Curly

**Curly** is a supporting character played by Brian Vernel in Season 1 of Apple TV+'s *Slow Horses*.

## History

Alan Black, Larry, and Zeppo prepare to drink tea. Curly wakes up from his nap and joins the men, saying he would like to a PlayStation. One of the men says that he served his country and has killed men before, saying he has killed 5 at least, but maybe 9 more. The men celebrate that they got over 1,000,000 views on the news. They go to check on Hassan Ahmed, who they are holding hostage, telling him that he would remove the tape off his mouth so he could ask them for things if he needed to. The man asks to be let go, but the man says that he is dangerous and would cut his head off like Afghans allegedly do and are experts in.

The kidnappers watch the news, saying that the whole world was looking at them. One man tells another that they could never speak a word of it when they were done. He says that they would pretend they did not know one another and were never there. He says that he is proud of what they are doing for their country. He goes upstairs and uses a phone, which he hides once he is finished using it.

The kidnappers watch television as Hassan tries to escape by taking apart the wooden door, making the least amount of noise possible.

The kidnappers wonder how Hassan could sleep knowing what would happen to him in the morning, but they also know that he had not slept at all since they caught him. Hassan is almost out, but one board in particular is stuck. Hassan uses all his strength to rip it open, which causes the men to see that he had made a lot of noise. They jump up and go towards him. Hassan tries calling out for help, but the men reach him and drag him out of his hole.

The kidnappers say that Hassan is a slippery guy, who almost managed to get away. The men say that they should have some fun and start playing with a deck of cards.

The kidnappers wonder if Hassan can breathe with the mask on and he says that he can. As they keep playing cards, Curly walks downstairs with the men, who ask if he wants to play cards with money involved. Curly asks Moe what regimen he was in when he was in the army and the man tells him that he was in the marines, who do not have regiments, he explains that they have battalion units known as commandos. After that, he grabs the axe, telling Moe that he likely has not used one before and all it would take to kill someone would be a swing. He is told to put the axe down before he fucked everything up, which Curly finds odd. Moe tells him that in the end, he could report to Simmonds, telling him he is a good soldier or he could have his spine broken by his boys. After that, Curly puts down the axe, but when Moe turns around, he swings the axe.

As Curly, Larry and Zeppo escape, Curly says that he did what he did because Moe was a traitor who would still be waiting with them for the cops to show up. He explains that they would be in jail, but Larry says that that makes no sense because he organized everything, but Curly says that they were being set up. Zeppo says that they were not supposed to see it through and he killed him while they were playing cards. They discuss whether to let Hassan go, but Curly does not want to. He starts saying their names, which causes the pair to get mad at him.

Curly tells the men that they needed to focus because there is only one way out, which was on a boat. Curly says that Simmonds wanted them to take no action, which scares all the men. They all wonder what they would do without Simmonds as Zeppo suggests that they leave the kid. Curly agrees to use the boat after that.

Curly is guided by Larry as they move and plan where to leave Hassan. Zeppo apologizes for what he had done to Hassan, which angers Curly since they were not sorry when they killed their troops and raped their women. Curly decides that he would kill Hassan and says that it all comes down to whether or not they have the balls to stop him.

Curly, Larry, and Zeppo still moving in a car as the radio says they are being looked for. Zeppo is concerned that everybody thinks they are going to do something they will not. Curly say that Black's body had already been found, but it was not announced because they wanted to bury it along with them, since there was an MI5 agent involved in a kidnap plot. Curly tells them they will die avoiding arrest, so they might as well have some fun, which scares Hassan.

Curly tells Larry and Zeppo that they are nearly out of gas, but he says that his plan is to drive until they ran out of gas at which point they would chop Hassan's head off, which Larry and Zeppo oppose. However, Curly says that if they do not do it, they would be a joke and they needed to be feared and respected. However, Zeppo loses it and points a gun at Curly, saying he has had enough. Curly tells him that if he would rather spill his blood than Hassan's then he is a traitor. Hassan starts choking, so Larry checks on him while Zeppo orders Curly to pull over.

Once Curly pulls over, Zeppo tells him to get out of the car and lift Hassan up. Once they remove Hassan's tape off his mouth, he vomits. Curly asks Zeppo why he is not threatening Hassan, but Zeppo tells him not to push him. Curly asks what the plan is, so Zeppo says they would get some gas, get to the boat and let the kid go. Larry asks who would get out of the van since they are all covered in blood, so Zeppo says that Hassan would be the one to do so.

Zeppo tells Hassan that if he helps them get gas, they would let him go as Curly drives. Hassan agrees as Curly says that they need to kill him since he had seen their faces. Zeppo asks Curly why he is not taking him seriously and Larry supports the latter. Hassan says that he could say he never saw their faces, telling them that his uncle is rich and could help them out with their escape plan. However, Curly loses his temper until Zeppo calms him down. Curly asks where his uncle is and Hassan responds that he is in Islamabad, Pakistan. Zeppo tells Hassan that they would give his idea a shot, but he needed to stay with them until he had the money.

