Slow Horses season 5 ending explained: What happened to Tara and is River leaving Slough House?
"You knew that was going to happen didn't you?"Slow Horses season 5’s ending neatly wrapped up all loose ends and saw one character finally get their comeuppance.
The finale certainly brought the drama, with a further two terror attacks and MI5 scrambling to get a hold on it. Once again, it was down to the Slow Horses to see order restored, with Jackson Lamb – always one step ahead – seeing justice served too.
As ever, there was a lot to unpack, so we’ve broken it down into a simplified recap, answering any lingering questions you may have in our trusty ending explainer.
***Warning: spoilers from the Slow Horses ending ahead***
Slow Horses season 5 ending explained
Following Tara’s escape and successful shutdown of MI5’s computer system in episode 5, the Slow Horses season 5 ending opened with first chair Claude Whelan’s head in his hands.
Whelan (James Callis) blamed Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) for putting the code into the MI5 system which caused its shutdown. Taverner fired back that Whelan shouldn’t have let Tara leave the Park. She explained that Tara had ‘honeytrapped’ him, accessing his file when she first hacked the computer on Roddy’s laptop and subsequently used this intel to play him.
Whelan couldn’t wallow for long though as a one-hour timer promptly popped up on the Park’s screens. He then received a call from the Libyan ambassador who was being held at gunpoint by Tara at the embassy. She asked for Taverner and delivered her terms: £100 million to compensate for lost oil revenue to be paid into a Cayman Island trust called Albion Holdings. Failure to do so would mean the terrorists would carry out the next step in the destabilisation strategy.
The next step? Attack a place of worship. Taverner called Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) to relay her conversation with Tara. Lamb’s response was that the Park should seriously consider paying the money.
Back at MI5, all personnel had gathered to try and ascertain the terrorist’s targeted place of worship. One agent then informed Taverner that the trust where the money was to be sent was linked to a certain company. Taverner was shocked by the discovery.
She told Whelan to ring the Prime Minister and get him to clear the £100 million payment. Taverner then told Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) to head to the Libyan embassy with the dogs.
Establishment corruption
Back at Slough House, the Slow Horses were contemplating the venue of the planned attack. Lamb eventually informed them his money was on the multi-faith centre at Abbotsfield where a service was being held to commemorate the victims of the shooting. Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), Coe (Tom Brooke) and River (Jack Lowden) immediately sprung into action.
Meanwhile, Taverner met with former Home Secretary Peter Judd (Samuel West) back at the Park. Turns out he was the director of the offshore account where the £100 million payment was being sent.
“You took their money and did nothing and they want to show what a corrupt mess this country is,” Taverner summarised. “They didn’t give us an hour to stop the killing, they gave us an hour to find the money. We have been outplayed.”
Taverner then rang Tara at the Libyan Embassy. She confirmed that they were making the payment and that Tara and the terrorists would be escorted to an airport and given free passage. In return, Tara would call off the attack.
The call ended and Tara checked the money was in the account. She then called the three male terrorists. Tara told them to call off the attack and the head terrorist told her that she was a recruit and didn’t give orders. “I want them to pay in blood, like the blood I saw spilled,” he said.
He and another terrorist agreed to go ahead with the attack on the Abbotsfield multi-faith centre. The third terrorist instead walked away, claiming he would only kill those that were guilty and not just innocent people.
What happened to Tara in the Slow Horses season 5 ending?
Standish and Lamb meanwhile where camped outside the Libyan embassy thinking of a way to help. Suspecting that the rest of the terrorists had turned on Tara, he convinced Standish to help her escape before the dogs got to her.
Subsequently, Standish knocked on the door and was let in by Tara. Tara then walked out the embassy with a gun pointed at Standish’s head. She told the dogs she’d shoot if they went for her. She then ditched Standish and ran off, chased by the bodyguards.
Tara kept running, turning out of an alleyway into a street where Lamb was waiting for her. He confiscated her gun and the dogs arrived to arrest her, taking her back to the Park. “You knew that was going to happen didn’t you?” said Standish, arriving after.
Abbotsfield 2.0
The action then switched to Abbotsfield. The two terrorists were parked nearby in a car, arming up for their attack. Meanwhile, Shirley, Coe and River headed into the multi-faith centre. They arrived ahead of the terrorists and called an end to the service, telling everyone to evacuate the building.
