A thought I’ve been having since seeing PB season 5 is the huge class difference between Tommy and his peers, which is always very evident through the show but it reminded me of a part of Downton Abbey s3. Set in the same time as peaky, a former maid at Downton becomes a prostitute then is hired by cousin Isobel who wants to give her a break. But when Lord Grantham finds out he forbids all his daughters and wife from going to the house bc just being in her presence ( even if she’s just a maid/cook ) could ruin their reputation. Obviously, there is a difference between an MP and a lord over an estate but still, it’s always struck me as such a huge thing. Tommy is a Romani born on a boat and his wife is a former prostitute and here they are throwing big parties and mingling with high society. And the fact that its not even a hidden thing since Mosley knew her makes me wonder if everyone knows? Do they just think of him as “Thegypsy and his prostitute wife”. Like realistically how did he even get to his MP position? Sure he’s techencially a family man…but what kind? I know things like that do happen but the logistics of it are kinda iffy? Its a wonder given society standards back then and the company they are around in s5 that people would accept them even on a business level. anyway, just some thoughts…. also kinda tying back to this post about Charlie ( and Rubys ) upbringing, and how they would be affected.
What i ADORE from tommy is that he shares and if he gets wealthy, so will his family (john, arthur, pol, michael, ada). He always makes sure they have what they need.
Of course, but OF FUCKING COURSE they refer to him as “the g- and the prostitute”, but he doesn’t care. Why? Because he has more power than them.
Tommy has a plan against Mosley, and his disguised insult to lizzie will not be taken nicely.
He got the MP position for the same thing they refer to him as “Mr. Shelby” and not other thing when someone of his team is around; POWER. Because money is that, power.
And as to charlie and ruby… He has that ‘they’ll understand when they’re older’ thing. Which, they will, but you lose something, you gain something.
Even if charlie hears that, he is safe. And tommy would fight everyone to make sure he is safe. (No, I’m not forgetting to mention ruby. we all know it’s different)
If tommy cared about what charlie heard, he would have moved him to another school or whatever, but i think he doesn’t care if I’m being honest. His only concern is safety.
They will never fit in, but they will be safe. Tommy never fitted in and he will never fit in. But he was never safe and he can now, partially at least, provide safety for his family. A roof, food and places to be comfortable in.
Tommy wants to be sure that his kids are so high up that, if another war came around (which, it does) they could bribe their way out.
As to lizzie… She isn’t ashamed of who she was, at least in public, she holds her head up high and that takes everyone else’s power away
Real1930s dresses, sewing patterns and accessories that remind me of/compared to Lizzie Starks orange evening dress <3
Details:
The top left = came from a 1930s copy of McCall printed pattern? (Not too sure that that’s the right name but it was the only name on the magazine so it’s my best guess)
The top right = a dress that was made following a 1930s sewing pattern
The right of the second row = an original 1930s shoulder cape
The third row = a 1922 add for evening gloves
(had to use something from the 20s for the comparison because despite this series of peaky being set in the 30s those long gloves were popular in the 20s where as much shorter gloves were worn in the 30s so most adds from that time only showed short gloves :) )
The bottom left = a page from a book of examples of evening wear 1930-34
The bottom right = the cover of a copy of 1930s vogue
I was watching season 5 of Peaky Blinders and I’m pretty sure when Lizzie said get away from my child, she implied Charles who was in the first floor instead. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that was what spurred her to go out and diffuse the situation because she feared for his safety. If she really was worried about only Ruby in the first place then why would she drag Charles with her in the previous scene? Think about it
Do you think you could do a meta of the difference’s between tommy’s romantic relationships? Mainly between Grace, May, and Lizzie. Especially G and L. I see so many people say he’s starting to fall for L (saying she was his property and hand holding this season).
OK, l don’t know if you’re new to this fandom , if you are l want you to know that 95% of the fandom is anti grace shelby which means that the fandom will only give you a distorted and very partial view of grace and lizzie !!
The FANDOM would have you believe that tommy wasn’t in love with grace, that tommy loves the idea of grace not grace, that tommy has been in love with lizzie for years but he just didn’t want to admit it because she wasn’t from a higher social class, they would have you believe that grace didn’t love tommy but his money….that grace and tommy had nothing in common when they were basically the same person but in different sides of the law(l could point out all their similarities here but not the topic) .The fandom as a whole hate that woman so take anything people say with a large pinch of salt lol.
Quick summary:
The fisrt season is set in 1919 and season 5 is set in 1929 which means that lizzie has known tommy for at least 12 years (She was in tommy’s life before grace we know this because tommy mentioned it in their first scene and she’s still in his life years after grace’s death).
