s a bit slow, but by the third episode of the first season I was all in. I binged all of them in a few days and really enjoyed them. This is one of my favorite types of shows. It forces the audience to figure things out and doesn’t hold your hand and explain everything. There are several things going on at once and some things going on that may be subtle, but they respect their audience and expect them to keep up. It all the characters are likable and some are actually very unlikable, and that’s interesting to me. James Bond these agents definitely are not!

Moi qui pensais enfin tomber sur une série sérieuse sur Appeule-woke tévé, me voilà bien marri et esseulé : c’est en effet de la merde de A à Z ! et dans cette prétendue série d’espionnage et plus précisément de la sécurité intérieure à ce que j’ai cru comprendre, on ne fait certainement pas la chasse aux terroristes islamistes, non, non, on ne surveille pas les barbus… on surveille uniquement l’extrême-droite ! Car il paraît que le danger vient de là au R-U : en effet, il y a sans arrêt des attentats perpétrés par l’extrême-droite ! bah putain, c’est dingue ça, je savais pas, merci à Appeule+ pour nous rappeler à l’ordre… eh oui, tous les attentats chez eux, chez nous, partout, c’était l’extrême-droite en fait !… ah la la… qu’on est con franchement, Appeulewoke+, ils savent, eux ! Et donc au MI-5, dès qu’un politicard dit un truc du genre « l’Angleterre aux Anglais », c’est le branle-bas de combat ! alors quand en plus, l’extrême-droite enlève un immigré pakistanais qui écrit des blagues sur les musulmans (!) on tombe de haut !… mais qui a écrit ça, putain ? le chat qui a pété version 5 ? ou bien des scénaristes wokistes complètement cons, adeptes du bourrage de crâne d’extrême-gauche et de la cancel culture et défoncés au cannabis ? Mais bon, en dehors de ça, cette série, c’est juste n’importe quoi avec cette annexe du MI-5 qui sert de placard pour les tocards dont on veut se débarrasser… et le chef est campé par un Gary Oldman (qui porte maintenant bien son nom) ventripotent et alcoolique… son bureau est un champ de bataille. C’est aussi un fumeur (deux paquets par jour) et un pétomane à la dégaine hirsute (on dirait un clodo et encore…) ! et accessoirement vindicatif, mal élevé, misanthrope et exécrable. Un parfait connard donc… et un gros dégueulasse (comme dans la bédé de Reiser quasiment) mais ne vous en faites pas, cette ‘brigade’ de tanches va déjouer tous les complots et faire barrage au RN rosbif ! vous êtes sauvés, tout va bien, putain. Moi, j’ai éteint Appeule-woke-slop de toute façon, un seul épisode de cette chiasse, ça suffit !

Gary Oldman was not a convincing George Smiley, but his sneering, shambolic train wreck of a human being, Jackson Lamb, is a sight to behold. This won’t appeal much to Americans who like their spy dramas with well-groomed Boy Scouts.

Overrated. Glad when it finally ended. Save yourself the time and don’t start.

Overwhelming dislike because the show is dark, gritty, contemptuous. The characters are unlikable. The screenwriters should be put in the cliché hall of fame. Angry chain-smoking drunk boss who hates himself and all his employees. That's not fun to watch. That's just abysmally poor story development and writing.

Wow, this is a really good show. It's funny, dark, covers realistic themes (such as extremism), and it kept me guessing.

Probably the best thing I have watched on TV over the last 3 years. Great characters and storytelling.

Harrier "Harry" Du Bois is a main character, and the main protagonist of the game Disco Elysium. Been copy/pasted over Jackson Lamb. (the only decent actor/character in the whole show)

Jackson Lamb, a slow house operations manager within the "slow horses" , is a Seasoned powerful personality and..., and, ****.,,,, But, why does he have to be a smoker!!! ..., And if this character had not appeared without smoking, would that have diminished the strength of the character in any way!!!..., I believe that: No,... he would also have remained with the same strength, acumen and skill, without smoking!!!... ** Therefore, a special request from - Messrs. directors or producers - of any dramatic work, if there is “Any Possibility” to complete the work WITHOUT smoking scenes (and in my humble opinion, I believe it is possible...), all appreciation and thanks to them...; Because some people - especially young one - (unfortunately) are tempted by cinema and drama with “glamorous” “attractive” scenes that contain smoking! and They rush to imitate this dangerous matter!!! * * Scientifically , smoking, in all its forms, is cigar, cigarette, hookah, or even passive smoking! It leads to slow and difficult blood flow - adequately - within the various arteries of the body - and not just the arteries of the heart - as smoking increases the viscosity of the blood,... And the benefit of blood to the body's organs is Not Only the delivery of food and oxygen!, but blood also Contains "White Blood Cells", which are responsible for immunity !!! , We can imagine the amount of risks that any organ in the body may face, without a “sufficient degree” of immunity, against: various diseases or against oxidant substances, or the so-called carcinogenic free Radicals , which are present almost “regularly” in the bodies of all people. ..!!! Of course, this is in addition to the damage resulting from the products of combustion itself, from carbon and otherwise... And there are many other harmful effects of smoking that would take a long time to explain. * *There are tips that have helped others to quit smoking, including: * The Will and desire to train to "hate" smoking or even its appearance! * Keep three things constantly busy, “especially at the beginning of quitting smoking”: "Hands" - "Mouth" - and "Thinking", ; * Hands and mouth, for example: eating green parsley, or rosted seeds (but in reasonable quantities daily according to healthy nutritional advice for each person), or other means... * Also “thinking”: about what things make a person preoccupied with smoking... ** Also, staying away “as much as possible” from people who **** preferably the opposite, getting closer to people who have quit smoking!... Sorry for length ... All respect and appreciation ... And Thaaanks ALOT

