Warning: Contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders season 6.
In the Tommy Shelby’s season 6 ending serves to set up his approach to the Peaky Blinders movie in a complex way.
Having been told that he has tuberculoma and will lose his functions within 18 months, Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) prepares to take his own life once he has put his affairs in order. However, at the last moment he has a realization portrayed as a vision of his dead daughter, that he has been lied to and Doctor Holford (Aneurin Barnard) was in league with Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin). After confronting but sparking Holford’s life, Shelby returns to find that his caravan has been set ablaze.
It is well established in Peaky Blinders season 6 that they have their funerals by laying the body in a caravan and lighting it as a funeral pyre, as seen with both Polly Gray and Ruby Shelby, with Tommy asking Arthur (Paul Anderson) to do the same for him. When the Shelbys find Tommy’s caravan burnt along with his belongings, they will assume that he is dead. This idea copies the end of Peaky Blinders season 3 when Tommy shoots Alfie Solomons (Tom Hardy) in the face and he is assumed dead. Just like Alfie, this sets Tommy up to be thought dead by some of his enemies and allies alike, giving him a freedom of movement ahead of the Peaky Blinders movie that is set to take the Shelbys all the way into World War II.
However, this ending for Peaky Blinders season 6 complicates things for, just as with Alfie Solomons Tommy Shelby quickly worked out that he was still alive, Tommy’s enemies also will know that Tommy is alive. While some factions of his enemies will believe the stories of his demise and be shocked by his return, with Doctor Holford still alive it seems extremely likely that Oswald Mosley and his cohort will soon learn that Tommy did not take his own life. This still will give Tommy a chance to regroup in the shadows, but casts a dark question about how long those who care about him will be allowed to think that he has met his demise.
Neatly, this copy of Alfie Solomons Peaky Blinders season 3 false death for Tommy in season 6 mirrors another assumed death from Peaky Blinders season 4. During the boxing match in season 4, Arthur appears to be killed by Luca Changretta’s (Adrien Brody) men. As with Tommy and Alfie, his death was falsely reported allowing him to be part of a surprise attack. It is unclear exactly how Tommy Shelby’s final appearance for the Peaky Blinders movie will play out, but the connection between his apparent death and Alfie and Arthurs suggests he will take full advantage of it.