Members of the public started filing out but Mayor Zahar Jaffrey (Nick Mohammed), who was heading up the service, questioned the evacuation. He immediately rang Whelan to check whether there was a credible threat. While on the phone, the two terrorists entered the building. They saw people evacuating and changed plan, deciding to assassinate Jaffrey after their previous failed attempt.
Jaffrey’s phone call to Claude was interrupted as one of the terrorists opened fire, aiming for him. River fired bullets back, and then Shirley got her hands on a gun, killing the terrorist instantly.
The second terrorist then entered the hall and started firing. He ran and grabbed Jaffrey, pointing a gun at his head, causing Shirley and River to stop shooting. He demanded they let him walk free or he would kill the Mayor.
Shirley and River argued over what to do, when Coe sneaked up on the terrorist from behind and stabbed him with a blade to the neck.
Sting in the tail
After a long day’s work, River headed to see his grandad David (Jonathan Pryce) at his retirement home. The two sat down for tea in the garden. David apologised about his phone call the previous night and his ramblings about the destabilisation strategy.
River then filled David in on recent events, but David was a little distracted by a swarm of bees. “Sting in the tail,” David announced randomly.
David explained: “If ever we were dealing with some really tricky buggers, we’d hit them when they thought it was over. That’s what we call a sting in the tail. Let them know whose boss.”
River thought the attack on the multi-faith centre was the final act. However, he then released that one of the terrorists was still at large. He rang Lamb and shared the theory and Lamb – for once – didn’t dismiss it. Lamb added that the file he borrowed from Molly was about first chair Claude Whelan and that he could be a likely target.
Viewers next saw Whelan on screen enjoying a morning jog. He finished up and got in the car, rambling away to his driver. Only his driver was dead. A shocked Whelan stepped out of the car and was met by the remaining terrorist, who was armed with a gun.
The terrorist explained that he was enacting revenge for one of Whelan’s prior political decisions. “Zlitan, 2011,” he said. “You left us to gangsters and militias and you did not arm us against them. Your opinion as a long term forecaster was that an investment in Libya was poor value. Because whether it stood or fell, it did not affect the security of the United Kingdom. Your opinion became policy.”
A passing dog in the park intruded and Whelan used the distraction to run away. The terrorist followed and during the chase, River intercepted the pair. He shot the terrorist dead and Whelan thanked him for saving his life. In return, Whelan said he’d have a chat with Lamb about his status at Slough House.
How did Slow Horses season 5 end?
The next day, River sought out Lamb and said that he successfully saved Whelan’s life. He told Lamb that Whelan was waiting for him in his office at Slough House.
Lamb greeted a smug Whelan, who informed him that he was shutting down Slough House. He was subsequently blaming MI5’s mishandling of the Libyan terror group on them.
Lamb reminded him that River had saved his life and that he himself had captured Tara after Whelan had let her go. Whelan replied that he was promoting River back to the Park but that Slough House’s closure was final. He strode out of Lamb’s office triumphant, but soon came running back in visibly distressed.
“Now anymore crap from either of you two and I will see to it that the security services destroys you and your god-awful livelihoods in public,” Whelan was heard saying in a voice recording played aloud by Lamb. It was from Dennis Gimball’s dictaphone and was the prior threat he made against the couple to stop his curb crawling habit from being publicly exposed.
A defeated Whelan confirmed Slough House will remain as it is. Lamb additionally got Molly Doran her job back at MI5 and asked that Roddy Ho returned. “He’s the only one that can manage my Deliveroo account,” he said.
Whelan was forced to retire from MI5, with Lamb promising to send the dictaphone to journalists to expose him if he didn’t.
Is River leaving Slough House?
No, River Cartwright is not leaving Slough House. Despite him very much wanting to.
Whelan’s departure saw Diana Taverner finally appointed to first chair. The episode ended with her and Lamb chatting on the phone. She confirmed that Roddy had been released from MI5 and was headed back to Slough House.
As for River, Taverner confirmed that she wouldn’t be taking him back as an agent at the Park. Lamb replied that it was fine and that he would keep him at Slough House instead. “You never know, I might need a new liver,” he said.
