Sapphire
Ruby is dead. And episode 4 of Peaky Blinders Season 6 opens with her funeral. Arthur is there too but he’s in serious withdrawal from his addiction. Tommy is overcome with grief too and tries to get his brother to speak a few words on his behalf. Unfortunately, he refuses. Instead, Tommy takes over but as the carriage is bound to be burned, Lizzie is distraught and tries to stop him. Tommy promises to make those responsible pay. Bound by a thirst for vengeance that cannot be quenched without some serious bloodshed, the carriage is eventually burned as Thomas Shelby walks away. Tommy soon shows up with guns blazing, gunning down Evadne Bardwell and her motley band of travelers out in the woods. With gold dust in hand, he then meets Esme and hands it over, believing his sacrifice has been paid. Apparently though, she has a new prophecy to share, claiming that there’s another child that Tommy wasn’t aware of. “The boy with hazel eyes,” She begins, going on to mention a child born back during the war, when Tommy was sent off to France to fight. And Ese has brought him to Tommy. The guy goes by the name of Duke and he’s something of a lowlife thief, working at a fairground. His mother is dead but Esme promises to hand the guy over to Tommy in exchange for more gold. Now, it’s worth noting here that he too has an insatiable desire to make it to the top. Esme likens this to a proverbial way of patching up the hole in Tommy’s heart. After heading home, Lizzie shouts at Tommy with venomous wrath, knowing exactly where he’s been – and who he’s gunned down. Not wanting to hear it, Tommy heads down to the basement, where he finds Arthur slumped against the side, admitting that he’s messed up. Tommy sits with his brother and brings up a fight they had over cigarettes in the past – the beginning of Arthur’s unhinged behaviour leading up to his point. Only, he let Tommy win and now he’s realized as much. Arthur sacrificed himself to allow Tommy to prosper but now, that light is starting to fade on the Shelby family. Tommy believes there are a few more yards they need to travel down before they can finally rest in peace. Despite staying sober for so long, Tommy decides to drink, but afterwards remains fixated on the mission at hand. That comes in the form of that scheduled dinner, with Oswald and Jack Nelson attending. Diana mentions an unnerving conversation she had with Himmler, stretching on through the night and into the early morning, talking about the new world. Eventually Tommy shows up and they all sit around the table, with a slick camera move that jerks from one character to the next, discussing their ideologies. Tommy struggles to hold it together. He’s a man possessed and after the night’s events, begins typing up everything he remembers being spoken at the meeting, believing that Churchill will find it more valuable to know exactly what was said word for word. Lizzie can sense Tommy is starting to fall off the deep end, typified by him burning Ruby’s chair. It’s clear he’s in mourning but Lizzie tries to comfort him. “Not yet.” Tommy says. He’s going to change for good but right now, he needs to finish what he’s started. Part of that comes from meeting Gina, blackmailing her into submission as the pair begin concocting a plan together. Tommy wants her to be with Mosley when he’s in Berlin. She’s going to work as his informant and feed back what Oswald is discussing with the senior German officials. If she refuses? Then he’ll reveal all. Tommy’s unnerving attitude is enough for Gina to spill the beans, revealing what Michael is up to as well. Part of the drama that hasn’t been discussed yet is Tommy’s letter from the hospital. He’s brushed it off as a bill bur the reality is, Dr Holford is desperate for him to come in and have a consultation. It’s urgent, given the typed letter he’s sent, and it could well be linked to Ruby’s Consumption. Tommy meets with the good doctor who confirms that he has tuberculoma. Tommy may have picked it up from Ruby, meaning the whole family are at risk right now. His seizures, hallucinations and erratic behaviour is all linked to this and, unfortunately, he also doesn’t have a hope of a cure. Thomas Shelby is going to die.
The Episode Review
Another somber and slow paced chapter sees Thomas Shelby dealing with Ruby’s death. It’s obvious tat he’s not doing very well and that has now extended across to the way he’s doing business. With Arthur also struggling and the whole family about to come tumbling down at any minute, the whole drama surrounding the Shelby’s looks to be going the same route as Breaking Bad – this one is not going to have a good end. Unfortunately, it also comes at the expense of questionable editing. There’s a solid 7 minutes of Ruby’s funeral, followed by more drawn-out drama before Tommy shows up at Oswald’s meeting. There are glimmers of brilliance here though, including the tense meeting between Gina and Tommy, but these moments unfortunately feel few and far between. The decision to add this Duke character feels contrived too, like the writers just pulled this gimmick out of a hat for shock value but it doesn’t work, given we haven’t had time to actually get to know him. This season has had a very different feel about it and right now, with very few episodes to go, I’m struggling to see how they’re going to wrap everything up in a satisfying way.
