WARNING! Contains SPOILERS for Peaky Blinders season 6, episode 5.
Peaky Blinders season 6 episode 5 saw Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) reunite with his long-lost son, Duke (Conrad Khan), and their conversation confirms a dark theory about Tommy’s other son, Charles (Jensen Clarke). The BBC show’s sixth and final season has Tommy struggle to put his affairs in order and “change the world” with a terminal illness looming in the background (reminding viewers all too well of Breaking Bad). This is also the season Tommy loses his daughter Ruby to tuberculosis, only to find another child – an illegitimate son – soon afterward, thanks to Esme (Aimee-Ffion Edwards).
In Peaky Blinders’ episode “Road to Hell,” Tommy welcomes young Duke into the family and gives him a menial job at the betting shop. There, Duke witnesses Arthur (Paul Anderson) have Billy Grade (Emmett J. Scanlan) kill a righteous referee who was threatening to take the Shelbys’ corruption to the police. Duke flinches and turns away as the blood spills. In his very next scene, Duke is trying to get away from the Shelby Enterprise and roam “all the hills of England.” Tommy thus realizes Duke is just like he was before the war: wild and free. Furthermore, Duke says “horses are better than people” (which explains him leaving the betting shop), something the Romani in Tommy can deeply empathize with. Finally, Tommy convinces Duke to stay and work with Charlie (Ned Dennehy) and Curly (Ian Peck), where there are horses and only two people.
Initially, Duke is fairly surprised Tommy welcomes him as a son and offers him a future: “You already have a son,” he says, to which Tommy replies: “My business has two sides, light and dark. I’ll need someone for each.” Duke assumes he’ll be taking over the dark side, but several signs point in the opposite direction. Duke not only disapproves of the betting shop (which plainly shows what is wrong with the Shelby Company), but he associates himself with nature and the wilderness. This is the side that Peaky Blinders has consistently pictured as good, especially in contrast with the morally corrupt aristocracy (which the last episode did a great job at showing as the villains, especially through Mosley’s mistress Diana Mitford). With Duke staying outside and taking care of animals, it’s safe to say Charles will take over the dark side of Tommy’s business after he is gone. Tommy has doomed Charles to a very dark future, involving the very people he is trying to get away from.
Duke is Tommy’s wild side personified, and Tommy sees this. Settled travelers (even second and third generation) often want to roam, and Tommy is likely aware this could prove true for his son. While Tommy has forgone this lifestyle long ago, seeing Duke wild and free sends him back to a purer time. The irony of Tommy’s story is that his very attempt to move away from the dark is what ultimately led him down a far darker path. In Peaky Blinders season 6, Tommy deals with fascists Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin), Mitford (Amber Anderson), and Jack Nelson (James Frecheville) – arguably the worst bunch so far.
Unfortunately, it seems like these are the sort of people Tommy’s son Charles will have to deal with as he takes over the Shelby legacy. It’s highly unlikely that Charles and Duke will ever trade roles, and just as unlikely that Tommy’s enemies will cease to exist once his illness claims his life. With only a feature-length episode left to air (and a film to air sometime after season 6), it remains to be seen how Peaky Blinders will deal with Charles’ future – nevertheless, considering the last episode, it seems to be a very dark future.
The Peaky Blinders season 6 finale will air at 9 PM GMT on BBC One.
