Peaky Blinders: Season 3 Episode 3 Review
Okay, so I'm going to need Cillian Murphy and Paul Anderson (Arthur) to stop with the acting because their collective talent is going 👏 to 👏melt 👏 my 👏brain!
I'm serious!
They took the dial of acting and they cranked it up to 5000. What an episode!
Like, this episode had all the cinematic beauty and emotional resonance of like ten thousand movies rolled together, and wasn't anywhere near the best episode in the history of the show. That being said, it was a thing of great and terrible beauty (to misquote that wand seller guy from Harry Potter).
First of all, that beginning scene with the creepier version of "Red Right Hand" and Tommy watching the fire was HAUNTING. I shall be haunted by it, just you wait and see!
And then we had some of the best family scenes that we've had on this show in a while. I enjoyed seeing them all arguing in the kitchen together, especially with Polly telling John and Arthur not to swear in front of the kids. Like, has she met the Peaky Blinders? Every other word out of their mouths has four letters. Anyway, obviously the family kumbaya devolved quickly.
I'm honestly not surprised that there's tension between Michael and Arthur/John. They kind of represent two different sides of Tommy, the part of him that wants to be respectable and run a legal business and the part of him that is a Peaky Blinder. I'm definitely more sympathetic to John and Michael in this situation. Tommy uses them too much for his dirty work and doesn't seem to really recognize their humanity. Although, I have no doubt that, behind it all, he loves his family deeply.
I am, however, deeply concerned about Michael. When he points that gun at John and Arthur, I was genuinely worried that he was going to shot one of them. Like, Michael has Tommy's iciness, but not as much heart; you never can tell what he is going to do.
I guess we should also talk about Tommy's trip to Wales. I guess, for him, this journey was a symbolic end to his period of mourning. By giving the sapphire to Madame Boswell, he's kind of giving himself permission to stop blaming himself for Grace's death and move on with what needs to be done. Although, I think we all can tell that he's almost certainly going to blame himself in some measure for the rest of his life.
He did, however, get to take revenge against the Italians, and, boy, what a MOMENT that was. All of those scenes were crazy dramatic! First of all, I'm really glad that John and Arthur disregarded Tommy's orders and did not kill Mrs. Changretta. I'm also deeply relieved that they didn't let Tommy cut off Changretta's fingers and toes and take out his tongue. As John says, quite profoundly, they aren't that sort of men. I think this is a really important moment for Tommy and for the PBs in general; it kind of recalibrates Tommy's moral compass.
This whole episode kind of reminded me of what happened when (SPOILER AHEAD) Tara died in Sons of Anarchy. By the way, I could write a whole book about the parallels between these two shows. I wonder if Charlie Hunnam watches Peaky Blinders. The difference is, after Tara died, Jax kind of went over to the dark side and became a much colder person. While, on the other hand, Tommy seems to be taking Grace's death as an opportunity to consider what's important to him and reassert who he is.
BUT, the scenes that really melted my heart were Tommy's moments with Charlie. When he was telling the baby that his mom wasn't coming back, but she would be with them because they loved her, I just DIED. Like, someone needs to come resuscitate me because I'm DEAD. Like, how is it possible to watch that scene and not burst into tears? And, when Tommy was playing with Charlie on the bed, and you can just see how much he loves him...There are no words for how cute that was. Like, my heart is so melted, it's a puddle on the floor.
All I can say is that nothing better happen to that kid!
Our Tommy needs some happiness in his life.
Okay, now we must talk about Arthur! I am excited but also a little terrified for him to be a father. He's such a scarred and broken person, I hope the show allows him to be happy, at least for a while. I know I've said that I find his wife a bit weird and creepy, but, like, maybe it'll be okay? I don't know. I am majorly shocked that she genuinely doesn't seem to know what Arthur actually does for the Shelby company. I think 99% of Birmingham knows what Arthur does for the Shelby company. How is that she doesn't know? Anyway, there's going to be major problems at some point if Arthur decides he's going to stop "working nights." I don't think Tommy will take that well.
Speaking of which, I needed Tommy to be 100% more happy for his brother when he announced that he's having a baby. I get that it probably hurts to see his brother with his wife and baby and know that he'll never have that happiness again, but he needs to be a better brother.
We also get more of the Russian plot in this episode. HEAVY SIGH. At this point, there is so much emotional turmoil within the Shelby clan that this whole Russian thing kind of feels like an after thought to the main plot. HOWEVER. I did love the dinner scene with the Russians. When the creepy priest keeps trying to talk over Tommy and makes fun of his accent, and Tommy keeps shutting him down, I was just like "SLAYYYYY." I mean, Tommy is the king of sick burns, but his line, "I want it to be known that I am unable to swallow food in the same room as this priest," was the SICKEST BURN of all time.
I also love that he volunteered to kill him free of charge. You know Tommy hates someone when he doesn't even ask for money to knock them off.
On a similar note, I'm a little suspicious of Polly's friend the painter. Is he a spy or something? Does he work for the Russians? Aye yai yai.
I'm also supremely glad that Ada seems to be back with the family. We see a lot of her in this episode, and it looks like she's going to be joining the Shelby company. Perhaps she can unionize the office workers! Seriously though, I'm glad she's rejoining the family. It made me slightly anxious to have her on the outs. I also thought it was super cute that Tommy said, "good night, I love you," at the end of their last scene together. I can count the number of times Tommy has said "I love you" in this show on one hand, so that was a warm and fuzzy moment.