Lizzie has known tommy for 12years… 12 years during which they had an off and on no strings attached sex. Tommy used her sevice when there was no woman in his life and stopped using it when he was with grace and maybe may .
For tommy it was just sex but lizzie wanted it to be more than what it was.
We saw it in 2x01 when she asked to be treated like a woman with whom he had a relationship with instead of a prostitute
“ l wish just once you wouldn’t PAY ME .”
“As if we were ordinary people” but tommy brushed her off.
We saw it in 2x06 when she was excited he was taking her to the derby and she proudly showed off her dress , lizzie “what do you think” tommy “about what” lizzie “about the dress” his answer to her was “ undo two buttons”.
We saw it when she tells him “there’s been no hardship (giving up prostitution) you know why?“....she was probably going to mention her feelings for him but he ignored her again….Because she agreed to do what was asked of her, tommy offered her money
”l’d like to pay you an extra five–”.
So….why did I bother quickly re-capping up to this point?
Because that summary…the scenes l mentioned are not lizzie’ and tommy’s marriage origin story but their whole story.
l’m going to point out a few of the differences between tommy x grace and tommy x lizzie pairing and similar moments with dramatically different outcomes since that’s what we are here for:
-Tommy and lizzie had sex with no emotional connection and without knowing each other personnally for years / when tommy and grace spent a year getting to know each other and only slept together when they were already in love .
-The child that lizzie and tommy had together was conceived while he was “fucking someone else in his head”/trying to reconnect with his past / when the child that tommy and grace had together was conceived when tommy was trying to reconnect with grace a woman he loved and failed to get out of his system.
-When grace was with kimber tommy was in the car the entire time, and couldn’t stop thinking about her / when lizzie was with the soldier she was supposed to seduce to help tommy, tommy was with campbell talking about grace and her feelings for him.
-Lizzie’ pregnancy reveal
Tommy loves children and having another child was a good news…. to lizzie it was also a chance to establish an emotional connection with tommy something she’s failed to do for years .
Tommy“l got three. lizzie”
Lizzie“l know tom”
Tommy“one of them point blank”
Lizzie with tommys’ hand in hers and a tender smile on her face “A baby a little you and me.”
Tommy doesn’t react to what she just said, he breaks the eyes contact and then repeats “point blank lizzie” .You could see the smiles gradually disapearing from her face. She was trying to connect with him but he wasn’t listening to her , and all he wanted to think or talk about was luca changretta and his men .
Tommy added “and he looked up to me” then said “fuck” . He drank his wisky and ended up the conversation by saying
” you will get an allowance every week from the company business is booming l will buy you a nice house , eh . “
Once again he offered her MONEY, when all she wanted was to share a special moment with him, she wanted him to share her excitement….that news could’ve been the beginning of something beautiful between them but it didn’t work because he still didn’t reciprocates her feelings.
-Grace’ pregnancy reveal
Grace with her tenderest, most loving expression on “Because the thing is , I love you , not him ”
Tommy still shaken to the core by the baby news can’t stop looking at her in wonder. In his softest voice he answered “that is a thing”
Grace “a baby thomas” tommy’s eyes went downward to her baby bump while saying “yes”. They stared at each other for a few second without saying anything… She loves him, they are having a baby and she LOVES him…and she chose him…tommy put his affairs in order because he thought he was going to die. He was prepared to die and was at peace with the idea of his death . But now he’s not because a life with a person he’s been moping over for years is suddenly possible but he’s going to die. That pregnancy reveal was a very bittersweet moment for tommy.
All the scenes mentioned above prove one thing that tommy was emotionally invested in grace and emotionally close to her SHE WAS HIS HAPPY PLACE….that’s why her presence calmed him. They were so emotionally connected that she was able to silence his demons ,he stopped hearing the shovels when he was with her…
THE SHOVELS STOPPED WHEN HE WAS WITH HER.
Silencing tommy’s demons is something lizzie’s presence was never able to do and is stil not able to do, we saw it in season 5. Grace’s death is tommy’s after war trauma 2.0 and he’s till struggling dealing with that trauma 6 years after grace’s death…6 YEARS AFTER HER DEATH . The only times lizzie comes close to what grace was able to do is when they are having sex,
“lizzie l want it known that money was for you.
