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In the season finale of Netflix’s Peaky Blinders, Tommy (Cillian Murphy) and the Blinders are preparing to take down Billy Kimber and his men at Worchester race track when they get word Kimber got the jump on them and are heading to Birmingham.

What just happened?

In a cold open, we see the owner of the dry cleaner/prostitution ring (at least the sheets are always fresh!) brushing his teeth. The familiar theme of “Red Right Hand” isn’t playing, already making this episode starkly more ominous than the others. Inspector Campbell (Sam Neill) strolls in, asks the owner for one of his girls, and proceeds to rape her, despite his constant need to tout how good a man he is.

After spending the night with Grace (Annabelle Wallis), Tommy is on cloud nine, smiling for the first time ever during the whole series. He rounds up his troops to get ready to take down Kimber and his men at Worchester race track and swings by the dry cleaners to pick up their suits when the shop owner lets him know Campbell is inside. Tommy intrudes. “By the end of the day, your heart will be broken,” Campbell says defiantly before walking out to meet Winston Churchill.

Just as the Blinders are ready to leave for Worchester, Tommy gets word that Kimber and his men are already on their way to Birmingham — they were tipped off by someone in Tommy’s inner circle. He realizes the only other person he spoke to about Black Star Day was Grace. Campbell was right, his heart is broken.

Before Kimber and his men approach the street outside the Garrison, Tommy gives a poignant speech, and it’s clear this battle of territory will be about the fight in the dog because these Blinders are severely outnumbered. Kimber approaches, through he trails his men while Tommy is wide open, leading his Blinders, not showing the slightest bit of fear. Just as they’re getting ready to fight, Tommy summons Freddie (whom he had Danny rescue from prison) who wields an automatic cannon of a gun to intimidate the Kimber gang. Ada, however, will simply not stand for this war nonsense (MORE ON THIS IN A BIT).

Kimber shoots Tommy point blank in the chest and then one of his men shoot Danny dead. Tommy shifts into autopilot and shoots Kimber right in the dome, freezing his men in their places. “This was between Kimber and I only. Go home to your families,” he orders. It’s now obvious that Tommy is not only respected and feared, but worshipped. The Kimber men take their pitiful leader’s body and drag it back home.

While the Blinders are celebrating, Tommy sneaks away to revisit Grace and be like, WTF, I thought we had a beautiful night together? Grace tells him she loves him, and he doesn’t exactly reciprocate being that she double-crossed him and all. She asks him to come to New York with her and to take time with his decision. At the very end of the finale, Tommy types a letter to Grace telling her he’ll make his decision in three days. We see Grace standing on the train platform edge, ready to head back to London, just as Campbell approaches holding a gun to her head.

So, Ada’s a fucking boss.

Just as the Blinders and Kimbers folks are about to fight to the death, Ada (Sophie Rundle) pushes her baby in its stroller right smack in the middle of the two groups. She’s dressed as if she’s going to a funeral, and her baby boy, Karl (named after Karl Marx), is wailing so loud you can barely hear her as she says, “I believe this is what you boys call ‘no man’s land. Shut up and listen.” She steps away from the stroller and looks at both sides like they’re foreign to her. Mind you, this is the rebellious little girl who was sleeping with her brother’s arch nemesis just for the thrill of it and got knocked up. When you think of the smartest or most rational character on the show, Ada sure as hell doesn’t come to mind. Until now:

Most of you were in France. So you know what happens next. I’ve got brothers and a husband here, but you’ve all got somebody waiting for you. I’m wearing black in preparation. I want you to look at me. I want you all to look at me! Who’ll be wearing black for you? Think about them. Think about them right now. Fight if you want to, but that baby ain’t moving anywhere…

Of course, Kimber is the douche who just had to shoot, but the rest of the men seem like they had the wind knocked out of them. Tommy swiftly ends it, but Ada saves everyone’s lives and becomes a game-changer — not only for the Blinders prosperity by saving her family, but also for her city. A damsel truly in distress, but she chooses not to lie down. Creator Steven Knight has penned the female characters on this show in a similar fashion to how D.B. Weiss and David Benioff shape the powerful women of Game of Thrones. Ada, Grace, and of course, Polly are strong, intelligent, and sometimes brutal women who, in an era where women have no clout on the surface, have far more control than what meets the eye.

What to expect next season:

The Blinders have won against the Kimber clan and are now officially (legal) owners of their own race track, the third largest in England, which means mo’ money, mo’ problems. Freddie and Ada are finally reunited and hopefully live happily ever after. Grace, however, will be lucky if she lives at all.

In awaiting next season,know now that it’s not a wise to binge-watch this one. Enjoy it, digest it, think about it. It’s far deeper than six 60-minute episodes will allow it to go.

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Photos: BBC/Netflix