Olivia Cooke Is Back In 'Slow Horses' Season 6: Sid's Return, Explained
Anyone who's watched TV for more than a few years now and has engaged with the text in some way is aware of one simple rule: "No body, no death." If we, as the audience, don't see a character's actual body and they're presumed dead, there's a good chance they can come back. This isn't always the case with every show or movie because there are variables that go into writing off a character, but sometimes, you mourn a beloved character only to reunite with them seasons later. This is thankfully the case for Olivia Cooke's Sidonie "Sid" Baker, who's back in Slow Horses (2022) Season 6 after being gone since Season 1.
The best part of Sid's return is that not only does it feel organic where the narrative is concerned, but anyone who's read the books by Mick Herron knows that she has a bigger role in them than the two episodes we saw her in. She's not only a significant member of Slough House, but she's also important to Jack Lowden's River Cartwright. That particular detail is especially crucial for fans like me who wanted the romantic pairing from the books on screen.
What Happened to Sid in 'Slow Horses' Season 1?
In this day and age, TV shows aren't released yearly the same way Slow Horses is, but still, it's been a few years since Season 1 aired in 2022. And it's been even longer since we last saw Sid in Season 1, Episode 2, "Work Drinks." Understandably, this was also around the same time that Cooke was cast in House of the Dragon (2022) as Alicent Hightower, so it makes sense she'd be written off early to accommodate filming schedules.
In more ways than one, though, Sid's exit was brutal and unfair to the fans who loved her. She spends her "last moments" in the car with River, explaining to him how she's essentially at Slough House to watch him because Kristin Scott Thomas' Diana Tavener sent her on this task, not disclosing why she needs to do so in the first place. River, at the time, doesn't know it either. Their conversation is cut short when they see an intruder entering Hobden's house. When the two of them confront the masked person, Sid is shot in the head as a result. She bleeds out in River's arms as he calls for help, and later in the season, The Park (fictional MI5 coordinators) reveal that she's died from her wounds.
Sid's "death" isn't something we physically ever witness, so naturally a lot of us held onto the hope that we'd see her again. It helps that there's the suspicious bombshell Christopher Chung's Roddy drops by saying that there are no records of her at the hospital and she might be alive somewhere. All of this is a good thing, because otherwise, if they wanted more closure with her, we should've seen her final few moments on-screen. Simultaneously, what's also easy to appreciate is that though we only knew her very briefly, Cooke leaves an undeniable mark with her performance. It's easy to care about Sid right from the start, and it's even easier to see that something is growing between her and River despite how soon it is.
In a lot of ways, Sid's exit forces viewers to understand that in this business, you don't exactly trust anyone fully. You walk in with hesitations, and every season when something enormous happens, you understand that it's part of the game. (Cue the show's theme song, Mick Jagger's "Strange Games.")
Sid's Return to 'Slow Horses' Season 6, Explained
Thankfully, though, neither the trailers nor the first-look stills hid the fact that Olivia Cooke and Sid are back in Slow Horses Season 6, making it even more thrilling to look forward to the actual moment in the season. (And to feel validation for never letting go of her in the process!) More importantly, it's how she comes back that's so incredible, and it doesn't even scratch the surface of what we'll see in the upcoming episodes.
Sid is officially back at the last second of Slow Horses Season 6, Episode 2, "Daddy Issues," when River goes over to his late grandfather's house, lights off, and notices that there's someone in the house. Believing it to be his father, Frank (Hugo Weaving), he's instead greeted by Sid standing at the top of the steps.
When the next episode, "Resurrection," opens up, they're both delightfully awkward—weirdly and adorably quiet as she makes a pot of tea in his grandfather's kitchen. At the same time, he sits there, contemplating how she's back. Then, the first real question River asks is, "Why didn't you tell me?" to which Sid replies that she tried calling first. She also notes that she didn't have reception, to which River counters by specifying that it's been three years of this presumed "no reception."
He mentions the fact that he believed she was dead, while she once more counters by wondering who told him that. He notes that he blamed herself, and in her typical Sid way, she makes a joke about how she was the one shot in the head, while he's making it about himself. Their usual banter resumes as if it hasn't been three years, and there's something really lovely about how slowly this all progresses. (Pun intended on the word slow, I suppose.) For five seconds, things are going smoothly until the season's two assassins appear once more, and Sid notes that they're trying to kill her.
Ultimately, like every member of Slough House right now, Sid also has a target on her back. Still, judging by Tavener's behavior and everything that we're seeing so far, it wouldn't be shocking if her involvement is even bigger than we know. Time will tell what this means, but with everyone paired up in safe houses while trying to run for their lives, Sid returning now makes Slow Horses Season 6 ten times more enthralling.
It's unclear who's dying and how many people we'll lose this season when the stakes are higher than ever, but by the end of the episode, Sid and River have at least lived to see another day.
