Peaky Blinders, the hit BBC period-drama from Steven Knight, which enjoyed a cult following before its meteoric rise on Netflix, has completed its run. Peaky Blinders Season 6 is now available on the streaming service, after over a two-year wait through a pandemic and sadly the passing of one of its brightest stars, Helen McCrory. Originally intended to complete after a seventh season, circumstances altered that plan, but there is still a future for the Peaky Blinders. With a follow-up film in the works, anyone hoping for complete resolution should not be surprised when the finale falls short of that. In fact, for every plot point that meets its conclusion, another is introduced to fill its place. What it does provide is some of the most emotionally charged acting performances the series has seen, and the fully immersive cinematography and punk, rock-fueled mobster energy that fans have come to expect.
The biggest unknown entering the season, sadly, wasn’t who betrayed Tommy (Cillian Murphy, Inception), ultimately thwarting the attempt on Oswald Mosley’s (Sam Clafin, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) life, but instead how Knight would handle the absence of Aunt Polly after McCrory’s tragic passing. The impossible task was handled in a beautiful way, honoring both McCrory, and the character she played so brilliantly. Knight and Director Anthony Byrne relied on diegetic sound during the sequence, allowing the camera to linger for a moment on each member of the friends and family gathered, and it serves as a fitting tribute. Her presence still looms large over the story, long after the smoke from her gypsy funeral subsides. It’s her death that sets Michael (Finn Cole, F9: The Fast Saga) on a quest for revenge, as he blames his mother’s demise on the ambitions and strategies of one man: Thomas Shelby.
Four years following those events, Tommy is working towards an uneasy and false alliance with Captain Swing (Charlene McKenna, Ripper Street) of the IRA, Mosley, and influential “reformed” American gangster, Jack Nelson, charismatically played by James Frecheville. As part of his most ambitious plan yet, Tommy sees the end of Prohibition as a window to expand opium distribution to America. In exchange for establishing communication between Mosley and Michael’s wife Gina’s (Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit) Fascist backer uncle Nelson, McKee will secure safe transportation of the opium to Nelson in Boston, in exchange for guns to be used in their Irish fight for independence. The deal will be worth five million dollars, enough to where Tommy believes the Peaky Blinders can finally rest. Ultimately, he plans to undermine the fascists from within, continuing a reformed path of acting not purely out of self-interest alone, but also towards a cause he believes to be good.
Redemption is a theme that weighs heavy on this season, as Tommy struggles with his mental health, impacted by traumas and mistakes from his past. He continues to be pulled down by the weight of those memories, and that pressure manifests itself in the form of seizures. Accompanied by powerful imagery, and physical representations of his regrets, during the seizures, we see visions he has of fighting with a Prussian boy with green eyes in the tunnel during the war. It was the first time he’d killed a man and certainly signifies the moment he first felt unredeemable. Much like morally corrupt wealthy men do, he throws money at his problems, building hospitals, research facilities, and affordable housing in an effort to gain back bits of himself lost. It’s just one example of how this season focuses on the psyche of its characters more than any before it.
In contrast to Tommy, who has remained sober since Polly’s death, Arthur (Paul Anderson, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) spends the majority of the episodes as a broken man, fully succumbing to his addiction to opium and alcohol. Arthur has always struggled with his emotions, often being unleashed on the Peaky Blinders’ enemies as a sort of rabid dog, so in some ways, it’s frustrating to not see Arthur fully on tilt and engaged. The writing does however provide Arthur with a few of the most devastatingly honest and raw scenes of despair, resulting in some of the best interactions between him and his brother. Tommy has often used Arthur as a tool, but as he becomes a bit more broken and begins to see himself as a mortal man, an honest dialogue takes place between them, which is truly a highlight of the season.
As the storylines and scope of Peaky Blinders have grown larger, some characters’ screen time and growth are sacrificed as a result. There is no return of Brilliant Chang (Andrew Koji, Warrior) or Jimmy McCavern (Brian Gleeson, Snow White and the Huntsman), and even Michael, who is central to the plot, spends much of it on the sidelines waiting for his moment. Most notably this season, the youngest Shelby brother, Finn (Harry Kirton, We Can Be Heroes), is given little to do. It makes sense, but it’s also ill-timed as Kirton really runs with the time he’s given and seems to have come into his own as an actor. The hope certainly would be that Finn, along with other standout characters including Isaiah (Daryl McCormack, The Wheel of Time), and newcomers Duke (Conrad Khan, The Huntsman: Winter’s War) and Hayden Stagg (Stephen Graham, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales) will feature heavily in whatever is next to come.
