Slow Horses season 5 finally does the unthinkable with Jackson Lamb

This article contains spoilers for the Season 5 finale of “Slow Horses.”

He’s a mean old fool, this Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). The stinky spymaster who started things off with a fart is quick to complain about the “Joes” who work under him, and it’s probably the most entertaining thing in the entire series. However, over the years there have been very brief moments that suggest that Jackson actually has a heart. In the Season 5 finale, the series took its first step in providing the most damning evidence yet.

If you’re a good enough spy, you’ll have spotted a glimmer of empathy and will care about the rejects around him. The first evidence dates back to Season 2, when the team lost Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) and Lamb took time (however brief) to be able to pay respects to their fallen comrade before getting back to work. The second was when Jackson tried to restrain Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) after her colleague was shot in their own headquarters. These moments help make the series one of Apple TV’s best. Now, after using the story of a former “friend” on the field as a distraction, we finally understand when Lamb’s heart completely broke.

“Slow Horses” is often at its best when showing how agents from older generations lasted as long as they did. One of those highlights was Jackson Lamb sharing a chilling story from the Cold War era. In Season 5, Episode 3, “Tall Tales,” the headmaster of Slough House told a disastrous story to distract from the pack of dogs keeping his team detained. As River (Jack Lowden) and company took note while tuning in to the story itself, Lamb talked about an agent who was captured and tortured by Russian agents under a name he didn’t have.

Jackson revealed that at one point, the anonymous spy literally burned his heels for information, and when they still didn’t give up, they were forced to watch the woman they loved tortured in front of them – even when it was revealed that she was pregnant at the time. The details were vague, but it was a safe bet that Jackson was talking about himself, which he denied even when Standish (Saskia Reeves) asked him about it. It wasn’t until the season finale and a shot of Lamb’s burned feet that our suspicions were confirmed. Now it’s worth wondering if future seasons of the series will expose more of our hero’s softer side.

With his team being tested more than ever this season, it appears Lamb is placing more trust and attention on his team of Joes. This group of “fucking losers” he calls his own feels like it’s slowly becoming something more to him, leading Lamb to show more compassion. His way of showing respect is to acknowledge that “you were all really paying attention for once”, pointing out that they can do the job when they have to.

It will be interesting to see if future seasons show Lamb opening up to his disgruntled wife, Standish, who already has him figured out, or allows his stubborn surrogate son, River, to lean on him a little more. This season has shown that he has the capacity for a little more humanity, if only by giving us a glimpse into his past. Who knows? When the horses leave for their next mission, they might also take a warmer lamb with them.