Why I Keep Returning
My all-time favorite show is Peaky Blinders, a period drama that plunges you into the dark, smoky streets of 1920s Birmingham, where the Shelby family navigates power, crime and loyalty. I rarely rewatch anything, but I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve returned to this one. Some nights, I slip into their world to escape my own, drawn to the high-stakes schemes, the tension crackling in every scene, and the thrill of watching a family bend an entire city to their will.
An Entrance Like No Other
Cillian Murphy as Thomas Shelby immediately draws you in, his presence a mix of subtle menace and outright chaos, leaving you on edge about what he’ll do next, and how he’ll drag his family through it. Season one, episode one (those unfamiliar with the show should know not every episode has a title) opens with Shelby riding a horse, a seemingly ordinary moment that quickly reveals its tension. The dark, smoky streets, the wary glances of those around him, and the looming sense of ambition create a charged atmosphere. When Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ “Red Right Hand” begins, the music fuses with the visuals, signaling that danger, cunning, and brilliance are just beginning and you’re instantly hooked.
Living on the Edge
By this point, we’ve become accustomed to Thomas Shelby’s cold, calculating presence. Season two, episode six opens with him declaring, “My name is Thomas Shelby. And today I’m going to kill a man.” The entire episode is a gripping display of tension, where every move he makes teeters between disaster and survival, making the show all the more captivating. There are countless moments where Tommy comes dangerously close to death, only to survive against all odds, as if danger means absolutely nothing to him. Then, in Season four, Episode one, “The Noose”, a title that already signals peril, just when we think things might be settling down a bit, the Shelby family uncovers a threat from the Sicilian mafia when they are served a black hand warning, immediately setting the tone for a season full of strategy, betrayal and high-stakes suspense.
More Than The Plot
What keeps me watching isn’t just the plot. It’s the cinematography, the music, the way each character is drawn with such depth and nuance, one echoing the next yet entirely its own, full of contradictions and surprises. The haunting soundtrack drifts through each scene as the storyline slinks forward. Tommy’s icy, calculated composure is unsettling as it pulls you into a world where danger lurks around every corner and every choice could be fatal. The show balances pulse-pounding thrills with quiet character depth beautifully, which is exactly my kind of storytelling.
History Meets Fiction
Another striking aspect of the show is the quality of its historical contextualization. Peaky Blinders isn’t just escapism; it blends history and fiction, marrying real events and figures with cinematic flair. Characters are based on infamous London gangsters like the real Peaky Blinders, William “Billy” Kimber and Alfred Solomons. Even Winston Churchill, the former Prime Minister of the UK, makes an appearance, alongside Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, hinting at the rise of Nazism that Tommy attempts to infiltrate but ultimately cannot defeat. For those of you with a soft spot for history, these cameos land like Easter eggs. Familiar names and events dropped into an unpredictable storyline where you recognize the reference but can’t quite predict how the show will choose to reshape it. While the storylines are fictional, I admire how seamlessly the writers intertwine these historical figures and moments into the narrative, making the world feel both authentic and electrifying.
Stories That Hold Us
Returning to Peaky Blinders is never a chore for me. Stepping into the streets of 1920s Birmingham always feels like entering a new world. I finish every episode thinking it couldn’t get any better, but it always does. You get so drawn in that it becomes addictive. They’re a family gang that steals, schemes, and kills, yet somehow you still find yourself rooting for them, a reminder of how powerful storytelling can blur morality, making villains feel like heroes. And maybe that’s why I keep coming back: because beneath the smoke, chaos, and violence, Peaky Blinders shows how even the darkest worlds can draw us in, reflect our struggles and remind us why stories, and the people we choose to share them with, matter.
Mikayla Tetteh-Martey is a junior in the College of Agricultural Life Sciences. She can be reached at mkt62@cornell.edu.
"Are You Still Watching?” is a column spotlighting what the Cornell community has been streaming. It runs every Wednesday.
