[Editor’s Note: The following interview contains spoilers for the premiere episode of the Apple TV+ series “Slow Horses” .]The opening scene of “Slow Horses” is something of a magic trick.
The new Apple TV+ series starts with eight minutes of well-constructed, spy-story flourish, the equivalent of a stage performer dazzling you with one hand while secretly picking a lock behind their back with the other.On the page, the adaptation of Mick Herron’s novel commences with a 15-page prologue of junior Mi-5 agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) tracking down a possible target at a crowded transport center.
James Hawes, whose recent directorial career prior to “Slow Horses” includes episodes of “Penny Dreadful” and a pair of “Black Mirror” installments, was tasked with executing that idea across a number of different vectors.First, Cartwright’s chase and the team of Mi-5 officials guiding him — led by Kristin Scott Thomas’ steely Diana Taverner — has to provide an entry point for viewers unfamiliar with the source material.
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