I truly enjoyed this show. It was done with a lot of attention to period details, and very few in acronyms, mostly the use of late twentieth century and early twenty first century language well before it entered the vernacular.
Cillian Murphy and Helen McCrory were particularly compelling in their performances, but all of the actors were believable. This really draws the viewer in and gets one invested in their stories. Even the ones I wanted to slap around- (Linda, Finn and Arthur at various times)- or punch (Campbell, Diana, Mosely and especially the spoiled ingrate, Michael and his odious, power-hungry wife, Gina) engendered an emotional response. Speaking of those two brats- Finn Cole is a master of portraying a deadpan and lethal male version of Eve Harrington - here as Michael and as J in the US version of Animal Kingdom. Anya Taylor-Joy was as annoying and obnoxious as the despised example of a rich, spoiled American heiress who resents being female because she has little power of her own. Utterly punchable and that nasal whine made my teeth hurt, but she was perfect in the role.
My favorite- after Polly and Tommy - wound up being Tom Hardy as Alfie Solomons, despite being less than compelling in his initial appearances. Hardy's shuffling, eccentric Alfie was a mass of contradictions - casually brutal one minute, sage and wise the next - but by the sixth season, he'd endeared himself to me with his fatalistic humor and unique philosophical observations. Lots of people found Hardy's portrayal off-putting, but I loved it.
All of the villians (meaning those trying to undermine the Peaky Blinders) were portrayed brilliantly, except for one.
The less said about Adrien Brody and his bizzare cartoon of a NYC Mafia boss, the better.
The weaving of Traveller, working class Brummy and Irish background of the Shelby gang was done quite seamlessly, adding to the credibility of the story and informing viewers of the strict class structure of British society so that when the fissures created after the Great War start to get bigger, it makes a lot of sense. Also, the magical elements of the Traveller culture throughout the story did not come across as unusual or denigrated - the writers presented it as part of those characters- just as any other religion, like the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish ones. This made the pejoratives used so casually by the prejudiced characters seem uglier.
There were very few weak female characters- which was probably more true to life at that time in that neighborhood than we assumed. Polly, Ada, Grace, Kitty, Esme, Frances and Linda are as powerful and vibrant as any of the males in the story.
The treatment of real life figures was interesting- Churchill, in particular, was neither canonized nor demonized. He was just a strong-willed , farsighted man who understood that he had to make hard choices for the greater good and that living with them would be difficult. The parallels between him and Tommy were made clear - and you wind up rooting for them both, despite their many appalling- yet necessary- actions.
While IRA Captain Laura McKee, who was equally willing to do the necessary to advance her cause, she seemed more ruthless, with a strict us or them view. The always excellent Charlene McKenna was wonderful in this role.
As for the despicable Mosely and his even more despicable wife, Diana Mitford, the actors portraying them did a wonderful job of making them so matter-of-factly depraved and repulsive that they epitomized Hannah Arendt's description of the banality of evil.
I watched all six seasons over a two week period, which really enhanced the flow of the story and made it easier to follow the many threads and relationships. If you can binge the series, do it. Its totally worth watching regardless of how you do it.
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