Peaky Blinders: Tommy Shelby is at death"s door. Plus, 8 other things we learned from episode 4

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Don"t mess with the creepy cleric

Tommy finally got permission to kill Hughes but we knew it wouldnt be that easy. Having laid a trap and lulled his foe into a false sense of security, Hughes hired muscle jumped Tommy as he was poised to pull the trigger. A brutal beating was administered and Tommys skull sickeningly fractured. That cracking sound wont be forgotten in a hurry.

How sinister was Hughes beatific smile as he watched Tommy suffer, then that smug scene at The Ritz as he forced Tommy to apologise? When Hughes made him replace Gods name with his own in the Act of Contrition, it became clear what a megalomaniac the poisonous padre truly is.

Could Mary be the mole in the Shelbys midst?

Hughes hissed dark threats about Ada and Tommys toddler son Charles, warning: We have people in your life. My moneys on one of his sisters-in-law, Linda (Kate Phillips) or Esme (Aimee-Ffion Edwards). Then again, housekeeper Mary (Wendy Nottingham) suddenly has a higher profile. Et tu, Mary?

Feminism has reached Small Heath

Why should the men have all the fun? As they lived like lords, the fed-up Shelby women were left to do all the work. Encouraged by troublesome Linda, they staged a walkout and joined the city-wide march of female workers on the Bullring to demand equality. Polly even ended up making revolutionary speeches from the back of a wagon.

Jessie Eden, the female shop steward who was mentioned, was a real historical figure - a wartime munitions worker turned militant unionist who played a key local role in the 1926 General Strike.

Girl power was everywhere. Linda played hardball with Tommy over husband Arthurs slice of the loot, haggling him up from 30,000 to 41,000. Pregnant Esme told John that she felt like a hen in a coop. Lizzie (Natasha OKeeffe) expressed dissatisfaction at Tommy using her for s*x. The women even got their own slo-mo sequence, striding through the streets of Small Heath to the strains of PJ Harvey.

You wait ages for a robbery and two come along at once

So now we know the final play, which will unfold over the next two weeks. Double agent Hughes has been dealing arms for the White Russians - while feeding information to the Soviets. The British establishment want the Soviets to blow up the train, committing a violent act on UK soil which allows the government to break off diplomatic relations.

Tommy knows the armoured cars stolen from the Lanchester factory are merely bait and the Peaky Blinders are being sacrificed, so needs to pull off the heist while keeping his men out of danger. Neither does he trust the Russians to pay up, so is planning a daring raid on their subterranean treasury that same night. Think Hatton Garden: the Prequel.

The best episode so far

This third run got off to a slow start but cranked into gear here with a corking hour of drama. The plot moved on apace, twists came thick and fast, there was tense action and delicious dialogue. Like a gathering storm, its all building brilliantly towards the climactic two episodes.

Next week

The penultimate instalment sees Tommy call in help, cousin Michael embrace the badness, Pollys portrait unveiled and the Russians throw one helluva party.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/05/26/peaky-blinders-tommy-shelby-is-at-deaths-door-plus-8-other-thing/