Peaky Blinders season six is ​​everything you’d hope for, but better

The fifth season of the already iconic Peaky Blinders ended with a chapter that can be considered part of television history. In it, Tommy Shelby ( Cillian Murphy ) could be seen very close to committing an unpredictable act. With a gun grazing his head, enraged and on the verge of despair, the character was at more than a crossroads. It was the maximum expression of the strategy that had already been followed in previous chapters in which the tension was sustained until the end. A journey through Shelby’s elaborate and meticulous plan to assassinate Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin). 

In the series, nothing is casual and much less accidental. The failure of the assassination attempt on him made two things clear. The mobster and now politician was part of an increasingly twisted perception of the world. Without a doubt, Peaky Blinders had reached a new level of depth in its analysis of power. It was no longer just about violence, but also about an elaborate journey through the media to gain influence. For a plot that had started out showing the vicissitudes of working-class gangsters, this is an astonishing development. One that, in addition, turned the series into a way of understanding horrors and cruelty from a new perspective.

The scene of Shelby with a contorted face and a gun near his temple made it clear that the sixth season will go to dark places. Some of them not only conclude the various plot lines of the series. Also to elucubrate on the highest points in history. And while the new episodes aren’t entirely conclusive — or shouldn’t be, with a movie announced — one thing is clear. Peaky Blinders knows the multidimensional meaning of its history, its scope, and its power. And from there it advances toward new narrative spaces that are surprising for their effectiveness. 

On the edge of the knife and death

The first chapter of the sixth season of Peaky Blinders begins in the same scene that closes its previous season. Again, the series makes brilliant decisions to avoid slowing down the plot. In particular, the resolution of the immediate conflict (the possible death of Shelby and the traitor), concludes smoothly. But it does so following the usual line of the series’ brilliant script. 

Who was the traitor of Black Cat? Peaky Blinders refuses to provide easy solutions, but it doesn’t simplify his argument either, so the first chapter offers answers. Not all of them and not in an orderly fashion, but they do match most of the fan theories. A caveat that makes the first chapter of the season a look at the cohesion of the story as a whole.

Peaky Blinders makes sure to make it clear that in this cruel and nuanced world, breaking the delicate order of loyalty pays dearly.

But not only the identity of the traitor is important. Also when and from what perspective did he achieve something similar. Peaky Blinders makes sure to make it clear that in this cruel and nuanced world, breaking the delicate order of loyalty pays dearly. Although he is much more convoluted than he might seem in 2019 when the failure of Shelby’s plan showed the cracks in his world. The series explores in the background the way time has passed and the need to return to a position of power.

It also maintains its usual tension about what happens between the characters with a brilliant look at the ferocity of ambition. Peaky Blinders returns in top form, even under the shadow of a long absence from the small screen. She does it with the energy of mysteries and big questions opening the door to others. Quite an ingenious achievement that makes the series a neat plot mechanism.

A painful look at the goodbyes of Peaky Blinders

Undoubtedly, one of the complicated points of the new season of Peaky Blinders is the absence – conspicuous – of Helen McCrory. Her character of Polly Gray was always a monumental presence in the story. So much of the first chapter is an unspoken homage not just to the actress, but to Polly’s role in the plot. Quite a success, considering that the character was the center of the Shelby family. The series takes this into account and shows a throbbing pain, a pressure point but, especially, a hard deflection that will have to be analyzed. 

Without a doubt, the return of Peaky Blinders could not be more satisfying and a lesson in how to analyze the sophisticated cruelty of its premise. With six chapters to wrap up the story and an upcoming movie, the Shelbys’ journey seems more elaborate and powerful than ever. A piece of news to celebrate.