What is a Joe in Slow Horses? Details explored

Apple TV’s Slow Horses premiered on April 1, 2022, and has now become one of the best in the genre of spy-thriller. The show follows the MI5 agents of Slough House. Washed-up against who have failed their mission are sent to the Slough House under the leadership of Jackson Lamb, played by Gary Oldman. While they are not included in the current MI5 missions, the Slow Horses under Lamb often find themselves entangled in the ongoing missions in the show.

Based on Mick Herron’s Slough House novels, the show uses numerous slang terms used by the spies in real life, Slough House being one of them. Another term that has been used in Slow Horses and revolves around the spy universe is the term ‘Joe’. The term is used for undercover MI5 agents. The Apple TV show has several times used the word for referencing MI5 agents.

More on this in our story.

Slow Horses: ‘Joe’ is the term used for MI5 agents

Slow Horses has recently returned with a Season 5. With a new season, the members of the Slough House have again found themselves in trouble as Roddy had shared details about his job with his new girlfriend, who happens to be working with terrorist. This has also led the members in dangerous life threatening situations. But that won’t be the first time for the Slough House agents.

In the preview of upcoming episode, Lamb is seen arguing with Taverner about danger to one of his Joes, meaning his Slough House agents. This is not the first time Lmab has used the term as we have also heard him using the term in Season 3. While the term might sound like a common English name which also supports the use of the term for an undercover MI5 agent who has to appear like an ordinary person and blend in the crowd, just liek an ‘average Joe’.

In Season 1, Episode 3, Lamb talks about being in Joe Country and playing by the rules of Moscow Rules. As per Herron’s novels, Joe Country means an MI5 agent on filed mission. Therefore, Lamb refers to being on field for a mission. He further uses the term ‘Moscow Rules’, which means trying to survive behind enemy lines. Other than ‘Moscow Rules’, there is another term to be used, which is ‘London Rules’. The London Rules term is used for MI5 agenst trying to survive the bureaucracy and politics. River also talks about it in Season 1 and says:

“Moscow Rules, Watch Your Back. London Rules, Cover Your A*se.”

Over the years, we have come across numerous slang terms that are also used in real world by MI5 agents, Joe, Moscow and London Rules, among them. Another famous slang term used is the ‘Dogs’, which the agents, especially Lamb, uses for the internal tactical unit of MI5, which is currently led by Emma Flyte, previously headed by Nick Duffy.

Along with Gary Oldman, Slow Horses also stars Jack Lowden, Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas, Saskia Reeves, Christopher Chung, and Aimee-Ffion Edwards, among several others.

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