Why THAT Slow Horses Season 6 Finale Death Changes Everything

Published Oct 21, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT As a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, Tatiana studied theater and comparative literature. She has been passionate about all manner of storytelling from Jane Austen adaptations to anime. Aside from writing for Screen Rant, she co-hosts podcasts: The Flash Podcast and Ladies With Gumption. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning: Spoilers for Slow Horses season 6, episode 6!The Slow Horses season 6 finale claimed yet another beloved member of the Slough House extended family, as Emma Flyte (Ruth Bradley) made her last stand against River's assassin father, Jack Harkness. The team's last moments together – not counting River's own cliffhanger ending – involve mourning their recent string of losses, which surely weigh heavily. But Roddy Ho may be experiencing the biggest shock of all, at least according to actor Christopher Chung. Not only did he have to come face to face with Flyte's body, but his feelings for her were evident throughout Slow Horses season 6. Catherine Standish is not unmoved either, and her fortitude may fail after several episodes of staying the course in her recovery from alcohol addiction. ScreenRant interviewed Chung and Reeves about the events of Slow Horses season 6, especially their reactions to Flyte's death and how it affects their mindset going into season 7. Reeves also shared her take on the cold war between Standish and Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), while Chung revealed his hankering to branch out with different roles in between seasons of the hugely successful Apple TV series. How Emma Flyte’s Death Changes The Game For Slow Horses Season 7 ScreenRant: We lose two Slow Horses this season, or at least two that the team knows about. Ho normally brushes everything off, but at what point does it get real for him, and how will this change him for season 7? Christopher Chung: There have been Slow Horses that have come and gone before. We've had Marcus, we've had Min, but they don't really affect Ho that much. I carried that sentiment through into the moment when River tells us that Coe's dead, and I really fought for this line because it's the way in which Ho views the world: "Another one bites the dust." It's just par for the course, another Slow Horse dead. But the thing that is different about when he comes across Emma is that he's actually never seen a dead body - and not only has he never seen a dead body, but it's the dead body of someone that he knows and has fancied and has had a professional personal relationship with. I think that is the moment where he's like, "Oh, this is different. The stakes are real." Because he's suddenly confronted with the reality of what's going on, and the fact that it's not just a video game that he's living in. ScreenRant: Ho's closeness with Emma has been seen in the one-sided flirtation he had with her. How would you describe that dynamic in season 6? Christopher Chung: I think it gave him a lot of confidence because it's a cornered audience, so she can't escape him. I guess it's the same with any character he's left in a room with! It kind of emboldens him in a way - although he's quite a bold character anyway. But when we were doing the scenes in Flyte's house, there were a couple of moments that didn't end up making it into the final edit. There was Ho being a little bit more suggestive and a little bit more latchy, because in many ways, he probably thinks that Emma fancies him, and he definitely fancies her. Going forward to the end of the season, that really resonates when he comes across Flyte's body. It really shatters his worldview. ScreenRant: Does that mean we're seeing a new side to him in season 7? Christopher Chung: Possibly. ScreenRant: You recently played a romantic lead, albeit a thwarted one in My Brilliant Career, which was in fact brilliant. Would you say that's opened up new doors for you? Are you looking to branch out into other genres in between Slow Horses seasons? Christopher Chung: Yeah, I think the thing about playing Roddy is that he's such a specifically drawn character. He's so notable, and he does stand out in many ways. As an actor, it's very easy to be put into one category and put in a box, and then that's what you're going to play for the rest of your career. Even now, I've had many scripts come to me that are in a similar vein to Roddy Ho, but I've already played the best version of that character. I've already done it in the best show that I possibly could, so I'm looking forward to doing things that challenge me and make me step out of my comfort zone. When I started Slow Horses, Roddy was out of my comfort zone, you know? And now I slip into him very easily, so it's like coming home when I get to the Slough House set now. I love the idea of doing something new and challenging myself in a different capacity - like I didn't think I would ever play a romantic lead, let alone in a period piece. Being able to step into that world was really satisfying for me. So, I look forward to seeing what other crazy things this career has in store