‘Peaky Blinders’ Now Features the Most Annoying Crime Drama Trope, Thanks to ‘The Immortal Man’

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The epic story of Peaky Blinders has concluded, just as Tommy Shelby advised, “Go home to your families!” The show, which started on BBC Two thirteen years ago, finished with a sequel film on Netflix on March 20, 2026. While a new series following the Shelby family in the 1950s is reportedly being planned, Tommy Shelby’s story officially wrapped up with Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.

Did the Peaky Blinders movie deliver a satisfying conclusion? The Immortal Man has generally received positive reviews, and for good reason. It’s a thrilling, action-packed film with a compelling story involving Nazis, making it enjoyable even if you haven’t seen the series. However, the movie unfortunately undermines the strong ending of the TV show by relying on a tired trope common in crime dramas.

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS!

What Happens in ‘Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man’?

The new comic, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, begins during the bombing of Birmingham, England, in World War II. But the Nazis aren’t just focused on physical attacks. They’re planning to cripple Britain’s economy by flooding the country with fake money – a scheme actually based on a historical plot carried out using counterfeit currency printed by prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.

Shortly after, we find Tommy Shelby living a secluded life with his trusted friend, Johnny Dogs. It’s 1940, and he’s trying to write his life story – a surprising move for a gangster who usually keeps quiet about his affairs. His sister, Ada Shelby, now a Member of Parliament, arrives with troubling news: the Peaky Blinders, now run by Tommy’s son, Duke, are causing serious problems. Duke has fallen in with a dangerous crowd, partnering with Nazi agent John Beckett to flood Britain with £70 million in fake money.

It’s not surprising Tommy is reluctant, as he believes he’s already finished with everything. However, Kaulo Chiriklo – Zelda Chiriklo’s twin sister and the mother of his son, Duke, born in 1914 – changes his mind. She persuades him to admit to Ashur’s murder and asks him to go back to Birmingham to stop Duke from repeating his errors. Unfortunately, Beckett murders Ada before Tommy can arrive, which then sets up a quest for revenge.

The film ends with an epic showdown where Tommy uses a landmine to successfully incinerate the counterfeit money, thus ruining the Nazi plot. Beckett attempts to flee in his car and fires into Tommy’s abdomen twice. However, Tommy stays standing and makes sure to fire a kill shot at Beckett. The Blinders boss remains in his spot, intending to allow himself to be run over by the speeding car. Duke saves him, but Tommy encourages his son to kill him so that he can be free, something he agrees to. Tommy thus dies reciting the first line of Christina Rossetti’s famous poem “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

‘The Immortal Man’ Strips ‘Peaky Blinders’ of Its Uniqueness

The recent ending of Peaky Blinders, with its main character’s death, fits a frustrating pattern common in many crime dramas. TV writers seem increasingly pressured to kill off their antiheroes. We’ve seen it happen in shows like Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, Boardwalk Empire, and Power – the list goes on. Many fans even believe The Sopranos followed this same path with its ambiguous final scene.

Why do people get upset when complex TV characters survive the series finale? It shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing – it actually allows for more interesting endings. For example, in the final episode of Season 6, Tommy Shelby essentially rides off into the sunset, which felt like the right conclusion after all he’d been through. There’s no need to make a character nearly invincible just to kill them off in the end.

Tommy is initially saved when a car bomb meant for him explodes, killing some of Michael’s allies. A month after leaving the Shelby family, Tommy plans to end his life to escape the pain of a supposed illness, but discovers he was misdiagnosed. He’s then visited by the ghost of Ruby, who reveals a photograph of his doctor with Mosley and Diana on their wedding day, leading Tommy to realize he was deliberately given false medical information. Instead of seeking revenge on his doctor, Tommy symbolically burns the doctor’s wagon and belongings, then leaves, heading towards an unknown future.

The finale mirrors Tommy’s dramatic introduction – he arrived, he acted, he prevailed. Crucially, he’s a different person now. He’s moved past violence, as shown by him sparing his doctor, and simply wants to leave his past behind and begin a new life. The switch from riding a black horse at the beginning to a white one at the end symbolizes this transformation and fresh start. While it’s not a typical happy ending, it feels grounded in reality. However, this raises questions: why would a changed Tommy return with the intention of killing, and why would he allow himself to be shot when he previously decided against taking his own life?

‘The Immortal Man’ Feels Empty and Doesn’t Make Sense

Okay, so I just finished watching The Immortal Man, and honestly, I’m left feeling pretty disappointed. It wasn’t just that so many characters we love – Finn, Lizzie, even Alfie – were missing. It was that the whole thing felt… illogical. Duke just doesn’t have the leadership qualities to run the Peaky Blinders, and it felt incredibly jarring to see Tommy return only to essentially give up and leave everything to him. It didn’t ring true. The Tommy Shelby we’ve followed for so long would never make that kind of decision. It felt like the writers were trying to pull a fast one, almost like imagining Tony Soprano handing the reins over to AJ. That scenario was never believable, and neither was this.

The story feels like a setup for a spin-off featuring Duke as the lead character, but the transition could have been smoother. Duke needed more time to learn from Tommy before his death in The Immortal Man; he doesn’t seem to have absorbed any valuable lessons. It would be more believable if the spin-off showed Duke as a capable and careful character, just like his father was.

The revelation that Tommy killed Arthur is difficult for many fans to accept, especially considering their long-standing, close relationship. It feels out of character for Tommy, who would likely have tried to help Arthur overcome his addiction and mental health issues in a more supportive way. He even started down that path in Season 6 by dismantling the source of Arthur’s opium addiction.

I always wondered about the decision to tell this story as a film instead of another season. Apparently, creator Steven Knight really wanted a larger scale for this next chapter – he felt a movie format would allow for a bigger budget and more spectacular action sequences, essentially bridging the gap to what he envisions as a spin-off. It seems like that was the driving force behind the change!

We always feel like the budget is tight, but this film had a larger one. That meant we could include practical effects, like explosions, which wasn’t always possible before. When money is limited, you have to be inventive, and that can lead to really good results. Luckily, we had the resources to do what we wanted this time.

Hearing about explosions might immediately make you think of directors like Michael Bay or Christopher Nolan. It seems Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, might have been inspired by Oppenheimer, especially since both stories are set during World War II. However, the issue likely stemmed from Netflix investing too much money in the show. A seventh season with a tighter budget could have been stronger. If a spin-off is in the works, I just hope it focuses on peace, echoing Tommy Shelby’s wish: “No more fighting!”

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2026-04-04 18:45