*** WARNING – THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS ***
Episode five of the current series of Peaky Blinders took a dramatic turn, as Tommy Shelby revealed that the next trick up his sleeve involves killing controversial rival politician Oswald Mosley.
His big reveal came at the end of an explosive episode, all of which led up to the final scene where we see Tommy tell Arthur that he plans to take over the party.
It leaves the current series perfectly set up next week’s finale; tensions seem to be rising on all fronts – bad for Tommy, but great for Sunday night viewing next week.
As much as we thought (and the harsher among us hoped) that Linda was dead, she pulls through at the beginning of the episode after a gun shot to the arm.
It followed on from last week’s shock ending which saw Linda threaten to kill ex-husband Arthur. We were tricked into thinking she’d pulled the trigger for a split second, before we saw matriarch Polly aiming the pistol at Linda, who had fallen to the floor.
Probably not the birthday party Tommy had planned for for Lizzy, but with the lads absent from the after the disturbance with Linda, Oswald Mosley (played by Sam Claflin) spots the opportunity to push his political agenda among the guests at the party.
Standing up in front of the room, he makes an impassioned speech, in which he announces the arrival of his new party – the ‘British Union of Fascists’. They sound like a nice bunch, don’t they?
He says he will stand ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Tommy – as he looks on, it becomes clear that Tommy is hatching a plan.
In scenes that seem a little too familiar, he describes how his new party will honour the ‘heroes of the great war’ who have been ‘betrayed’. The crowd are riled up by the intensity of the speech, a precursor of what is to come across the continent.
He declares: “Our message can be summarised with these words – Britain First.”
Mosley warns the crowd that the media won’t report him fairly, saying the newspapers sell the public ‘false news’ – proof, if you ever needed it, the the guy is 100 percent no fun at parties.
As tensions continue to rise – and in another huge test of Tommy’s patience – Ben Younger is targeted in a car bomb and killed. Tommy has the unthinkable job of breaking the news to a devastated Ada, who breaks down.
And it’s not an episode of Peaky Blinders without a massive shoot out. Arthur follows the Chinese lanterns to find an injured Chang, who says he was tricked into giving the opium to the Irish, who were disguised as police.
Shots are fired between the lads and Chang’s crew, which results in a worse-for-wear Arthur getting hold of a massive firearm and going absolutely sick. It seems like most of his targets escape – it’s doubtful it’s the last we’ll be hearing from them.
The episode ends with a meeting with the Billy Boys – dodgy accents intact – which results in Tommy breaking the news that he’s planning to have Mosley killed while they are stood on stage next to each other. Arthur can’t believe it.
“Yep,” Tommy says. “Then you and Aberama can take care of that b****** McCavern.”
“I had more complicated strategies in mind for Mr Mosley, but he spoke badly to my wife. It’s going to be a busy few weeks, brother.”
There was also the tease for the return of a major character – when Tommy mentioned Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomons as the best fit for Moseley’s plans to control the south.
In other words, cancel any plans you have for next Sunday, because that last episode is going to be unmissable.
