Peaky Blinders - Gangs of Birmingham

A return from hospital, a visit to a Russian brothel and a very strange jewelry scene with an even stranger Alfie, played flawlessly by Tom Hardy. A bit of a weaker episode in a very strong and balanced third season, but still very good. (28.11.2020)

Probably the best episode ever so far. Emotional, fateful, with several over-the-top moments, the strongest of which is probably Tom Hardy with his haunting and mesmerizing "on point" monologue. (28.11.2020)

Most people will remember the fourth season mainly for the duel of two extremely charismatic blokes. On the one hand, the cool, smart businessman Shelby, and on the other, the somewhat cocky, cool mafioso Luca, played by the always terrific Adrien Brody. (03.12.2020)

A fractious family, one excellent scene in the kitchen and of course Adrien Brody as Luca Changretta arriving on the scene in a perfectly flamboyant, typically Italian posh style. And with a good accent. It is clear from the start that this will be a more than capable adversary. (01.12.2020)

The second episode delivers a clean vendetta. We have the interesting character of Aberam Gold on scene, as well as Brody as the fancy gangster. (01.12.2020)

Understandably, they could not keep the pace, so the third episode as it’s usual ties up the first striking half with the second, which closes everything appropriately. In addition to the romantic storyline, it offers a fantastic performance by Hardy. (01.12.2020)

The British mafia vs the Italian mafia. Plus the return of Hardy and May. Also worth mentioning is the communist activist Jesse Eden. (02.12.2020)

Alfie vs Luca in a memorable scene and a quite creative shootout in the tenements in the city. All three strong personalities meet in this unique gangster masterpiece, where there are perhaps more Thompsons than shooters. (03.12.2020)

The boxing match was worthy both as a backdrop to the heated finale and in itself. The backstage scenes were of course suitably suspenseful, with all the main characters interacting properly, but the final twist was very simplistic and, while charismatic, felt more for effect than as a sophisticated and elaborate plot progression. Still an excellent episode, but I wouldn't say it’s a good series finale. (03.12.2020)

Hands down the weakest season. The technical precision is not enough to cover the dull political plot, where the game is played on bullshit rather than actions, which after a few hours start to become monotonous and after a few more directly irritating. The protagonists seem quite deliberately to look tired and weary, but it is hard to find a rational justification for this. In other words, dramaturgically the fifth season was definitely not very good and giving a high rating primarily because it is Peaky Blinders is not appropriate. Now I hope that there won’t be a Season 6 and that everything will remain open and ambiguous as I would expect. (07.12.2020)

So, the Shelbys made it to high politics after a long time. So far, it is “only” a very attractively written story, with he exception of the murder by the end. Let’s see what happens. So far it looks like a meandering plot at the expense of pace and dynamism. (03.12.2020)

Success in business, loss of motivation, exhaustion, burnout. Shelby not only has new adversaries in the form of the Billy Boys, but also a new battle with himself in a grimmer episode. Slightly different Peaky Blinders so far, but it's good. The writers have captured the natural evolution of the main characters well. (03.12.2020)

It's not nearly as well presented in the next episode. The main villain this time is much less fun. It's as if he couldn't evoke the necessary emotions that Sabini, Kimber, or Changretta could. (03.12.2020)

It's a pity the storyline is so poorly conceived, with politics playing a major role. It has a few rewarding moments, but mostly it's drowning in political tripe that even the exceptionally charismatic cast can't save. (07.12.2020)

Great fascist feeling (and phenomenal speech) and traditionally excellent costumes and production design in a story where you gradually lose any emotional connection to almost all the characters, including the main one. So we're just waiting to see who's gonna get beaten up or whacked. (07.12.2020)

Decently craftsmanship with the typical elements of a strong finale, though in this case it is the weakest finale of the series. Gone is the grounded and rough crime story, now it's all about elaborate shots of precise set design while the writers conjure up one sophisticated nugget of wisdom after another from the mouths of the characters, but there's already been too much of that in the previous episodes. (07.12.2020)

The ending of a famous series, which is done as always in a visually spectacular, stylish way, but the cool factor that made us love Peaky Blinders has taken a back seat. Thomas Shelby, played by a great Cillian Murphy, is fantastically written, but he’s unfortunately drowning in political pseudo-plots that often seem to be out of touch with reality, leaving the only strong line to be the family one. But that line too lacks something in the middle between start and finish. The final twist is OK, but I'd be in favor of not adding any more to the series. The “happy” series about gangsters became a “sad” drama about a man consumed by evil. In the sixth season, Peaky Blinders definitely lost their face of brutal bullies and gained the face of a family decimated by hardship. (23.07.2022)

A spectacular return that is aesthetically slick, musically heady and damn cool. So cool that the aspects that we love this show about rich assholes so much for – like a good plot and emotional turmoil – start to disappear. It’s still not such a big issue, we’ll see how the next episodes will work out. (21.06.2022)

Gloomy and dark, with bland and lifeless characters. No wonder some people say no alcohol no fun – for the protagonist it's guaranteed, for the creators it's hard to say. The participation of aces in supporting roles could have been much more intense. The political underbelly of the story may have solid potential, but you need to kick the propeller and get the Peaky Fuckin Blinders machine running properly. (22.06.2022)

It’s not it. Another dark episode full of black gipsy magic motifs that are pushed to too great an extreme at the expense of the main character's logic and pragmatism – nota bene sober. What lifts the third episode into the average is the character of Ada, who can handle even heavy hitters with nonchalant grace while being perhaps the only one still in oldschool mode from previous seasons. (23.06.2022)