8 Most Shocking Deaths in ‘Slow Horses,’ Ranked

Spoiler Alert: This list contains spoilers for Slow Horses Season 6.For a show about spies, it’s safe to assume that the body count is going to be high, but in a game of spycraft, expect deaths on both sides. So, when one of the good guys goes down, add a point to the shocking list! Now six seasons in, Slow Horses has been the perfect antithesis to the clean, polished spy stories you’re used to. Based upon Mick Herron‘s book series, the Will Smith-created thriller brings high-octane action alongside occasional flatulence as Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) leads the reject squad of MI5. But leave it to the failed and disgraced to often get the job done.

Over the past six seasons, Slow Horses has kept the twists tight, leaving viewers gobsmacked at every turn. And when it comes to shocking deaths, even the agents of Slough House aren’t immune. We are here to memorialize the most brutal deaths across the show’s run thus far. From beloved characters facing untimely demises to nemeses getting what’s coming to them, these deaths have had a major impact on the show’s narrative and its characters. Which death hit you the most?

8

Charles Partner

Played by James Faulkner

Not every death on Slow Horses occurred in the present. Some past assassinations played a crucial role in the present. Such was the case for former First Desk Charles Partner (James Faulkner). Partner was MI5 Director General before the events of the series. Appearing via flashback across the first three seasons, it’s revealed that Partner was a KGB informant after being blackmailed by Russian handler Nikolai Katinsky (Rade Šerbedžija). His secret was kept safe as his assistant, Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves), was unaware. He was able to keep a hold on her by keeping her employed strictly because her severe alcoholism prevented her from noticing his treason. But when Jackson Lamb discovers his treason, he acts on orders from David Cartwright (Jonathan Pryce) and shoots him in his bathtub, staging it as a suicide to protect MI5 from a massive public scandal.

Partner’s death is shocking on multiple levels. It’s shocking not only for his actions, but also because the flashbacks reveal brazen backstories for two key characters: Lamb and Standish. The action was not swift. David and Lamb fed Partner false intelligence for years before deciding to eliminate him. When Standish found the body, she truly thought he died a good man before the truth was ultimately revealed. Standish adored Partner and viewed him as her mentor. When Lamb revealed the truth, including why she kept her job, it devastated her. But this event is a major catalyst for the series. Lamb carried the psychological weight and guilt of murdering his former colleague while taking the blame and accepting his own career exile to Slough House just to keep the service from collapsing. This shocking death made Lamb even more brilliantly complex.

7

James “Spider” Webb

Played by Freddie Fox

A major setup that established the essence of Slow Horses was the distinct differences between the agents at Regent’s Park and Slough House. Brought to life by the vibrant, hilarious rivalry between River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) and James “Spider” Webb (Freddie Fox), the young agents started at MI5 at the same time, creating a complex, antagonistic relationship rooted in a former close friendship, bitter rivalry, and ultimate betrayal. Spider was always the brilliant foil in the story, but that didn’t mean he would make it out of the story alive. What makes his death shocking is that it didn’t happen in the line of duty. For a major annoying antagonist, his accidental death was almost entirely of his own making. For book readers, Spider’s death came as a shock because his death does not occur in Herron’s story by this point.

After rogue MI5 agent Sean Donovan (Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù) goes on a revenge tour after the assassination of his girlfriend, MI5 agent Alison Dunn (Katherine Waterston), for threatening to leak the sensitive “Footprint” file, Spider is sent by Sly Monteith (Gavin Spokes), the head of private security firm Chieftain, to negotiate and bribe Donovan and the Tiger Team for the release of Catherine Standish. But as Spider does, he antagonizes him by mocking his deceased girlfriend, leading Donovan to punch him in the head. The blow sends him crashing into a car window, which kills him instantly. His body is left behind, triggering a massive panic for both Chieftain and MI5. It’s a brutally unglamorous death for the ultimate conniver. His sudden demise cuts short what looked like a major Machiavellian victory. Spider’s death completely shifted the show’s personal and office dynamics, removing the juicy friction between River and Spider.

6

Struan Loy

Played by Paul Higgins

Six seasons deep, deaths shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it should when it’s a character who hasn’t appeared in some time. Such is the case for Season 6’s premiere knock-off of Struan Loy (Paul Higgins). When audiences first met Loy, they learned he was exiled to Slough House after sending an inappropriate work email. While there, Deputy Director Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) pressured him to help build a false narrative that framed Jackson Lamb’s team. Ultimately, he parted ways with the department and went on to become a martial arts teacher while running a business called Studios in the Sky that converts shipping containers into housing. It’s there that Loy makes an appearance in Season 6.

