About a week ago from the time of this writing (and publication will be later), I finally finished watching the television series Peaky Blinders. It may be surprising that someone who has a website that’s a play on the show’s title hadn’t actually finished watching it, but that’s my typical TV viewing pattern. I’ll get really into something, watch it a bunch, stop watching TV altogether for a few months, forget about it, etc. I actually watched the first two seasons of the show shortly after the second season was available on Netflix. From there I watched the 3rd, 4th, and part of the 5th season either as they came out or after re-activating my Netflix subscription once they released… I commonly cancel streaming subscriptions for a while to let worthwhile content accumulate as I watch other services. I would guess that I’ve seen at least the first 3 seasons of the show either 3 or 4 times, though things like the 5th and 6th season I’ve only seen once.
Overall, I absolutely loved the show. Every season has merit to it, though I definitely liked some better than others. I had the most affinity for the first two seasons, as the Shelby clan attempted to solidify their crime empire by going head-to-head with some of the other criminal organizations in the area. Season 2, culminating in the overthrow of Sabini, was probably some of my favorite television of all time.
I also rather enjoyed season 4, with Adrien Brody taking on the role of Luca Changretta, seeking revenge on the family that murdered his father. I felt like it did some work to take the show back its roots a little bit… as long as you don’t think too much about the fact that Luca could’ve killed Tommy very early in the season if he had wanted to do that rather than just trying to make some sort of point. Regardless… it was very entertaining.
The other seasons were good, but I just didn’t get as into the political intrigue as I did with other aspects of the show. Plots to stop the ruin of relations between the UK and the Soviets or to bring down the British Union of Fascists from the inside were interesting, but I found the rough-and-tumble street gang parts of the show to be the most interesting. Politics played some role in every season, obviously with the IRA being at the heart of the first two seasons, but it was less interesting to me when they came off as the primary focus.
While many people are upset when one of their favorite shows comes to an end, I feel like it was a good time for Peaky Blinders to wrap things up. There’s nothing worse than seeing a good show run itself into the ground by making increasingly ridiculous seasons in the hopes of making a buck. (I’m looking at you, Dexter.) Peaky Blinders finished strong, and it was a terrific show that I could see myself working through again in the future when I’ve run out of other things to watch after yet another Netflix reactivation.