So this is my review of Peaky Blinders after having seen the first 5 seasons.
The show starts OK and my first impression was that it was going to be "sons of anarchy in 1920 but with a slower pace", but that just holds up for the first 3-4 episodes.
But like in the worst episodes of GoT, spectacle and rule of cool prevale over the drama and the plot coherence, and the show falls a part completely starting in season 2.
Because even if some of the plots of the 1st season were a bit rushed or not so well developed, at least the deus-ex machina festival still hadn't started.
*****Big Spoilers ahead *****
But season 2 already starts with a big deus-ex machina (that made absolutely no sense to begin with) which is that in reality it was Grace the one that pulled the trigger and not the main antagonist.
But then Grace leaves the series and the antagonist survived a shot to the head? (second deus-ex).
And then Grace re-enters the series in the most stupid way (Tommy doesn't have to do anything to convince her), only to be killed just a few chapters later because of problems related with Tommy AND (to make things worse) Grace's father who was an important officer doesn't appear in the series again to take revenge on Tommy (maybe they're saving that for later?).
I can't even start to think what where they thinking when they wrote that. I mean, the corrupt police blowing Grace's head would explain why Grace's father isn't on a revenge quest against Tommy, would've given the 2nd season a much better antagonist and drama in general and the useless plot of Grace returning to Tommy would've saved us some precious wasted minutes that could've gone to develop other characters that need more time.
And that is just beginning of season 2, from here onwards each and every season is resolved through pure deus-ex machinas and fake-plot twists consisting in the characters acting in stupid ways just to fool the audience.
Prime example of that is the endings of season 2, 3 and 4.
Ending of season 2 has Tommy on his knees on a field, after being kidnapped by 3 IRA guys paid by the corrupt police officer (the main antagonist during the 1st 2 seasons), with one of those guys pointing him in the head with a gun.
Then suddenly it seems that the guy with the gun was a double agent working for Churchill who had more jobs for Tommy and didn't want Tommy to be killed, then kills the other 2 guys and let's Tommy leave alive.
The thing is: the corrupt cop also worked for Churchill and in fact Churchill and him had an agreement on killing Tommy (the protagonist) after he finished his job. Even if Churchill had changed his mind without telling the corrupt cop, why the hell did the 3 guys working for Churchill/the corrupt cop pretend to do the job (in fact 2 of them weren't even informed) and then the one that knew what was going out kills the other 2?
The corrupt cop is under the orders of Churchill and in no way he is going against Churchill (his corruptions is sex-related affairs) so why do that whole "fake kidnapping" when simply doing nothing would've made more sense?
Ending of season 3 is even worse. You have Tommy excavating a tunnel to steal a treasure because the life of his son depended on it. But he then rescues his son with one of his schemes and the excavation thing was just to sell the treasure to the daughter of the fammily who was corrupt and earn some money. Like... what? XD
Ending of season 4 is of course, even worse. Here when Tommy is in his knees in front of the bad guy and his henchmen, it's revealed that Al Cappone has secretly hired all the bad guy's henchmen without him knowing it and hey, Tommy survives again thanks to the plot armor!
Ah, and all this coupled with a fake-plot twist involving the killing of one of the Peaky Blinders (one that wasn't killed in the end).
Season's 5 ending, it not being Tommy winning over everyone was a bit less bullshit, but the writting of the series continues to be BAD and the conflict between Tommy and Polly's son is so forced I even thought they had to be joking at first.
Oh and of course, if the main plot points doesn't make much sense, the secondary ones are even worse. Tommy's crazy violent big brother that was risen on the slumps and went to the war only discovers drugs at season 2 because he needed to be more unstable and of course, he neeeever in his life had taken drugs before (lol).
Polly is a rollercoaster of a character. Starts as a strong woman that knows the business and evolves to an histeric mother just to suddenly regress to his previous state all of a sudden in season 4. I liked season 1 Polly much more, but you can't simply do this and pretend me to forget seasons 2 & 3 Polly like that!
That being said, the series is at least entertaining. Of course it's no piece of high art but at 6 chapters per season, Tommy being a worse version of Jack Teller but still an interesting protagonist and the setting and high production values of the show makes it at least not a tiring experience.
But if you have other series pending to be watched, save your time for them better.
