\n<\/p>\n
Also the funniest. One of Lamb\u2019s greatest joys is to take the piss out of the so-called slow horses, the ragtag crew of MI5 misfits under his charge. In the show\u2019s first season, when one of them accidentally kills a fellow agent while tumbling down the stairs, Lamb cracks, \u201cIf you meant to kill him, he\u2019d still be alive.<\/em>\u201d It\u2019s a classic Jackson Lamb retort.<\/p>\n Yet behind the character\u2019s contemptuous, world-weary exterior is a man who cares. \u201cThere\u2019s a real loyalty to the slow horses and protecting them from that bureaucratic monster, which is MI5, MI6,\u201d Oldman says. That bureaucratic monster is headquartered in a fictionalized Regent\u2019s Park, where Kristin Scott Thomas\u2019s Diana Taverner\u2014Lady Di, as Lamb calls her\u2014will finally lead as \u201cfirst desk\u201d this season. Taverner, with her plummy accent and cashmere wardrobe, is sometimes Lamb\u2019s foil and sometimes his friend, depending on what she wants.<\/p>\n Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb and Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner.<\/p>\n <\/span>Apple TV<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n The government security service Taverner heads is driven by the Machiavellian ethos that the ends justify the means. In past seasons, MI5 has actively created crises through its off-the-books operations and has been the target of foreign operatives seeking revenge for Great Britain\u2019s past sins. In either case, the service has blood on its hands. Slow Horses<\/em> sets itself apart from other espionage thrillers by refusing to shy away from the moral gray area government agencies can occupy: The show\u2019s intelligence service is corrupt more often than not. It lies to the public, covers up its blunders, double-deals, and even sacrifices its own people\u2014all in the name of national security. No wonder the TV Academy loves the show: Oldman\u2019s been nominated for an Emmy three consecutive times for his role.<\/p>\n \u201cLamb could\u2019ve been first desk. He didn\u2019t want it,\u201d Oldman tells me matter-of-factly, channeling Lamb\u2019s inner monologue: \u201cI don\u2019t want to be in that building. I don\u2019t want to be dealing with the corrupt prime minister.\u201d Despite his exile to Slough House, Lamb was a legend in the field; the series implies that he once withstood torture by the Stasi as he watched a woman he loved being murdered. While it\u2019s possible Lamb also once believed in MI5\u2019s grand mission of protecting citizens\u2019 freedoms, his experiences in subsequent decades as the world shifted from the Cold War to the Age of Terror have worn that ideology down to something more localized: His responsibility is to protect his crew. \u201cHe gives the impression he doesn\u2019t care, when in reality, I think he cares more than most,\u201d Oldman says. This season that instinct conflicts with Taverner\u2019s cold view of the slow horses (some resurrected from the past) as collateral damage.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n