Now that Peaky Blinders is over, it feels like the end of an era. Though the story will continue as the Peaky Blinders are all set to return in a feature film that will pick up from the Season 6 finale, it just seems like the silence after a storm.
So now that we have some answers, there are some questions too. Among everything else, I have been wondering why Tommy did not immediately kill the doctor after discovering the truth about his illness.
Tommy probably did not kill the doctor because he wants to use him as leverage or a spy against Oswald and Diana Mosley. He also may have realized that killing won’t help in the long run and he has to get out of his past habits.
What is the Importance of the doctor?
Before we get into probable reasons why Tommy did not immediately murder the doctor, we should talk about what the doctor actually did to angry Tommy.
In the Season 6 finale, Tommy gets a vision of his daughter who tells him that he is not actually ill. He was actually planning to commit suicide, thinking that his illness would eventually kill him. But it was Ruby’s vision that urged him to think about it.
After that, Tommy examined some burnt paper to realize that the doctor who diagnosed him had actually lied with a fake diagnosis. He was a close friend of Mosley. He lied to Tommy hoping that it would urge him to end his own life.
After confronting the doctor for giving him a false diagnosis, he decided to let him live. It looked like a symbolic move in the part of the writers, with Tommy’s caravan being burnt down as well as him letting go of the doctor.
The caravan was symbolic of all his past memories, which was burnt down and Tommy letting go of the doctor might be symbolic of him moving on from his past habits.
Why didn’t Tommy kill the doctor?
Tommy may not have killed the doctor for various reasons. Since the doctor is a close friend of Mosley, he may be trying to trace the doctor’s connections back to Mosley.
He is trying to use the doctor as leverage against Oswald and Diana Mosley, to beat them.
Since Tommy has let the doctor live, he would definitely ask something in return.
So, in return of his life, the doctor could act as a spy to Tommy and get him information about the Mosleys. In other words, Tommy maybe trying to use the Mosley’s weapon against them.
However, it may just be that Tommy is done with his murderous, violent ways and really wants to leave his old habits in the past.
Perhaps he realized that killing the doctor would not do him any good. The Mosleys would obviously understand who murdered the doctor and be extra careful.
In short, there was no benefit for Tommy in killing the doctor, at least at that point. So, he decided to keep him alive and use him against the Mosleys.
What does it mean for the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie?
If you’re a fan, you probably already know that Peaky Blinders will return, but this time in a feature film that is to be set after the Season 6 finale. So, the story is not over yet.
Since Tommy spared the doctor’s life in the finale, we can expect him to return in the film. If the theory about Tommy using the doctor as a pawn against the Mosleys is right, then he should have an important role to play in the film.
Other than that, Tommy will probably come out much more calm, poised and different after the events of the Season 6 finale. Now that he has symbolically left his past behind, we can expect him to not repeat his mistakes.
He may also try to get his wife and son back, since that too was left unsolved in the season finale.
About Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders is a British period crime drama television series created by Steven Knight. Set in Birmingham, England, the series follows the exploits of the Shelby crime family and their leader Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in the direct aftermath of the First World War.
The fictional family is loosely based on a real urban youth gang of the same name, active in the city from the 1890s to the early 20th century. It stars Cillian Murphy, Sam Claflin, Aidan Gillen, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Finn Cole, and Tom Hardy
Peaky Blinders season 6, which is also its last, will premiere on February 27 on BBC One.
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