Apple TV+'s hit spy drama Slow Horses returned to our screens this week with its hotly-anticipated fourth season – and fans have given their verdict on the opening episode.
Based on Mick Herron's Slough House novel series, the popular drama follows a group of misfit intelligence agents whose career-ending mistakes have sent them to the dumping ground department of MI5, Slough House, headed up by the rude and often drunk Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman.
Warning! Major spoilers for episode one ahead.
The premiere episode opened with the bombing of a London shopping centre, which puts MI5's Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) under pressure, while River (Jack Lowden) confided in Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar) about his growing concerns for his grandfather's apparent dementia.
After some encouragement from Louisa, River decided to pay his grandad a visit at his countryside home that evening. But when David hears a knock at the door from someone claiming to be his grandson, he's clearly unnerved.
Arming himself with a gun, David follows the man upstairs to the bathroom and shoots him dead. While viewers don't get a look at the body, the retired agent is quickly convinced that he's made a mistake and has murdered his grandson.
Fans were in disbelief over the shock death, with one person writing on X: "Is River really dead? Please tell me it was a dream. #slowhorses," while another added: "That can't have actually been River that died in Slow Horses right? No way they're killing off the second-best character on my favourite show."
© Apple TV+Fans had to wait until the very last moments of the episode to find out that River was in fact not dead and had escaped to the French countryside. The last scene saw the spy in the backseat of a French taxi while holding someone else's passport, presumably on a mission to find out who was after his grandfather.
Relieved fans flocked to social media following the twist ending, with one person writing: "I almost believed River was dead #Slowhorses," while another added: "Okay you had me there for a minute."
A third viewer penned: "That's how you do it. I haven't been fooled by a twist like that since 1995."
However, not all fans were fooled, with some predicting the shock reveal. One fan wrote on X: "First few minutes into the first episode of Slow Horses S04 and it's clear they're out to mess with us," while another added: "Wow that was a great opening episode and I knew early on what we discovered by the end of it … no spoilers."
Since it first aired in 2022, Slow Horses has amassed a legion of dedicated fans, who have praised the relationships between the main characters, particularly the growing friendship between River and Louisa.
Speaking about the pair's dynamic and whether things could turn romantic, Rosalind told HELLO! ahead of season four: "There are quite a lot of overlaps in River and Louisa's personalities, which can sometimes look like they are suited for one another romantically.
"Jack [Lowden] and I have spoken a lot about what the future of River and Louisa looks like and we oscillate a lot with what we think is the right way. Not that it's solely up to us, but I think that the scene in season three in the car where they open up to each other is where a lot of this talk has come from, and it's really interesting hearing people's opinions."
She continued: "I've found that it's been pretty split between people who are really angry at the thought of them being romantically involved and other people who really want them to have a very complicated relationship, but I think that it's somewhat more platonic. I think there's a brotherly sisterly vibe to them, but who knows what's gonna happen?"
