What is Peaky Blinders' best season? Fans split between two answers — and neither is the finale
Six seasons, 36 episodes, one film — and one argument that refuses to die. Ask a room of Peaky Blinders fans to name the show's peak and you'll get two answers shouted over each other.
Season 2 or season 4. Almost never season 6.
The case for season 2
The 2014 season is where the show found its swagger. Tommy pushes into London, Polly gets her revenge on Inspector Campbell, and — most importantly — Tom Hardy arrives as Alfie Solomons, instantly one of television's great scene-stealers. It ends with Tommy facing execution at Epsom, saved at the last second, in what many still call the most iconic scene the series ever produced. Reviewing the era for the Guardian in 2018, Rebecca Nicholson summed up the show's appeal:
"It's witty, thrilling and a total pleasure to watch."
The case for season 4
The 2017 season is leaner and meaner: a straight vendetta, with Adrien Brody's Luca Changretta and the New York Mafia coming to Small Heath to wipe out the Shelbys. It's the season that kills John, brings the family back under one roof, and delivers episode after episode of pure momentum.
Rotten Tomatoes critics praised the fourth season for doubling down on the violence without losing the show's meticulous craft.
Where does everything else land?
- Season 1 (2013) — the origin story; universally respected, rarely anyone's number one.
- Season 3 (2016) — the Russians-and-priests season; the most divisive of the early run.
- Season 5 (2019) — Oswald Mosley elevates it, but the cliffhanger split fans.
- Season 6 (2022) — the finale season, made without the late Helen McCrory, generally ranked mid-table at best.
So which is it?
Depends what you want. Season 2 is Peaky Blinders at its most alive — Alfie, Campbell, the Epsom gambit. Season 4 is the show at its most focused — one enemy, one war, no fat. The fanbase has never settled it, and with The Immortal Man now on Netflix continuing the story, the argument has fresh fuel.