The sixth season of «Slow Horses» ended with a body count and a cliffhanger that left viewers reeling, as the Apple TV spy thriller closed its run with a safe-house shootout that killed one MI5 operative, wounded another and left River Cartwright's life hanging in the balance.
The finale, titled «Judgement Day,» brought back Olivia Cooke's Sidonie Baker after a four-season absence. Her reunion with River, played by Jack Lowden, was short-lived: the pair soon found themselves fleeing Russian sleeper agents, and the episode's central set piece saw MI5 employees Louisa, Standish, Moira and Shirley join Roddy, Emma Flyte, Reese Nesmith and River at a safe house before River's father, Harkness, and two henchmen attacked.
By the end of the hour, Ruth Bradley's Emma was dead and Rosalind Eleazar's Louisa had been shot, though the Russian threat was eliminated. River never got to reunite with Sid: he suffered a heart attack brought on by a nerve agent, and the final image was his twitching foot seen through a doorway. Elsewhere, Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman, confronted Diana Taverner, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, over the Russian conspiracy that had put his colleagues in the crosshairs.
Fans responded to the episode with a mix of grief and admiration, flooding social media with praise for the show's consistency and craft. «Slow Horses is living proof a show can be excellent AND released regularly,» one viewer wrote. Another called it «the best ever,» adding, «What a fabulous season.» A third said the sixth season «just might be the best one yet, despite the body count,» describing it as a «perfect mix of hilarity and tension.» Others were more direct: «Slow Horses finale is thee best hour of tele this year.»
The cliffhanger ending quickly became fuel for another conversation. Lowden has been heavily rumored to be in line for the role of James Bond, and fans seized on River's apparent demise — along with the actor's absence from the new season seven trailer — as evidence that he has landed the part. «The Slow Horses season six finale and season seven trailer prove that Jack Lowden will be the new James Bond,» one fan wrote. Another asked simply, «Does the final scene mean Jack Lowden got the Bond gig?»
Season seven of «Slow Horses» has already been confirmed and is expected to air next September. Reports indicate that news on the next James Bond actor will be announced in the coming weeks, with Jacob Elordi and Lowden rumored to be on the shortlist.
Cooke, speaking about her return to the series, described the finale's closing moments as a deliberate provocation, saying of the unresolved standoff between Sid and River: «I want a showdown!» Her character's brief reappearance — announced by the line «Hello, River» — bookended an episode that turned a long-awaited reunion into a fresh source of suspense.
For a show that has built its reputation on dry humor and bureaucratic absurdity, the finale marked a notably darker turn, trading the usual office politics of Slough House for a confrontation that left the ensemble diminished. Whether River survives — and whether Lowden's future lies with MI5 or MI6 — remains the question fans will carry into the long wait for season seven.