Tommy has new plans. But then again, so does Luca; those involve Alfie Solomons.
Peaky Blinders – Season 4, Episode 5: “The Duel”

Tommy has new plans. But then again, so does Luca; those involve Alfie Solomons.
Luca comes for another Shelby. Tommy must navigate more difficult personal situations, on top of the Italians trying to kill him and his family.
Tommy makes new plans for the Changretta vendetta. He also discovers Ms. Eden knows all about him and his past.
At Derby Day, Tommy sets his plans in motion, though not without casualties. Polly winds up confronting Major Campbell with brutal results.
Arthur gets a bad surprise when he visits Alfie Solomons. And when Michael lands in jail, something worse happens to his mother.
Tommy gets to know May Carleton a bit better. Meanwhile, things with Campbell and the IRA get very complicated and dangerous for Mr. Shelby.
Polly's long lost son Michael becomes a part of the family. Maybe a bit too much for her liking.
After Grace's death, Tommy must figure out how to move on, with his personal life, and with business.
BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders
Season 3, Episode 4
Directed by Tim Mielants
Written by Steven Knight
* For a review of Episode 3, click here.
* For a review of Episode 5, click here.
The lads are out hunting. They gun down a fine buck, the whole clan out and about, from Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) to Arthur (Paul Anderson) and all the rest. Love this opener, as it’s strangely ominous. And these dudes know how to ride a god damn horse.
Good Friday’s come round. Tommy gets a letter that their father is dead. A woman he was with while he died wrote them, saying he asked their forgiveness. Finn (Harry Kirton) and John (Joe Cole) are too young to really remember him. They hunt, in part, to do some honour to him. Piece of shit he was and all. Otherwise, Tom talks business about the upcoming robbery.
Meanwhile, Aunt Pol (Helen McCrory) is in the confessional. Is there one big enough to contain all her sins? Doubt it. Anyway, she chats with the reluctant father. She reveals little bits. About the murder of a policeman, Inspector Campbell. What she tells him is that she feels no regret for it. That his murder was just. And I somewhat agree with Polly.
At the Shelby organization, the women are doing a good bit of the work. Not just Polly, but Lizzie (Natasha O’Keeffe) and others, as well. Turns out, she’s sleeping with Tommy, now and then. When he feels like it. “It‘s hard to sleep bent over a desk, isn‘t it?” she laments.
At the same time, Michael Gray (Finn Cole) is slipping further into the business of his family. Tommy’s giving everybody the low down with the Lanchester Factory blueprints to boot. They’ve got big plans ahead, if only the robbery goes as planned. Set them all up for life and then some. One last job. Not everyone’s so eager, such as family friend Charlie Strong (Ned Dennehy), though everybody’s in all the same.
Saying a prayer in repentance, Tommy winces through. But everyone in attendance knows there’s something wrong. Tom rushes off to another meeting. Only he can’t manage to keep it together much longer. The concussion finally takes its toll on him. He collapses, telling Ada (Sophine Rundle) to get him to a hospital, that he has internal bleeding, a fractured skull. Then he fades away.
What an excellent episode that progresses plot and character. Not only that, Tommy Shelby is proven once again to not be a completely invincible, untouchable gangster, as awesome as he is there’s no need for him to be completely God-like. So I love that this is a new move towards a more vulnerable Tommy, and Shelby organization as a whole. Excited for the next episode. Stay tuned with me, fellow lads and ladies!
BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders
Season 1, Episode 1
Directed by Otto Bathurst
Written by Steven Knight
* For a recap & review of Episode 2, click here.
When? Just after the First World War and the horror of the trenches.
Where? Birmingham, a’right.
Leader of the Peaky Blinders, a gang named for wearing razor blades in the bib of their peaked caps, Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) visits Birmingham’s lower quarters. He finds a girl that “tells fortunes” and proceeds to have a spell put on his horse. He tells everybody in the nearby vicinity when the horse is racing. And to keep hushed up about what they’ve seen and heard. One immediate thing I’ve always loved is that we get Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” as the theme song of the series. Great addition.
There’s more than just Tom in the Shelby gang. Little Finn is smoking cigarettes, Arthur (Paul Anderson) is apparently pissed off. Then there’s John (Joe Cole). And every last one of them, well except for Finn at his young age, is putting in work. The oldest is Arthur, and he is the pissiest, too. Both in attitude and his alcoholism. Arthur ain’t happy about Tommy being down with the Chinese casting spells. More than that he feels overstepped by his younger brother. Though Tom puts it blunt: “I think. So that you don‘t have to.”
