Spoilers are ahead for Slow Horses season 4, episode 1, “Identity Theft.“AlthoughSlow Horsesseason 4 adapts the fourth Slough House novel, Spook Street, it makes a few key changes to the story, including bringing Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) back into the fold. At the end of Slow Horses season 3, River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) manages to get his hands on the “Footprint” file, which contains some incriminating information about MI5. While his grandfather, David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce), believesRiver should destroy the file and protect MI5’s reputation, he decides to leak it. Admittedly,Slow Horses' MI5 isn’t always accurate, but this results in a slew of changes for the agency.
Using Mick Herron’s Slough House books as a foundation, Slow Horses season 4’s story opens with a series of startling incidents. One night, an apparent terrorist drives a car bomb into a crowded shopping center. Elsewhere, a paranoid David, who was a Cold War-era operative, thinks he’s being followed. When someone who appears to be River turns up,David shoots and kills the intruder before vanishing. With what really happened to River Cartwright and the violent bombing seemingly linked,Slow Horses' cast of charactersis tasked with piecing everything together, with Catherine Standish playing a crucial role.
Catherine Standish Returns For Slow Horses Season 4
Standish Is No Longer A Member Of Slough House But She Does Help Jackson Lamb
While she doesn’t appear until the latter half ofSlow Horsesseason 4, episode 1,Catherine Standish plays a key role behind the scenes by protecting the Cartwright men. After David Cartwright seemingly shoots and kills his grandson, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) is called to the scene to identify River’s body. Even by Jackson Lamb standards, the head of Slough House has a very off reaction to his agent’s apparent death. The scene — a blood-spattered bathroom — is incredibly gruesome. Lamb even makes a poor-taste joke about not being able to really identify a faceless man.
Noticing that Standish isn’t asking any prying questions about River’s death, Lamb correctly guesses that River stopped by.
When he takes a look at the victim’s body, Lamb has a subtle yet strange reaction. Hiding his skepticism, Lamb tells Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley), the Head of the Dogs, that the victim in the bathtub is River Cartwright. However, Lamb’s intuition leads him to Standish’s house. When her former colleague arrives, Standish is scanning newspaper articles about the car bombing. Despite everything, she can’t quite leave her MI5 life behind. Noticing that Standish isn’t asking any prying questions about River’s death, Lamb correctly guesses that River stopped by. Eventually, Standish admits that David is lying low in her house.
Why Standish Resigned From Slough House In Season 3
Even though Standish is having a hard time putting her decades-long career behind her, she resigned from Slough House for good reason. For the majority of Slow Horses season 3, Standish is held captive, but Slough House’s ex-office administrator has other reasons to be disgusted with MI5. The information that River leaks about the agency’s lack of accountability likely factors in, but it’s what Lamb reveals about Standish’s long-time MI5 hero, Charles Partner, that pushes her to resign.
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Even if the jaded Standish stomach that Partner was a traitor, she still cares forSlough House’s agents.Now,Lamb seems to be on slightly better footing with Standish.With the Charles Partner business finally out in the open — and something Standish has begrudgingly accepted — there’s less friction in the duo’s dynamic. In the first episode of the season, Standish is hesitant to reveal what she knows to Lamb, but it’s because she’s a good agent.
How Standish’s Role In Slow Horses Season 4 Is Different
Standish Operating Outside MI5 In Slow Horses' Spook Street Adaptation
With Moira Tregorian (Joanna Scanlan), who’s been banished to Slough House, acting asStandish’s replacement inSlow Horsesseason 4, Standish occupies a different space in the story. Despite being Slough House’s office administrator,Standish was always capable in the field. Now that she’s operating as a civilian outside MI5, Standish will have to put her know-how to work as she protects a paranoid and forgetful David Cartwright. As of episode 1, River’s look-alike’s motive is unknown, but Standish’s willingness to align herself with the Cartwrights will likely put her in danger as well.
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In some ways,Standish’s season 4 role will be defined by what sheisn’tdoing. While Louisa and a few other select members of Slough House have proven themselves to be competent in the field, there’s no getting around the fact that the team of misfits is missing some key players. Not only is River off in France, investigating the larger conspiracy at hand, but Lamb seems to be working pretty solo inSpook Street. Standish’s absence from Slough House is yet another blow to the already-shaky team inSlow Horsesseason 4.
New episodes ofSlow Horsesseason 4 drop on Apple TV+ on Wednesdays through June 13, 2025.
Slow Horses
Slow Horses follows a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents led by the notorious Jackson Lamb. Set against the backdrop of the espionage world, the agents must navigate complex operations and defend England from sinister forces, all while dealing with internal struggles and their abrasive boss.
