Slow Horses season 6 set an uncomfortable record for the widely praised Apple TV series that the show may struggle to come back from. Since the series debuted in 2022, Slow Horses has been a widely acclaimed series, both by audiences and critics, praising the cast, the story, the writing, and almost every detail of the series as a whole.
As a result, the show has managed to deliver six seasons, with every single entry earning a 95% or higher Rotten Tomatoes critics score, and two perfect 100% scores for seasons 2 and 4. And while season 6 has maintained this high status among critics, with a score that currently sits at 98%, this season has seen the series drop for the first time in the audiences rating below 80%.
While critics have always scored Slow Horses higher than the rest of the world, audience scores have consistently sat between 82% and 90%, but season 6 has seen this rating drop to 79%. Of course, that is still a pretty positive score overall, but it does clearly indicate a shift in the tides about how people are feeling about Apple TV’s gritty British spy drama.
With all of that in mind, it’s worth diving into season 6, and pinpointing exactly where the show appears to have dipped in the minds of the audience. And unfortunately, there are some tangible things that highlight exactly why this season has become the lowest rated entry for Slow Horses in the show’s entire run.
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Slow Horses Season 6 Adapted Two Books For The First Time In The Show’s Run
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Slow Horses is a series that adapts the popular Slough House series of novels by Mick Herron. While some adaptations take a great deal of creative liberties, which results in the adapted work and the source material diverging early on, Slow Horses has largely stayed true to the books that inspired it.
Throughout the first five seasons, the show adapted one novel per season, and hit on several of the major beats from each book. This meant it had little need to alter the story, and subsequent seasons were not impacted by minor changes earlier rippling out and creating a larger shift in the narrative. However, season 6 changed this approach.
For the first time in the series, season 6 adapted two novels, condensing the material of both together, and adjusting elements to better fit with the show’s new approach. As a result, the six-episode run that had worked to deliver previous seasons without any real issues was forced to accommodate twice as much material.
As much as the writers and creatives managed to pull it together and clearly satisfy the critics with their latest offering, it appears as though some fans were not thrilled with the pacing, the condensed storylines, and the alterations made to cram two books into one season.
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Slow Horses Season 6 Marks The First Full Season With A New Showrunner
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Speaking of the writers, season 6 also marked a major milestone in the series run after the original showrunner, Will Smith, exited the series at the end of season 5. Will Smith, not to be confused with the Hollywood A-list actor, is a British writer who has served as the showrunner behind Slow Horses since the series debuted in 2022.
Season 6 saw Gaby Chiappe take over as the showrunner, and evidently, there would be some changes to how the series appears after such a fundamental change in the creative team. As much as the show maintains the same style and continues to follow the same characters, some audience reviews point to a shift in the dialogue and narrative flow.
This is a fair critique, though one that could be easily missed by some viewers. It is important to note that Gaby Chiappe had not worked on the show prior to taking over the reins in season 6. As a result, it seems that the tonal shift has clearly left some viewers with a sour taste, but this may improve over time as Chiappe settles into the role and gets more familiar with the material and characters.
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The Slough House Team Was Decimated In Slow Horses Season 6
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One of the biggest developments in Slow Horses season 6 comes from the merciless and ruthless way that the Slough House team were hunted down and systematically slaughtered. Yes, several agents who were executed in this season were retired characters who had never appeared in the show before this season, but the familiar crew certainly didn’t make it out unscathed.
Among the notable deaths from season 6 are JK Coe, who has been a core member of the team since season 4, and Emma Flyte, who was only inducted into the Slow Horses team officially this season. Prior to this, Flyte was the head of security at MI5, leading the team referred to as The Dogs.
In addition, we saw old characters return, like Louisa Guy and Sid Baker, but with all of these characters either returning or meeting their end, it appears that a major criticism towards this season was how much the characters appeared to change their personalities from previous seasons. The team has never been pushed further back than in this season, and with one of the most beloved characters’ fate left ambiguous, it’s clear why some people struggled to embrace this season.
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Slow Horses Season 6 Left River’s Fate Hanging In The Balance
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As referenced above, River Cartwright is in a rather precarious position by the end of Slow Horses season 6. Having successfully come to the aid of his team, saving the life of his former partner and romantic interest Sid Baker, and getting a moment of some sort of closure with his father, Frank Harkness, River is poisoned in his own home.
The season 6 finale appeared to be leading to a reunion between River and Sid in his late grandfather’s home, but despite his nervous energy as he prepared for Sid to get out of the show, River ends up lying on the floor infected with a toxin that was referenced earlier in the show as being extremely deadly.
At this point, it’s also interesting to note that when Slow Horses season 6 debuted with its premiere episode, the series actually managed to land a record-high audience score of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was only as the rest of the episodes came out that the score continued to drop, and ultimately this heartbreaking finale began to see the tides turn on the audience response.
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Slow Horses May Be Hitting A Wall As Audiences Get Bored
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One final point worth raising about why Slow Horses season 6 appears to be losing the audience comes down to one of the simplest ideas, and that is the fact that some people may simply be getting bored. Slow Horses has been running for six seasons now, with these highly capable agents playing the role of underdog and constantly being overlooked.
While they have managed to save the day on numerous occasions, and succeed where the rest of MI5 has failed, they continue to be the subject of disdain from their peers, and that could be getting a little stale. It was an interesting concept at first, but with the point being proven and driven home time and time again, the show could have just lost momentum.
All in all, Slow Horses season 6 has still earned a very respectable score from both audiences and critics alike, and the show has been renewed for at least another two seasons. As such, there is much more to come from the team at Slough House, but hopefully some or all of the issues above are able to be reconciled ahead of the next outing.
Slow Horses
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