Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6 (finale) recap: It’s a race against time for the Slough House agents

Slow Horses Season 5 ended on a fiery note with the Slough House agents fighting against time to stop the Libyan terrorists from carrying out their destructive plan. Though Tara makes their demands, Farouk and the group want to carry out the final attacks as planned. Meanwhile, Claude Whelan has his own deceitful agenda, which unravels thanks to Jackson Lamb.

In the previous episode of Slow Horses Season 5, we saw Lamb uncover the plan to use the UK’s destabilization strategy against them. Tara Younis, who was questioned by the MI5, turned out to be a co-conspirator herself. Claude Whelan falls for her manipulative words as she assures him that she will help them catch the terrorists. But Tara was well-prepared, as gives a code to the MI5 that shut down all their systems. As she disappears without a trace, the Slough House is trying to figure out the terrorist plot in play.

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Tara is revealed to be an orchestrator in the terror attacks in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6

Tara Younis’ code has frozen the systems at MI5 headquarters. The Slow Horses Season 5 finale picks up from when the experts are struggling to bring surveillance back online. Director Whelan is still under the belief that it is a system issue and has nothing to do with Tara, who had managed to successfully manipulate him and escape. Whelan is all over the place, and his ineptitude is more obvious.

Diana Taverner now has the exact tool in her hand to bring forth Whelan’s incompetence. She accuses him of falling into Tara’s trap and getting lured into not only corrupting the surveillance system but also letting her walk free.

But Tara has not really gone off the radar; instead, she has found a safe haven in the Libyan Embassy in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6. When the Libyan Ambassador reaches out to Whelan, he also informs him about their current ‘guest’. Whelan had believed that Tara would take the MI5 to the terrorists; instead, she went to the one place where she could hide safely from any political brigade. And, adding insult to Whelan, Tara insists on speaking to Diana about what comes next instead.

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Tara puts forth her demands to Diana in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6

Tara finally reveals the agenda behind the attacks in London in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6. She tells Diana that she is just another insurgent who feels that the UK government has destroyed her country and the lives of numerous Libyans.

The UK had repeatedly used destabilization tactics on its colonies and other countries to interfere and take what didn’t belong to them, including the oil reserves of its own country. The terrorists are now using the same destabilization strategy against them. So, what do they want to stop? One hundred million pounds, and the perpetrators are to be allowed to leave the UK without any problem.

Tara does not budge on the amount and insists that the UK has made considerably more from the oil revenues and the political fallout in Libya. Meanwhile, in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6, the experts share that they can get the system back after an hour. But the concern is that if the amount is not transferred within the hour, Tara threatens to go ahead with the final plan in their destabilization strategy, which involves an attack on a place of worship, and it happens to be Sunday morning.

Diana is on the edge, knowing it is no empty threat and could well cause lasting damage. She asks Whelan to speak to the Prime Minister to get the ransom money ready and transferred.

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Peter Judd’s surprising role in the attacks comes to light

Episode 6 delivers a shocking twist when Tara mentions the name of an offshore Cayman company to which the money is to be transferred. Diana suddenly remembers her conversation with the former Home Secretary, Peter Judd. Judd had spoken about some Libyan extremists who were asking for reparations for the oil revenue profited by the UK from their country. The link between Peter Judd and the terrorist group becomes evident.

Farouk and his group had taken Judd’s political help to carry out their plan. They had paid him a significant fee to help them through this. Judd was the one who even set up the offshore Caymans Fund as its director, to receive the demanded ransom.

In Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6, Diana knew that Judd’s involvement must be urgently addressed, and she challenges him. He reveals that he was indeed involved with them initially, and the plan was to blackmail the government into giving the amount. As a matter of fact, feeling threatened by them, Judd even tried to notify Diana, who did not investigate it. The group instead went ahead without Judd’s involvement to carry out the attacks across London.

Tara had taken control of the Libyan embassy in the Season 5 finale. Diana informs her that the amount has been transferred, and the MI5 vehicles outside the embassy will ensure that she can safely leave the country. Tara gets in touch with Farouk and the group about the progress and asks them to leave with her. But they were not ready to comply, as they wanted to carry out the plan anyway. They wanted the UK to suffer and decided to go ahead with the final attack, without Sami, who no longer wanted to be part of the plan.

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It is a race against time for the Slough House agents in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6

Farouk and Kamal plan to attack the multifaith center at Abbotsfield, where, coincidentally, Zafar Jaffrey was also present in the Season 5 Finale. While all this was going on, Jackson Lamb had deduced that this would be the spot that the terrorists would choose to attack. The Slough House agents make it to the place to catch them in action.

JK Coe will lend his weapon to Shirley, who will bring down Kamal. But things turn chaotic after Farouk captures Jaffrey. The Slough House agents are aware that Farouk will kill Jaffrey if they take any rash step. As they argue among themselves, Farouk is distracted, giving enough time for Coe to stab him from behind.

On the other side, in the Libyan Embassy, Tara is on the lookout to escape, knowing well that the agents will kill her. Jackson asks Catherine to bring her out of the building, with the latter playing the role of a hostage. But Lamb steps in and lets the agents arrest her.

Even though the terrorists are dead, River Cartwright suddenly realizes that not all is over as Sami may be looking to target Whelan. After NATO’s involvement in Libya, Sami’s family was destroyed. Whelan was part of the government at the time, and he made the final decision to withdraw the UK from Libya.

River had shared his doubts with the other Slough House agents, who learnt about the history and that Whelan was a target in their elaborate plan. After learning that Whelan is at the park, River heads towards it. Sami comes face-to-face with Whelan himself at the park and points a gun at him. He is taken by surprise, but River, who makes it in the nick of time, brings down Sami.

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Whelan wants to take down Slough House in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6

Despite saving his life from the terrorists, Whelan has very little support for the Slough House agents in Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6. River’s dreams of getting promoted also seem to have come to a standstill. Whelan shares that the blame for his own failure with intelligence will be pinned on the Slough House agents instead.

It is worth noting that Whelan has been opposed to Slough House and has wanted to shut down the department. Despite Lamb’s expertise, Whelan had minimal regard for the agents. And the current situation was the perfect instance for not only to clear his own name but also to find a scapegoat in Slough House. He concocted the story that Judd had informed Lamb about the attacks, but he did not investigate it, leading to the destruction and loss of lives.

But it is not easy to take down Lamb, as we have learnt time and again. He had a recording device by Dennis Gimball that contained incriminating evidence against Whelan. When Lamb presents it to him, Whelan is forced to resign from MI5. Molly and Roddy also get their jobs back.

At the end of Slow Horses Season 5 Episode 6, Diana is made the director of MI5. She informs Lamb that River will continue in Slough House.

Watch Slow Horses Season 5 on Apple TV+.

ALSO READ: How did Gary Oldman end up joining Slow Horses? Here's the 'story' behind the star's entry into the spy thriller

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