‘Peaky Blinders’ Recap: Season 2, Episode 3

Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) and Alfie Solomons’ (Tom Hardy) troops join forces, but Darby Sabini (Noah Taylor) isn’t happy about it and wants to make an example of one of the Blinders’ boys who’s locked up in jail. Meanwhile, Polly (Helen McCrory) and her estranged son, Michael, get to know each other in this third episode of Peaky Blinders Season Two.

Right off the bat, this episode feels different from those that have come before it. The bluesy rock theme, Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” is covered by an all-female band with velvety, Beach House-esque voices. Birmingham children are gathered in the town square watching a puppet show of sorts, their glowing faces transfixed on the stage. But behind them, a man is silently strangled. Cut to black. Way to get super creepy for a second, Peaky Blinders.
The next day, the Blinders are holding interviews for a position that will place the candidate in jail so the gang can play nice with the cops and carry on with their operations. Of course, the most innocent chap in all of Birmingham walks in with a Billy the Kid obsession and a custom made wooden gun holstered to his hip. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, let me pay it forward by warning you to leave the room any time this pathetic little cutie is on screen. It’s the equivalent of when you know the dog is going to die because he’s the only likable character in the movie. I’ll do everyone a favor with this one and just sum up the rest of his appearance: he’s a Blinders pawn who gets caught in the crossfire of gangster BS and ends up getting his throat slit by Darby Sabini’s thugs. I’ve never had the urge to cry while watching this show, but this kid’s death is a marker of how careless and selfish the Blinders have become: letting those who have supported them take the fall for their crimes.

Which brings us to the second saddest part of the episode. Remember that poor kid who Arthur beat to death in the boxing ring last episode? Well, the kid’s mother stops by the Garrison early in the morning in hopes to catch Arthur off his guard. She pulls a gun from her purse and holds it up to Arthur’s head, who welcomes the blow because he hates himself lately and has been acting all emo. When she misfires and shoots the mirror behind the bar, Arthur lunges toward her, empties the gun of its bullets, and sits down with her. He tells her that she’ll be compensated for her troubles and that the Blinders will help the rest of her sons find work. Broken and furious, she flips over the table and screams, “Somebody has to stop you people.” Her words echo through the Garrison and give some serious foreshadowing as to how the rest of this season will play out.

Meanwhile, Tommy heads to Camden Town to get to work with Alfie Solomons and his new army of bootleg distillers posed as bakers. Orientation doesn’t go so well though and one guy ends up getting his teeth knocked out. After this little scuffle however, two things are confirmed: 1. Alfie Solomons doesn’t fuck around and 2. He and Tommy are going to be BFFs.
Inspector Campbell, who’s been shacking up at a former brothel, is all pent up with sexual frustration because he hasn’t gotten laid in about two years. The owner, who’s age-appropriate for Campbell and only “partially retired,” tries to ease those frustrations and gives us hope that finally, finally this bloke might be willing to get over Grace. It’s too good to be true, though, because Campbell proves once again that he’s a misogynistic asshole and feels the need to prove himself as an authority figure over the opposite sex. Don’t worry, he doesn’t rape her like he did the prostitute last season; he just grabs the back of her neck like a dog and tells her to get lost.

Over on the other side of town, Polly and her estranged son, Michael, are catching up on almost eighteen years of absence. Watching Polly around him is adorable but heartbreaking because all you can hope is that this kid stays in her life. She’s nervous, giggly, and, more noticeably, has ditched her heavy eye makeup. Always the maternal figure, Polly finally has an actual son in her life and adorably enough, he seems in awe of her.

Michael heads over to the Garrison to call his adoptive mother to let her know where he is, when Tommy intervenes and urges him to call her and tell her he’s getting on the next train. “You’ll go home and write a letter to Polly explaining that when you’re eighteen, you’ll come back and sort things out.” Michael won’t budge. He wants to stay put in Birmingham and get to know Polly and his Blinder cousins better:

In my village, there’s this little wishing well. It’s made of white bricks, right in the middle of the village green. Everybody says how pretty it is. But I swear to God, if I spend another day in that village, I’m going to blow it up with dynamite. Probably blow my hands off with it, but it will be worth it. Just to see all those pretty white bricks spread over the pretty green village.

Tommy approves of this closeted bad boy and potential new recruit because he smiles, genuinely smiles, and replies, “Yup, you’re Polly’s son all right.”

You might be wondering what’s going on with Sabini, and the only update is that he’s even crazier. Bat-shit crazy. He was the ring leader behind killing that poor kid, and right now he’s the most feared dude of the series.

The Shelbys take Michael (much to Polly’s disapproval) to the races where Tommy meets a potential love interest, May Carleton (Charlotte Riley), who’s attractive and knows horses and also enjoys the company of bad boys. Needless to say, Tommy’s interest is piqued.

What to expect next episode: After the Shelby’s are attacked by Sabini’s men at the races, Michael steps up to the plate and proves he can keep cool when the going gets tough. Arthur almost kills someone again, so expect further unraveling (or worse) next episode. Also, Tommy makes advances to get a bit closer to May Carleton just as Grace comes back into the mix.

Notes:

1. Can we talk about how when Arthur was beating that dude practically to death, he bit his jugular like a wild animal? That’s up there on the unofficial chart of Peaky Blinders‘ Grossest Moments. That was some hyper-violent, Tarantino shit.

2. We want more Tom Hardy and we want him now.

Like what you see? Follow Decider on Facebook and Twitter to join the conversation, and sign up for our email newsletters to be the first to know about streaming movies and TV news!
Photos/Gifs: BBC/Netflix