It looks like something big and bad is about to happen to London, and it may fall to a team of remedial MI5 back-benchers to step up and stop it.
That’s at least according to the season 2 trailer of the darkly comedic Apple TV+ espionage thriller Slow Horses, which dropped Wednesday. The series resumes December 2. Watch the trailer below.
Cold War secrets emerge to threaten London in Slow Horses season 2 trailer
As with the popular first season, much acclaimed by Cult of Mac‘s critic and others, season 2 of Slow Horses stars Oscar-winner Gary Oldman as section chief of Slough House, home to screw-up MI5 agents. This one’s adapted from novelist Mick Herron’s Slow Horses series book 2, Dead Lions (2013).
The trailer opens on a former service member found dead on a public bus. Could be heart failure, but the cause is always suspicious when you’re a spy — even a retired one. The man smoked and drank and was in his 60s, an agent points out.
“Well, I do all that and look at me, I’m in me prime,” quips Lamb, who is the picture of dilapidation from a lifetime of drinking, smoking and stress.
He suspects something else is going on with the dead agent. And it could turn out to be big.
As Apple TV+ describes the season:
In season two, long-buried Cold War secrets emerge which threaten to bring carnage to the streets of London. When a liaison with Russian villains takes a fatal turn, our hapless heroes must overcome their individual failings and raise their spy game in a race to prevent a catastrophic incident.
And no credible spy series trailer is going to reveal many of its secrets — or its plot twists. But it appears many will emerge among the scenes the trailer shows in quick cuts. Scary steel suitcases thrust into car trunks. Police motorcades rushing through London. People running with guns.
This trailer seems heavier on the dramatic urgency and and lighter on the dark humor than the season 1 trailer. But the season will likely be rich in both if it follows the book closely. I read it recently and recommend the series of novels.
And hey, if you need to brush up on Slow Horses spy lingo, peruse this handy fan-site glossary.
Cast, producers and director
In addition to Oldman the cast includes Academy Award nominee Kristin Scott Thomas, Academy Award nominee Jonathan Pryce, BAFTA Scotland Award winner Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves, Rosalind Eleazar, Dustin Demri-Burns, Christopher Chung, Freddie Fox, Chris Reilly, Samuel West, Aimee-Ffion Edwards and Kadiff Kirwan.
The series is produced by See-Saw Films and adapted for television by Will Smith (Veep). Jeremy Lovering directs season 2. Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Douglas Urbanski, Gail Mutrux, Will Smith and Graham Yost serve as executive producers.
The second season premieres on Apple TV+ with two episodes on December 2 and continues with one episode each Friday.
Apple TV+ is available by subscription for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial, or via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle.
