Enter our antagonist, Inspector Chester Campbell (Sam Neill), riding to his new assignment in a train. He is the no-nonsense copper transferred from the fight against the IRA in Belfast to this English slum on a special mission to recover a shipment of weapons that have gone missing. Neill plays a good prick, the kind of self-righteous establishment man who gives the establishment a bad name, just as Murphy plays a solid bad-boy (the kind that women want to imagine themselves with because they know they shouldn’t and men want to be but know they don’t have what it take). There is a cliche and predictable quality to Peaky Blinders that is a bit off-putting. From Thomas’ childhood friend, Freddie Thorne (Iddo Goldberg), who saved his life during The Great War (aka, World War I) to the attractive and mysterious bar maiden, Grace Burgess (Annabelle Wallis), who is really an undercover police agent, the term, “formulaic” comes to mind again and again.
Freddie has become a communist since they returned from the front and he is secretly sleeping with Thomas’ sister Ada (Sophie Rundle), while causing trouble with local workers. He comes right out and says that Thomas will probably have to kill him someday and it makes you wonder, “How many episodes until that happens?” Meanwhile, Grace, despite her mission to help find the missing weapons, clearly likes Thomas. You can almost picture the meeting where the show was pitched, “We’ll have a love interest, who he can’t get with, because she’s really a cop; a bad cop that you’ll love to hate; good criminals, who you’ll root for in spite of their crimes; and a communist boyhood friend. It’s 1919, they just had the Russian Revolution, we’ve got to have a communist. They even throw in a young Winston Churchill (Andy Nyman) and a wise old Aunt Polly (Helen McCrory) who tries to control Thomas but ends up falling for his charm, and there will be PTSD nightmare that keep Thomas awake at night.” There’s nothing subtle and little that feels original about it.
Now, on the other hand, the show has its good qualities. As a period piece it is very believable looking and the acting is good. Cliche as they might be, it’s hard not to care about the characters, at least some of them, and it’s really hard not to root for Thomas. The one unusual aspect to Peaky Blinders is the music, which you will probably love, or find it very off-putting, depending on your tastes. The production is trying to be a hip, twenty-first century show, and opening song, “Red right hand,” by Nick Cave, along with several other hard-hitting, fast past numbers from other cool artists, makes it clear that this is not a faithful depiction of the time in which it pretends to take place.
All in all, Peaky Blinders is worth a peek and once you’re inside you probably won’t want to leave.
Yep, once you start it you'll have to finish it...just like Godless! :)