for me. Saskia Reeves Breaks Down Standish’s Slow Horses Season 6 Arc ScreenRant: Slow Horses season 6 shook things up and had you on the run for your lives. How different did this season feel for you as an actor from previous ones? Saskia Reeves: Practically speaking, we went on location to Suffolk, and it was lovely to be out of London and out of the studio. The weather was great, which you can't always rely on in this country, and it felt like we were on location in a movie rather than as part of a TV program. Actually, when I think about it, sometimes it really feels like we're doing little movies all over the place. It's lit so beautifully, and it's directed so beautifully, and it's such a pleasure to be part of something like that. Personally, I've really enjoyed trying to work out how to tell her little story in and amongst all the action and drama going on around her. Is she going to be able to stay sober when she's so angry and upset by Lamb's behavior? I think it's a great idea to pull the rug from under her a bit and see what happens. ScreenRant: Absolutely. We see her grapple with that constantly throughout the season, trying not to fall off the wagon when the opportunity and the motivation present themselves. She also doesn't really get to have it out with Lamb, especially with so much going on. How does she process that internally? Saskia Reeves: As Saskia, I had to work that out. How does she handle it? Because she doesn't get to shout or scream at him, or even really challenge him. In the end, I could have insisted that we write a scene. We talked about it, and Gary [Oldman] had certain feelings about it. Gary's instincts are so good, and I trust him implicitly. I remember thinking maybe it's a really important thing that she never gets to have a go at him. She never tells him how she feels, so it becomes passive-aggressive, and there's actually more humor in that. ScreenRant: It does accentuate their old married couple vibe. There's more fun in that, you know? It's like, "Right, is that on a need-to-know basis?" All these hidden, pushed-down, pissed-off interactions are sometimes much better than being able to act out a screaming match. Because, as people do, we're really rubbish at articulating our deepest feelings. If Catherine were more articulate as a person in her life, maybe she would never have become an alcoholic. When you're in recovery, it's about how you manage your emotions, and how you have to get better at recognizing what you feel because you spend your life ignoring how you feel. So, I think it's typical behavior of hers to not be able to have it out. She stumbles, she falls, she has to leave... She must have gone on a horrible afternoon's walk trying to work out how to process the whole Charles Partner thing. ScreenRant: We lose Slow Horses almost every season, but Emma hit especially hard for me. How is Catherine holding up at the end? Would you say she's in a better or worse place emotionally than the start of the season? Saskia Reeves: I think it's cumulative. We'll find out in season 7, won't we? I did have to really think about that when going into the next season, and it's dark. I think all of us, as actors, don't want to dismiss that or make light of it. Even though there's still a lot of humor and silliness in the physical life of these characters, all of us hold on to these problems and tragedies in the story in one way or another. We have to consider what effect it's going to have on our characters. I think that's what makes this program so satisfying, because the audience isn't being patronized. Like, "They're just dead, are they? Oh, that's fine," and then we just move on to another story. There are grains, always, of the fact that we lost these people. But Catherine and Lamb have been in this business for a very long time, and I suppose it's like being the police force, or working in a hospital or on the front line of national aid in a war-torn country. You know that, in the world that you're in, people die. It's awful, but that's your job. ScreenRant: How strange is it to be talking about one season and teasing the next while filming yet another season? Saskia Reeves: It does get confusing! We were in Toronto to open season 6, which was amazing. It was lovely to be part of a film festival, and the love that we got from the audience and from the journalists we spoke to was really a pleasure. Then we went to LA for the Emmys, and I had to keep reminding myself, "Oh no, this is for season 5. This is a whole different thing. It's not Adam; it's Saul." I was there with a different producer and a different writer, and it was like, "Whoa..." It can be a bit of a head muddle when we're working forward. It does get a bit complicated. All episodes of Slow Horses season 6 are now streaming on Apple TV. Release Date April 1, 2022 Network Apple TV+ Showrunner Douglas Urbanski Cast Jack Lowden River Cartwright Slow Horses is an adaptation of CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning "Slow Horses" novels, which follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 – Slough House. Gary Oldman stars as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career-ending mistakes.