Because SOME nights it was you who stopped my heart from breaking” . (SEX….Sex…having sex with two women just after he burned grace’s letter stopped his heart from breaking, sex with tatiana stopped his heart from breaking , sex with lizzie just after grace’s death…SEX… It’s less about love for tommy but more about having a woman’s presence by his side to avoid his thoughts and the unbearable pain in his heart that won’t leave him…SEX….SEX IS HIS COPING MECHANISM and what he said to lizzie before giving her his money confirms it).
Grace was the only woman tommy ever loved (maybe with the exception of greta but it wasn’t the same). He contemplated walking away from everything for her,
HE COMTEMPLATED WALKING AWAY FROM EVERYTHING FOR HEEER , knowing she had been undercover and sent to destroy him. And she’s also the only woman he ever envisioned his life with . The idea of her waiting at home for him made him so happy… tommy “Now is this how you’re going to be? You waiting at home for me, saying, ‘What time do you call this?‘” The smile on his face was the perfect illustration of pure happiness.
Lizzie is a good hearted woman but her and tommy have a very few things in common . She is a bit ( for a lack of a better word l would say) peevish when tommy is calm , calculated ,manipulative ….The only similarities between the two is the place in which they were raised and the fact that they are both on the “wrong” side of the law.
She’s the mother of tommy’s child and a loyal member of his clan. Lizzie was/is submissive and that’s one of the reasons tommy trusts her . I honestly think tommy cares for lizzie but he doesn’t love her and he only married her for image purposes.
I’m not sure that there has been any point in the show where we’re meant to believe that tommy is falling for lizzie… ( l mean you just don’t wake up one morning and realize that you’re in love with the woman you have been having no strings attached sex with for the past 12 years nope …it’s not realistic because love doesn’t work that way and because it’s not in tommy’s character)
…during season 5 we had quote like:
“Well you know in my head l still PAY YOU FOR IT!! “
“You said, in your head, you STILL PAY FOR IT. So I’ve decided to continue to take the PAYMENT and balance my heart against my head, as though it were a book of accounts.”
“When was the last time you had worry about shillings”
“The deal is you belong to me. My property, No one touches my property, everything is mine lizzie. Evrything.”
“Lay your claim”
Those quotes speak volumes!! during their conversations they were talking about money, MONEY, money again,
ownership and MONEY
they talked about money in season 1, 2, 3 ,4 and 5… they are always talking about money, it’s not love but
a financial transaction.
The phrase “lay your claim” was used for tommy and lizzie’ dynamic , that phrase relates to things not people. The use of that specific line reinforces the narrative established in this and the previous seasons, that Lizzie is someone he bought, his property, something he owns…it’s not love , it’s all about tommy’s ego, his love of power and his needs to control eveything and everyone.
People have misinterpreted their scenes. There is definitely a shift in their dynamic but not in the way people think . Lizzie has come to terms with the fact that tommy will never love her nor treat her like a wife should.
Tommy and lizzie have a whole deal in place where lizzie will stay and enjoy the perks of being Mrs Shelby and tommy can be with other women under certain conditions. Their marriage is somewhere between convenience and companionship.
MAY X TOMMY
May and tommy are too very attractive people, who were attracted to each other. Tommy respected her but was never in love with her. He loved her influence-her connections in the racing world, her social status and the opportunities that came along with it. May wasn’t in love with tommy either. She was fascinated by tommy’s violent, criminal world . She loved his ganster persona, his power- the fact that he was feared and respected “When I drove into Small Heath I thought I was going to be murdered,” she told him. “Then I mentioned your name. It was like being escorted to see a king” …She loved the idea of tommy shelby but wouldn’t have loved the man…the broken tommy, the violent tommy, the emotional tommy . She glamorized tommy’s life but she didn’t know the half of it. The thruth ismay would have hated it… not everyone can live in constant fear and not everyone is made for that life .
l believe he could’ve loved her but it would never have worked because they were from two different worlds.
Steven knight depicted / depicts 3 types of relationships that’s why the 3 ladies have different perspectives of tommy ( love , business and sex)
may believed that tommy would’ve picked her over grace because he was all about business. grace knew that tommy was all about love when it came to her and lizzie knew/knows that it was/is just sex and nothing else.
Love aside, lizzie is the perfect partner for tommy’s illegal activities she knows the peaky world, may is an aristocratic which makes her the perfect partner for tommy’s legal activies and his career in politics. Grace was the mix of both…she was an agent to the crown who thrives in tommy world. She knew politics and could’ve deal with them and she also knew the peaky blinders’ world and couldn’ve deal with gangsters if needed. SHE WAS THE PERFECT MATCH FOR TOMMY.
