Slow Horses Season 5 Finally Does The Unthinkable With Jackson Lamb

This post contains spoilers for the “Slow Horses” season 5 finale.

He’s a mean old coot, that Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). The stinky spymaster who began things with a fart has been quick to complain about the “Joes” that work under him, and that’s probably the most entertaining thing about the whole show. However, over the years there have been the briefest moments that suggest Jackson actually does have a heart. In the season 5 finale, the show took its first step in providing the most damning bit of proof yet.

If you’re a good enough spy you’ll have spotted a glimmer of empathy and care for the rejects around him. The first bit of evidence was in season 2, when the team lost Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) and Lamb took the time (brief as it was) so they could pay their respects to their fallen comrade before getting back to work. The second was when Jackson tried to hold back Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) after her colleague was gunned down in their own headquarters. These moments help make the show one of Apple TV’s best. Now, after using the story of a former “friend” in the field as a distraction, we finally get an understanding of when Lamb’s heart broke altogether.

“Slow Horses” is often at its best when it shows how the agents of the older generations have lasted as long as they have. One such highlight involved Jackson Lamb sharing a chilling tale from the Cold War era. In season 5, episode 3, “Tall Tales,” the head of Slough House teed up a dire story as a distraction from the pack of dogs keeping his team under lockdown. With River (Jack Lowden) and company taking note while still tuning in to the story itself, Lamb spoke of an agent who was captured and tortured by Russian agents for a name he didn’t have.

Jackson revealed that the unnamed spy at one point had their feet literally blowtorched for information, and when they still didn’t give it up, they were forced to watch woman they loved tortured in front of them — even when it was revealed she was pregnant at the time. The details were vague, but it felt like a safe bet that Jackson was talking about himself, which he denied even when Standish (Saskia Reeves) probed him on the matter. It wasn’t until the season finale and a shot of Lamb’s burned feet that our suspicions were confirmed. Now it’s worth wondering if future seasons of the show will expose more of our hero’s softer side.

With his team being tested more than ever this season, it seems like Lamb is putting more trust and care into his team of Joes. This group of “f*****g losers” that he calls his own feels like it’s slowly becoming something more to him, leading Lamb to show more compassion. His way of showing respect is acknowledging that “you lot were really paying attention for once,” highlighting that they can get the job done when they have to.

It will be interesting to see if future seasons show Lamb opening up to his disgruntled work wife, Standish, who already has him figured out, or allows his stubborn surrogate son, River, to lean on him a bit more. This season has shown that he has the capacity for a bit more humanity, if only by offering us a glimpse into his past. Who knows? When the Horses go on their next mission, they really could bring a warmer Lamb along with them too.