Peaky Blinders Season 5 left most of us with a question of the decade (1919 to 1929)? Who betrayed Thomas Shelby? I mean, if you haven’t watched any of the seasons, please stay away from this story. Major spoilers ahead. But but but, let’s get to the point, who betrayed Peaky Blinders’ mastermind Thomas Shelby? I mean who even has that kind of gut? Alfie Solomons, yeah, we’ve seen it in the past, but this time it appears to be a little far stretched? Innit?
Peaky Blinders Season 5 ended with Tommy putting a gun to his head. Grace’s ghost is still following him, and he hasn’t yet been able to figure of who was it?
Who Betrayed Thomas Shelby
Alfie Solomons
I mean, he betrays Tommy every goddamn season, and his surprise return in the finale is his first appearance since Tommy shot him in the face and left him for dead. Why it might not be him: Why would Alfie stop the assassination of a fascist spreading hatred about Jewish people? Especially with Tommy paying him and his army of protesters cash to carry out his side of the bargain?
A bigger strike against his involvement in thwarting the assassination is that Tommy is the only person in the biz who seems to know that Alfie is alive, and Alfie genuinely seems to be loving his low-key new lifestyle in Margate, where he sits and watches ships passing through one lens of his binoculars — all that would be lost by betraying Tommy in a scenario like this where Tommy isn’t targeted to be killed. And I’ll paraphrase myself — forgive me: “Why would a character who pops up only briefly play such an enormous role in the outcome of the season? It doesn’t make a lot of sense narrative.”
Aunt Pol
The season five had Aunt Pol in emotional dilemma. A family legacy to carry on with, and then there’s own blood, Micheal and the unborn grandchild (could’ve been faked) with Gina. There could be umpteen number of reasons why Aunt Pol could’ve been the mole. But, in the Episode 6 of Season 5, she was evidently rattled by Micheal & Gina’s proposal for a restructure. There’s no way she could’ve faked that reaction, and the slap too.
Despite this, we never know what family could make us do. Aunt Pol in the same episode had said, only one would survive, it was implied that the battle between Micheal & Thomas would leave either one dead.
Therefore, would betraying Thomas could’ve been the only way to ensure Micheal’s safety? It’s all very confusing.
The Grays
Well well well. There’s no point in time when you don’t feel annoyed by their presence in the family meetings. I mean who’d want to watch their favorite actor on the being insulted every now and then? Well that’s what the Gray’s have been doing for a long time. The turf war, which Tommy had been ignoring for a while, has finally
Since the start of season five, Michael and his new wife Gina (Anya Taylor-Joy) have been positioned as potential antagonists with Tommy fearing they will betray him. Things came to a head in the finale as Michael and Gina made a proposition about restructuring the Peaky Blinders’ business and essentially assuming control of operations.
Tommy and Polly were unimpressed with Michael who was quickly shut down as his plans were tossed in the fire and turned to ashes. However, Gina said her family was powerful and a force to be reckoned with. Gina suggested they would be “forced to take the second option”.
This second option could reference Michael and Gina’s betrayal after learning of Tommy’s plans.
Johnny Dogs / The Lees / Esme Shelby
According to Aberama Gold earlier in the season, Johnny Dogs was the only other person who knew where Aberama was camping with his son Bonnie when the murderous Billy Boys showed up. Did Johnny tip them off? By extension, could that indicate he might be compromised and working with Mosley in some capacity?
In the finale, he’s backstage along with Arthur and Aberama but he’s the only one of the three who isn’t attacked by a masked assassin. And he does obviously know where Barney’s sniping location is. Also: Tommy explicitly states earlier in the season that Johnny Dogs is the only person he can trust, which could be foreshadowing. Esme Shelby, who was the wife of John, also appeared to have been outraged after her husband’s demise. And since Johnny Dogs was close to the Lee’s family, he could’ve helped Esme in avenging her widow status.
So who betrayed Thomas Shelby?
