Apple TV’s Near-Perfect Spy Series Is Officially a Streaming Powerhouse

5 days ago 14

Kristin Scott Thomas in Slow Horses Season 6 Episode 2

Published Oct 18, 2026, 10:30 AM EDT

Rohan Naahar is a News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal of introducing audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

While Apple TV has cemented itself as a hub for stellar sci-fi content — look no further than Severance, Silo, and Pluribus — the streamer is just as well known for the breakout hits Widow's Bay and Ted Lasso. Both shows have earned critical and viewership success for Apple TV, but one series has stood head and shoulders above all others for the sheer consistency that it has displayed in its four-year run. In those four years, the series in question has aired six seasons that have received near-universal acclaim. Meanwhile, the show's audience has also grown considerably. The series recently achieved a major streaming milestone, and is now on track to hit another benchmark as the finale of its sixth season nears.

Based on a series of espionage novels about a group of disgraced spies in London, the series debuted to positive reviews for its pacing, plot, and performances in 2022. Apple TV deployed an unusual production strategy for the series, producing two seasons of six episodes each back-to-back. The workload got the better of creator Will Smith, who departed the project following the fifth season. He said that it was becoming increasingly difficult to maintain high standards with such a demanding production schedule. However, any concerns that fans may have had were swiftly alleviated when the sixth season premiered with series-best reviews. In fact, the sixth season has settled at a "Certified Fresh" 100% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

The Apple TV Sensation Has Already Been Renewed for a New Season

We're talking, of course, about Slow Horses. Starring Gary Oldman as a beleaguered spymaster, the show also features Jack Lowden, Olivia Cooke, Kristin Scott Thomas, and more. It holds an overall score of 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the most acclaimed shows of its era. In her review, Collider's Carly Lane wrote that Season 6 "ultimately represents the biggest turning point for Apple TV's longest-running spy thriller, not because of its seamless pairing of past and present, but because of what it intriguingly sets up for Slow Horses' next chapter." According to FlixPatrol, Slow Horses is on track to hit the 700-day mark on the domestic Apple TV viewership chart, setting it up for success with the already confirmed Season 7. The sixth season will conclude on October 21. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.