Peaky Blinders - Discussion and major spoilers

The Coffee Shop
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I know there is a thread from Jan 2015, but only asking who is watching. I just finish Season 3. Love the series. Love it. However, I am a bit confused by Season 3. There is a lot of stuff going on and I think I missed some key facts.

So, this thread is intended as a discussion thread for Peaky Blinders. But, fair warning, I want to discuss intricate details of Season 3 (and/or Seasons 1 and 2). I anticipate a lot of spoilers. If you are not through Season 3, you may not want to read.

I’ll start my questions/discussions in the next post.

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So, I just finished Season 3 and came away going, WTF??? I wish it was at least 8 episodes (10 would be better). I believe I understand what happened, but feel like I missed something. So, here we go:

  1. The Oddfellows is the same as the Economic League, right?

  2. The Oddfellows/Economic League is a “secret society” with ties to the British government, who carries out covert ops for the government, right?

  3. The Priest is a high ranking guy in the Oddfellows, right?

  4. Now, here is where I am a bit confused. The way I understand it, the Government wanted to get the armored cars to Russia. Churchill set up the deal whereby Tommy would steal the train with the armored cars and send to Russia. The Oddfellows decided they wanted the Government to cut ties with Russia, so, they leaked the train theft and were going to have Russian separatists bomb the train to stop the delivery. When Tommy told the Russians about this, the Oddfellows had to change plans and ordered Tommy to bomb the train and make it look like the Russians did it to get the Government to cut ties with Russia. The Oddfellows did this at their own directive, not working with the Government. Do I have that right?

  5. When the Priest was killed by Marco, the Oddfellows decided to exact revenge. Having positions in the police and prosecution, they orchestrated the arrest of the Shelby family for all the crimes of which they were aware. Tommy, however, made a deal with the British Government. Tommy would allow the family to be arrested, but the family is going to testify about the conduct of the Oddfellows in opposition to the British Government and they will all, eventually be pardoned. Do I have that right?

  6. Tommy said he was robbing the Russians for payment they were going to withhold. But, he had a deal with the Duchess to steal the jewels for her. Right?

  7. Why did the Duchess shoot the guy doing the appraisal?

Let’s start there.

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am in season 2, so looked at this post through fingers. Hope to contribute soon.

Cillian Murphy’s voice . . . yep, will start again tonight.

Sam Neill is also great, love him in this role.

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Be careful reading this thread. There is a lot that happens in Season 2 and you don’t want to spoil it!

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**1. The Oddfellows is the same as the Economic League, right? **

I think so.

2. The Oddfellows/Economic League is a “secret society” with ties to the British government, who carries out covert ops for the government, right?

My understanding that it has ties to certain factions of the British government, but at odds too.

3. The Priest is a high ranking guy in the Oddfellows, right?

I’m not sure it was clear how high up. Seems like he was still taking orders.

4. Now, here is where I am a bit confused. The way I understand it, the Government wanted to get the armored cars to Russia. Churchill set up the deal whereby Tommy would steal the train with the armored cars and send to Russia. The Oddfellows decided they wanted the Government to cut ties with Russia, so, they leaked the train theft and were going to have Russian separatists bomb the train to stop the delivery. When Tommy told the Russians about this, the Oddfellows had to change plans and ordered Tommy to bomb the train and make it look like the Russians did it to get the Government to cut ties with Russia. The Oddfellows did this at their own directive, not working with the Government. Do I have that right?

My understanding, as it wasn’t all that clear, was that the Oddfellows had set up the entire transaction all along with the goal of framing the Reds. Churchill may not have been aware of this aspect of the plot. The only change in plans was that the Reds had backed out after Tommy told them, so the Oddfellows had Tommy do it in a way that would still frame the Reds. In other words, the train was always going to be blown up, and the Reds were always going to be framed. It was just of matter of who actually blew up the train.

**5. When the Priest was killed by Marco, the Oddfellows decided to exact revenge. Having positions in the police and prosecution, they orchestrated the arrest of the Shelby family for all the crimes of which they were aware. Tommy, however, made a deal with the British Government. Tommy would allow the family to be arrested, but the family is going to testify about the conduct of the Oddfellows in opposition to the British Government and they will all, eventually be pardoned. Do I have that right? **

I think so. Kind of happened quickly at the end, so it wasn’t all that clear.

