Genre: Thriller/
Drama/ Crime
Number of
episodes: 6
Year:
2022
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Joe Cole, Tom
Hardy, Sam Claflin, Natasha O’Keefe, Packy Lee, Finn Cole, Kate Phillips, Aiden
Gillen
Description: Tommy sets off to North America, where the end of
Prohibition brings new opportunities. But he faces new danger from an old
adversary who is finally making his move.
Review: “Nobody fucks
with the Peaky fucking Blinders!”… right? At the end of the least season, Tommy
Shelby had to acknowledge his superior to the fascist Mosley. Fast forward four
years and you arrive at the very last season. Cillian Murphy returns as a
markedly changed Shelby, but still with the familiar cigarette butt in his
mouth and chest out. Whether or not there is still nothing to fuck with the Peaky
Blinders is answered once and for all this season.
Tommy has changed. He has
become calmer, wants to do the right thing and, believe it or not, no longer
drinks. Does this finally bring peace to Thomas’ life? Anything but. Ghosts from
the past hurt his soul and this final season focuses on how Tommy deals with
them. To use a cliché: Cillian Murphy was born for this role. He still brings nuances
that were not there before and shows a Tommy who is more human than ever
before.
Unfortunately, this leaves
little room for the other characters to say their deserved goodbyes in the
spotlight. The tragic passing of Helen McCrory punches a big hole in this
season. “Peaky Blinders” without Polly is simply not the same. There is a nice
tribute to be found in the first episode that the writers also cleverly used to
set up a conflict between Michael and Tommy. Even though the conflicts gets a
conclusion, the buildup seems almost forgotten.
At times, the season itself
also seems a bit searching for its story and filler. What doesn’t help is the
absence of a clear major antagonist as in previous seasons, which often made
the series immensely exciting. Characters are also introduces who otherwise have
little to go on. The story of Mosely is somewhat messy and doesn’t really come
together in a satisfying way. Elements that unfortunately indicate the time for
the series is really up.
However, that does not mean
that this season does not captivate. On the contrary. The season lacks the
necessary tension, but makes up for it by focusing on the emotion. A bold move
for the last season of the series. Many familiar faces pass by an all the
little lines that were still hanging loose are tied together nicely. It remains
clever how you as a viewer still hope for the best for the Shelby family,
despite their atrocities.
And the quality doesn’t stop
there. Once again, the music is perfectly interwoven with the cinematography. In
addition, all the praise for Cillian Murhpy s deserved, but Paul Anderson as
Arthur Shelby does not fall short of his little brother. The wounded soul is
almost palpable, and Arthur’s tragedy is one that is sometimes hard to watch,
but one that the eyes can’t help to see.
It is an experimental finale
to a journey that began nine years ago. With the focus on emotion rather than
brute force and suspense this season pans out differently than expected. And fair
is fair: more tension certainly wouldn’t have been amiss. And even though the
ending could have been perfect if they just did what they were about to do,
this final season was a worthy farewell to “Peaky Blinders”.
