We’ve all missed the Shelby family from Peaky Blinders ever since the show’s fifth season ended on a cliffhanger back in Sept. 2019. But Birmingham’s most venerated cut-throats are finally making a return to television this February, with a sixth and final season that’ll no doubt challenge Tommy to the very core of his being.
The second World War is nigh, and fascism is on the rise in England. During the events of the last run, Winston Churchill asked Tommy to assassinate Oswald Mosley, the historical leader of the British Union of Fascists. When that plan goes awry, all of the protagonist’s most horrifying nightmares and traumas come back to haunt him, with the finale ending on a sour note by showing that even the great Tommy Shelby can be brought to heel against a powerful adversary.
Knowing the British gangster, though, it’s safe to say that the Peaky Blinder will get up on his feet and overcome the demons of his darkest hour. What he sacrifices in the road to get there will ultimately determine whether Tommy will find redemption, the overarching theme that showrunner Steven Knight has been aiming at from the get-go.
According to Cillian Murphy, who portrays Tommy, that matter will be up to interpretation. In a recent interview with Esquire, the star revealed that season 6 will be “dark as f––k” and touched on the matter of redemption by saying:
“I think [redemption is] what Steve was aiming for. With loads of wrong turns along the way. But I don’t know. I’ll leave that to the court of public opinion. I don’t know if he’s been redeemed.”
It seems that fans of Peaky Blinders are in for one hell of an emotional rollercoaster in the final season. Let’s hope that after all these years, the story’s ending lives up to expectations.