Giddy in his shipping-container abode, Loy crosses paths with Jim (Kyle Soller) and Jane (MyAnna Buring), who pose as potential investors, only to reveal themselves as assassins. After assaulting and breaking his arm, they set the container on fire and jammed the door shut from the outside so he couldn’t escape. Setting up the action for the remainder of the season, Loy’s murder is part of a larger, coordinated conspiracy targeting current and former Slough House personnel. Loy’s gruesome execution shattered the safety of retired or cast-out operatives. Though he was a pawn in a larger game, his return and brutal takedown prove that anyone in the Slow Horses world is expendable at any moment. It’s why we were so scared when other favorites popped back in, as they could meet a similar fate.

5

Alan Black

Played by Sam Hazeldine

Whether you knew him under the alias Dermot “Moe” Radcliffe or as Alan Black (Sam Hazeldine), he was the Season 1 secret undercover mole for Deputy Director Taverner. Taverner embeds him inside the far-right nationalist group Sons of Albion to help orchestrate a fake-flag kidnapping of British-Pakistani student Hassan Ahmed (Antonio Aakeel). The goal is to let the group kidnap Hassan and then stage a dramatic rescue to boost Taverner’s political standing and gain favor with Pakistani intelligence. Unfortunately, not every spy plan can go off as intended, and some individuals are collateral damage.

As an MI5 operative, Black was highly trained, but sometimes the individuals are smarter than you expect. A fanatical member of the group, Curly (Brian Vernel), uncovers his true identity as a plant while playing cards with the group. Curly kills and decapitates Black with an axe during a dispute over his military background and true loyalty. His death is revealed afterward through dialogue and the grim discovery of his body. Black’s death sent shockwaves because of how brutally and abruptly it upended Taverner’s master plan. Combined with the sheer, fanatical violence of his execution, it proves how ruthless and unpredictable the ground-level operatives in the spy series can be.

4

J.K. Coe

Played by Tom Brooke

Not every death is going to be Hollywood pretty, which is why Slow Horses resonates so much as a realistic series. So, even if you’re a beloved character, your shocking death may happen off camera, just so the shock hits when the camera returns. Such was the case for J.K. Coe (Tom Brooke). And this one hurt. Introduced in Season 4, Coe previously worked in the Park’s Psych Evaluation department. He carries severe PTSD and a dark past involving trauma and torture by an ex-MI5 agent. Known for his minimal dialogue, wearing headphones to block out noise, a calm and withdrawn demeanor, and lethal spy/combat skills, Coe was a fun addition to Slough House and the show at large. Like all the agents in Slough House, his charm lay in his accidental, nonchalant incidents, but his final battle sadly found him overpowered.

As Slough House embarks on a mission to prevent further assassinations of former and current Slow Horses, Coe, River, and Sid Baker (Olivia Cooke) hide out at a bowling alley where Russian GRU assassin Jim catches up to them. Coe confronts him in the bathroom, and before the melee, the pair share a brief, deadpan conversation in which Coe asks if Jim is with the FSB and quips about his pension. From there, Coe brandishes his push knife, and it appears that Coe has the upper hand in the scuffle. By the time River finds him, the fight is over, and Coe is slumped against the wall with a fatal stomach laceration, music still playing on his headphones. Coe’s death stings as it’s one we didn’t get to see the deed done. Killing him off-screen is a shocking decision, but it makes River’s discovery of his companion pack a punch. Coe was a uniquely compelling “man-of-few-words” presence who was an essential, deeply sympathetic member of the titular misfits. It is one of the most impactful deaths the series has seen yet. It would be better if the action were done on screen. ​​​​​​​

3

Marcus Longbridge

Played by Kadiff Kirwan

The middle seasons had a bit of a revolving door of faces in Slough House. One instant favorite who arrived in Season 2 was Marcus Longbridge (Kadiff Kirwan). Most noticeably, tied to another newcomer Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), Marcus was a former member of the Dogs before being demoted to Slough House due to a severe gambling addiction. Despite his personal struggles, Marcus’ sharp tactical knowledge and expertise with firearms were a necessary asset to the team. In Season 4, the action centers on a conspiracy involving former CIA mercenary Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving) and his soldier-son, the French assassin Patrice (Tom Wozniczka). As Slough House is tasked with sheltering David Cartwright for his safety, Patrice launches a violent, targeted attack directly on the Slough House offices.

