Peaky Blinders Season 3 Episode 3 Recap

[00:01:00] Tommy sat out in the field outside his estate. He kept a fire going and decided to ride his horse back to the house. Ada told them that Tommy had always been out at night by the fire, ever since Grace’s funeral. Tommy came back to the house to meet with them, but he chose to meet with them separately, Polly and Michael first before John and Arthur. Michael and Polly entered his office to speak with Tommy. Michael told Tommy that the council suggested calling the school “Grace Shelby Institute.” Tommy agreed. He discussed nothing about Grace or the funeral; he just gave Michael an envelope of things that needed to be done and asked them to leave. Polly tried to talk to Tommy, but he didn’t want to. John and Arthur thought the meeting hadn’t started yet, but Polly told them that they had already spoken to Tommy.

[00:05:00] John and Arthur went inside the office to speak to Tommy. They told Tommy that they had killed Angel Changretta while he lay inside the hospital. They also took care of the Italians within Birmingham. Vincent and his wife were fleeing the country and would head to Liverpool to await a ship to New York. Tommy wanted Vincent alive; he ordered Arthur and John to kill his wife and bring Vincent to him. John didn’t want to kill Mrs. Changretta because she used to be their school teacher. Tommy didn’t care; he pointed out that if Mrs. Changretta was a nice woman, she’d go to heaven. Tommy gave them a list and asked them to leave. John argued with Tommy. Arthur told him not to argue, but he continued. John wanted to know why he spoke to Michael first.

[00:08:00] Tommy explained that legitimate business came first. John wanted to know since when he cared for legitimate business. Tommy shouted that it came first ever since Grace took a bullet for him. John wanted more information as he felt left out from the family business. Tommy filled him in on the details of the things to come and told John to fuck off. They all gathered in the servants’ quarters because it was hotter there than the family room. John and Arthur picked on Michael, stating he was the new boss. Arthur reminisced on the old days when family meetings were done together and not by pairs. He and John felt like just toy soldiers compared to Michael. Michael responded that he hadn’t asked for a separate meeting and he was not their boss. He told Arthur to fuck off. Arthur got up and banged heads with Michael.

[00:12:00] John tried to stop him, but Arthur came to his senses and told them that it was just the whisky talking. Polly told them that they needed to unite under the Shelby name for Tommy. She proposed a toast for their family. Suddenly, Finn came running into the room and told them that Tommy had left in a gypsy wagon with Johnny Dogs. They all came rushing out of the house to catch him, but they couldn’t keep up. Johnny Dogs told Tommy that his family was already out on the driveway. Tommy had brought Charlie with him; they were going to Wales to see a woman. Tommy left a note on his desk. He wrote in the note that he’d be back in three days.

[00:15:30] Tommy and Charlie camped the night with Johnny Dogs by the river. He told Charlie that Grace was gone and they needed to get things straight. Tommy wanted to keep things the way they were with Grace’s clothes and things. He told Charlie that Grace would never come back, but she would be in their hearts forever. Even the horse kept Tommy remembering Grace as it was her favorite horse. Tommy was clearly grieving with no shoulder to cry on. He left Charlie with Johnny Dogs as he went to fetch the horse. Night fell, and the boys were drunk as hell at the estate. Arthur and John were teaching Michael how to use a gun. He cocked the pistol and fired, but it was a miss. Arthur explained that he wouldn’t feel the rush of using a gun unless he pointed it at a man.

[00:18:00] Michael did as told and pointed the gun right at John’s face. John feared for his life as Michael was holding a Webley. He told Michael to act cautiously when aiming the gun. Michael aimed the gun at Arthur, right below his left eye. Arthur gave Michael a word of advice; he told him that every time he kills a man, the soul of the man he killed would latch himself on his ankles. Time will come that he won’t be able to enter a room without bringing a load of souls with him. Polly came out to see what was going on. Michael put the gun down while Arthur responded to her. He told Polly that they were just educating the young boss about their side of the business. Michael did as told, but he took a step back and told Polly that he was no longer a kid anymore.

[00:20:30] Arthur nodded with approval at Michael’s guts to stand up to his mother. He walked away from Polly as Michael walked back to the house. John and Arthur took their guns out and shot at the targets they had set up for Michael. The next day, Arthur and John went to the factory to speak with the manager. They gave him a list of communists that work in the factory. They want him to sack all of them. The manager refused, but he didn’t have any choice. The Peaky Blinders know about his son and daughter. He agreed to sack the men in the end to spare his family. They paid him off and left the man to weigh his conscience.

[00:24:00] Sunday came around, and Polly went to Ruben for her scheduled appointment. She wore the dress they had agreed on. Ruben painted Polly as she stood in front of him. He asked Polly about Tommy, but she immediately changed the topic. Ruben asked her the typical questions; however, Polly wasn’t well educated, so she didn’t like this topic either. She sat down to smoke and to rest. Polly felt uneasy, so she asked Ruben what he would gain from painting her. She was under the impression that Ruben was painting her to tell his friends. Ruben responded that he didn’t have friends because he knew people through his wife. He lost contact with people when his wife died. Ruben came clean; he was motivated to paint Polly because of two things.

