Slow Horses (2022) s02e06 Episode Script

You have reached the
voice mail of Jackson Lamb.
Leave a message and we
will get back to you.
I'm sorry to blow your
element of surprise,
but would you mind picking up?
I'm reluctantly impressed.
How did you know I would be here?
Ah, the office is empty,
my guard would be down.
That's how I'd do it.
So, if you're not too
busy, please drop by.
Well, that's a tempting offer,
but you wanna murder me, Nikky.
So if it's all the same to you,
I'll get an armed response
unit to drop by on my behalf.
Listen, it only took a drop of
radioactive poison to kill Nevsky.
Imagine what it can do
in a bomb hidden in a box
on a busy street with a breeze.
Who knows how many will die.
There's no need to do
this in my office, Nikky.
No one there killed your joe.
I'm the one who put a barrel
in his mouth and squeezed.
Besides, I wouldn't wanna
leave a mess for the maid.
Oh, you have a maid.
Well, not as such.
The name, uh, Catherine
Standish ring a bell?
She worked for Charlie.
Uh, she found the mess I made of him.
She works for me now.
Doesn't need to go through
that with another boss.
Although in my case, she might open
a bottle of nonalcoholic champagne.
What do you suggest?
Your place.
I mean whichever way this goes,
you won't be renewing the lease.
Catherine Standish.
Have you got Marcus and Louisa
out of the Glasshouse yet?
Sorry.
Get out of the way!
It's been too long, Jackson.
I'll see you in another 15 years, Molly.
Jackson, I have grave
doubts you'll last the day.
Golf Whiskey Alpha Charlie
Whiskey. Do you read me?
We opened a communication channel.
I repeat, we opened a communication
Please evacuate the building
via the nearest exit or stairwell.
All elevators have been suspended.
Attention. This is an
emergency announcement.
Please evacuate the building via
the nearest exit or stairwell.
All elevators have been suspended.
It looks like the bleeding has
stopped, but he's passed out.
Security alert. Make your
When did you put the
gun under the table?
During the bug sweep.
Why didn't you tell me?
Look, Lamb told me to
watch you, all right?
After last night,
didn't think it was wise for you to
be around Pashkin with a gun in reach.
What's this thing made out of?
The bullet's probably hit an artery,
so you're gonna need a tourniquet, okay?
Can I take your belt?
Security alert. Make your
way to the nearest exit.
Security alert. Make your
way to the nearest exit.
If I don't stop the
blood loss, you will die.
Show me the wound.
- Louisa, what the fuck?
- What's going on?
- What's going on?
- Louisa!
You just keep breaking down
the door. What's going on?
Stop that!
We needed to shut down Glasshouse.
Why?
To put virus in Nevsky computers.
Moscow can drain his accounts.
The fuck was that?
Was that an explosion?
We really should've
checked the boot of the car.
Yes! I'm aware of that.
How will you get into the accounts?
There has to be security
on his computers.
We cut off his thumb,
and let him have his gun
in return for passwords.
A quick death was his reward.
Louisa.
Security alert. Make your way
No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No.
I lost him.
- He got on a train.
- But which one?
I don't know.
Wh I can't hear.
Why are you whispering?
Because I got on the train with him.
What? You're on a train with Chernitsky?
Sure am.
Well, where is it going?
I'm trying to work it out.
Well, fucking find out.
It's It's stopping at Orpington,
- uh, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells.
- Okay, sit tight. I'll let Lamb know.
- I'll get to you as soon as I can.
- How are you gonna do that?
Leave it with me.
Sorry about all this.
I'm sure it must be quite a shock.
I'm sure we can offer you support
to help you deal with this.
If you want it.
Someone will
I'll just I'll just
leave you leave you to it.
Oh, fucking no.
Shit, shit, shit.
Oh, Jesus.
What?
That's the stuff I
thought was on the plane.
The bomb?
Yeah, the bomb.
I thought it was on the plane.
Wait why is it not on the plane?
- Did you see them put it on the plane?
- No.
Well Well, why did
Why would you even think
- there was a bomb on the plane?
