Slow Horses season 4 episode 5 ending explained: What happens to River?

Episode 5 of Slow Horses season 4 was released on Apple TV+ on October 2, 2024. The latest episode of the series builds on the major revelations made throughout season 4. It propels the plot forward by showing the consequences of key incidents from near and distant pasts.

Titled Grave Danger, the synopsis of episode 5 reads:

“Lamb questions David about France as River comes face to face with the enemy.”

Episode 4 of Slow Horses season 4 already introduced certain theories regarding Frank and River and the connection between the two. The new episode not only confirms them but also shows the effects of the connection on the present.

Towards the end of the episode, River is kidnapped by Patrice on Frank’s order. Further, the episode also shows David confessing to Lamb that Frank is the biological father of River. The elements of character and plot introduced in episode 5 foreshadow an intense conclusion for Slow Horses season 4.

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Slow Horses season 4 episode 5 ending explained

In the previous episode, Patrice was finally successful in killing Sam. Further, at the end of that episode, River was caught by the Dogs, led by an efficient Emma Flyte. River was arrested and taken inside a car, likely bound for the MI5, where he would be questioned.

However, in episode 5, things take a turn for the worse for River. Towards the beginning of the episode, Frank breaks into the apartment of Molly Doran, the record keeper at MI5, and extracts the credentials to log into MI5’s surveillance system.

With these, Frank is able to track Flyte's car, where River is currently being held hostage. Patrice soon joins Frank and under the latter’s instruction, sets out to ambush Flyte’s squad. Patrice kills two garbage disposal workers and uses their van to intercept Flyte’s convoy.

The Dogs put up a fight, but they keep losing ground. Flye is knocked out by Patrice, who frees River and takes him into the trunk of his car. It is not certain where Patrice is taking him, but it is probable that he is being taken to meet his biological father, Frank.

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Frank continues to be a menace

As episode 5 of Slow Horses season 4 opens, Frank reveals to Molly that he has been chatting with her under the alias Mitch Philpott. The alias is an agent Molly knew from before. Therefore, in the course of the online interaction, she disclosed David’s address to Frank, thinking all the while that he was Philpott.

After this revelation, Frank threatens Molly into divulging the security codes to MI5’s surveillance system. This exposes Flyte’s convoy’s location and Frank orders Patrice to attack it. However, he does not harm Molly but leaves her in the apartment with letters addressed to some important people. One of the letters is addressed to Whelan.

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David tells Lamb everything about Frank

Since the seaon premiere, Slow Horses season 4 has been gradually revealing glimpses into Frank’s enigmatic past without disclosing the whole picture at once. In the latest episode, all pieces of the puzzle are put together by David.

David confesses how Frank had taken away his daughter. Since Frank was an ex-CIA agent who had a bad reputation, David decided to make a deal with him to get his daughter back. The ex-CIA agent took advantage of the situation and demanded that David, then the director of MI5, hand over several cold identities created by MI5, cash, and guns to him.

Frank was on a mission to create his own terrorist unit by making his sons undergo harsh training from childhood. He now believed it was necessary to eliminate David, as only he and Sam could trace the cold identities back to Frank. One of Frank’s sons had exposed an identity- Robert Winters, after the first London bombing.

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The finale of Slow Horses season 4 will be released on October 9, 2024.