6. Tommy said he was robbing the Russians for payment they were going to withhold. But, he had a deal with the Duchess to steal the jewels for her. Right?

Yes.

7. Why did the Duchess shoot the guy doing the appraisal?

My guess is that she was covering her tracks and didn’t want to leave him as a witness. Apparently, she didn’t have the same concerns about Tommy as a witness. Didn’t make a whole lot of sense, so I also think this may have just been for dramatic effect to show how ruthless she was.

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4. Now, here is where I am a bit confused. The way I understand it, the Government wanted to get the armored cars to Russia. Churchill set up the deal whereby Tommy would steal the train with the armored cars and send to Russia. The Oddfellows decided they wanted the Government to cut ties with Russia, so, they leaked the train theft and were going to have Russian separatists bomb the train to stop the delivery. When Tommy told the Russians about this, the Oddfellows had to change plans and ordered Tommy to bomb the train and make it look like the Russians did it to get the Government to cut ties with Russia. The Oddfellows did this at their own directive, not working with the Government. Do I have that right?

My understanding, as it wasn’t all that clear, was that the Oddfellows had set up the entire transaction all along with the goal of framing the Reds. Churchill may not have been aware of this aspect of the plot. The only change in plans was that the Reds had backed out after Tommy told them, so the Oddfellows had Tommy do it in a way that would still frame the Reds. In other words, the train was always going to be blown up, and the Reds were always going to be framed. It was just of matter of who actually blew up the train.

This is the part that confuses me the most. My understanding is that Churchill is the “main branch/majority” of the British government. I understood the Oddfellows to have ties to fringe elements within the government. But, I thought the Oddfellows were working with Churchill and Tommy to get the armored cars to Russia. Or so Churchill thought. The Oddfellows feigned being part of Churchill’s plan while secretly working with the fringe elements of the government to get Churchill to break off ties with Russia. So, Churchill thought the Oddfellows were doing his dirty work, but they were actually working against Churchill to get Churchill to break ties with Russia.

The reason I thought this was b/c of the apparent deal Tommy made with Churchill. I thought the reason Tommy was able to make a deal with Churchill (to get his family out of jail) is b/c the Oddfellows screwed Churchill and Churchill wanted to root out the fringe element in the government that was working with the Oddfellows.

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BTW, Tom Hardy was fantastic, but you heard a little Bane coming through his accent, especially towards the end of Season 3.

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BTW, Tom Hardy was fantastic, but you heard a little Bane coming through his accent, especially towards the end of Season 3.

A couple points I think you missed but I’m not sure how they fit.

  • They stated the armored vehicles were destined for Georgia (Tblisi) so not sure if the deposed royalty was based there and they didn’t want Russian commies invading Georgia, which I assume was still independent at the time. What the hell would 25 armored vehicles do in Moscow? Nothing.
  • Churchill was a member of the Oddfellows so they were taking orders from him. Tommy was involved because of the Season 2 ending when they said Mr. Churchill would be in touch. Remember, this was a time in history when Churchill saw threats to the world before anyone else, so this was all a plot to de-legitimize Commie Russia and break off diplomatic relations, likely to the chagrin of Bernie Sanders.
  • I assume Tommy will be testifying against Churchill in Season 4
  • Did Tommy ever tell Solomon about the tunnels? I don’t think he did.
  • I think the Russian lady killed the guy at the end because he was selling the jewels to him and she killed him to take the money and the jewels. Why would she need to appraise her own jewels?
  • I think I’m getting lung cancer watching he show. Holy fuck.

Do you know when Season 4 will air?

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I just read an article and the Royals were from Georgia so I think the vehicles were intended to stop an invasion or overthrown of commies in Tblisi.

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BTW, Tom Hardy was fantastic, but you heard a little Bane coming through his accent, especially towards the end of Season 3.

A couple points I think you missed but I’m not sure how they fit.