- Because I thought it was on the plane.
Sorry, just just
one minute. It's just
I mean, the way they talked, what
he said, why would you not take
They wanted me to call it in. That's
why they left a phone in there,
- you c Fuck.
- What's going on?
Uh, dickhead here just
called in a fake bomb. So
- Yeah, yep, yeah.
- What?
- I can't believe this is happening again.
- Again?
Yeah. There was a training
exercise that I didn't
Ugh, it doesn't matter
Tell them that there's no bomb.
Otherwise, they're still
gonna shoot her down.
Right, but then I have to
resci Okay, fine, f-f-fine.
Oh, Christ.
Right, well, I need a
I need a phone. Phone.
Yeah.
Jesus Christ.
- And a pass code. Can you open it?
- Oh, fuck.
Thank you.
Fuck.
Fuck.
All elevators have been suspended.
Attention. This is an
emergency announcement.
Please evacuate the building via
the nearest exit or stairwell.
All elevators have been suspended.
Come on.
Attention. This is an
emergency announcement.
Please evacuate the building via
the nearest exit or stairwell.
All elevators have been suspended.
Security alert.
- Go.
- Make your way to the nearest exit.
- Which floor is it?
- 42nd.
- Please evacuate the building
- Oh, fuck.
- All right, stairs it is.
- Yeah.
have been suspended.
Zero, do you read me?
Golf Whiskey Alpha Charlie Whiskey.
Open a communication channel.
A military escort has been
Golf Whiskey Alpha Charlie
Whiskey. This is Jackal 1.
Zero, this is Jackal 1.
Target is unresponsive.
Cartwright, agent
five-two-six-three.
Access code,
bravo-tangerine-excelsior-eight-nine.
Yeah.
Cartwright.
New intelligence has
come to light, ma'am.
The bomb was never assembled.
It's still on the ground.
I have a military helicopter
on both sides of that plane,
waiting for my signal to take it down.
You have to stand them down,
ma'am. There is no bomb.
Then why is the plane headed
straight for the Glasshouse?
It's a hoax, ma'am.
I think they wanted to
trigger the Code September.
- They?
- Yes, a cicada and her Russian handlers.
They tricked you into
thinking there was a bomb,
and now you're telling
me it's part of a plot?
Look, Russian operatives want the
city shut down for some reason.
I don't know why, but there's no
bomb. You have to rescind that order.
The plane is nearing the
exclusion zone, ma'am.
This isn't like canceling
a Deliveroo, Cartwright.
It only gets canceled when
every suspicious-looking madman,
every abandoned bag,
every empty coffee cup
gets checked, rechecked
and then blown up if necessary.
You can't take that plane down.
In one minute, the plane will be
less than one mile from the target.
If the pilot has not made
contact or diverted by then,
they will take it down.
Ju
We might have to take the plane down.
I need your confirmation.
Minister?
It's your command, Diana.
You have my full support
to take whatever decisions
you see fit in the moment.
Stern weapons, hold.
Jackal 2, this is Zero.
You're cleared weapons tight.
I repeat, you are cleared weapons tight.
Still no response from radio.
Pilots are locking on, ma'am.
This is a last warning.
I repeat, we will use lethal
force if you do not respond.
Jackal 2 is locked to
the target. In range,
awaiting further instruction.
Confirm weapons tight.
Thirty seconds till launch.
Last and final warning.
Divert, or we will shoot you down.
Roddy, I need you to
track a plane for me.
Where the fuck have you been?
Look, just shut up and listen to me.
It's a single-prop plane.
It's headed for the Glasshouse.
I need to know if they shot it down.
- I'm on a train. No can do.
- Just get off at the next stop then.
Negative. I'm on a mission.
Roddy, w
Golf Whiskey Alpha Charlie Whiskey.
This is Golf Whiskey
Alpha Charlie Whiskey.
I'm reading you loud and clear.
I'm turning away from the exclusion
zone and awaiting your instruction.
Zero, this is Jackal 1.
Target's communicating.
Oh, God. Thank God. Thank God. Alex?