After having just gone back to repurchase his firearm from a pawn shop, Marcus is on a crusade to protect his colleagues as they attempt to reach Lamb’s office. Marcus goes back out, where he’s ambushed by Patrice and shot dead. They apprehend Patrice, but the damage is done. The aftermath of his murder is almost as tragic as the act itself. Infuriated and grieving, Shirley immediately tries to execute his killer, only to be talked down from her rampage. Though it is Coe who actually does the prisoner execution. Lamb, as the true hero he is, negotiates 10 years of full pay to ensure Marcus’ family is fully taken care of. It’s a devastating blow that diverged from the books, but as Smith had previously acknowledged, it was necessary to keep the espionage world grounded in a realistic, dangerous edge rather than feeling predictable and by the books. ​​​​​​​

2

Emma Flyte

Played by Ruth Bradley

Book readers knew this one was coming. Everyone else was left in tatters. Joining the Dogs in Season 4, Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) is chosen by Director-General Claude Whelan (James Callis) to succeed Nick Duffy (Chris Reilly) after Duffy falls into a coma. Flyte is a no-nonsense, sharp, highly professional commander who often finds herself exasperated by Lamb and the dysfunctional agents of Slough House. As a woman in a male-dominated position, Flyte has proven she’s a force to be reckoned with. That is, there’s no ambush behind her. Flyte starts Season 6 as Taverner’s second-in-command and Head of the Dogs, but that role shifts when the two clash after Flyte alerts Lamb to her suspicions about the Slough House deaths. Taverner strips Flyte of her position and tries to sideline her with a lateral move to Slough House, but she becomes a necessary ally in tracking down Frank Harkness and uncovering his connection to Damen Cantor (Harry Lloyd).

With the Slough House crew holed up at the safe house known as Taverner’s country retreat, their position is compromised as Harkness and his Russian assassins close in. With a scramble for safety following the ambush on the home, it’s an unfortunate run out in the open on the beach that becomes Flyte’s demise. After hearing a grenade go off where Shirley, Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung), and the child witness Reece Nesmith (Lenny Rush) are hiding, Flyte races to find them. She shoots one of the assailants, but it’s a shot from the back from Harkness that subdues her. She gets one shot on him before her clip is emptied. With nowhere to go, Flyte simply lays there, accepting her fate as Harkness silently delivers the death shot. Flyte’s death was a shock because she always seemed strong enough to win, but it proves that even the mighty can fall. What makes the blow even harder to take is that she was finally coming around to the flirtation from Roddy. Not that anything would have had it, but at least she entertained him.

Speaking to Collider, Bradley knew her fate was coming, as it had always been in the books. “We knew that that was going to happen to her in (Season) 6, and it just gave me real license to push hard on these different aspects of Flyte throughout each season,” she revealed. “It meant that I could really go in for not being likable in Season 4, for being haughty and entitled, and know that I would have a chance to show a bit of humility in (Season) 5, and trying to approach it in a new way. And then (Season) 6, total demise, but actually herself, the real Flyte, without trying to be anything that she’s not.” Flyte went out as the true fighter she always had been.

1

Min Harper

Played by Dustin Demri-Burns

It’s true, the first hurts the worst. Min Harper’s (Dustin Demri-Burns) death was the first genuine reminder that literally no one is safe on Slow Horses. A well-meaning, bumbling MI5 agent, Min was demoted and relegated to Slough House after accidentally leaving a top-secret classified disk on a commuter train, an embarrassing mistake that also led to his divorce from his wife, Clare (Erica Alberti). He develops a romantic relationship and deep bond with Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar), making him one of the endearing heartbeats of the bunch. During Season 2, Min and Louisa are assigned to provide security for an off-the-books meeting with Russian operatives. Suspicious of the Russians, Min tails their contacts, Piotr Volodin (Zachary Baharov), Kyril Asimov (Yerden Telemissov), and Andre Chernitsky (Marek Vašut), on his own. Unfortunately, it was all a trap.

When the Russian agents spot Min, they pull a gun on him and force him to sit down and play a heavy vodka drinking game. Once he is heavily inebriated, they attack and run him over with a car, driven by a woman named Rebecca Mitchell (Emily Bruni), who was later coerced to take the fall. They continue the onslaught with Andre strangling him before staging his body in a tunnel as a tragic bike accident. Lamb was immediately suspected of the events, clued in that it was a hit after he tracked down Rebecca, who confessed that she was paid off. Min’s death shattered the show’s dark-comedy tone by reminding viewers that it’s a brutal, high-stakes spy thriller at its core. What made the ordeal even more daunting for fans was Min was not supposed to be in the middle of the lethal, active operation. Min’s death took a major toll on many of the agents in Slough House while shaking up the narrative thereafter.