Peaky Blinders (#23)

As the final season wraps up, Peaky Blinders makes its way onto the list.

The final season (another six episodes, like each all too brief season) of Peaky Blinders made it to Netflix in early June. The final season was delayed considerably by COVID, and the tragic real life death of a main actor (Helen McCrory, who played Aunt Polly) in between seasons. With 2 1/2 seasons between seasons 5 and 6, the show managed to deal with all of this well, and the final season felt very much like a part of the show. This, however, is not a review of the final season of Peaky Fookin’ Blinders, but instead an acknowledgement of the entire show - it’s my 23rd favorite show of all time.

For those who don’t know - and the show’s title is very much not that indicative of what the show is about* - it’s about some gangsters from Birmingham, England in the early part of the 20th century. It’s based on real-life gangsters by the same name, but the actual characters in the show are fictional. It’s not clear whether they also said/yelled, “Peaky FOOKIN Blinders!” but I can attest that this is very fun to say.

*To be clear, not only did I think maybe this was a comedy show, but I’ve had several people ask me if that’s the case who know nothing about the show. For one, it’s VERY MUCH NOT a comedy. And for two, I have to think the title of the show impacted its audience until word of mouth took over. Thank goodness for streaming services, I guess.

Chief among these gangsters is our protagonist Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy), who begins the show back from The Great War, changed forever by his experiences. He’s running an illegal betting ring and some black market dealings, and inadvertently steal a bunch of guns that Winston Churchill wants back. Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill) comes over to investigate. Tommy’s blood family includes his brothers Arthur (Paul Anderson) John (Joe Cole), Finn (Alfie Evans-Meese) his sister Ada (Sophie Rundle) and his aunt Polly (Helen McCrory).

So, we have a show where we are rooting for, generally speaking, bad people. But we can root for them because, again mostly, we like them. And the people they’re fighting against tend to either be quite unlikeable or even worse in their dealings.

Peaky Blinders brought it a lot of real-world moments, despite again being fictional. The latter seasons touched on the very real rise of fascism in England (and elsewhere, including the United States) during Hitler’s rise and the show weaves through that in a new and wholly engaging way.

The Shelby’s also come from what they call a gypsy background - specifically an Irish-Romani descent. They very much believe in curses and characters like Aunt Polly “see” things that truly motivate Tommy and others in how they approach their business. This is based on a real group of people who call themselves Romany’s, and not gypsies (which is a slur pretty much all over the world, it seems), and the mysticism that group believes in plays a big role in this show. If you thought Tony Soprano’s dreams were a bit off-kilter, you’ll need to prepare for some moments and plot points here that may knock you off course.

It’s also not possible to discuss the show without including the music - both the theme song, the score of the episodes and the use of real, modern music against people in the 1930’s - are striking and maybe not for everyone. If it seems jarring to see a man walking down a grey hallway in 1932, with the thumping chords and vocals from Joy Division blasting, well - you may struggle. But for me, it works so damn well. It creates a tone to the show that makes it truly unique. The cinematography is also amazing, and the guest stars are also remarkable. From Sam Neill to Tom Hardy (as Jewish mobster Alfie Solomons), Anya Taylor-Joy (Gina Gray) and Adrien Brody (Luca Changretta), the mark of a quality show is quality actors wanting to be a part of it. (I will say Brody low key kind of stunk, though.)

Cillian Murphy is by far the main actor here, though, and he’s brilliant. Tough and wounded, he’s hard to look away from - in some way, that’s a casting stroke of genius because simply the way he looks and those pale blue eyes (cue the music), but he adds to that with his performance. It’s complemented so well by the writing, acting and direction, which makes this show so compelling, and I’m glad I finally decided to check it out.

The show lasted for six seasons - which is impressive, but that’s a total of 36 episodes. As such, there aren’t many ‘bad’ seasons but especially in the later seasons they might run together a bit. Still, 36 episodes is a overall short run - it’s the same number as Deadwood (16), which ran for half as many seasons. I just read an article that suggested the final season was a setup for a movie that is, apparently, being made. I can only judge it on its own and while it wasn’t my favorite season, it did wrap up what I needed to be resolved in a way that felt true to the show.

Does it bother me that some truly horrific idiots like the Proud Boys and others seem to be adopting the Peaky look, including the haircut? It does and it doesn’t - because remember, these are bad people. Morons started their own fight clubs after that movie came out, not realizing that Fight Club is a satire about toxic masculinity, among other things. I’m never upset when people stick their hands up to tell you who they are.

On the other hand, let’s bring this back to golf - is it possible that Collin Morikawa is a huge Peaky Blinders fan?

I will acknowledge that I’ve made this list a few separate times over the years, and each time there’s a new entry that includes a show I’ve just finished up. The next time I make the list, that show either drops farther down the list or completely off of it. I’m hoping and trustful that Peaky fares better than, say, Sons of Anarchy which won’t make the top-25.

But it’s a true who could possibly say situation. Watch this space.