I'm okay. I'm just I'm
being escorted to an air base.
Target is now complying
with our instructions.
We are weapons safe.
Repeat, we are weapons safe.
Jackal 1 to Zero.
Confirmed, target not live.
Okay. I can talk now.
Doesn't matter.
The plane's been diverted.
Oh, thank God.
I was in the quiet car. I had to move.
Still got eyes on him though.
Wait, Roddy, what
what mission are you on?
I tracked Chernitsky using your phone.
You're tracking Chernitsky in the field?
Yeah. I'm on a train with him.
What train?
Southeastern.
Wait, Roddy, what was your last stop?
St. Johns. We just left St. Johns.
Oh, shit, he's gone. I gotta go.
Wait, Rod Ch
Shit.
Uh Uh, I need to get to
Tunbridge Wells in 30 minutes.
Even if I wanted to give you
my car, you couldn't make that.
Can you fly me?
Good. Come on.
We will shortly be
arriving at Sevenoaks.
Please take all your belongings
with you when leaving the train.
Oi, kid.
- Sorry.
- All right, easy, mate.
Move.
Hey!
Sorry.
What's going on?
Uh-oh.
Bitch.
- Ho, open up!
- Who is it?
Who do you think it is? Open the door!
- Wh What are you doing?
- Fuck's sake.
No!
The train at platform two will
You okay?
Yeah, great.
I'm rollin' in piss.
- Hold off. They might still be inside.
- Yeah. That's what I'm hoping.
Fuck me, is that Nevsky's thumb?
Looks like they got to the accounts.
What you think happened here then?
Pashkin got greedy.
Yeah, and took a bit extra.
I'm guessing diamonds.
All right, let's go.
He must have gone down.
- Louisa!
- Yeah. Coming.
Hey, where are you going?
I'm gonna go get more out of Kyril.
Do not torture him again.
No, I won't.
I'm in here.
No surprises.
Don't want your dirty bomb going off.
Can we stop pretending
there's anything in there?
Why did you come if you
did not believe the threat?
Couldn't take the risk.
And it's overdue, you and me.
So what do I call you? Katinsky? Popov?
Whatever you like. My
real name is buried.
Mm-hmm. The rest of you will be soon.
Can we put these down?
I don't know about
you, but at-at my age,
it's murder on the wrists to keep
'em pointed longer than five minutes.
Yeah.
Well played.
Keeping us fooled all these years.
What, with cicadas and Popov.
And on a personal note,
it it really fucking stings
to know you got one over on me.
Sending an agent to Upshott,
just like you wanted,
so you could get the
Glasshouse shut down.
Who was that for? The FSB?
What they up to in there?
I don't know, and I don't care.
That is what they asked for.
That is what I delivered.
Now
in return for what?
The identity of the man
who killed Charles Partner?
You killed him.
If you wanna hear it from the
stallion's mouth, yes, I did.
He was a traitor selling secrets to you.
He was my joe.
Dickie was a joe too.
Which is why you have to pay for him
dying on a bus in the fucking rain.
Dickie was an alcoholic you
hadn't thought of in 30 years.
And Charles Partner was a
First Desk at MI5 and my agent.
Between the two of
them, I prefer Dickie.
At least he didn't
smile at his colleagues
knowing he was sending
them to their deaths.
It was called the Cold War
for a reason. People died.
Yeah, and like you said the
last time we met, we won.
Who's winning now, Jackson?
Hard to say.
But it feels you still
want something from me.
Otherwise you wouldn't
have put your gun down.
Was it my fault that Charles died?
Is that what's been eating
away at you? All these years?
That's probably what
gave you the cancer.
This is your friend, Piotr,
in case you can't tell, seeing
as part of his face is missing.
And if you'd been there,
you'd look like this too.
Pashkin took whatever he could
from Nevsky's safe and ran.
Probably diamonds.
- That fucker.
- What is the exit strategy?
If you don't give him
up, I'm gonna let you die.
Fuck him.
He's called an Air Ambulance.
- Standish, what are you doing here?
- Just a moment.
I came to warn you.
