slow horses season 4 episode 1 identity theft leaves viewers wondering what happened to River cartright Jack Loden River has been working for sloh house chief Jackson lamb Gary Oldman for three seasons but he is far from a veteran and I5 officer however one of the characters in slow horses is his grandfather David cartright Jonathan price David who raised and supported him since childhood is a legendary MI5 agent who has played a significant role in the service previously David chose to destroy the incriminating footprint file prioritizing mi5's reputation as indicated by the season 3 finale David and River disagree on holding MI5 accountable for its acts River who cleverly creates a copy of the footprint file leaks the information to the public causing major first desk shakeups the cartright men disagree on more than just a mi5's accountability in the season 4 premere River tells louisea guy rosaland elaser that his grandfather's dementia is worsening this this leads directly to a shocking Revelation in slow horses season 4 which has far-reaching consequences for the story in slow horses season 4 River's grandfather appears to have killed his grandson when Louisa suggests that River not only care for his grandfather but also Place David in a home River rejects the idea and that's the last viewers see of the slooh house agent before he's seemingly shot and killed by his grandfather River previously stated that David took a full 10 minutes to realize who he was during their last gathering in fact David David rambled on about his grandson believing River to be a Friendly Stranger slow horses foreshadows that David cartrite may not be the most reliable narrator when River breaks character and calls him Gramps David shoots and kills the impostor on his way home David is paranoid muttering that whoever is following him should reveal themselves once inside River's grandfather grabs his shotgun and keeps watch until he falls asleep in his armchair David cartrite is startled awake when someone possibly River bangs on his front door viewers never get a good look at River's face as he pushes past David to run a bath upstairs David grabs his shotgun and the MI5 issued panic button sensing something is wrong when River breaks character and refers to him as Gramps David shoots and kills the impostor Jackson Lamb's response to River's death explained slow horses season 4 was described as controversial prior to its release and Jackson Lamb's strange reaction to the incredibly dark opener backs up that claim while lamb is known to be irreverent flatulent and disrespectful his non-reaction to River apparent murder is alarming however Lamb's actions are also incredibly telling even though River's ID and wallet were found on the body Emma flight Ruth Bradley the new head of the dogs calls lamb to David cartright's home to identify the victim disgruntled more than upset lamb turns up looking drunk lamb seems disheveled suggesting that he doesn't think the real river is dead once inside rivers boss carefully goes through the medicine cabinet looking for something to settle his stomach flight is understandably surprised by Lamb's lack of reaction to the gruesome scene the explosion disfigures the victim who lamb jokes used to have a face blood specks the walls sloh House's face turns strange as he crouches closer to the body but lamb confirms to flight that the victim is River cartright privately lamb seems disheveled suggesting that he doesn't think the real river is dead the ending of slow horses season 4 episode 1 reveals river is alive by the end of slow horses season 4 episode 1 river is revealed to be alive and well for the most part trusting his gut lamb goes to visit the jaded Katherine sish Sask Reeves who quit SLO house at the end of season 3 when lamb turns up stish is busy looking over newspaper articles about the car bombing that occurred at a shopping center the same night River was killed realizing that sish isn't asking any prying questions about the circumstances of r death lamb calls out his former colleague theorizing that SSH has seen River recently David cartright killed his grandson's lookalike and then pressed the panic button to alert MI5 although stish initially boxs at Lamb's suggestion the slovenly MI5 operative says that he saw River's car parked outside stish admits that River did stop by but that he's gone now meanwhile SSH is harboring a fugitive David cartright who killed his grandson lookalike and then pressed the panic button to alert am I5 the first first episode ends before lamb can question David but it does seem like the shopping center incident which was committed by a man who threatened that his brothers would be coming to finish the job is connected to what ever happened at the cart ride home what river survival means for slow horses season 4 story while River slow hes story will be radically distinct from anything that's come before it's too early to determine how exactly the river lookalike and the car bomb are related in episode one's concluding minutes River sits in the backseat of a cab riding through the rural French Countryside as he looks at a woman's passport previously the car bomber's passport was lying around his apartment as if he wanted it to be found although it's not visible why river cartride is in the crosshairs it is clear that he'll have a connection to slow horse's current conspiracy setting up another twisting story for the series the fact that River has seemingly faked his own death suggests that slow horses season 4 will feature even more deception than usual standish's apparent involvement Lamb's knowledge of the situation and his conversation with Louisa all recall earlier moments from the series where being in the no is Central to the story while the explosion is certainly the most action-packed aspect of the story River situation may well constitute The Narrative heart of the season