By Kyle Mcleod
5 Stars
A perfect end to a historic show.
Peaky Blinders finally had its swan song and it concluded in an unpredictable yet metaphorically beautiful fashion.
Six seasons of excellent story telling led to this final 81-minute finale and it did not disappoint. While the show has its critics, for their lowest rated episode on IMDB to be an 8.1, it really is a testament to Peaky Blinders’ quality… and that episode was the very first one.
With all the hype, the show had to deliver a satisfying conclusion. Thankfully, they did just that.
Having Tommy and Arthur have one last brotherly heart-to-heart was a beautiful moment before all the chaos that ensued. It gave the audience a chance to see what has become of the show’s two leading men before they attempt to settle unfinished business one last time.
Despite a late introduction to the show, Duke fits into the Shelby family seamlessly. With little time to develop his character he gets a relatively substantial role in the finale, helping deal with business in England.
Of course, Arthur has a big role of his own. It’s not just Tommy that the family’s enemies want dead- Arthur is also a man on their hit list.
After large struggles throughout the season, turning to opium to deal with Polly’s death, we finally see the Arthur we’ve all grown to know and love over the six seasons. His final confrontation with the IRA is tense but really brings back the quality action scenes some viewers have complained were missing from this season.
It’s Tommy’s trip to Canada that holds the biggest impact to finale episode. From the previous episodes we know his fate is sealed, we just don’t know how our protagonist will go out. With Michael vowing to kill him, it creates an uneasy feeling.
Thomas Shelby has survived so much already and likely knows himself he’s walking into a trap but waiting to see if he can get out of it proves a difficult yet gripping watch throughout.
His story ends with the real completion of his character development. We know he’s far from perfect and it is fair to say he’s a bad man. Nevertheless, we’ve seen the man he is trying to become, and he leaves the show resembling who he wanted to be.
There certainly remains some loose ends- some characters we may have expected to be killed off remain alive and new tensions arose, but in terms of the main story, we can finally put the Peaky Blinders story to an end.
It may not be a complete conclusion however. With a movie still to come, the Shelbys will return, but from a television standpoint, it is a masterful ending.
Peaky Blinders may very well go down as one of the best British dramas of all time and holds its own as one of the best TV shows of this era, if not ever. While the show may have its critics, it concluded better than most stories out there and is certainly a finale worth putting aside some time for and enjoying.
