Better Late than Never

I'm late to the party on Slow Horses, but better late than never.  If you subscribe to AppleTV and haven't watched, it'd be a lot cooler if you did.

Based on the Slough House series of novels by Mick "don't call me Gil Scott" Herron, the show follows the adventures of a small group of MI5 agents from London's Slough House station.  Unlike a typical spy series where agents are practically superheroes, Slough House is a land of misfit toys nicknamed the "Slow Horses," hence the show's title.  All these agents have at least one fatal flaw that prevents them from being real MI5 field agents, so when they do try to solve case or catch a criminal they fuck it up and sometimes hilarity ensues.  It's a proper spy show though, so sometimes there's tragedy instead of hilarity.  People die.

The Slow Horses are captained by Jackson Lamb, a legitimately bad-assed field agent, at least when the spirit moves him to crawl out of the bottle and off the sofa.  Gary Oldman is amazing as Lamb, playing him as a cross between Roy Kent, Perry Cox, and Roger Sterling.  

Only gassier.

Other great quips include "You're about as useful as a paper condom" and, to a recovering alcoholic, "You wouldn't have lost him if he was a bottle of gin."  Each season is only six episodes, each of which is about 45 minutes long, so it isn't as much of a commitment as trying to watch Lost.  Give it a go!