Ada also had the best line of the episode: "you and your fucking lists!" Girl, go on with your bad self, I love your lipstick and your snark.
Rating: 9/10
I'm serious!
They took the dial of acting and they cranked it up to 5000. What an episode!
Like, this episode had all the cinematic beauty and emotional resonance of like ten thousand movies rolled together, and wasn't anywhere near the best episode in the history of the show. That being said, it was a thing of great and terrible beauty (to misquote that wand seller guy from Harry Potter).
First of all, that beginning scene with the creepier version of "Red Right Hand" and Tommy watching the fire was HAUNTING. I shall be haunted by it, just you wait and see!
And then we had some of the best family scenes that we've had on this show in a while. I enjoyed seeing them all arguing in the kitchen together, especially with Polly telling John and Arthur not to swear in front of the kids. Like, has she met the Peaky Blinders? Every other word out of their mouths has four letters. Anyway, obviously the family kumbaya devolved quickly.
I'm honestly not surprised that there's tension between Michael and Arthur/John. They kind of represent two different sides of Tommy, the part of him that wants to be respectable and run a legal business and the part of him that is a Peaky Blinder. I'm definitely more sympathetic to John and Michael in this situation. Tommy uses them too much for his dirty work and doesn't seem to really recognize their humanity. Although, I have no doubt that, behind it all, he loves his family deeply.
I am, however, deeply concerned about Michael. When he points that gun at John and Arthur, I was genuinely worried that he was going to shot one of them. Like, Michael has Tommy's iciness, but not as much heart; you never can tell what he is going to do.
I guess we should also talk about Tommy's trip to Wales. I guess, for him, this journey was a symbolic end to his period of mourning. By giving the sapphire to Madame Boswell, he's kind of giving himself permission to stop blaming himself for Grace's death and move on with what needs to be done. Although, I think we all can tell that he's almost certainly going to blame himself in some measure for the rest of his life.
He did, however, get to take revenge against the Italians, and, boy, what a MOMENT that was. All of those scenes were crazy dramatic! First of all, I'm really glad that John and Arthur disregarded Tommy's orders and did not kill Mrs. Changretta. I'm also deeply relieved that they didn't let Tommy cut off Changretta's fingers and toes and take out his tongue. As John says, quite profoundly, they aren't that sort of men. I think this is a really important moment for Tommy and for the PBs in general; it kind of recalibrates Tommy's moral compass.
This whole episode kind of reminded me of what happened when (SPOILER AHEAD) Tara died in Sons of Anarchy. By the way, I could write a whole book about the parallels between these two shows. I wonder if Charlie Hunnam watches Peaky Blinders. The difference is, after Tara died, Jax kind of went over to the dark side and became a much colder person. While, on the other hand, Tommy seems to be taking Grace's death as an opportunity to consider what's important to him and reassert who he is.
BUT, the scenes that really melted my heart were Tommy's moments with Charlie. When he was telling the baby that his mom wasn't coming back, but she would be with them because they loved her, I just DIED. Like, someone needs to come resuscitate me because I'm DEAD. Like, how is it possible to watch that scene and not burst into tears? And, when Tommy was playing with Charlie on the bed, and you can just see how much he loves him...There are no words for how cute that was. Like, my heart is so melted, it's a puddle on the floor.
All I can say is that nothing better happen to that kid!
Our Tommy needs some happiness in his life.
Okay, now we must talk about Arthur! I am excited but also a little terrified for him to be a father. He's such a scarred and broken person, I hope the show allows him to be happy, at least for a while. I know I've said that I find his wife a bit weird and creepy, but, like, maybe it'll be okay? I don't know. I am majorly shocked that she genuinely doesn't seem to know what Arthur actually does for the Shelby company. I think 99% of Birmingham knows what Arthur does for the Shelby company. How is that she doesn't know? Anyway, there's going to be major problems at some point if Arthur decides he's going to stop "working nights." I don't think Tommy will take that well.
Speaking of which, I needed Tommy to be 100% more happy for his brother when he announced that he's having a baby. I get that it probably hurts to see his brother with his wife and baby and know that he'll never have that happiness again, but he needs to be a better brother.
We also get more of the Russian plot in this episode. HEAVY SIGH. At this point, there is so much emotional turmoil within the Shelby clan that this whole Russian thing kind of feels like an after thought to the main plot. HOWEVER. I did love the dinner scene with the Russians. When the creepy priest keeps trying to talk over Tommy and makes fun of his accent, and Tommy keeps shutting him down, I was just like "SLAYYYYY." I mean, Tommy is the king of sick burns, but his line, "I want it to be known that I am unable to swallow food in the same room as this priest," was the SICKEST BURN of all time.
I also love that he volunteered to kill him free of charge. You know Tommy hates someone when he doesn't even ask for money to knock them off.
On a similar note, I'm a little suspicious of Polly's friend the painter. Is he a spy or something? Does he work for the Russians? Aye yai yai.
I'm also supremely glad that Ada seems to be back with the family. We see a lot of her in this episode, and it looks like she's going to be joining the Shelby company. Perhaps she can unionize the office workers! Seriously though, I'm glad she's rejoining the family. It made me slightly anxious to have her on the outs. I also thought it was super cute that Tommy said, "good night, I love you," at the end of their last scene together. I can count the number of times Tommy has said "I love you" in this show on one hand, so that was a warm and fuzzy moment.
Ada also had the best line of the episode: "you and your fucking lists!" Girl, go on with your bad self, I love your lipstick and your snark.
Rating: 9/10
Comments
Post a Comment