Overall rating: 5/10
Regards!
The show starts OK and my first impression was that it was going to be "sons of anarchy in 1920 but with a slower pace", but that just holds up for the first 3-4 episodes.
But like in the worst episodes of GoT, spectacle and rule of cool prevale over the drama and the plot coherence, and the show falls a part completely starting in season 2.
Because even if some of the plots of the 1st season were a bit rushed or not so well developed, at least the deus-ex machina festival still hadn't started.
*****Big Spoilers ahead *****
But season 2 already starts with a big deus-ex machina (that made absolutely no sense to begin with) which is that in reality it was Grace the one that pulled the trigger and not the main antagonist.
But then Grace leaves the series and the antagonist survived a shot to the head? (second deus-ex).
And then Grace re-enters the series in the most stupid way (Tommy doesn't have to do anything to convince her), only to be killed just a few chapters later because of problems related with Tommy AND (to make things worse) Grace's father who was an important officer doesn't appear in the series again to take revenge on Tommy (maybe they're saving that for later?).
I can't even start to think what where they thinking when they wrote that. I mean, the corrupt police blowing Grace's head would explain why Grace's father isn't on a revenge quest against Tommy, would've given the 2nd season a much better antagonist and drama in general and the useless plot of Grace returning to Tommy would've saved us some precious wasted minutes that could've gone to develop other characters that need more time.
And that is just beginning of season 2, from here onwards each and every season is resolved through pure deus-ex machinas and fake-plot twists consisting in the characters acting in stupid ways just to fool the audience.
Prime example of that is the endings of season 2, 3 and 4.
Ending of season 2 has Tommy on his knees on a field, after being kidnapped by 3 IRA guys paid by the corrupt police officer (the main antagonist during the 1st 2 seasons), with one of those guys pointing him in the head with a gun.
Then suddenly it seems that the guy with the gun was a double agent working for Churchill who had more jobs for Tommy and didn't want Tommy to be killed, then kills the other 2 guys and let's Tommy leave alive.
The thing is: the corrupt cop also worked for Churchill and in fact Churchill and him had an agreement on killing Tommy (the protagonist) after he finished his job. Even if Churchill had changed his mind without telling the corrupt cop, why the hell did the 3 guys working for Churchill/the corrupt cop pretend to do the job (in fact 2 of them weren't even informed) and then the one that knew what was going out kills the other 2?
The corrupt cop is under the orders of Churchill and in no way he is going against Churchill (his corruptions is sex-related affairs) so why do that whole "fake kidnapping" when simply doing nothing would've made more sense?
Ending of season 3 is even worse. You have Tommy excavating a tunnel to steal a treasure because the life of his son depended on it. But he then rescues his son with one of his schemes and the excavation thing was just to sell the treasure to the daughter of the fammily who was corrupt and earn some money. Like... what? XD
Ending of season 4 is of course, even worse. Here when Tommy is in his knees in front of the bad guy and his henchmen, it's revealed that Al Cappone has secretly hired all the bad guy's henchmen without him knowing it and hey, Tommy survives again thanks to the plot armor!
Ah, and all this coupled with a fake-plot twist involving the killing of one of the Peaky Blinders (one that wasn't killed in the end).
Season's 5 ending, it not being Tommy winning over everyone was a bit less bullshit, but the writting of the series continues to be BAD and the conflict between Tommy and Polly's son is so forced I even thought they had to be joking at first.
Oh and of course, if the main plot points doesn't make much sense, the secondary ones are even worse. Tommy's crazy violent big brother that was risen on the slumps and went to the war only discovers drugs at season 2 because he needed to be more unstable and of course, he neeeever in his life had taken drugs before (lol).
Polly is a rollercoaster of a character. Starts as a strong woman that knows the business and evolves to an histeric mother just to suddenly regress to his previous state all of a sudden in season 4. I liked season 1 Polly much more, but you can't simply do this and pretend me to forget seasons 2 & 3 Polly like that!
That being said, the series is at least entertaining. Of course it's no piece of high art but at 6 chapters per season, Tommy being a worse version of Jack Teller but still an interesting protagonist and the setting and high production values of the show makes it at least not a tiring experience.
But if you have other series pending to be watched, save your time for them better.
Overall rating: 5/10
Regards!
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