Slow Horses Season 4 Premiere: Is River Cartwright Dead? What Really Happened to Him?

Slow Horses season 4 is out now on Apple TV+ and the wonderful show is back with the suspense and strange spy show that the viewers are in love with. One of the biggest questions leading up to the premiere was: But who really died on Slough House? The teaser for the show hinted that there was a big death on the way and yet the answer to this surprise was not what the viewers would solve.

That is why the twist of the show was at the same time not in revealing who died but in revealing who did not die at all. The episode starts with what may be viewed as a tense and dreadful event in which River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) is shot by his own grandfather, David. Though some of these features are seen in the first part of the episode, as the episode unfolds the viewers realize that things are not as black and white as they were depicted.

It becomes clear as the program goes on that nothing is as it seems at first. Presumably River’s body, the one discovered at David’s house is, in fact, that of an impostor.

The dramatic last scene of the episode offers the shocking information that River is actually alive and He is leaving on a covert mission in France to find out more about a man whose passport he has called Adam Lockhead.

David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) who is a senior officer of MI5 is shown suffering from memory loss, which had been an issue throughout the preceding season. His declining health creates suspense in the episode especially when he thinks that the stranger in his house is his grandson, River. This misidentification results in a shooting and David ends up wondering if he has only shot dead his only surviving relation.

But to viewers’ suprise, the premiere establishes that the victim was not River at all but some other unknown man whose killer motives are still a mystery. This makes the rest of the season even more important as River sets of on a quest to find the details behind the attack on his grandfather.

Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), the rough and mysterious chief of the Slough House, initially seems to think that River is dead, particularly when he himself identifies a body in David’s house. However, although Lamb develops some optimism in his life, understanding that he has done the right thing, he gradually realizes, as actions thus occur, that something is wrong. His doubts come true when he goes to another ex-MI5 contractor, Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) and sees that David Cartwright has been staying at her place. Lamb learns that River is alive with some sort of a big project that he is working on as a result of this discovery.

As for River, his death is one of the main arcs of the show, but the season premiere also starts painting the picture of a bigger problem in London—a bomb threat. A car bomb is detonated at a shopping mall with lots of people rushing to do their shopping; 23 people die in the process. This act of terror immediately leads to a thrilling pursuit as both MI5 and Slough House have to work hard so as to prevent others.

Once again, the reader will expect to see Jackson Lamb and his team of unlikely spies and solve a number of mysteries in the entangled world of spies and secrets. With River Cartwright on a covert assignment in France this time, the action and the drama are turned up to the next level, and that viewers should expect nothing less than the witty and twisted experience that has made the series known worldwide.

 What of River Cartwright in the Future?

It is quite clear that the writers of Slow Horses have intended to leave more questions than answers for the viewers with the Season 4 premiere. River Cartwright is alive but his story is a long from being over. But given the fact that his grandfather is on the verge of death and that there is a terrorist plot in London that will be executed in later episodes, River’s actions will be important. What, exactly, will he be doing in France on his ‘spy’ type mission and how will this work into the over arching plot? And what will Jackson Lamb do with the information which is revealed now?

One thing is certain: Slow Horses Season 4 is action-packed, and viewers can prepare themselves for some intense episodes to come.

Slow Horses Season 4 Episode 4 Recap