'Peaky Blinders' Season 5: Will Sam Claflin's Oswald Mosley put an end to Thomas Shelby's reign as death 'spills out' of every frame
'Peaky Blinders' is all set to make an explosive comeback to Netflix with season five and Thomas Shelby seems to be in a fog of war. As he embarks on a new role in Parliament, Sam Claflin as Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists, seems to be his new competition.
At loggerheads with Shelby, he tells the latter, "Mr. Shelby, you've come to my attention." In the one-minute official trailer that released earlier this month, every frame spells death. With a glimpse of a graveyard in the background, Thomas speaks in a hushed tone: “There's God, and there are the Peaky Blinders!” With explosive guns blasting in the air, there seems to be a sign of loss and destruction everywhere. Claflin seems to put up a good fight as the nemesis and there's a strong possibility that he could end Tommy Shelby's reign. In a scene, he also seems to be celebrating with a mob: “England lives tonight and marches on!”
To sum up his character, Claflin said: "I think the two of them enjoy the challenge of trying to outwit one another and using each other. But I think for Tommy this series, especially, it's very different and it's a very different approach, it's much more of Tommy battling Tommy. Tommy is his own worst enemy."
"We own the ropes. Who's gonna hang us now, ey?" Shelby's voice trails at the back in the trailer. "No one is going to hang you, Tommy, you are going to hang yourself," Ada tells Tommy in one scene. Towards the end of the clip, the voiceover declares: "Sometimes, death is a kindness!" So, will the Shelby leader end his own life, vanish from sight or be killed by his enemies? The suspense is brewing in the air. In the trailer, there is another startling shot where a man appears to be mounted on a crucifix as Tommy aims at him with a machine gun. Moreover, the main antagonists — a gang called The Billy Boys from Glasgow — could make the plot even more intense.
In a press conference, Steven Knight said, "The main destination is the end of the whole thing, which is the start of the Second World War, and I know what scene that’s going to be and I know how it’s going to end." Since this season begins at the financial crisis of 1929, there are only 10 years for the course of the season to reach World War II. There's not much time.
"Tommy Shelby faces the darkest force he has ever faced," Knight said in a statement earlier this year. So, is that a hint that this could be death or another close-shave with death for the Shelby leader? Considering Knight has been quite unsparing with his characters, the season could mark a closing for Shelby and potentially break the hearts of several fans. However, if Tommy actually dies at the end of season five, will there be a new protagonist in season six and seven? Well, time will tell as the series comes back on August 25.