Warning! SPOILERS for Peaky Blinders season 6 ahead.
Peaky Blinders season 6 just became Breaking Bad, albeit with a twist. In season 6, episode 4, Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) is diagnosed with an inoperable brain tuberculoma, which Tommy developed after getting infected with tuberculosis from his daughter. The BBC show’s sixth and final season sees Tommy struggling to complete an increasingly complicated deal that will earn him a way out. But news of Ruby’s (Orla McDonagh) death and his own terminal illness lead to a change in Tommy’s motivations.
Peaky Blinders season 6 episode 4 solves the mystery behind Tommy’s visions and seizures. Tommy’s doctor, who incidentally has green eyes and wears a grey suit, mirroring the man in Ruby’s visions, delivers the sordid news: his brain tumor will claim his life sooner or later, and it will be 12 to 18 months until Tommy will heavily depend on people “who love him very, very much.” When Lizzie (Natasha O’Keeffe) interrupts their discussion, Tommy disguises it as an accounting meeting and sends the doctor on his way. Tommy has been promising Lizzie that he will complete one last grand deal, then he will “let the Peaky Blinders rest” and start a peaceful family life. Now, for the first time, Tommy needs to complete this deal to provide for his family after he is gone.
Breaking Bad began with Walter White (Bryan Cranston) receiving news of his terminal lung cancer. He then entered a criminal lifestyle with the goal of providing for his family after his death. However, his motivation changed throughout the series, and by the end, he admitted to his wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), that “I did it for me.” Walt felt increasingly alive and enjoyed being good at building a meth empire. By Peaky Blinders’ episode “Sapphire,” Tommy Shelby is also a terminally ill man who wants to provide for his family, but Tommy has started out from a criminal background and has worked his way up the social ladder (dealing with President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill now). Tommy did it for himself throughout the series, until the very last season, when he changes his motivation in the opposite direction from Walt. For the first time, he deals with the criminal upper social class not for himself, but for his family, upon news of his tuberculoma.
Throughout Peaky Blinders’ six seasons, Tommy has ignored his family’s needs and sought more power and money and ever more complicated deals. Like Walt, he was good at it, which only made him aim for more. Now, Tommy is discovering kindness through his children, as he tells Esme. Unfortunately, season 6 episodes 3 and 4 comes with very tragic news for Tommy and even admits to Arthur (Paul Anderson) that after Ruby’s death, he “stumbled and crashed.” He doesn’t have the same ambition anymore, even ceding his boss position to Arthur through a heartwarming line in the cellar: “You let me win. You wanted me to win.” Finally, the awareness of his imminent death makes Tommy realize the urgency of spending time with his family. Just before speaking to his doctor, Tommy delivered a painful “not yet” once more to Lizzie. But by the end of the episode, Tommy knows this is precisely the time to do everything with and for his family.
As two terminally ill central characters whose illness motivates them to make money fast in criminal ways, Tommy Shelby and Walter White are quite alike. But in a very interesting twist, Tommy’s illness shifts his attention towards his family instead of away from it. Walter became increasingly aloof, arrogant, and self-sufficient. In Peaky Blinders season 6, Tommy appears to become increasingly present and caring for Lizzie. He has about one year to complete the deal, “changing the world” and making enough money for Lizzie, Charlie, and the rest of the Shelbys to live off of for the rest of their lives. With only two episodes left to air, it remains to be seen if Tommy will finish his business in time to spend some quality time with his family before his illness claims his life.
Peaky Blinders airs new episodes every Sunday on BBC.
