WEB SHOWS: April 2022

PEAKY BLINDERS : 5

2013 | A | 5 Seasons | Crime TV Shows

A notorious gang in 1919 Birmingham, England, is led by the fierce Tommy Shelby, a crime boss set on moving up in the world no matter the cost.

Creators:Steven Knight

STORY AND REVIEW : The season opens with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the Shelbys, who are still living the extravagant lifestyles of the wealthy and privileged thanks to Tommy's many successes, have lost a great deal of their income as their ill-gotten wealth was heavily invested in the American stock market. This forces Tommy and Arthur (Paul Anderson), now the chairman of Shelby Co. Ltd. in Tommy's absence, to rely more heavily on the family's more familiar criminal enterprises, including making cash deals with high court judges to take out vile men or striking deals with the Chinese to transport pure-grade opium. It also opens the door for what is, unfortunately, a very timely story about the rise of fascism in the years leading up to World War II.

But financial woes and fascists are the least of Tommy's worries this season, as much of his turmoil once again stems from his internal scars. Tormented by suicidal thoughts brought on by his own swirling, guilty conscience, Tommy's death wish makes him increasingly unstable as the season progresses. Relying on laudanum to dull his lingering grief and the pain his rise to the top has ultimately caused him and those he loves, he's not sleeping, hallucinating apparitions of his murdered wife Grace (Annabelle Wallis), who appears to him and accuses him of not only killing her but also attempts to persuade Tommy to join her in death.

Contributing to Tommy's uneasy mental state this season is the fact he has also become convinced that someone close to him is after his crown, namely his cousin Michael (Finn Cole), who ignored Tommy's order to sell their stock before the crash. His fears are understandable, at least to an extent; the more power you have, the more people want to be you or take what you have -- or even take you down, as is the case when a reporter from Birmingham confronts Tommy about his rise from Small Heath bookmaker to MP. But Tommy's growing paranoia is a far greater threat, both to himself and to his place at the top of the Shelby family, than many of the other flesh-and-blood enemies he's come up against over the years, and his mistrust of Michael, now married and expecting a child with an American with ties to her own crime family, nearly puts him at odds with Polly (Helen McCrory, who looks better than ever) too. It's difficult for Tommy to accept that Michael's ideas for the company might actually be a path toward greater success in the future -- and might relieve some of the pressure from his own shoulders -- so he and Arthur continue to cling to the way things have always been done because, well, it's the way they've always operated, and it keeps them in charge.

But Michael isn't the only person who wants something from Tommy. The Billy Boys from Scotland want his racetracks in the north, while Sir Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin), a fictional version of the very real, very controversial Member of Parliament who founded the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s, wants to use his popular support to help launch a new party. It's hard to ignore the brazen similarities of Mosley dramatically rousing support in the wake of the stock market crash with what's going on in our own world today. His message is "Britain first," which parallels concerning aspects of our current political climate, both in the U.K. and the U.S., and it helps to draw the series out of the past and into the present in a stark confrontation of reality. In once instance, Mosley even derides the press, citing reports of "false news," and although Tommy wants to bring him down because he believes it's the right thing to do, a number of roadblocks are also created by his own hand in an attempt to do so.

Knight has said he has plans to continue the Shelbys' incredible story through Season 7, culminating in the beginning of World War II. Prior to the start of Season 5, I would have questioned whether there was enough story for two additional seasons spanning 10 more years, but the decision to return to the show's roots has given me hope for the future. By focusing on Tommy's deteriorating mental state, the cost of continued violence, and the interpersonal relationships of the Shelby family and how everything they touch eventually turns to ash rather than simply relying on yet more forgettable villains for conflict, Peaky Blinders is a better, more complete family saga than it has been in recent years. (It's also pulling in its best ratings ever in the U.K. following a move to BBC One.) So even though the show's world has continued to grow over the years, and may likely continue to grow alongside Tommy's political career or Michael's own ambitions, this season proved the show could evolve without losing its focus on the intimate, inner workings of the Shelby family. And after the shocking events of the finale, I can't wait to see what happens next.