"Peaky Blinders Season 4" A Worthy Successor?

 

    I'd be lying if I said this season wasn't one of my favourites because while the Economic League was cool, I enjoyed Luca Changretta significantly more. I think out of all the villains showcased in the show he was my favourite, because it felt like he actually had some bite to his bark and he really made me question if Tommy was out of his league(spoiler alert: he was not). While I do think some of the concepts in this season felt underutilized, overall I thought this season did a great job of making it feel consequential.

    Since it happens so early in the season, I feel it is important to address the death of John Shelby, who was one of my favourite characters in the show. I'm going to be honest with you, I was so disappointed he died, as I felt he had more to bring to the show, and they had been focusing on Arthur for quite some time(in their defense, I really enjoyed Arthur this season). I mean John basically developed guilt over killing innocent civilians, but is then simply left up to dry after he gets killed sparking the vendetta between the Changretta's and Shelby's. While I do think he could have died, I felt that having him die so early on in the season, and in such unceremonious fashion, was something that could easily have been remedied.

    I suppose it wasn't all in vain though, as I loved the new focus on characters such as Luca Changretta and Aberama Gold. Although, I do feel as if Aberama Gold should have had a larger role in the season, as he was set up as this unruly gypsy, only to have him basically fade into the background by the time the second half of the season came around. Moreover, why did they have to kill Alfie Solomons? While I understand that he basically had no loyalty to the Shelby's, he was a fun and interesting character who I felt could have had more to give to the show if he was given the opportunity. I mean he's basically been sidelined ever since the big showdown with Sabini in season two, and he basically comes around as a smaller gang leader who's there to give Tommy some words of advice as both an enemy and friend.

    I'm still unsure what to make of the Churchill-Shelby connection, which has been hinted and teased at for basically the past two seasons. I mean the actor who plays him has yet to even appear ever since he briefly appeared in both season one and two, and frankly I'm unsure of what Tommy's endgame seems to be. I think him being mayor? of Birmingham ultimately changes very little, other than the fact that I have a sneaking suspicion the show is going to become much more political in season five.

Final Score: 82/100

    Ultimately, I think I'd have to say that this is either my first or second favourite season, competing with only the first season of course. The characters introduced are by far the most interesting side characters since Freddie Thorne, and unlike the Economic League, the threat to the Shelby's feels much more real and noticeable this time around. With the transition to a much more high profile position for Tommy I'm interested to see the pivot the show seems to want to take from one focused on gang interactions to more high profile political ones.

    

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