Peaky Blinders
Fans of Netflix’s original series Peaky Blinders will be happy to know that the rugged gangster drama is back for another thrilling season of vengeance, peril, and individual growth. New foes emerge and new alliances are forged, but what has always driven the show is family — the Shelby family — and how that often-precarious entity struggles against those who would see it crumble. Whereas the family rose to incredible wealth and power in season three, season four brings the Shelbys back to their humble beginnings in the manufacturing town of Birmingham, England. Though short, season four of Peaky Blinders is nonetheless a riveting continuation of the rollicking and bloody Netflix series.
The show picks up in 1926 with Michael, Polly, John and Arthur Shelby serving prison time as part of a deal patriarch Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) strikes with the British government. In the past, each jailed Shelby avoided criminal charges by virtue of being members of the powerful Peaky Blinders gang. But season three saw the family outstrip the limits of its immunity, and ultimately Tommy trades his relatives’ freedom for the preservation of Shelby Company Ltd. Without spoiling anything, the Shelbys’ jail-stay is cut short, and upon release, they scatter across the British countryside, each falling into a life of varying degrees of normalcy. This relative peace shatters when an old vendetta with the Italian-American Mafia is resurrected by new character Luca Changretta, played by Adrien Brody. Each Shelby understands the danger the Mafia poses, and must decide whether or not to forgive Tommy and rejoin the family for mutual protection.
This brings the viewer to Tommy, the family’s smooth, cunning, yet deeply troubled leader. Still mourning the loss of his wife, and grappling with questionable life choices, season four finds Tommy in a state of deadness, routinely paying for sex and mechanically pulling the strings of the Company. If this sounds familiar, yes — you should take that as a Godfather II reference. Tommy decidedly serves as the Peaky Blinders version of the hardened Don Michael Corleone. Murphy’s acting is as cool as ever, his voice made even more gravelly by Tommy’s constant smoking. But what makes the Irish actor’s performance special is his ability to convey the storm beneath Tommy’s outward calm — from his private moments of sorrow, to the rare yet poignant ones where he shares his pain with others.
Not to be outdone, however, is the show’s supporting cast, beginning with my favorite character, Arthur (Paul Anderson). In addition to being the cause of season four’s vendetta, Arthur is also an absolutely lovable maniac, who one anxiously hopes will go berserk again without destroying himself or his loved ones. The other older players are back as well, but one of the more intriguing character developments is in Finn (Harry Kirton), the youngest of the four Shelby brothers. Finn’s innocence contrasts the moral complexity of his relatives, and it is captivating to see how he navigates the sordidness that encapsulates the Shelby underground business.
Season four consciously embodies the cliche, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” The growth of characters like Finn and Tommy’s young son Charlie creates a sense of progress and change. On the other hand, the Shelbys’ return to Birmingham shows that they are fundamentally the same people they have always been. The Shelbys are still gritty, funny, and fiercely loyal, which serves to unite them and to endear viewers to them. This balance of the new with the familiar keeps the show fresh, creating drama while invoking a sense of nostalgia in both its characters and viewers. So if you haven’t seen seasons one through three, catch up and then strap in for an absolutely wild ride.
