By Jack McGill

Peaky Blinders, a crime and drama-filled historical fiction TV series on Netflix and owned by BBC, and created by Steven Knight, concluded this past summer with its season six finale. The series follows British gangster Thomas Shelby (played by Cillian Murphy) and his family as they navigate through post-World War I life in Birmingham, England. Through methods both legal and illegal, Thomas and his brothers and sister—John (Joe Cole), Arthur (Paul Anderson), and Ada (Sophie Rundle), along with his Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory)—rise to fame and power in North England through their gang called the Peaky Blinders. The series is based on a real-life gang that existed in Northern England in the early 20th century. 

Shelby makes his fortune through booking illegal bets but later moves onto selling alcohol during the Prohibition age, as well as drugs. Shelby makes his name known throughout all of England through his import and export business. The gang gains fame country-wide through their iconic look of the flat cap with a razor blade sewn into the brim, along with having violent and gory conflicts. Shelby eventually uses his power in Birmingham to get a seat as a Member of Parliament and have influence in the English government. This position greatly helps him expand his business power and become successful and wealthy.

Throughout his many business expansions, Shelby makes many enemies as well as acquaintances, from a wide range of ethnicities and religions. He made enemies with Italians, Russians, American-Italians, as well as the Irish, specifically the Irish Republican Army. However he has a strong relationship with Jewish mob leader Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) as well as many “Gypsies” who live throughout the United Kingdom. Prior to the final season, Shelby makes enemies with another member of Parliament, also based on a real figure, Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin), and this rivalry carries on into the finale. His other final enemy is an Irish-American gangster, Jack Nelson (James Frecheville).

The finale takes place as the stock market crashes in America in 1929, which begins to affect Shelby and his company, Shelby Company Limited. The crash brings strife into the family and leads to Shelby expanding to the Irish-American mob for alcohol exportation. This expansion brings many conflicts to the Shelbys, including within the family. The final season incredibly illustrates how Shelby is able to adapt to situations and his constant physical and mental quarrels, along with a common theme of the show, that the only person who can kill Thomas Shelby is himself (Spoiler: he does not do this). Throughout the incredible acting of the series and final season, the beautiful, yet dark screenplay, along with the amazing soundtrack, including contemporary British bands like Radiohead and Arctic Monkeys, help depict the emotion and beauty of the series.

Critics from Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb love this series. Rotten Tomatoes critics ratings for the series averaged to a high 93%, and  the audience score is 93%. IMDb gave the series a slightly lower score of 8.8 out of 10 stars and ranked it 34 in the top 100 most popular TV series. Rotten Tomatoes critics loved the final season just as much, with the season having a 100% tomatometer rating, as well as IMDb critics rating it a 8.45 out of 10 stars. 

Cillian Murphy. Photo credit: Flickr user Tim Cornbill.

IMDb user grants said, “Superb drama, created and written by Steven Knight. Gritty, realistic, intriguing and highly entertaining. Some great machinations, subterfuges, plots, and counterplots plus a good amount of action and human drama.” User Supermanfan-13 says, “Peaky Blinders is not only one of the most underrated TV shows of all-time, but it’s also one of the greatest shows of all-time!” Upper School English teacher and Match adviser Vlastik Svab said about the show,  “Although I’ve only watched about half of the whole series, it’s a fascinating look at early 20th century England, and Murphy is one of the best actors working today. I’d watch him in anything.”

The series as a whole has been nominated for many awards, and it won the BAFTA award for Best Drama Series in 2018. But with the series coming to a dramatic finale with incredible acting from Murphy, fans were shocked when Murphy was not nominated for any Emmy awards this year. But otherwise, the show has won many awards for music, screenplay, acting performances, and more.

The series is one of my favorites, and I believe it to be one of the greatest of all time. I found the show on social media and was instantly hooked on the concept of the series. The performances of the actors and actresses, as well as the gritty drama and violence, kept me on the edge of my seat during my entire watch of the show. Murphy and Hardy are two of my favorite actors, and they both deliver incredible performances through their humorous and thrilling scenes together. The many directors, along with Knight, did an incredible job on completing the series as a show, and they will be releasing a movie to give the series its final conclusion.

Featured image courtesy of the BBC.