Meanwhile, Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill) is on his way towards the Blinders. He’s got files all them all. At the same time, there’s some Communist-type activity happening amongst the workers in Birmingham. Freddie Thorne (Iddo Goldberg) is riling people up to strike. Imagine there’ll be some conflict along the way between the Blinders and the Communists. Right smack dab in the middle is Campbell, as well. Lots of good angles for the story to play towards. Also, it turns out Tommy and Freddie know one another from serving during World War I in the army. Fighting in the dirty trench warfare over on those fields far away from homein France. However, they’re at separate ends of the spectrum. Tommy doesn’t entertain Mr. Thorne much. But we learn from the latter about a “robbery of national significance“, which came down with word from Winston Churchill that also included a list; apparently both Tommy and Freddie are on it. Hmm.
At the same time there’s another soldier back home, Danny Whizz-Bang (Samuel Edward-Cook). He’s obviously got PTSD, Shell Shock as they called it. He doesn’t remember freaking out, yet Tom helps him out. Lots of chatter from Thorne. He’s a mouthy one, that.
BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders
Season 3, Episode 3
Directed by Tim Mielants
Written by Steven Knight
* For a review of Episode 2, click here.
* For a review of Episode 4, click here.
After the vicious events of last episode’s finale, Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is most certainly ready for vengeance. His wife is dead now. Grace is gone. Or is he deciding on something else instead of revenge?
Everybody’s worried about him, as he’s been leaving all day on horseback and doing his own thing alone. Things are touchy, of course. No one wants to push him any further over the edge than he seems to be headed. Polly (Helen McCrory) clearly cares, but he wants none of it. Arthur and John (Paul Anderson/Joe Cole) are a bit pissed they weren’t all called in.
However, brothers is brothers. It all gets along. Well the Italians are getting locked down and the score’s ready to be settled. Tommy’s taken to writing up lists for everybody, so like Polly and Michael Gray (Finn Cole), the brothers likewise get their slip. John’s not happy that Michael was brought in before him. This eventually prompts Tommy to yell at his younger brother. He’s most concerned with “legitimate business” now after the death of his wife.
BBC Two’s Peaky Blinders
Season 3, Episode 2
Directed by Tim Mielants
Written by Steven Knight
* For a review of Episode 1, click here.
* For a review of Episode 3, click here.
After a whopper of a premiere, Season 3 keeps on ramblin’. Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is out taking meetings. He’s talking with Connor Nutley (Ralph Ineson) about a little business. He needs some keys, evidently to some storage. But you know it’s more than for a place to store a few things. Either way, it appears Nutley is reluctant to take money from a Shelby, Tommy specifically. He takes it, though.
And a little later, he ends up speaking to Father John Hughes (Paddy Considine), as the two sit and have a smoke. They talk of choosing sides, so on. And without a whole lot of effort, Considine makes Father Hughes and his talk of “little creatures” into an eerie sort of chap. I’m a fan of his for a long time now, but this is immediately an effective performance. Interested to see where this relationship goes from here. Hughes is a crooked priest with irons in the criminal fire, so there’s no doubt a further end to having a great actor like Considine playing the part. The tension between Hughes and Tommy is excellent, too.
Now I’m blown away. Because an excellent actor I didn’t realize was part of this season shows up – Jan Bijvoet, as Grand Duke Leon Petrovna. This character is also quickly intriguing. Seems things aren’t as lively in terms of social engagements and business asthe Duke had hoped. He’ll be an interesting addition to the cast, as well.
Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson) and brother John (Joe Cole) are sitting for a meeting of their own. However, not everybody’s too happy living under the rule of Shelbys like Arthur and John. As much as Tommy can get psycho when needed, Arthur and John are most certainly a little less subtle, and perhaps a little less respectful, than their brother. Vicente Changretta (Kenneth Colley) ends up literally spitting at them, making clear they’ve gone too far this time. Nice tense scene that’s sure to bring about a little trouble.
I’m always interested in what Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory) is up to. Because as greasy as she can be like any of them, Polly doesn’t get enough credit. They often walk all over here. But then again, none of them are saints, so what does it matter? Regardless, she doesn’t back down, and always gets her two cents in. Despite getting ignored or flat out mistreated, Polly manages a degree of strength in her male Shelby dominated world. Except right now all she manages to do is rile up her son John over Lizzie and her messed up situation.