"Episode 3.5" is the fifth episode of the third series of Peaky Blinders and the seventeenth episode overall. It aired on June 2nd, 2016.
Synopsis
As the Russians test the Peaky Blinders, Tommy realises that he is seriously outmanoeuvred. But he has an ace up his sleeve.
Plot
After his brutal beating by Father Hughes’ henchmen, Thomas Shelby spends the next three months convalescing in hospital. Towards the end of his stay, he gets visited from his cousin. Michael insinuates that he was abused by the priest while in care as a child, and asks if he can be the one to shoot him. The leader of the Peaky Blinders quietly agrees. After Thomas is allowed to return home, he quick knocks the morphine he’s been prescribed on the head, because it gives him bizarre dreams about his elderly housekeeper.
Meanwhile, Thomas starts to piece together the plan he formulated whilst recuperating. The Blinders remove all the firing pins from the tanks, to smooth things over with the Soviets. Johnny Dogs is ordered to set up camp on a portion of land he’s bought, which will cover the tunnel through to the Georgians strong-room, to be dug by Thomas’s first world war veteran buddies. Thomas’s frenemy Alfie Solomons also responds to the call. Alfie promptly starts pushing all of Arthur’s buttons, offering a half-hearted apology for having him beaten during their previous dealings, and then mocking him for “finding Jesus”.
Thomas, Arthur and John go to the Georgian’s stately home, guarded by Cossack soldiers. After a humiliating naked inspection by Princess Tatiana and Grand Duchess Izabella to check for any Russian tattoos, the boys indulge in the orgy, complete with lots of vodka. Meanwhile, Solomons accompanies Thomas to the strong-room, where he acts as his valuer and sets about accumulating enough jewelry and jewels to cover the payment for the robbery. All the while, Solomons antagonizes the Royals revealing that his mother fled Russia hunted with dogs. When the trinkets, including a Fabergé egg, have been totted up to £70,000, it is set aside until the tanks are delivered.
Michael Gray
Elsewhere, Polly and Michael visit Ada in London so she can officially join the family business as Head of Property and Acquisitions. Michael’s mind is elsewhere, however, as he nervously books an appointment with the local abortionist after getting his heiress girlfriend, Charlotte, pregnant. Polly’s mind is also preoccupied, and after some encouragement from her niece, she goes to see Ruben Oliver. After viewing her finished portrait, she finally throws caution to the wind, and they have sex. Afterwards, she advises her new lover to call the painting ‘Fuck them all!’, before divulging that she once killed a policeman.
Back at the orgy, Thomas goes to Tatiana’s room where she engages him in erotic asphyxiation, cutting off his air until he hallucinates seeing Grace. In the meantime, Arthur has consumed enough vodka to self-loathingly removing his wedding ring mid-shag with one of the maids. John still finds the time between Cossack dancing, to meet with their spy on the inside, to stiffen his nerves, since he’s struggling to fend off requests for blow jobs from the Grand Duke.
The following day, Polly learns that Michael plans to kill the priest. She furiously demands Thomas speak with her about it. He initially refuses to tell her why, suggesting she doesn’t want to know, but eventually relents and tells her of the abuse Michael suffered. With stone cold conviction, Polly tells Thomas that she’ll bring his whole empire down if her boy pulls the trigger.
Trivia
- The Georgians are paying the Blinders £70,000, which is the equivalent of £3.6 million today. They get the Fabergé egg for £32,400, which is the equivalent of £1.7 million today. It's true that some eggs are now valued at £20 million today. However, if anything, they got ripped-off. The famous Winter Egg was sold for a mere $4,760 in 1949.
Quotes
- Alfie Solomons: "You're fucking about with Russians, in't you? You silly boy."
- Alfie Solomons: "I’m guessing that all the bad ideas round here, they’re you. They are you, aren't they?”
- Polly Shelby (to Ruben Oliver): "You should call this painting Fuck Them All."
- Arthur Shelby: "I’m Old Testament”
- Polly Shelby: "I swear to God if my son pulls the trigger, I will bring this whole fucking organisation down around your ears."
Soundtrack
"You Want It Darker" – Leonard Cohen
"Lazarus" – David Bowie
"Cherry Lips" – Archie Bronson Outfit
"Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" – Queen Kwong
"Need" – Ernesto Deep
"Monkey 23" – The Kills
Image Gallery