Season 5 of the beloved Apple TV spy thriller series, Slow Horses, comes to an end with all the heightened action as well as unexpected twists we’ve come to expect from the show. After having arrested a key member of the terrorist group carrying out the attacks on London, Tara Younis, the MI5 First Desk, Claude Whelan, had single-handedly allowed her to walk away as well, with the authorities also having lost all surveillance due to a code that Tara had cleverly left in the system. Now, in Slow Horses season 5 episode 6, the Slough House agents rush to deal with a new attack, while more about the terrorists and their associations is revealed.
Spoiler Alert
What are Tara’s demands?
As Slow Horses season 5 episode 6 begins, the MI5 Director, Claude Whelan, is impatient about why the expert hackers in the agency have not yet been able to bring the system back online, completely missing out on the point that the code, or virus, planted by Tara is an extremely effective one. He wants to push the tech experts into using some kind of ‘anti-virus’ (his words, not mine) to deal with the situation, which naturally makes his lack of knowledge even more evident to everyone around. Diana Taverner does not hesitate to put the blame on Whelan, stating how he had basically been honey-trapped into releasing Tara Younis and letting her walk away. It has been clear to absolutely everyone that Tara had charmed Whelan with her feminine nature, with the MI5 Director being a very easy target for femme fatales, and it is only because of him that the woman is now free and posing a great threat to the country.
Soon, the Libyan Ambassador to the UK calls up Whelan and expresses his condolences for the attacks taking place in London before then stating that one of the perpetrators is right in front of him and that they even want to talk to the authorities. Turns out, Tara had gone to the Libyan embassy after she duped MI5 into believing that she would lead them to the other terrorists, knowing well that the British authorities wouldn’t be able to reach her because of the political dynamics of embassy buildings. She now wants to speak with MI5 authorities, and once Whelan complies, even Tara starts picking him apart, saying that he is absolutely useless with no real power at all, and so she demands to speak with Second Desk Diana Taverner.
It is to Diana that Tara reveals her demands, after stating how she is just an inspired rebel waging war against the UK for having once cheated and harmed Libya and thousands of Libyans like her. She believes that the UK government stole oil reserves from her homeland through unjust trade deals and shady practices, and now she and her mates are carrying out the same destabilization strategy that the UK once used on numerous of its colonies, except this time against the very inventors of the strategy. Tara now reveals her demands—her group is to be paid 100 million pounds as compensation for the years of stolen oil revenues from her homeland, and also safe passage out of the UK so that she and her comrades do not face any consequences for their actions.
Tara argues that the amount being demanded is insignificant compared to the financial, social, and political damage that the Britishers had dealt to Libya, and so it is fair for her to ask for it. By this time, Tara Younis has completely turned the situation in her favor by starting an hour-long countdown on the MI5 computer system. The tech experts explain that they can work on bringing the system back online only after this one hour has passed, while Tara clearly tells Diana that the authorities are to pay the 100 million pounds within this very hour, or else the last step of the destabilization strategy will be carried out. Since the last stage involves an attack on a popular place of worship, and all of this is taking place on a Sunday morning, when millions of Christians in the country are preparing to go to church, Diana does not want to take any chances. She strictly advises Claude Whelan to get in touch with the PM and ask that the ransom money being demanded be paid to the terrorists.
How is Peter Judd involved with the terrorist attacks?
While making her demand, Tara mentions that the ransom money should be sent to a private company called Albion Holdings, which is basically an offshore trust in the Caymans. This information immediately sets off alarms in Diana Taverner’s head, for she instantly realizes that the terrorists are linked with Peter Judd, the ex-Home Secretary of the country, whom she is also in touch with. Earlier this season, Diana had learned about the guns that had been used in the Abbotsfield massacre from Peter Judd, as he had revealed that the weapons had been stolen from an arms company that he had ties with. During this brief meeting, Judd had also mentioned a group of disaffected Libyans demanding compensation for lost oil revenues, but Diana had not taken the matter seriously, as she did not know that this very group was linked to the Abbotsfield attack.
In reality, the group of terrorists, led by Farouk and also seemingly Tara, had hired the services of Peter Judd, not only because of his new profession as a personal relations contractor but also because of his past political affiliations. They had initially wanted to blackmail the British government into paying them compensation for the exploitation of their country, through Judd, for which they were even paying Judd a significant salary. Along with this salary account, another account had been set up through which the group would receive their 100 million pounds, minus the brokerage fee Judd would be charging. Both these accounts had been set up in the name of Albion Holdings, an offshore trust at which Peter Judd was a director.
