*** WARNING - THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM THE FOURTH EPISODE OF PEAKY BLINDERS SEASON FIVE ***
They're used to giving us shock endings and episode four of Peaky Blinders season five is absolutely no different.
Once again caught up in the middle of all the drama, Arthur Shelby very nearly gets killed by his estranged wife, Linda. Although the character, played by Kate Phillips, is known to be - without a doubt - the most annoying person in the show, if not the world, nobody expected to see her dead.
Advert
When a car arrives at Tommy's party, rudely ruining the ballet for everyone, we weren't quite sure who to expect. Would it be the Billy Boys? Would it be any other of the Shelby's growing club of enemies? The lads head out, bracing themselves for what could be a major showdown, but instead, we see Linda brandishing a gun at an apologetic Arthur, who is asking for forgiveness after attacking her Quaker friend.
We hear the gun fire and someone falls to the ground. Arthur still seems in one piece though, and then the truth is revealed and Linda is on the floor. Who has saved the day? Of course, it's matriarch Polly, who had just been proposed to, finally.
It wasn't the first shock of the episode though. Earlier on, we see one of Tommy's constituents, Mrs Connors, head to her MP's office as a last resort. She says her drunken, violent husband strangled her 'three babies', saying she has brought the bodies with her.
Unravelling a blanket, we're bracing ourselves for a gruesome sight. She places it on the table and it turns out to be three birds.
Advert
"Their singing was the only pretty thing in my life. I don't care my husband beats me. But not this," she says.
"Mrs Connors we have your address. We will speak to your husband," Tommy promises her, tasking Arthur with getting her three new goldfinches. Ominous.
One of the main things people have clocked is how Tommy's health seems to have deteriorated as each episode passes.
Advert
He's got a lot on his plate, Tommy Shelby. There's his impending inevitable clash with the violent, brutal Billy Boys and the constant fear that someone is coming to take his 'crown', but people think something else might be the end of our Tommy.
That persistent, nasty sounding cough, his spiralling drug use and continuing visions of Grace are making many doubtful of a sixth season.
Peaky Blinders airs on Sundays at 9pm on BBC One.
Featured Image Credit: BBCTopics: TV and Film, Peaky Blinders