One thing is abundantly clear from the onset, the women of Peaky Blinders take front and center this season, led by Ada Thorne (Sophie Rundle, Gentleman Jack) and Lizzie Shelby (Natasha O’Keeffe, Sherlock). Ada has always had one foot in and one foot out of Shelby Company Limited, struggling to separate herself from something she wants no part of despite a fierce love for her family. Ada has had some great moments in the past, but it hits a new level this time, especially in the third episode, “Gold.” When Tommy is forced elsewhere, he needs a representative of the family to broker the pivotal introductions and Ada is the obvious choice. She’s cunning, commands a room, is lethal with her words, and, like her brother, won’t back down from anyone.
Lizzie has had one hell of a character arc over the course of the show, and in its final season, she endures more turmoil and devastation than a character should have to suffer through, a task that O’Keeffe portrays magnificently. She finds herself in a desolate emotional state, as her love for Tommy competes with her own need for support and feelings of self-worth.
As for Michael’s wife Gina, she’s certainly the most entertaining of the antagonists to watch on screen. The character seems to be oblivious to consequences – a complete wild-card, just floating through, larger than life, and Anya Taylor-Joy absolutely eats up any scene she’s in. When you can’t take your eyes off of her as she’s acting opposite of Cillian Murphy, you know she’s doing something special.
Mosley’s mistress and soon-to-be wife Diana Mitford (Amber Anderson, Emma.) manages to do the unthinkable and becomes the most despised character of the series in a short time, representing the worst of every enemy they’ve ever had in one individual. At times, she says things that have others taken aback, even in the worst of company.
A calling card for Peaky Blinders has always been the cinematic feel achieved creatively each season with set design, creative lighting, and unique camera angles. Creative blocking choices, some extreme close-ups, and constant cigarette smoke make everything and everyone look infinitely cooler, but there are some really unique shots this season. In one particular scene, characters sit around a table, their faces brightly lit against a black background as the camera spins from one to the next as they speak. In another, the camera follows Tommy as he walks down a long dark corridor, first trailing behind, then from the side, and finally in front, with lights clicking on overhead as he advances, all set to “Nessun dorma” by Pavarotti.
The natural introduction of the incomparable Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy, Venom) is of course opera; the show gained notoriety early for its eclectic soundtrack, and nothing changes there. Standouts include offerings by Anna Calvi, Lisa O’Neillby, and Sinéad O’Connor, but everyone from Count Basie to Marilyn Monroe and Mozart can be heard. The impact of the music on the success of the show cannot be overstated, especially with how wonderfully it’s often used with lingering shots of stillness, allowing an actor’s face to convey all the emotion necessary.
As action-packed and violent as the show can sometimes be, it has always been character-driven, and it’s often the dialogue that stands out above everything else. While some may be quick to say the pacing of the season was slow, it translated into some of the best quiet moments between characters that we have been afforded as an audience. The action set pieces still come, but in between are masterclasses of screenwriting and performance.
If there is a legitimate gripe, for the final season of a series, there are too many storylines at play, and things seem overloaded at times, with a focus on the wrong subplots. It’s possible to come away with mixed feelings because while some things feel like a true finale, with the return of central characters from prior seasons, well-earned full-circle moments, and stunning symbolism, there are also loose ends and new things introduced, including plans laid out by Tommy in seemingly throwaway fashion.
If this was truly the end of the story, other choices likely would have been made by Knight in writing the season, but with the success of the show and new audiences continuing to discover it, this clearly serves only as the poignant end of the story in this medium. With a film to start, and other projects likely to follow, clearly, Knight isn’t ready to let go of the Peaky Blinders, and the same goes for fans. Maybe the next time we see Thomas Shelby, he’ll truly be the changed man he spoke of becoming. After all, he has no limitations.