At a gas station, Zeppo tells Hassan to fill up the van so they could leave. Curly tells him that if he tries to make a run for it, he would cut a woman's children's heads off and then his. Larry hands Hassan some money and Zeppo tells him to not fuck up. Once Hassan is outside, he shakily tries to fill the van up, but he is approached by the woman across the gas station, who asks him for help. She wants him to help her with her petrol cap, so Hassan suggests that maybe the attendant could help, but she insists until she sees who he is with. She says that she would work it out until Curly tells him to help the woman out. She says that she thought he looked like Hassan, but Hassan says that maybe she thought that because they all look the same to people like her, so she apologizes and he says he was joking. He helps her and heads back to the van, paying for the gas after that. Once the woman leaves, Larry realizes that there was nothing stopping him from running. At the cash register, on the TV, news about his capture are on, so Curly gets out of the van. They all get back in and Zeppo tells him he had done a good job.

As Curly, drives, Zeppo asks Hassan how much money they were talking about, and Hassan tells them to name their price because his uncle has a lot of businesses and investments. Hassan insists that the money would be there and Curly tells him to shut up, agreeing to give him the benefit of the doubt, saying that Hassan could go with them, but only if he makes him laugh, which Zeppo and Larry find weird. Curly says that Hassan is supposedly a comedian and they all tell him to make them laugh after that. Hassan makes a joke about the Sons of Albion, wondering if Albion is married to his first cousin, which they find rude, but Larry says that is the point. Hassan makes more jokes, which make Larry and Zeppo laugh and suddenly, he is able to make Curly laugh as well. However, Curly suddenly grabs Zeppo's gun and shoots him in the head with it, which he says he finds funny.

Curly remembers his childhood, whole Hassan and Larry sit in silence. When Larry complains saying they should just go to the boat, Curly threatens to kill him, so Larry agrees to murder Hassan. However, Hassan tells Larry that he would not be shot at while driving because they could all die, but Curly asks him what would stop him from shooting him instead and Hassan reminds him that he wants to decapitate him while on his knees.

Larry and Curly take Hassan to the middle of the woods, making him get out of the van. Curly makes them both carry Zeppo and get rid of his body, so Hassan tries convincing him not to help Curly, but Larry tells him to shut up. Curly reaches them and orders Larry to tie Hassan's hands and feet as he reaches for his axe. After that, they all walk away from the van.

Hassan tells Larry that he has an axe, begging him to help him. However, Larry says that Curly has a gun, but Hassan tells him that they would both die. Larry tells Hassan to get down near a bush and covers his mouth. He tells him not to move as Curly moves forward. He begins to help Hassan out, removing the straps on his hands and feet. Hassan starts running away from Larry, who runs towards Curly, saying that he had managed to get away. When he is close enough to Curly, he swings the axe and hits him, but does not kill him. Curly starts shooting at him as he runs away, which Hassan does as well. When Hassan reaches a tree, he stops to catch his breath for a few seconds, but when he turns around, he sees Curly pointing his gun at him.

Walking through the woods, Curly tells Hassan that he knew he had tried to turn Larry on him, so no harm done. However, Hassan says that Larry had scalped him, but that does not worry Curly. Hassan says that Larry had managed to get away, but Curly replies that he had let him get away, so Hassan taunts him, saying that Larry got away because he is a bad shooter. Curly says that he could shoot him right there, but wanted to do things medieval, which made sense considering his religion. However, Hassan says that he does not know the first thing about his religion.

Curly takes Hassan up to the Norman castle, which makes Hassan laugh. When Curly asks why he is laughing, Hassan tells him that the castle is not Norman, but a fake. When Curly asks why people would build ruins, Hassan says that they wanted to impress people. Hassan says that he paid more attention in his madrassa than Curly had in school, so the latter hits him with his gun.

Curly sets up his camera and tells Hassan to kneel, saying that the boat had been blown and once the video was online, MI5 would be there. He says that they could either take him out, or he could use the last bullet on himself. Hassan realizes that Curly wants to become a martyr and he defends himself, saying that it was all about being part of something bigger than himself and was putting his country first, which is what made them win the war. Hassan tells him he is stupid, but is shot at in his arm. Curly tells him he is a good shot and says that the next shot would go towards his balls, but River shoots at him.

While being shot at by River, Curly gets behind a wall. Distracted, Hassan grabs a rock and throws it towards Curly's face, hitting him. Curly falls to the ground and Hassan picks up the axe, ready to kill him. However, River tells him to stop and says that he is part of MI5, so Hassan puts down the axe and tells Curly that he made him ashamed to be British. River binds Curly's hands together and looks as Hassan applies pressure on his wound. After that, River reaches Hassan and tells him that he needed to stop the bleeding on his arm, so he wraps a belt around his arm. Hassan asks if River could call his parents, but River says that he does not have a phone on him, which makes Hassan wonder what kind of a spy he is.

Duffy and the Dogs reach Hassan's location, where River, Min, and Louisa were waiting. Ingrid asks who they are and Diana confirms they are the Slow Horses. Duffy confirms the kill order, which Hassan says is wrong because he should go on trial. Min runs over to Curly and gives Duffy the finger, saying that the murderer is now unarmed. Louisa asks him what he is doing because he would get himself killed. River also runs over to Curly and they drag him away from the helicopter, covering him. Duffy asks for orders, and Diana tells them to stand down.

Curly is put in an ambulance as Hassan is taken away in another one. River, Lamb, Min and Louisa drive away as news vans fill the location.