Note: The following contains spoilers for “Slow Horses” Season 2 Episode 3
The death of a former MI5 agent set in motion a plot involving Russian sleeper agents in “Slow Horses” Season 2, and in Episode 3, “Drinking Games,” Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) learns that one of his own agents has also been killed.
Slow Horses Min Harper (Dustin Demri-Burns) and Louisa Guy (Rosalind Eleazar), who are also in a romantic relationship, were asked by James “Spider” Web (Freddie Fox) to run security on an upcoming meeting with an elusive Russian. After a fight, Min tailed their Russian contacts on his own, who quickly spotted him and pulled a gun on him… before inviting him in for several shots of vodka.
A wobbly and inebriated Min headed home on his bicycle, only to be hit by a car and killed in a tunnel. When Lamb and Catherine Standish (Saskia Reeves) arrived on scene, the distraught driver was being questioned by police. The death was ruled an accident, but Lamb had his doubts and tailed the driver, demanding to know the truth.
Louisa asked to be be put back on the case, and, in the coming episodes, is also on her own mission to find who killed “her beloved man.”
Demri-Burns and Eleazar chatted with TheWrap about Min’s death and what happens next on the Apple TV+ series.
TheWrap: Dustin, when did you learn what was going to happen to Min?
Demri-Burns: When I found that I got the part I started looking at, you know, buying big houses. And then my agent said, “No, don’t get too excited. You don’t make it past Series 2.” So I knew. And then it was a sort of running joke that it was ticking clock for me. Wasn’t it Rose, you and [director] Jeremy [Lovering]?
Eleazar: Yeah, kept on bringing it up to him and reminding him that he was about to be dead man walking. It’s really sad, though.
Demri-Burns: As an actor, you’re grateful and excited to be part of something. It’s certainly better than nothing. And to be in it for that long, that was a good part of two years of my life. So it was really a big, big, big, big deal.
Eleazar: It must have really shocked people that haven’t read the books [by Mick Herron]. Like, “What? You’ve killed off that character?” I think at one point the writers were kind of thinking “God, are we being really silly in killing off a beloved character?” Unfortunately, the books were written, Dustin.
Demri-Burns: And it does make for better telly, doesn’t it? You’ve got to be ballsy. You can’t play it safe.
Eleazar: It’s actually quite hard. I’ve found it hard being on set in the next season without Dustin.
What happens next for Louisa? Does she already suspect it’s not an accident?
Eleazar: She’s teamed up with another Slow Horse. Post Min, she’s a bit wild, to be honest. But yeah, she goes straight back to work. She wants to, because she’s not going to deal with it. And she’s the sort of character that holds it all in and internalizes her trauma. She wants to continue working to take her mind off it, but at the same time, she’s trying to find out who killed her beloved man.
Does she trust the other Slow Horses at this point?
Eleazar: She doesn’t like being paired up with Marcus (Kadiff Kirwan), because she thinks he’s been put there to keep an eye on her. So it’s not a distrust, it’s just that she just wants to do it by herself.
Demri-Burns: You’ve got such a great, meaty storyline and I never really understood it until you just explained it all.
Eleazar: It’s really heavy. “Slow Horses” balances its lines between comedy and drama. This part is really serious. After he dies, it all takes place over over two days. It’s really, really quick. There’s literally no time to process what’s happened.
Would she die to get the truth in this case?
Eleazar: Definitely. You just think, “Oh, my God, Stop, just stop, stop, stop. Ask someone for help.” And in a weird way, she becomes a better agent. Because she’s just more aware. And she’s almost hyper alert.
Roddy (Christopher Chung) and Spider’s reactions to Min’s death are just so callous.
Eleazar: Yeah, very callous. And that’s just so in the style of “Slow Horses.” People care, but no one really cares. Louisa, maybe River (Jack Lowden) to a certain extent, and Lamb in his own way, but yeah, it’s not the piece when someone dies, which just makes it all the more cutting.
Demri-Burns: To most people, it’s like life goes on and it’s so refreshingly real and brutal and I suppose there’s an element of professionalism as well. It’s kind of like, that’s the job and that’s the sort of world we’re in.
Do we get a moment when the characters go down to the pub and toast Min?
Eleazar: There’s a moment towards the end, which is the “Slow Horses” version of it, and it’s just so callous and cutthroat. It is so painful to watch and you see Louisa’s face. And she is livid that this is how we’re remembering him.
The first three episodes of “Slow Horses” Season 2 are now streaming on Apple TV+. New episodes are released on Fridays.
