‘Peaky Blinders’ Season 4, Episode 2 Recap: New Friends, New Enemies, New War

Welp, as you no doubt have heard, the Shelby brothers are back for another season of suit wearing, whiskey drinking, family feuding, bloodthirsty ganster hijinx. That’s right, Peaky Blinders Season 4 premiered on Netflix Thursday and now you can spend your Christmas holiday watching them fight with each other when not fighting with new badguy Luca Changretta, played by Adrien Brody, who’s out to avenge his father and brother, who the Peaky Blinders gang bumped off last season.

Despite the rest of his family living in Birmingham, England, Changretta is portrayed as an American Mafioso, with an accent that sounds like he’s got a mouth full of gnocchi, in clear emulation of Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone character from The Godfather. It’s pretty ham-handed and frankly, as a fellow native New Yorker, I expect more from Brody, though he does play him with a cool menace, and I guess he sounds no less ridiculous than Tom Hardy does as London Jewish gangster Alfie Solomons so I’ll get over it. If those two ever meet up, however, I’m going to need to put the subtitles on. Well, actually I already do watch it with the subtitles on.

Back to the story at hand, episode two opens up with Peaky Blinders gang leader Tommy Shelby and his son back in the ghettos of Small Heath, Nick Cave’s “The Mercy Seat” is playing, so you know things are grim. At the end of episode one, Changretta’s gunmen popped out of a bale of hay and gunned down younger brother John Shelby and nephew Michael Gray. John is dead, but Michael looks like he’s going to pull through. On the upside, his injury has managed to pull his mother Polly out of her drink and drug induced fog, though she’s still talking to spirits, but you know, they are Irish Gypsies, so that’s not such a big deal.

As a means of protection Tommy has the whole family hunkered down in the old neighborhood. Unfortunately, there’s oodles of bad blood between them over Tommy having them all hauled off to prison, a plot point which I still don’t see any reason for besides making the season three finale extra dramatic. But nothing brings a family together like a vendetta, so they agree to settle their differences after they’ve dealt with Changretta. After taking a vote on it, Tommy curtly says, “Five for peace, two for truce, one abstention. Let’s get on with the war.” Not for nothing, but Peaky Blinders one-liner game this season is strong.

Aiding the Shelbys in their war is Aberama Gold, played by Aidan Gillen, fresh from having his throat cut on Game Of Thrones, where he played master manipulator Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish. Gold is a Romani Gypsy, as opposed to an Irish Gypsy like the Shelbys, as Johnny Dogs says a “heathen,” from which the episode gets its name, and almost as unlikable character as Baelish. He makes a grand entrance, stabbing a Mafia sniper about to shoot up John’s funeral, though for some reason sports foppish long hair, which undercuts his supposed fearsomeness. Before breaking bread with the Shelbys, he makes a play for their uncle’s yard. Tommy says he’ll flip a coin for it, heads, Gold gets the yard, tails, “I fuck your daughter Mr. Gold.” Seems like a fair trade, but Gold backs down. He keeps the coin though, saying he’ll use it “put a flower on his grave when the time comes.” You know this guy’s going to be a total pain in the ass, right?

What Gold really wants, though, is for the Shelbys to help kickstart his son’s boxing career. Bonnie Gold impresses them by beating the stuffing out of a factory worker who was a former boxing champ. “I could fight a fookin’ tree Mr. Shelby and knock it out.” Again, excellent one liner. Tommy agrees to take him on and also make him part of the gang. Literally. “You’re a Peaky Blinder now son,” he says, handing one of the gang’s signature caps. Why do I think this won’t end well.

Also waiting at the factory is Luca Changretta, who comes to gloat over winning round one of the war, show him the bullets he’s picked out for the entire Shelby family, and insult Tommy’s tailor. THAT SON OF A BITCH! When Tommy pulls out his gun, Luca says, hey, no big deal, I already had someone sneak in and steal the bullets. Man, this guy’s good. He then says he could have Tommy killed anytime he wants but he wants him to die last so he can see the rest of his family get killed off. The good news, though, is he says he wants to “fight this vendetta with honor,” which means no civilians, no children, no police, which, you know, seems reasonable.

Benjamin H. Smith is a New York based writer, producer and musician. Follow him on Twitter:@BHSmithNYC.

Watch Peaky Blinders Season 4 Episode 2 ("Heathens") on Netflix