5 Best Tommy Shelby Moments In Peaky Blinders

Cillian Murphy might have an Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” but for many viewers, the award-winning star will be forever known as Thomas Shelby, head of the feared head of the Peaky “f*****g” Blinders. A character that fans can’t get enough of, he’s set to return in “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” with Murphy also overseeing a sequel of the show, serving as an executive producer.

Taking on the role in Steven Knight’s beloved period crime drama in 2013, Murphy’s time with the head of the Shelby household has been slightly sporadic, given the gap between the show’s six seasons, but that hasn’t stopped Murphy from bringing his A-game every time he’s donned that unmistakable haircut and the razor-sharp headgear to match. Focused and feared in equal measure, Thomas Shelby has gone up against gangs, families, and even political forces, surviving a series of nail-biting and heartbreaking moments that define him as a flawed antihero.

Whether he is backed into a corner defending his family or calmly issuing orders for major events, Thomas Shelby is a man wrestling with his own existence, yet never hesitating to end someone who stands in his way. It’s exactly this layered intensity that has helped cement “Peaky Blinders” as one of the best TV shows of its era. Thanks to these defining traits, we have put together five moments that show Tommy Shelby at his strongest, weakest, and undeniably coolest. So straighten up, dress sharp, and follow us to the edge of town and across the track to remember this television legend.

It might be an easy pick, but honestly, not including it on this list would almost feel unforgivable. The opening of “Peaky Blinders” gave everything the audience needed to know about what would become a truly groundbreaking series, while also hinting at just what kind of an enigma its central antihero was and why we’d learn to love him. That slow-motion stroll through town on horseback told us everything we needed to know, presenting Tommy as a mysterious figure that felt like a man out of time. Marching into a new era in history with his head hanging low, the leader of the Peaky Blinders had a presence that couldn’t be ignored. So much so that the streets clear out for fear of being caught in his path.

And yet, even with this presence and clear indication of the reputation that follows this tall, handsome man that’s towering over the streets of Birmingham, we also get a glimpse into what would become one of Tommy’s greatest weaknesses — his fear of the unknown. Even a criminal mastermind of his caliber asks for a good-luck charm for his prized horse, showing that a man chasing the future is still tethered to the superstitions of the past. It’s this belief that plagues Tommy throughout the series, following himself and his family, sometimes to their graves.

Like so many pivotal moments with Tommy in “Peaky Blinders”, the head Shelby can command a scene without saying a word, even when he’s outgunned, outmanned, and out of options. One such instance involved Shelby having a business meeting with his rival and frenemy, Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy), which turns deadly. Anticipating that the whiskey-making gangster would go back on the original agreement, Tommy warns him that if they don’t come to a solution, a grenade stowed away when he entered Alfie’s distillery while tying his shoe and manned by an “arsonist” friend waiting outside (a young Josh O’Connor) will be triggered and blow them all to hell.

When Hardy and Murphy share the screen in “Peaky Blinders,” the chemistry is undeniable, and this scene shows exactly how well each actor plays to his strengths. Hardy as Solomon is practically fizzing over being played by the man who is sitting so calmly and calling all the shots when he doesn’t really have any. And yet, even with these negotiation tactics, there’s a sliver of respect between the two, even if Tommy acts like he doesn’t care “because I’m already dead.” Throughout “Peaky Blinders,” Tommy’s life often hangs by a thread, but here it feels as fragile as a loose shoelace.

While he might have escaped death at the hands of Alfie Solomons, it was during the very same episode in its final moments that Tommy looked to be all out of chances and accepted that to be the case. In the Season 2 finale, Tommy’s hopes for a bright future are dashed when he’s kidnapped by Major Campbell’s men and driven out to a field to meet his fate that comes in the form of an open grave. For Thomas, his meeting with death has been a long time coming, having already had near scrapes during the war, and as a result, has now become numb to whenever his end may be.

Instead, Shelby’s emotions are fueled by the life he almost had and the fresh start he believed awaited him with Grace (Annabelle Wallis). Taking what he feels to be his last few drags of a cigarette, it’s one of the rare instances where we see Tommy, laughing over how he came “so f*****g close,” finally ready to head into the bleak midwinter.

Thankfully, the world and Winston Churchill have other plans for Shelby, and in waiting for a gunshot, he instead hears two ring out, leaving him to live another day. While he might’ve escaped execution, it’s in Tommy’s lonely weeping while wandering across a field to show that the damage is done. The smartest and strongest member of the Shelby family survives, but from this point on, he is merely existing.

There are times when “Peaky Blinders” characters are at their best when they show the smallest signs of normalcy. They might be living within a world of crime and killing, but these folks are all human, after all, and it’s during Tommy’s marriage to Grace that the Shelbys show they can be upstanding people when they absolutely have to. Sort of.

While some might get pre-wedding jitters before the ceremony, Tommy is instead proving that he’s still the head of the family even when it comes to civil matters. Marching through cousins, brothers, and family friends, Tommy demands there be no fighting on his wedding day, prompting uneasy shuffling and scowls.

It’s another brilliantly simple but now iconic moment in Steven Knight’s show; it wonderfully displays that the Shelbys can spend some time within the confines of society every so often, as opposed to the criminal world they’ve made their own. It is also a clear indicator of just how important Grace is to Tommy. The tragedy is that, try as he might, Thomas’ way of life can’t co-exist with whatever future he hopes to have with the woman who stole his heart, which is made clearly apparent in the next episode. While it might be a moment for laughs, Tommy applying the “no fighting” rule is one that, like so many others, will always be broken, whether Shelby likes it or not.

There’s no doubt that for most of “Peaky Blinders.” Tommy Shelby has always remained ahead of the curve. Besides hatching schemes that not even his family is often privy to, he always seems to have people mapped out. It’s fitting then that the one person that he didn’t figure out initially was the one that he fell so hard for and proved to be one of the greatest dangers to his organization. When Grace Burgess walked into The Garrison Pub, Tommy’s life changed forever. Planted as an undercover agent to monitor the Shelbys’ activities, Thomas became the most exposed by showing Grace a side to him that few had really seen.

By this point, Tommy was merely existing, still scarred by his experience in The Great War and the horrors he’d witnessed. It was in one of the first initial conversations with Grace, however, that he got a look at what a life could be outside of the one he was just barely present in.

That first glimpse comes in Season 1, Episode 2, when Grace begins to thaw the cold, broken heart Tommy insists he already has. As beautiful a moment as it may be, it’s one of the few sincere times Grace and Tommy have together before her secret is revealed, and an illusion of the doomed relationship that’s yet to meet such a bleak and harrowing end further down the line.