Slow Horses Recap: Why Standish Quit, What Happened to Tearney, Spider & Duffy, & What’s Wrong With David Cartwright?

Warning: contains major plot spoilers for Slow Horses season 3.

Wondering what that smell is? That eggy guff with top notes of tobacco, mature cheddar and Frazzles that’s just started rolling like a San Franciscan fog out of your TV set? It can mean only one thing: the malodorous Jackson Lamb (aka the best character on television) is back, and so is Apple TV+ spy thriller Slow Horses.

In season three, we saw Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) mastermind the downfall of First Desk Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo) in the hope of usurping her throne. We saw Jackson Lamb defeat a pair of trained killers using a tube of Pringles, and we saw the actual demise of Spider Webb, and the career demises of Tearney, Home Secretary Peter Judd, while head ‘Dog’ Duffy was put into a coma courtesy of Louisa and a concrete block. It all ended with Standish resigning her position and River Cartwright realising that his grandfather is not only losing his grip, but there’s also a good reason that he was known as “The Bastard” during his time in the service.

Here’s a quick spoiler-filled refresher on what you need to remember.

Why Did Standish Quit?

Because Jackson Lamb finally cracked and told her the truth about her beloved ex-boss and former MI5 First Desk Charles Partner, i.e. that he wasn’t the honourable angel she took him to be, but was in fact, a total snake. During her drinking days, Standish was Partner’s secretary and felt intense loyalty to him because she felt that he’d stood by her during her alcoholism. She was devastated when Partner was found dead of a gunshot wound, a suspected suicide, at his home.

Partner did not take his own life. On the orders of David Cartwright (River’s grandfather), Jackson Lamb had assassinated him and staged his suicide because Partner was a Russian mole. He was selling MI5 secrets to Russia, had only kept Standish around because her alcoholism made her unobservant, and had laid a paper trail to frame Standish for his crimes in the event that any skulduggery were to be discovered.

After rescuing Standish from the MI5 dogs sent to wipe her and her kidnappers out in the season three finale, Jackson told her the truth about Partner. Standish couldn’t take it, and so she quit.

What Happened to Tearney, Judd, Spider Webb and Duffy?

They were all hoist by their own petard. Years earlier, First Desk Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo) set in motion a series of events that led to her downfall. She’d committed, and then covered up, a major fuck-up (signing off the use of an untested device that resulted in deaths and hospitalisations). An intelligence agent in Istanbul discovered evidence, and was planning to blow the whistle, but Tearney ordered her assassination before she did. That led to a revenge scheme enacted by the victim’s boyfriend Sean Donovan (Sope Dirisu), that eventually took out Spider Webb, and removed Tearney, Duffy and Home Secretary Peter Judd from their respective posts.

Stage-managed by Taverner (who was after Tearney’s job), ex-MI5 Spider Webb (Freddie Fox) had joined a private security firm called Chieftain, owned by a pal of the Home Secretary. Judd and Webb arranged for Chieftain to stage a “Tiger Team” attack on MI5, ostensibly to test its weaknesses but really as cover for new Chieftain recruit Sean Donovan (boyfriend of the whistleblower Tearney had killed in Istanbul) to access the file that would destroy Tearney. Donovan accidentally killed Spider Webb during the operation.

It all ended in a climax in which Tearney sent Duffy and her ‘dogs’ in to wipe out everybody – including River, Louisa, Shirley, Marcus and some civilians and MI5 support staff – inside a records storage facility. At least 18 people died, but the Slow Horses made it out alive (River with the evidence against Tearney), and Duffy was neutralised by Louisa, Marcus and a concrete block.

At home, River presented the whistleblower’s file to his grandfather, who burned it to protect River and the reputation of MI5. Foreseeing that move, River had taken a copy of the file, which he leaked, leading to the resignations of Tearney and Home Secretary Judd.

What’s Going on With David Cartwright?

River fears that his grandfather is beginning to lose his grip. The former king of precision is starting to miss salient details, confuse nouns and lose his bearings. Is his mind deteriorating in old age?

In the season three finale, David Cartwright let River down by destroying the file that River and his colleagues very nearly lost their lives trying to retrieve. David burnt the evidence of Tearney’s screw-up to protect the reputation of the intelligence service, telling River that he needed to see the bigger picture. Under his breath, River commented that this time, perhaps he was the one who could see the bigger picture. It was revealed that River had foreseen this move by his grandfather, because he’d made a copy of the file which he leaked, earning a portion of forgiveness for previous catastrophes from Diana Taverner, but not enough to get him out of Slough House purgatory.

Slow Horses season 4 is airing weekly on Wednesdays on Apple TV+. Episodes one and two are available to stream now.