Last Stop

**Last Stop** is the first episode of Season 2 of *Slow Horses* and the seventh episode overall. It aired on December 2, 2022 alongside From Upshott with Love in a two episode premiere on Apple TV+.

## Summary

*Jackson Lamb is on high alert after a former spy is found dead. Min and Louisa are tempted by an offer from outside Slough House.*

## Plot

Outside, there is a downpour, and inside, the owner of a sex shop spots a man standing outside in the rain. Then, the owner spots the man standing outside in the rain, which triggers some awful memories. This man once tortured the shop owner, Richard ‘Dickie’ Bough, many decades ago. Seeking revenge, Richard follows this man through the hectic streets of Soho to a train station. Richard sneaks onto the train and then the replacement bus that follows. Richard begins to have heart palpitations as he struggles to write a message on his cell phone. The bus comes to its final stop, but to the bus driver's horror, he finds Richard dead in his seat.

Later, a file on Richard Bough reveals that he was a retired field agent, and for some reason, Lamb wants to know exactly what transpired on the day of his death. Lamb heads down to the bus depot and is informed that Richard died of a heart attack. On the bus, he finds Richard’s phone and his parting message, was simply one word – cicada.

At Slough House, Catherine Standish kicks in the door just to enter the building, and the place is eerily quiet. Jackson and River Cartwright are nowhere to be seen. Two new members, Shirley and Marcus are introduced to the group. Roddy is his usual detestable self, annoyed to be sharing his office with the newbie.

River is at an interview, as are Louisa and Min. River’s interview starts off well but deteriorates as soon as Slough House is mentioned. The interviewers just want to know funny stories about River’s fearless leader Jackson Lamb. Meanwhile, Louisa and Min meet with ‘Spider’ Webb in the park. He offers them a side hustle, doing security on a confidential meeting. The subject is Arkady Pashkin, a representative of the oligarch Ilya Nevsky. Webb wants them to assess and sweep the meeting location. They gingerly accept the job opportunity.

Meanwhile, River tries to sneak back into Slough House, but Lamb already knows about the failed interview, they phoned asking for a reference the same day. They bring him up to date on their latest assignment. Richard ‘Dickie’ Bough, an ex-service agent who was found dead on a bus. Lamb thinks it is murder, although the coroner’s report states heart failure. The CCTV footage they have found is inconclusive also but hints at Richard following someone, who they refer to as the bald man. Lamb orders Min to fetch the hard drives to obtain more footage. He nervously explains his other assignment that has his full attention. River asks to take over, but Lamb offers the role to newbie Shirley instead.

Out in the countryside, River complains to his grandfather David Cartwright, about his unfortunate situation. He didn’t get the private intelligence job and Lamb won’t give him anything important to do at Slough House. After saving the hostage Hassan Ahmed, River expected his slate to be wiped clean, but he is still labeled as a failed agent. The conversation moves onto the subject of Dickie Bough, who David was aware of. They discuss cicadas, which are sleeper agents embedded into British Society. Richard said he was abducted by a Russian called Popov and interrogated, but they never believed him. David completely downplays Richard’s story and the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.

Whereas, Min and Louisa scope out the meeting spot and share a sneaky kiss on a rooftop overlooking the city. While Shirley attempts to infiltrate a secure building to acquire the hard drives. She steals a security guard’s pass and has Roddy shut down the power so that she can enter the building safely. Immature Roddy waits tantalizing minutes before cutting the power. The security guards suss out the situation and chase after her. However, she manages to pull the drives and escapes just in time.

Shirley and River look over the footage together and discuss how she ended up at Slough House. Shirley explains how her case officer made a pass at her and she decided to knock them out in return. River takes the footage and meets with Lamb at a back alley restaurant.

Lamb eats disgustingly as River explains the new CCTV footage. The bald man is seen touching Richard on the shoulder. Later Richard grabs at the same spot in pain. River believes he has been injected with a deadly concoction. They discuss cicadas, which River accurately guesses was written on Richard’s phone. Lamb admits that he is right. River thinks Richard wasn’t lying about Popov and may have been killed for tailing the Russian spy. The cicadas might have been reactivated, which could lead to lots more deaths. Lamb tells River to investigate this bald man further, something River was planning to do with or without his boss’s consent.

## Cast

### Starring

* Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb
* Jack Lowden as River Cartwright

### Guest-Starring

* Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy
* Dustin Demri-Burns as Min Harper
* Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish
* Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho
* Freddie Fox as Spider Webb
* Aimée-Ffion Edwards as Shirley Dander
* Kadiff Kirwan as Marcus Longridge
* Marek Vašut as Andre Chernitsky
* Phil Davis as Dickie Bow

### Co-Starring

* Mark Stewart as Young Dickie Bow
* Delroy Atkinson as Bus Driver
* Fergus Rees as Elessar Interviewer #1
* Charly Burridge-Jones as Elessar Interviewer #2
* Naomi Wirthner as Molly Doran
* Divian Ladwa as Simon
* Ojan Genc as Cal Fenton
* Leon Davies as Young Chernitsky

## Gallery

### Videos

Slow Horses — Season 2 Official Trailer - Apple TV+Slow Horses Season 2- Jack Lowden on His New Dynamic With Gary Oldman's Jackson LambSlow Horses- We Speak to Chris Chung, Rosalind Eleazar and Dustin Demri-BurnsSlow Horses 2.01- What's He Like? -EXCLUSIVE CLIP-

## External Link(s)

* Watch Season 2, Episode 1: *Last Stop* on AppleTV+