Slow Horses season 5 premiere ending explained: Is Roddy's life in danger?

The Slow Horses season 5 premiere kicks off with danger to the town and the Slough House agents, seemingly adding to their trauma from the horrific incidents at the end of season 4. It starts with a violent mass shooting in a public market square and ends with an anonymous threat to one of the Slough House agents.

Shirley is convinced that someone is trying to kill Roddy, but no one believes her, chalking it down to her PTSD and grief over Marcus' death. However, the end of the Slow Horses season 5 premiere confirms that there's someone working in the background, targeting Roddy, and it involves a woman he thinks is his girlfriend.

Things are also changing at Slough House, something that everyone else but River has expected to happen.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for Slow Horses season 5 premiere: Reader's discretion is advised.

Is Roddy in danger in the Slow Horses season 5 premiere?

Roddy is in danger (Image via Apple TV+)

The end of the Slow Horses season 5 episode 1 points to a conspiracy and betrayal done to put Roddy Ho in danger, and it will be up to one person to save him from the imminent peril. Earlier in the episode, Shirley saves Roddy after seeing a white van speed up while he's crossing the road. She's sure that someone wants to run him over, but Roddy is more upset about his headphones.

While Shirley voices her suspicions to Jackson and the rest of the Slough House agents, they brush them off. However, that doesn't stop Shirley from following Roddy around, seemingly sure that whoever wants to kill him will try again. She follows him to a nightclub with a beautiful woman, his girlfriend, named Tara.

Roddy is absolutely smitten with the woman, and although he wants to hook up at the end of the night, Tara brushes him off. What confirms Shirley's suspicion that someone is coming after Roddy is Tara's text after dropping off Roddy outside his apartment in a taxi. She texts someone that Roddy is going up to his apartment, highlighting that he's alone.

The cryptic text plus the almost hit-and-run at the beginning of Slow Horses season 5 premiere, suggests that danger is closer to Roddy than anyone realizes. What Tara, who seems to be playing the honeypot, and whoever she is working with, don't expect is Shirley coming after Roddy.

What is the mass shooting in the Slow Horses season 5 premiere all about?

The Slow Horses season 5 premiere on Apple TV+ kicks off with an unexpected mass shooting, with no context given for why it happened. What the audience knows is that the shooter, Rob Trew, didn't kill himself as the police initially believed. Someone else, a sniper, has taken down the shooter after he killed several people.

As the police investigation unfolds throughout the episode, they discover that the mass shooter appears to be a supporter of Dennis Gimball, who is running for mayor. Not only that, but the shooter's first victim is a man campaigning against Gimball, Zafar Jeffrey. This major incident points to politics being a major theme in the season, especially since the mayoral debate is coming up.

Slow Horses season 5 premiere: Is Louisa leaving Slough House?

The Slough House gives Louisa, much to her displeasure, a send-off party before she leaves for her 6-month leave. However, as she reveals to River towards the end of the Slow Horses season 5 premiere, it's not a 6-month leave, but she's leaving Slough House for good. She's not coming back, something that River is confused about because he expects her to return.

The goodbye also turns into an awkward situation after River misunderstands Louisa, ending with him giving her a kiss on the lips. Whatever that kiss means, anything River may be feeling for Louisa will be on pause for the foreseeable future because she wants to distance herself from Slough House and all the chaos, and that includes River.

Catch Slow Horses season 5 episode 1 streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes of the season arrive on the streaming platform every week on Wednesdays.

About the author

Kinette covers beauty and home decor as a lifestyle writer at Sportskeeda. With over 7.5 years experience in writing for diverse platforms, including The Coolist, Snap Knot, Leisure Seeker, and KS Content Studio, Kinette is quite the shapeshifter in the content world and prides herself as a generalist. However, she feels that her greatest strength is her repository of personal expertise and experience, which she combines with extensive research and credible sources, to deliver compelling reportage on beauty, lifestyle, and wellness.

Kinette graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering before venturing into the world of home improvement and decor writing, although her love for skincare soon pushed her into the beauty space. Despite covering a wide range of topics in her writing career, Kinette now leans towards categories she has personal or educational experience in, to offer only the most reliable and insightful reading experience to her audience.

Kinette’s favorite artist is Taylor Swift, whose lyricism and ability to create a vivid picture with deft wordplay she admiresa lot. When not writing and reporting on beauty and lifestyle trends, Kinette loves playing with her dogs, drinking coffee in the morning and experimenting with cocktails in the evening, reading romance novels, and learning about new cultures and languages.

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Edited by Kinette Sumadia