Shit. If you're here, it means
he didn't come down. Fuck.
Hey! Thank you, thank you. Thank God.
Stop. Stop!
Stay where you are.
Get back.
Get back.
Get back, or I will shoot you.
You can't. They'll leave
if they see the gun.
Get out of the way.
I'm not moving till you
tell me why you killed Min.
- I didn't. It was an accident.
- Stop fucking lying to me!
Tell me, and I'll let them land.
He saw me when he shouldn't have.
That's it?
Wrong place, wrong time, that's it?
That's it.
Now this is your last
chance to get out of the way.
Hey, no.
Fuck.
You fucking shit
Please, I must know.
Did I slip?
No. No, I did.
We had an agent in what
was left of the Stasi.
Partner knew the code name,
knew where they worked,
but not their identity.
One night, we were
drinking, I slipped up.
I referred to the agent as "she."
That could have been one of three women.
So the Stasi, being, um,
well, the Stasi, killed
all three of them.
Hung 'em up with piano wire
till their heads came off.
I saw the photos. I
wish I could unsee 'em.
Was that your handiwork?
I just passed on the information.
I didn't know what
they would do with it.
Huh. Well, you're gonna
sleep easier than me.
Not by much.
I wanted to kill Partner there and then.
But I was ordered not to.
So we, uh we fed him shit for years.
Which is why Moscow thought he
had turned and why you had to flee.
And why you thought it would
be fun to feed me a load of shit
about a bomb attack on the Glasshouse.
I wanted the professional
humiliation of you and your team.
Well, that was a waste of effort.
My team have already professionally
humiliated themselves.
That's why they're my team.
Well
as nice as it is to chat,
how do you wanna do this?
Three, two, one, go?
Or should we do the
whole ten paces and draw?
- I was waiting for a call.
- Who from?
A contestant on Who
Wants To Be A Millionaire?
You see, as a payment for my
help in the death of Nevsky
and the return of the money he stole,
I asked the FSB for two names.
You wanted to kill
Charles immediately, right?
But you were told not to.
By whom?
The person with the real power.
The person who decided when
and how Charles would die.
You sure, mate?
Thank you. I walk from here.
- Won't be a moment. Just
- Just finding the keys.
Sorry to keep you.
Hello?
Hello? Hello?
Armed police!
- Armed police! Put the gun on the ground.
- Whoa! Okay!
Easy, easy! Target's down.
All right? The target is down.
You knew I would go for Cartwright?
Here.
- Thank you.
- There's one live there.
- Wait, who who called you in?
- Jackson Lamb.
I left you a message specifically
saying not to answer the door.
Yes, well, he's dead and I'm
not. What more do you want?
I'm gonna put the kettle on, and
you can tell me who I just killed.
Go on, kill me.
Come on, kill me.
I will not end my days
in a fucking prison.
Never. Never.
If it's any consolation, Nikky
you were really fucking good.
It's the fucking
- Two secs.
- Go ahead, sir.
For a brief moment, I
thought they'd arrest you
as an MI5 impostor.
Well, the good news is,
they're not gonna press charges
seeing as you helped save
my grandfather's life.
Great.
I presume they're not gonna
let me take off from here.
Uh, no, no.
But they'll, um they'll transport
you to the nearest airfield.
You can take off from there.
I don't have, uh,
enough fuel to get back.
You want me to chip in for petrol?
No. You can pay for all of it.
Right, yeah, fine. Fair enough.
Oh, um
- Are you kidding me?
- Do you Right, fine. Okay, yeah.
I'll just find a cashpoint.
You expect me to stand by this crap?
One of your agents fucked up and
falsely called in a Code September.
How about we nail their balls
to Tower Bridge and then open it?
Everything that happened
needs to go into a locked box.
Someone needs to go into a
fucking locked box, Diana.
Maybe it should be you.
You're Home Secretary.
Responsible for the health and safety
of citizens of the United Kingdom,
including Ilya Nevsky.
Our report cites suicide
as the cause of death.
