Peaky Blinders: Season 1 Episode 3 Review
I love that Thomas' expression of affection for Grace is telling Kimber that she has the clap.
It was so over the top it was almost funny; although, in a good way.
In all seriousness though, I enjoyed this episode to PIECES. It was great. (Except for the part when Arthur cut off that guy's ear; that was a bit much for me).
I feel like we're really getting into the meat of the plot in this episode. There are a lot of machinations going on between the PBs, the IRA, the police, etc, etc. We get to see Tommy execute his plot to get in Billy Kimber's good graces by protecting his bookies from the Lee family, which seems like a pretty smart strategy to me. I'm not super interested in the plots, alliances, and betrayals aspect of the show. To me, the interesting part of the show is the interpersonal relationships and the way the characters are developed.
Speaking of character development, we learn a lot about Tommy's experiences in the war in this episode (and, hence, why he needs opium to sleep). Seeing his nightmares about the tunnels in France was truly, truly devastating. I mean, I literally do not know how anyone could ever be psychologically okay after an experience like that; it goes a long way toward explaining why Tommy is the way he is.
Delving into more psychological DRAMA, we get more conflict between Freddie and Tommy in this episode (random note: there are too many names that end with an "e" sound in this show. Billy, Tommy, Danny, Freddie, Curly, Polly. If they start calling John Johnny, I might really lose it. Maybe it's a problem with English names in general? I don't know). I still don't really get the basis of this conflict between them. I get that they have ideological differences, but that alone doesn't warrant this sort of animosity in my opinion. Also, I don't get why Freddie can't leave Birmingham. If he just got out of town with Ada for a couple of months, everything would probably be fine. I just feel like he's making life unnecessarily hard for himself. HEAVY SIGH.
Anyway, the BEST part of the episode was, of course, when Tommy and Grace went to the races together. I love all their interactions; their relationship is super cute. I love that they danced together. Tommy calling her a whore did kind of sour the experience, but if you put that aside, it was kind of adorable. Plus, I dig that red dress. It was a LEWK.
On another note, I'm really starting to dig the Birmingham accent in this show. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was digging it before, but now I'm really loving it. It has kind of a steady, down-to-Earth vibe, you know?
I have read that a lot of people from Britain are really critical of the accents in this show, but, as an American, they all sound fine to me. Granted, if you had me listen to ten different British accents and asked me to tell you where they came from, I would be totally stumped. However, I have watched enough British dramas and movies on PBS and listened to enough audiobooks with British narrators, that I can now hear the difference between accents. So, while I don't know if the actors are doing authentic accents, they all sound like they're from the same place, and I think that's the important part.
The point is that I think they sound cool.
Another point I think we really need to discuss is that Tommy is way too trusting of Grace. Like, I get that she's pretty, but he really needs to be more suspicious of her. I mean, he's caught her in one lie already; he's a smart guy, is he really going to be tricked this easily? I mean, I doubt there were a lot of female police operatives back in the day, so I guess his mistake is somewhat forgivable. Still though, I don't want Tommy to be completely blindsided by her. Although, on the other hand, I ship them as a couple, so I guess I really don't know what I want. It's all very confusing.
Rating: 8/10
It was so over the top it was almost funny; although, in a good way.
In all seriousness though, I enjoyed this episode to PIECES. It was great. (Except for the part when Arthur cut off that guy's ear; that was a bit much for me).
I feel like we're really getting into the meat of the plot in this episode. There are a lot of machinations going on between the PBs, the IRA, the police, etc, etc. We get to see Tommy execute his plot to get in Billy Kimber's good graces by protecting his bookies from the Lee family, which seems like a pretty smart strategy to me. I'm not super interested in the plots, alliances, and betrayals aspect of the show. To me, the interesting part of the show is the interpersonal relationships and the way the characters are developed.
Speaking of character development, we learn a lot about Tommy's experiences in the war in this episode (and, hence, why he needs opium to sleep). Seeing his nightmares about the tunnels in France was truly, truly devastating. I mean, I literally do not know how anyone could ever be psychologically okay after an experience like that; it goes a long way toward explaining why Tommy is the way he is.
Delving into more psychological DRAMA, we get more conflict between Freddie and Tommy in this episode (random note: there are too many names that end with an "e" sound in this show. Billy, Tommy, Danny, Freddie, Curly, Polly. If they start calling John Johnny, I might really lose it. Maybe it's a problem with English names in general? I don't know). I still don't really get the basis of this conflict between them. I get that they have ideological differences, but that alone doesn't warrant this sort of animosity in my opinion. Also, I don't get why Freddie can't leave Birmingham. If he just got out of town with Ada for a couple of months, everything would probably be fine. I just feel like he's making life unnecessarily hard for himself. HEAVY SIGH.
Anyway, the BEST part of the episode was, of course, when Tommy and Grace went to the races together. I love all their interactions; their relationship is super cute. I love that they danced together. Tommy calling her a whore did kind of sour the experience, but if you put that aside, it was kind of adorable. Plus, I dig that red dress. It was a LEWK.
On another note, I'm really starting to dig the Birmingham accent in this show. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was digging it before, but now I'm really loving it. It has kind of a steady, down-to-Earth vibe, you know?
I have read that a lot of people from Britain are really critical of the accents in this show, but, as an American, they all sound fine to me. Granted, if you had me listen to ten different British accents and asked me to tell you where they came from, I would be totally stumped. However, I have watched enough British dramas and movies on PBS and listened to enough audiobooks with British narrators, that I can now hear the difference between accents. So, while I don't know if the actors are doing authentic accents, they all sound like they're from the same place, and I think that's the important part.
The point is that I think they sound cool.
Another point I think we really need to discuss is that Tommy is way too trusting of Grace. Like, I get that she's pretty, but he really needs to be more suspicious of her. I mean, he's caught her in one lie already; he's a smart guy, is he really going to be tricked this easily? I mean, I doubt there were a lot of female police operatives back in the day, so I guess his mistake is somewhat forgivable. Still though, I don't want Tommy to be completely blindsided by her. Although, on the other hand, I ship them as a couple, so I guess I really don't know what I want. It's all very confusing.
Rating: 8/10
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