[00:27:00] One, Polly’s face was full of contradictions which made it difficult to capture in one expression. Two, Ruben wanted to have sex with her. Knowing his true intentions, Polly went back to her position and posed for Ruben. Meanwhile, Johnny Dogs fetched Madame Boswell. He couldn’t tell her what Tommy wanted because even he didn’t know. Madame Boswell spoke with Tommy, and he gave her the sapphire necklace. He wanted to know if it was cursed. Tommy explained that Grace had been shot while wearing the necklace, and he blamed himself for getting his wife killed. Madame Boswell knew that Tommy wanted some sort of scapegoat in order to move on with life. She told Tommy that the jewel was cursed. That was enough for Tommy as he left Madame Boswell.

[00:30:00] Vincent and his wife were at the docks waiting in line. He knew Tommy would come after him, but his wife assured him that nothing would happen. Vincent looked back and saw a man making his way up the line, pushing people left and right. He knew it was one of the Peaky Blinders and called to the police for help. He paid the police to assist them through the docks. The policeman was on Tommy’s payroll. He escorted Vincent and his wife straight to John and Arthur. Mrs. Changretta immediately recognized Arthur and John. Vincent hugged his wife as tight as he could, begging them to spare her life. John told Vincent that they wouldn’t harm her if he came willingly. Mrs. Changretta begged them to spare Vincent’s life, but they couldn’t.

[00:34:00] John and Arthur explained that keeping her alive was already breaking Tommy’s orders. Vincent came willingly as he kissed her and told her that he loved her one last time. Mrs. Changretta tried to get past John. He told her to start a new life in America. He left her crying on the beach while they took Vincent back to Tommy. They tied Vincent to a chair inside a basement and waited for Tommy to arrive. Tommy arrived carrying a small suitcase while Vincent was praying. He told Vincent the time and planned to torture him until morning came and the blackbirds sang. Tommy asked John for assistance. John opened the suitcase which contained several razors. Tommy took one and chose to cut off Vincent’s tongue. As he reached for Vincent’s tongue, he realized that he needed Vincent to explain why he killed Grace.

[00:39:00] Tommy took a step back and told himself that he was becoming soft. Tommy shouted at Vincent threatening to take his eyes out first, but he wouldn’t be able to do it. Arthur shot Vincent in the head and told Tommy that he had already heard the blackbirds sing. John added that they let Mrs. Changretta leave for New York because they didn’t have it in them to kill her. Arthur seconded the motion and told Tommy that tonight they wouldn’t be Peaky Blinders. Arthur took the razor from Tommy and threw it away. Tommy asked John to get rid of Vincent’s body as well as his razors. He went home, and over the next few days, he spent some time with Charles. One night, Tommy asked Ada about his list. Ada reached out to one of Freddie’s friends and gave Tommy a name.

[00:44:00] Ada told Tommy about James Monkland. She wanted to know what they were doing, but Tommy didn’t tell her anything. He only told Ada that their lives were on the line if she didn’t provide the name, which forced her to. Tommy noticed that Ada had started wearing lipstick again. He told Ada that there would be an opening in their Boston office, which was completely legal. Tommy confirmed the name before saying goodnight to Ada. Tommy paid his officers to arrest James Monkland. He met James in his cell and asked for the name of his informant. James tried to play coy, but Tommy knew he was up against the Economic League. James told Tommy that he was up against a very dangerous group of men.

[00:46:30] Tommy asked James to make a decision; he could fear the Peaky Blinders at that very moment or fear the Economic League in some distant future. Meanwhile, Linda handed a towel to Arthur as he got out of the shower. She was asking why he always had business to attend to at night. Arthur made a lame excuse, but Linda told him that he needed to stop working at night. Linda revealed that they were going to have a baby. Arthur was delighted with the news. Arthur gathered Curly, Charlie, and John at the scrap yard. He brought out the champagne but waited for Tommy to announce the big news. Arthur wasted no time in telling them that Linda was pregnant when Tommy arrived. John told Arthur that he was done for while Tommy bid him goodbye.

[00:50:30] Tommy knew that Arthur could no longer be involved with the Peaky Blinders, so his goodbye had another meaning. Tommy went to Mr. Romanov for dinner. He didn’t want to eat and went straight to his report regarding the armored vehicles and how they would make the transfer. Tommy wrote the phrase “I have secrets” and handed it to Mr. Romanov’s wife. He told her that those would be the extra expenses he would incur for transferring the armored vehicles. Tommy stood up and told them that he was unable to swallow food in front of Father John Hughes and left. Mrs. Romanov ordered Tatiana to escort Tommy to his car to find out his secrets. Tommy told Tatiana that Father Hughes was a spy for the Soviets. Tatiana didn’t understand why he would give out secrets to their enemies.

[00:57:00] Tommy didn’t care for her opinion; he wanted Tatiana to tell Mrs. Romanov about Father Hughes. Tommy offered to kill Hughes for free as long as Mrs. Romanov agreed. Tatiana commented about how Tommy was able to continue business despite losing his wife a few days ago. She added that Tommy didn’t love Grace. Tommy went ahead and choked Tatiana. He told her that Grace’s spirit was with him, telling him not to trust these people. Tommy told Tatiana to just get him the permission to kill Hughes.