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Fans of Peaky Blinders are unique. The vibrant world revealed to us through the show is so enthralling and different from our own that it can have a direct effect on our worldview in the same way Game of Thrones does now and Boardwalk Empire did in the past. Television shows set in times and places unfamiliar to us can only accomplish this when they have characters who truly draw us in. That’s what makes us unique. A part of us is left on the streets of early 20th century Birmingham even when the final credits roll.
Season 4 accomplished this better than the previous two seasons, matching the first in its ability to make us smell the tar, taste the gin, and feel the heat from the foundry. From the opening sequence, we all became part of the Shelby family with their dysfunction amplified by facing death brought about by the hands of a trusted relative. Our lives were spared with Arthur’s, John’s, Michael’s, and Polly’s, but we still held the lingering grudge against the man curses and saves us regularly through the course of the series’ events.
Meanwhile, Tommy was sipping whiskey and arranging for his next prostitutes to pleasure him.
This was the setup for season 4 with the first episode ending in a promise. Luca Changretta, played by Adrien Brody, arrived to finish a vendetta against the Shelbys. We were about to be treated to the best villain the show had ever given us.
Except, we weren’t. Despite the tremendous skills of Brody and the ominous potential of the Shelbys facing the Mafia, the end result was a whimper. Don’t get me wrong, the season delivered on entertainment and was made fantastic by Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomons character, but Changretta turned out to be easily outsmarted every step of the way. He got the drop on John, but once the Shelbys came together, they were more than a match for Changretta. Arthur dispatched with two of Changretta’s gunmen with a hammer. Tommy took out three more despite being heavily outnumbered. Overall, they fell into four Shelby traps without doing any damage after killing John.
So much for the mafia.
Another promise failed to be delivered. Aidan Gillen’s character, Aberama Gold, was an ally as imposing as any bad guy in the first two episodes. By the final episode, he was a doting father with no beef against the Shelbys and no teeth to deliver if it turned out he had a beef. He ended up needing the Shelbys more than they needed him in order to get his son the chance he wanted. He even slept with Polly after she laid out a dagger-tip warning. He could have been the dark gypsy force of chaos, never revealing whose side he was really on. Instead, he was just a character with a cool name.
Had the season made Changretta more competent and Gold more chaotic, this could have been one of the best seasons in television history. Instead, it was just a great chapter in a great show, but not worthy of any “GOAT” labels.
It’s important for us to nitpick because the show has so few flaws otherwise. We learn to love and hate all of the characters to some degree throughout. With the next season launching from a premise of a political Shelby base, we may end up hating them more in the end. Even so, it doesn’t diminish from what the show really is: one of the best on television.
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