Warning: Contains potential SPOILERS for Slow Horses season 4 and Mick Herron’s book series

The main team in Apple TV+’s Slow Horses is set to receive a shakeup in season 4, with behind-the-scenes- photos seemingly confirming the arrival of a new team member. The Slough House team has undergone some radical changes in the three previous Slow Horses seasons. The difference between season 1 and season 3, for example, is stark, with several characters either leaving the team, dying, or mysteriously vanishing. However, while a lineup change shouldn’t seem that surprising, more recent Slow Horses storylines make new arrivals more unusual.

Even though Slow Horses is a show that thrives on jeopardy and very real danger, there haven’t been many lineup changes in the show’s two most recent outings. Aside from Min Harper’s tragic death in season 2 and Standish’s dramatic resignation in the Slow Horses season 3 ending, the team has remained pretty consistent since season 1. Given that Min wasn’t replaced in season 3, there was no guarantee that Slough House would receive a new addition to the team in season 4. However, one detail about the upcoming series indicates that a major change is on the way.

Tom Brooke Appears In The Slough House Control Room

He’s Alongside The Rest Of The Team

As seen in behind-the-scenes photos, 46-year-old English actor Tom Brooke will feature in Slow Horses season 4. While his involvement was known before the photo drop, the images reveal that he’s not just joining Slow Horses in a minor capacity. Instead, Brooke looks set to become a new core member of the Slough House team.

The biggest indication of Brooke’s new role is that he is physically in the Slough House control room with the rest of the team. Alongside Louisa Guy, Marcus Longridge, and Shirley Dander, Brooke is gathered around technology expert Roddy’s work station staring at something on screen. In previous seasons, only core members of the Slough House team have been granted such proximity to the department’s work – an unsurprising situation, given the rest of MI5’s treatment of the much-maligned division. This is a clear indication that Brooke’s character represents a new addition to the team, and isn’t a random hanger-on.

Who Tom Brooke Could Be Playing In Slow Horses Season 4

He’s Never Appeared Before

From the set photos, it’s not immediately clear who Tom Brooke is playing in Slow Horses season 4. Given that the show revolves around spycraft, it’s unsurprising that no form of identification is immediately obvious. However, other information confirms that Brooke’s character is indeed a new member of the Slough House crew.

The fact that he’s in the inner sanctum of Roddy’s work station, combined with the cast of characters from the book on which Slow Horses season 4 is based, suggests that Brooke is playing J.K. Coe. In the novels, Coe is a competent yet somewhat unhinged member of the crew. According to a synopsis of the novel on the spy fiction website Spy Write, Coe is “One of the sharper minds running with the slow horses” and “(a)lso probably a psychopath“.

This background suggests that Coe will be a natural addition to the rest of the Slough House misfits. It also suggests that he may be a source of conflict with the team – especially if his psychopathy manifests in ways that the rest of the team find slightly unsavory. However, he is a core member of the group and features in several of Mick Herron’s source novels, suggesting that (if Brooke is indeed playing J.K. Coe, his arrival could signal the start of a new era for the team and the show.

Tom Brooke’s Character Is The Shakeup Slow Horses Needs

Slow Horses Needs New Blood

Given how popular each of the Slow Horses characters has become over the previous three seasons, any potential change is fraught with risk. However, while the dynamics between individuals is the show’s greatest strength, Slow Horses is also in dire need of a fresh face. Ever since the dramatic changes from seasons 1 to 2, the team has remained essentially the same. No matter how effective their chemistry, seeing the same personnel over and over again would inevitably become stale. Brooke’s introduction as part of the Slough House crew avoids this problem.

If Brooke is playing J.K. Coe, his arrival can also benefit Slow Horses by bringing some much-needed edge to the story. With the rest of Slough House now understandably familiar after so many adventures together, a potentially abrasive personality is the perfect way to shake characters out of their comfort zones. If Coe does indeed turn out to be “probably a psychopath”, this could be an ideal, and blackly funny, way of revitalizing the Slow Horses team.

Source: Spy Write