Parallels between Swan Lake & Peaky Blinders + Black Cat
In summary, this tale/ballet tells us the love story between Prince Siegfried and the queen of the swans, Odette, and how the sorcerer Rothbart tries to destroy this union through his daughter Odile, whom he apparently transforms into Odette to deceive Siegfried and due to that he swear eternal love to the false one. In the end, the prince fights Rothbart and wins, freeing Odette from the spell that turned her into a swan.
Well, reading this little work I realized the great similarity in things that PB has this season (S5) and why SK chose this particular ballet.
Parallelisms between the main characters in Swan Lake and Peaky Blinders
-Principe Siegfried / Thomas Shelby. He is the protagonist around whom the love conflict revolves, who also feels great devotion to one of the female characters, but both cannot be together due to the situation that she suffers. And he is in a one-sided / damaging relationship with another woman (although the relationship between Thomas and Lizzie is not as bad as Siegfried and Odile there isn’t ´´love`` but many demons there).
-Odette / Grace. She belongs to the upper class and is symbolized as a white swan which means purity or pure love (I understand it’s through the eyes of the protagonist). In the same web page of the series there’s a section in which they explain the relationship between the figure of the swan present throughout the season and Grace’s presence.
-Odile / Lizzie. She’d be the third wheel, who takes the place of Odette / Grace and wants to win the love of the man at all costs (that’s why Lizzie endures being treated with such contempt). Interestingly, she also has a strange relationship with Rothbart / Oswald Mosley when previously Lizzie has rarely related to other male characters, much less if they were the villain of the season. However, here that relationship seems to carry weight.
- Sorcerer Rothbart / Oswald Mosley. There are far fewer similarities between them, but what cannot be denied is that he is the protagonist’s manipulative adversary and as I said before he maintains a connection with Odile / Lizzie and a desire with Odette- Grace that I will explain later. Plus, he wants the kingdom of Odette’s father (Thomas’ empire)
Parallelisms between situations in one story and another
-Birthday: the story begins with the birthday of Prince Siegfried in the garden of his palace to move on to another celebration the next day with the porpous of finding a wife for him. He isn’s interested in any woman, he’s just thinking about seeing Odette again. / Lizzie’s birthday in the garden of their house. Thomas is fascinated with the dancer who plays the swan (the camera shows you), ignores Odile-Lizzie when she grabs his hand and ironically he leaves just before the swan dies in the play. And not only that, but the essence of Grace is there and they are telling you with her breathing.
Here’s a sidelight, in both situations there’s the figure of the queen as the prince’s sentimental advisor (in this case it’d be Polly Gray, remember when she introduce herself as queen of the gypsies to Mosley).
-Men whom forvidding is forvidden: Not much is specified about this in the tale but it seems that Rothbart turned a daughter of a king, Odette, into the queen of the swans and since then she can only be human again between midnight and the sunrise. IMHO Rothbart did this because he wanted her but he isn’t able to married her because he isn’t royalty, so he devises a very selfish way to keep her by his side. Of course there is a latent sexual desire that I interpret when I read that she is only capable of being a woman during the night, and as we all know it’s during that time that this kind of thing happens in the narrative. / Oswald Mosley is a very narcissistic and immoral person who doesn’t care doing bad things to get what he wants (he likes to look at himself in the mirror while having sex, he sleeps with his relatives and insults Thomas’s people whenever he can). Ofc when he is denied the possibility of doing something, sleeping with the dancers, that becomes his objective. That’s why he ends up wishing the main swan again.
Having established the connection between some elements and others, I think perhaps in the near future Lizzie could fall prey to Mosley’s manipulations. If you pay attention Lizzie in S5 it’s very different from the previous ones, physically and psychologically. Even her way of acting is more cold and determined. She accepts the rules of the game (<< You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you take >>). Therefore it’s possible that somehow she aligns with Oswald to obtain what she wants most and considering how much SK likes to create tragedy and drama in the lives of his characters this plot twist wouldn’t surprise me.
Anyway, maybe I speculate too much but I really think the clues are there and I’ve just pick up some of them. Personally I prefer this much more for Lizzie because the actress and her role is so underrated in many levels and I don’t buy the happy and lovely family portrait because that thing we had/have with Grace and that’d be very repetitive. I’d like to see her on a role which contributes in her own way to the story even If she has to be the villain or the black cat and not like someone else’s shadow…
UPDATE: In 5x1 Lizzie is wearing a coat with black swans patterned on it. (Thanks to Tumblr user craziigamerchick for sharing this detail that I didn’t see)