Therefore, it is not at all difficult for Diana to tell how Judd is involved in the whole matter, and so she confronts him. He reveals that in recent times, the Libyan group, with which he had indeed been working together, had started accusing him of only taking money from them without reaching out to the government with their demands for compensation. As Judd knew that this was indeed the case and felt threatened by the group, he had tried to warn Diana earlier in the season. But as Diana did not pay heed, and so Judd did not technically carry out the job he was being paid for, the Libyans had themselves continued with the terrorist attacks on London.
What ultimately happens to the Libyan terrorists?
Almost at the end of the one-hour countdown, Diana calls up the Libyan embassy, knowing that it is Tara who is running the place now, after she took everyone else hostage, including the ambassador, in order to inform her that her demands have been met. Tara indeed sees the 100 million pounds transferred to the bank account, and then spots a convoy of MI5 Dogs drive up in front of the embassy. Diana assures her that the convoy is here only to take her and her terrorist friends to the nearest port so that they can leave the country without facing legal persecution. Naturally, Tara calls up the three men, who have been driving around the city in a red van, but they now refuse to comply. The leader of the terrorists, Farouk, now reminds Tara that she is just a coordinator who had played a major role in the planning of the attacks, but they are not bound to listen to her demands. Although Tara is ready to leave the country after having received the money, the men want to hurt British society and government, because of which they refuse to back down and instead decide to go through with their plan of attacking a place of worship.
One of the men, Sami, who had always been slightly more sensitive and intellectual than the other two, now refuses to be a part of their plan, and parts ways with them, meaning that Farouk and Kamal are left alone to carry out the attack. They select the multi-faith center that had been put up at Abbotsfield after the first terrorist attack as the best spot to target, and upon reaching the place, they spot Zafar Jaffrey at the place as well. Farouk is instantly reminded of how he had failed his earlier mission to kill Jaffrey, and so he wants to assassinate the politician first, before attacking and killing the hundreds of people gathered at the place for prayers. But by this time, the Slough House agents had reached the place as well, as Jackson Lamb had figured out that this would be the spot that the terrorists would target.
Although Shirley Dander is the best shot among the three agents at the place, JK Coe and River Cartwright being the other two, she does not have a weapon on her, but Coe lends her his service weapon. It is Shirley who brings down Kamal with a well-placed shot to the head, but they have to face more danger when Farouk takes Jaffrey hostage. Although River and Shirley are there to deal with the situation, they fear that Farouk might kill Jaffrey if they try to do anything. The two agents constantly bicker and insult each other, unintentionally keeping Farouk occupied and distracted, which allows Coe to sneak up behind him and stab him to death. Thus, both Farouk and Kamal, the most fierce of the terrorists, are killed by Slough House agents, while protecting the lives of others.
Back at the Libyan embassy, Lamb sends Catherine Standish to simply bring Tara out of the building, as he knows that if the Dogs enter the place, they would surely kill Tara, needlessly. He sets up a situation in which Tara takes Catherine hostage and comes out of the building to buy some time for herself before she attempts to flee through the back alleys. Since Lamb had envisioned all of this, he arrives at the street beyond the alleyway way before time and ultimately arrests Tara, meaning that she is the only perpetrator who is captured alive and will be punished by the law.
Why is Claude Whelan personally targeted?
Believing that the attacks are over, since the perpetrators have either been killed or arrested, River goes to meet with his grandfather, and through very ordinary conversations, he is suddenly reminded of how there is often a sting at the end after a bee attack, and he rushes back to Slough House. There is indeed one last stage of the attack left, which is to be carried out by Sami, the terrorist who had abandoned his companions earlier. There is a particular reason for him wanting to target and kill Claude Whelan, which dates back to 2011 and NATO’s movements at Zliten, in Libya. Sami’s life was completely destroyed when NATO suddenly decided to vacate Libya, deciding it was no longer a good-enough investment, leaving thousands of villagers and townsfolk totally exposed to the ravages of war. Multiple members of his family were killed, and like those around him, the normal course of life was disrupted cruelly and violently.