This is trash, zero realism, it's just left wing propaganda as usual. When you see a film sold as a spy movie you expect grandiose stuff, like fsb or china involved. In this show they created the far right boogeyman that's just a bunch of lazy English hooligans that are against the immigrants, very unrealistic

Very enjoyable - the set up for season one is silly but saved by strange - a Pakistani trust fund kid depressed because he cant make it as a stand up comedian? Beating Oldman's insulting old codger routine past death but still laughing at the absurdity? The weakest points are the cat and mouse games at park bench meets, flexing central office omniscience, surely professionals or even most adults have better ways of spending their time - overall, better than expected. The main character's earnestness is a perfect foil for Oldman, though, getting old halfway through season 2.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Definite overtones of Sweeney and a stellar performance by Oldman conspire to make this spy drama a very enjoyable watch. The first season is the best, being more starkly dramatic - think more theatrical, fewer explosions. It's obvious they got a bigger budget as time went on. The third season is like a Michael Bay movie in comparison to the first. I hope they tone down season 4 to do what this show does best - tight, clever writing and superb acting, like a novel on screen. More novel, less hollywood, please.

This was surprisingly enjoyable. Some action, some funny moments, some decent acting... what's not to like? I'm usually not into spy/thriller type shows, but this is good enough to break genre barriers for most people.

Completely unrealistic, overexaggeratedly filmed, with spy technology that was already outdated in the 90s and a script from a similar time. Ridiculous stereotypes from the times when GB did not lose secret documents every week.

En líneas generales es una excelente serie sobre espías con personajes perfectamente definidos por una destacada labor de sus actores.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Ignore OlivierPiel. He's a moron who gives literally everything a bad review. This is as good as spy thrillers get, it's that simple.

Solid all around. Oldham is unreal yet again. Not the best plot but was a solid B.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

A ludicrous reverse-reality plot and a group of "useless spies" but of course only the white male spies turn out to be useless (Moody, Struan, Min). This is standard modern right-on stuff which should be on the BBC, but I guess they couldn't afford Gary Oldman, who is the only real reason to watch, apart from a couple of decent action scenes.

Best spy thriller I've seen years. A fascinating story andGary Oldman does a terrific job as the lead character.

"Slow Horses" (S01, 6-eps, 40-50+ mins, Apple) is a British counter-terrorism drama with a tinge of comedic elements that derive from MI-5's Slough House, a dumping ground for washed out counter-spies affectionately, er derisively, referred to as slow horses. The nut of the plot is an Indian student in London needs to be rescued from domestic terrorists before he's beheaded, and the "slow horses" that should be sidelined with time-wasting paperwork endeavor to contribute to the rescue. The pacing is slow, production values are low budget, and you have to be inside British culture to get alot of the references. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, a horrible burned out curmudgeon who insults and denigrates almost anyone in his orbit. He's like "Dr House" without a filter. This turned me off initially but I grew numb to it later. It's a decent watch, and the case is resolved, so if there's a sophomore season, it'd feature a different storyline. I would be more enthusiastic if it had a more attractive cast and tripled its budget.

Slow Horses is tremendous fun, demands full attention from the viewer, and frustrates because its episodes are released weekly, which makes continuity a hell of a challenge. The cast is especially good, characters so varied and unpredictable, their behaviour satisfyingly erratic. A great ensemble, led by Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden and supported by a gold standard roster of the finest.

The titlular characters are British MI5 agents who have failed in some way, so they're relegated to a special house where they essentially do nothing. Expectedly, that changes when they get involved with a terrorist abduction that veers off course. The cast is headed by Gary Oldman, as the sloppy, hard-drinking, often-farting head of this group. Oldman's character is certainly unpleasant and not in an enjoyably quirky way. The rest of the cast plays it straight, including Kristin Scott Thomas as the HQ boss. As a result, the people aren't especially appealing or interesting. Furthering the lack of impact is the investigation, which follows a typical spy/criminal route with plenty of betrayals. The first episode's opening scene is riveting, but that level of action never materializes again. This is a moderately well-made series, but not an original addition to the genre. (Review based on 4 of 6 episodes)

Lots of racist comments, too much witty repartee. Gross comments about bodily functions. And plenty of blood. Also enough purely British language that will just confuse many US viewers. All of that makes it hard to appreciate Gary Oldman’s acting, let alone the plot.