Warning: this article contains major spoilers for the finale of Slow Horses season four The latest series of espionage thriller Slow Horses slammed to a close today (9 October), and fans have been left reeling by the death of a major and much-loved character: Kadiff Kirwan’s Marcus Longridge. Did Marcus die after breathing too closely to Gary Oldman ’s flatulent Jackson Lamb ? No. Was it the cold, hard stare of Kristin Scott Thomas ’s Diana Taverner that polished him off? Nope, not that either.
Instead, he died in the line of duty – shot dead by a terrifying assassin called Patrice. (OK, he looks a lot scarier than that name would suggest.) So, how did it come to this? Well, it all took place while River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) was busy having a face-off with his evil father Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving) in King’s Cross.
Cartwright’s half-brother, Patrice – trained to be a murdering machine by their father practically since birth – came to Slough House to track down River’s grandfather, David (Jonathan Pryce) and kill him, to appease his father’s ruthless client. Cue a shoot-out in the tinsel-covered, crumbling offices of Slough House, as the gang of reject spies tried to protect themselves (and David) but ended up essentially being sitting ducks in Lamb’s office. Marcus managed to deliver Shirley Dander (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) – the sniff to his scratch – to safety, but he couldn’t save himself.
As he turned at the top of the stairs, a gunshot rang.