Do you really want the world to know
that he was radioactively
poisoned by the FSB
and that the FSB broke into
his office in the Glasshouse
and drained the accounts on
his private banking server?
I don't think that's a good idea.
Make you look weak.
And any retaliation you take
will make you look weaker.
But you want me to stand up
and say the city closed down
because of a radar glitch?
Do you prefer to say
that it was shut down
because of a Russian sleeper
agent who'd evaded us for decades?
Of course not. We'd look like twats.
I presume she's not being prosecuted.
The trial would be excruciating.
It suits everyone that she be
put back in her assumed life.
So who the fuck do we hang this on?
The defense systems need upgrading.
Have done for years, but, in
his wisdom, the prime minister,
when he was chancellor,
refused the request.
Hmm. All his fault, the
penny-pinching fucker.
Risking the nation over a few quid.
You can't say that.
But I'm sure there are plenty
people on the backbenches who will.
Okay. So our agreement stands?
If you remember your
side when the time comes.
And I'll need an advanced warning
of when that time is coming,
'cause I have to buy a new dress
for when I take my seat
behind the First Desk.
Good grip there, Diana.
Stronger than most men.
Yes.
Put that out.
What, no, uh, "How the
hell did you get in here?"
I knew you were in the building
for your Katinsky debrief.
Yeah, but I should get points
for getting in your office.
Is this gonna last long?
Only normally we meet outside,
where your lack of deodorant
is slightly less noticeable.
- Harper's funeral.
- What about it?
It should be at St. Leonard's.
No, that's for officers
of good standing.
Oh, fuck off. I bet Webb's
getting a big St. Leonard send-off.
Webb isn't dead.
Oh, is he still clinging on?
- He's doing quite well, actually.
- Hmm, hmm.
I could always pull the plug.
Waste of a pair of
good kidneys, that one.
No St. Leonard's for Harper.
You'll be lucky to be there yourself.
I'm not sure I'd even wanna be there.
Knowing I'll be rubbing shoulders
with the likes of
Partner and Cartwright
and you.
Thank you for joining me
in that moment of quiet reflection.
It's a sign of Min's popularity
to see so many of you here today.
Husband, father, friend or colleague,
all knew Min as a dependable
man of good spirit.
His sons, Lucas and Jared,
have chosen one of their father's
favorite songs to be played.
"The Scientist" by Coldplay.
Ah.
What, it's just you?
No, the others are coming.
- Is it open?
- Well, it is now.
You didn't pick the lock
on a church, did you?
No, I gave the geezer who
runs the place a fifty.
- Oh.
- Yeah,
you couldn't, uh, find a way
of getting me reimbursed, yeah?
Will Taverner find out we did this?
Mmm, I hope so.
Chewing gum's new.
Nicotine. For these.
How How was it?
Um, well, the Park sent a
Dog. So, you know, not great.
Hey.
You all right?
Not really, no.
These places haven't been the
same since they banned smoking.
You were never allowed
to smoke in the church.
Well, they should reconsider that.
Huh? Might boost the numbers.
Here, gi-give me a hand.
All right.
Uh, who's got the thingy?
All right.
Is a Anyone wanna say anything?
We thought you would've
prepared something.
To Min Harper.
- Min Harper.
- To Min Harper.
All right, come on, fuck off.
- Marcus?
- Oh, sorry.
You can push things
away, but sooner or later
you have to deal with them.
Secrets will always come out.
There will always be a reckoning.
I have an early start tomorrow.
Oh, come on. You can't leave.
We haven't talked about what
we came here to talk about.
Jackson Lamb.
We're at Standish's flat. She
didn't come home last night.
They have two hostages, and
you propose to stand them up?
Get down to their office.
And if you haven't worked it
out by then, don't come back.
They're not hostages, and you're
not gonna do anything to them.
Grey Books?
Elvis shot JFK, and
Hitler built the pyramids.
People died today.
Sometimes, the stakes are
higher than your personal safety.
I just wanna say,
- this is an absolute honor.
- Shut up.
River!
Wait
Who was it who said, uh,
"You cannot reason with a tiger
when your head is in its mouth"?