From the BBC TWO and creator Steven Knight comes the period crime drama Peaky Blinders. Starring Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Joe Cole, Finn Cole, Sophie Rundle and Tom Hardy, the third series has concluded and is available to stream on Netflix while series four and five are in the works.
A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.
BBC’s Peaky Blinders continues to get better and better with every season, sorry SERIES, we North Americans need to get with the UK’s way of doing things and refer to every continuing season as a SERIES. That’s how they do it and that’s how we have to acknowledge them by. Series three of Peaky Blinders is easily the best yet and hands down one of the most riveting and exciting six episode sets of TV in 2016. I’ve heard people refer to it as The Sopranos of this era and it’s hard to argue with them, even as bold a statement as it is…
The beginning of series three kicks off with a bit of a time-jump and we start with Tommy Shelby’s wedding to Grace in the première. Like all mob weddings, this one is not without it’s jarring moments which include murder, betrayal and drunken shenanigans. Paul Anderson’s supporting performance as Tommy’s older brother Arthur is award-worthy and I love the amount of screentime he gets this year. Arthur is trying so damn hard to live a straight and honest life but he’s making that choice during a time when the Peaky Blinders are at their most violent and bloodthirsty… Out of the fire and into the frying pan as our razor-bladed hat wearing thugs get into a heap of trouble with more Italians, Irish Catholic Terrorists and twisted Russian kingpins – all at the same time mind you. Hello Paddy Considine – you scary-ass villain priest ya…. Wowzers… You are not ready for this man in series 3.
Because this series is only six episodes, you will be taken on a ride that feels like it’s moving at a breakneck pace. That’s because it is. Shocking deaths, major and life-changing events will occur at any moment and in any episode. Peaky Blinders was not afraid to shake the very core of it’s foundation and it makes these choices at very unexpected moments in series 3. My mind was blown repeatedly and I found myself rewinding because I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Cillian Murphy is a star and a leading man that I feel never got his just dues on the big-screen. He’s always been a terrific villain or supporting actor in some of Hollywood’s biggest films, but his performance as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders puts him amongst some of the greatest TV roles ever – right up there with Tony Soprano or Walter White… He goes to such dark places in series 3 – this man may have been tested in series 2 but he is pushed to his breaking point in these six episodes. By the end, it’s hard to say if he’ll be able to come back from the choices he’s made for himself, his family and his Peaky Blinders crew.
Once again Tom Hardy shows up for the final two episodes, playing Jewish crime kingpin Alfie Solomons. Hardy isn’t even shy about stealing every single scene he’s in – he hijacks them without giving a single fuck and he tears the roof off every bit of screentime they give him. The scene he has with Arthur Shelby where he calmy taunts the man and tries to push him to a physical confrontation is brilliant — or the one in the finale where he squares off with an unexpected foe is even better and shows another side of Alfie that had yet to have been revealed… Hardy truly is one of the best actors on Earth and he’s delivering a solid chunk of that work right here in Peaky Blinders.
Everything from the music (all current and glorious despite the period the show is set in) to the incredible cast which features some of the best talent today – Helen McCrory needs an Emmy – Peaky Blinders has delivered yet another superior series and left us craving more as we painfully await another year for series four. In the meantime, if you haven’t seen an episode – Netflix is here for you and it’s not hard to catch up considering there have only been 18 episodes TOTAL for Peaky Blinders. Do yourself a favor and check out of of the best shows on television.
Rating: [star rating=”5″]