Fans were on the edge of their seats last Sunday as everyone's favourite Birmingham gangsters returned to our screens. Of course, I’m talking about the long-awaited final series of Peaky Blinders.
Two episodes in, and the storyline is already in full swing.
The series began where it left off two and a half years ago - Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) pulls the trigger on the gun pointed at his head, but his brother Arthur (Paul Anderson) had emptied it of bullets, so all that was heard was a faint click. This opening scene was bleak and harrowing, setting the scene for a season where the Peaky Blinders are at their most weak and vulnerable.
Next comes the moment we all knew would happen, we just didn’t know when. Tommy answers the phone to Captain Swing, played by Charlene McKenna, the IRA Chief who admits to ruining his plan to kill Oswald Mosely (Sam Claflin). She tells him the bodies of his loved ones are being returned as we see three white body bags appear on the driveway.
We already know two of the bodies belong to Barney, the ex-army sniper, and Aberama Gold. However, when the third body bag was opened, and Tommy cried in shock, we all knew who was inside. The death of Polly Gray, the Shelby's aunt and ‘Tommy’s crutch’ was the most heartbreaking moment the show has experienced.
Helen McCrory made the show as Polly over the seasons. She was a strong woman with a character just as important as Tommy’s, often keeping the family alive and being Tommy's right hand.
Sadly, McCrory passed away last April, and fans were unsure of how Steven Knight would explain her absence, but the way they did it seems fitting. She had a beautiful funeral where the family said goodbye to her body in a black and gold caravan, with the episode itself being dedicated to Helen. Although, the funeral does ignite the beginning of a family feud between Michael (Finn Cole) and Tommy, as Michael believes his mother's death is Tommy’s fault and he is the devil.
Now, the show fast forwards four years, and we see a new and reformed Tommy Shelby. As the episode goes on, it becomes clear that Polly’s death changed him. He no longer drinks and says it made him a “calmer and more peaceful person”.
Although Tommy believes he has changed for the better, it’s clear people around him don’t believe so. They think he has become a shell of his former self and isn’t present anymore. Lizzy, played by Natasha O’Keeffe, said in episode two she feels like an item on his agenda, while his sister Ada condemned his actions and argued that he would have to “carry the bucket on his own” this time. Arthur is no longer by Tommy’s side and instead, we see his downfall as his drug addiction returns.
The second episode also saw the return of fan favourite Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons, as Tommy once again got involved in fascists, politics and gangsters from Boston. Tommy promised Alfie to write him his “final act” as they came up with a plan. While this is happening, Tommy and his daughter Ruby are struck with a mystery illness. With Tommy once again experiencing PTSD, and his daughter coming down with a fever and repeating words that mean ‘devil’, there is something deeper than a common illness going on. The show has hinted at Polly’s second sight, but it’s never quite delved this deep into it, so I’m looking forward to seeing where this new storyline goes.
Will Tommy’s failure to have limitations be the death of him, or will he pull it off? In his words, there is “one last deal to be done, and then we Peaky Blinders rest”.
Edited by Jemma Snowdon