As it turns out, Claude Whelan was actually working as a long-term forecaster for the British government at the time, and it was his opinion that the UK should leave Libya and no longer be concerned with the situation in the African nation. His stance was soon implemented as policy by the government, and after having caused considerable chaos very directly, the Brits suddenly left Libya, leaving youngsters like Sami to deal with the consequences of their actions. At present, Tara and her terrorist friends wanted proof of Whelan’s involvement, which is why she had stolen the Director’s file from the MI5 database. Thus, Sami now confronts Whelan at the park during his run and holds him at gunpoint until a dog comes to his rescue, and then River joins in as well.
Meanwhile, River had reported his hunch about one last imminent attack to his Slough House friends, based on the fact that there should have been 4 terrorists, excluding Tara, in the van as per the CCTV footage pulled by Shirley earlier. Lamb, who had gotten hold of the file stolen by Tara and gone through the details of Whelan’s past, had figured out that the MI5 Director will be targeted next, and he had passed on this information to River. The Slough House agent quickly made his way to Whelan’s residence, learned from his wife that he must be out on a run at the park, and then headed there, only to see Sami holding Whelan at gunpoint. With two quick gunshots, River brings Sami down and saves Whelan from a certain death.
What is Whelan’s plan with the Slough House agents?
River now believes that he will receive a promotion to the Regent Park office because of his heroic rescue of Claude Whelan, and he asks Lamb to lobby for such a move as well when Whelan comes visiting at the Slough House. However, something completely different happens during this meeting, as Whelan shamelessly reveals that he has a very different plan in mind for the Slough House agents. As things stand, it is the MI5 Director who will face the most trouble for the complete failure with regard to security and intelligence. Besides, he had even let one of the main perpetrators walk out of captivity and essentially been honey-trapped by her. However, Whelan obviously does not want to face the consequences of any of these mistakes, and so he decides to pin the blame on someone else completely.
For quite some time now, Claude Whelan has been heard questioning the need for Slough House and its totally inadequate agents, as he understands them to be. He had earlier made attempts to dissolve this lowly branch of the MI5 and had suggested something similar earlier this season as well. But he had also learned how Lamb’s experience and aptitude were revered by everyone at the agency, including Diana Taverner, which meant that the Slough House could not be shut down so easily. Thus, at the end of Slow Horses season 5, Whelan tries to kill two birds with one stone by pinning the blame for the Libyan terrorist attacks on Jackson Lamb.
According to the story that Whelan concocts to be officially released to the press and the public, Peter Judd had visited Jackson Lamb at Slough House numerous times to warn him of the Libyan terrorists wanting to talk to the government and carry out violent attacks. But it was Lamb who had supposedly refused to believe in these claims and had let down the agency and the country by doing so. Selling this lie will not only ensure that he will not be held responsible for the incidents, but Lamb’s credibility will also be questioned, and so the Slough House can finally be shut down. Plus, as an added bonus, Whelan’s relations with Judd will also grow stronger, since Judd will also not face any consequences and be able to keep his commission from the 100 million pounds.
Is Claude Whelan fired in the end?
However, Jackson Lamb has the last laugh in the matter, perhaps as expected, since he had been holding on to the recording device used by Dennis Gimball. Crucially, this device contained recordings of Whelan personally blackmailing the politician and his columnist wife, threatening to ruin their careers and lives if they did not comply with his demands. Moreover, the recordings also confirmed how Whelan had been having relations with multiple sex workers, or escorts, as he feels more comfortable calling them, as he himself talked about the matter. Lamb obviously plays the tape in front of Whelan now and leaves the director with only one option.
Ultimately, Claude Whelan is not technically fired from MI5, as he resigns instead, taking responsibility for the terrorist attacks. This is solely because of Lamb’s threat to release the recordings to the press and have Whelan deal with the public scandal, which would have obviously gotten him fired anyway. At least Whelan gets to keep his secrets and possibly save his marriage as well, even though his professional career is surely over now. On the other side, Jackson Lamb gets to keep Slough House, gets Roddy Ho cleared for service, and also cleverly ensures that Molly Doran would be given her job back at Regent Park. This had clearly been Molly’s condition for handing over Whelan’s file to Lamb in the previous episode. Diana Taverner now finally becomes the Director of MI5, and in her very first call to Lamb, she states that she does not plan on giving River a promotion, meaning that River Cartwright will continue to serve in the Slough House, obviously not to his delight.
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