I think I missed more than a couple points! :wink:

  • They stated the armored vehicles were destined for Georgia (Tblisi) so not sure if the deposed royalty was based there and they didn’t want Russian commies invading Georgia, which I assume was still independent at the time. What the hell would 25 armored vehicles do in Moscow? Nothing.

I knew they were going to a boarder area to stop the Reds from further expansion. But still not sure who is who.

  • Churchill was a member of the Oddfellows so they were taking orders from him. Tommy was involved because of the Season 2 ending when they said Mr. Churchill would be in touch. Remember, this was a time in history when Churchill saw threats to the world before anyone else, so this was all a plot to de-legitimize Commie Russia and break off diplomatic relations, likely to the chagrin of Bernie Sanders.

Really? So, do you think Churchill was the one who wanted the bombing so the rest of the British government would break ties with Russia? If so, I missed Churchill’s role.

  • I assume Tommy will be testifying against Churchill in Season 4

If true, I completely missed that. I thought Tommy was working with Churchill to route out the “bad guys” in the British government.

  • Did Tommy ever tell Solomon about the tunnels? I don’t think he did.

I don’t think so.

  • I think the Russian lady killed the guy at the end because he was selling the jewels to him and she killed him to take the money and the jewels. Why would she need to appraise her own jewels?

I don’t think she was selling the jewels to him. I think she merely needed a clean certificate of sale and authenticity to prove ownership so she could sell them later, after she fled.

  • I think I’m getting lung cancer watching he show. Holy fuck.

**No kidding! **

Do you know when Season 4 will air?

The BBC has already ordered Seasons 4 and 5. They may film them together. Estimated release date of Season 4 is May 2017.

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BTW, Tom Hardy was fantastic, but you heard a little Bane coming through his accent, especially towards the end of Season 3.

A couple points I think you missed but I’m not sure how they fit.

I think I missed more than a couple points! :wink:

  • They stated the armored vehicles were destined for Georgia (Tblisi) so not sure if the deposed royalty was based there and they didn’t want Russian commies invading Georgia, which I assume was still independent at the time. What the hell would 25 armored vehicles do in Moscow? Nothing.

I knew they were going to a boarder area to stop the Reds from further expansion. But still not sure who is who.

I think they are just a royal family based in Georgia.

  • Churchill was a member of the Oddfellows so they were taking orders from him. Tommy was involved because of the Season 2 ending when they said Mr. Churchill would be in touch. Remember, this was a time in history when Churchill saw threats to the world before anyone else, so this was all a plot to de-legitimize Commie Russia and break off diplomatic relations, likely to the chagrin of Bernie Sanders.

Really? So, do you think Churchill was the one who wanted the bombing so the rest of the British government would break ties with Russia? If so, I missed Churchill’s role.

Well, in history its documented that Churchill was a Longfellow. Yes, I do think he wanted the train bombed, recall in season 2 that he also wanted the soldier killed as part of the IRA business.

  • I assume Tommy will be testifying against Churchill in Season 4

If true, I completely missed that. I thought Tommy was working with Churchill to route out the “bad guys” in the British government.

That’s not how I read it. Tommy said there are bad guys in government and he is working with even higher government officials to get out the bad guys. I think this means he’s going head to head with Churchill. They didn’t say it but the whole mess Tommy is in was because of Churchill, its not like he went to Churchill to try and get his boy back. All this said, I am sure the priest was going rogue on some stuff.

  • Did Tommy ever tell Solomon about the tunnels? I don’t think he did.

I don’t think so.

  • I think the Russian lady killed the guy at the end because he was selling the jewels to him and she killed him to take the money and the jewels. Why would she need to appraise her own jewels?

I don’t think she was selling the jewels to him. I think she merely needed a clean certificate of sale and authenticity to prove ownership so she could sell them later, after she fled.

Makes sense.

  • I think I’m getting lung cancer watching he show. Holy fuck.

**No kidding! **

Do you know when Season 4 will air?

The BBC has already ordered Seasons 4 and 5. They may film them together. Estimated release date of Season 4 is May 2017.

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Interesting. Makes sense. Thanks for the insight!