Peaky Blinders Season 4 Episode 3 Recap – Blackbird

[00:01:00] Due to the strike caused by Jessie Eden, Tommy was forced to find new employees for his factory. A massive crowd had gathered outside the factory as men pushed each other in order to get hired by Tommy. In all the commotion, a man threw a Molotov inside the factory, which started a small blaze. Arthur requested that the man be brought to him. The men pushed the assailant to Arthur, and he started beating the man up. Tommy stopped Arthur before he killed the man and sent him away. When the total number of employees needed was reached, Tommy ordered the hiring to be stopped. The foreman in charge asked Tommy about their protection. Arthur responded that they would be protected by the Peaky Blinders.

[00:03:00] A nurse came into Michael’s room, and he thought Tommy had come to visit. A woman entered; it was his stepmother. She had read about what had happened to Michael in the local paper, and she came to visit. She told Michael that she had every right to visit him because she was also her mother. Michael told her to leave, so she left a few apples for him from their orchard. Michael smiled as her remembered his time with her. She came to tell Michael that he could always come home to rest and heal up. Michael’s stepmother had also come with bad news. His stepfather had died, which saddened Michael a bit. Michael told her to leave as Tommy would arrive at any moment. She got up and left because she didn’t want to be in the same room as Tommy.

[00:05:30] A car pulled up to the betting shop; Ada told Polly that Tommy was waiting for them. Polly asked Ada out of the blue when was the last time she had had sex. Polly told her that it had been two years for her, and she made a new year’s resolution to change it. Ada wanted to know who she had in mind, but she didn’t have anyone in particular. Lizzie joined Polly and Ada as they arrived at the hospital. Ada wanted Polly to behave, but she didn’t like Ada’s tone. Polly responded that she had done everything for Tommy, and she almost lost her life for it. She would do everything again for Tommy, except behave herself. Polly apologized to Tommy for her late arrival. Tommy didn’t mind, but he was looking for Arthur.

[00:09:00] Arthur was just about to leave the factory when Linda arrived. He told her that he was late for a meeting, but Linda had a gift for him. She closed all the doors of his office and lowered the blinds. Linda removed her coat to reveal her silk undergarments from Japan. She wanted Arthur to feel the silk on her body which aroused him. Arthur asked Linda if she really wanted to have sex in his office. Linda responded that she didn’t mind because Arthur was the boss. He lifted Linda on the table to start things off. Back at the hospital, Tommy formally reinstated Polly as company treasurer. He also passed Michael’s duties to Ada until his complete recovery. With the formalities finalized, Tommy wanted to discuss the real business; however, Arthur still hadn’t arrived.

[00:12:00] Arthur and Linda were busy when the floor manager came up to his office. He told Arthur that men had broken into their paint shop and threatened to burn it down. Arthur didn’t care as he was too busy with his wife. He had a surprised look on his face, so Linda straightened things out. She explained that there would always be temptations around him, so it was her duty to keep him off them. The floor manager insisted that Arthur come with him to assist with the problem. Arthur told Linda that he was going to return for her.

[00:14:00] Meanwhile, the meeting was put on hold as Arthur wasn’t there. Tommy had waited for him for over an hour, but he had had enough. He took a vote without Arthur. Polly handed out photos of a wedding that the Changretta’s had attended six years ago. Tommy wanted the photos to be enlarged and distributed across Small Heath. They would put out a reward for any information on Luca and his men. Since Arthur wasn’t present at the meeting, Tommy decided to also provide a photo for Aberama Gold. The initial plan was that Arthur would have the honor of killing Luca; however, since he was not present at the meeting, Tommy wanted to screw tradition. Ada wanted to wait for Arthur, but Polly and Tommy wanted to go through with the vote. It was four votes to one in favor of having Aberama kill Luca.

[00:16:00] Michael accidentally called his mother, Pol. She knew something was up because she could smell perfume all over the room. Polly asked Michael who had come before them. Tommy tried to lie for Michael by telling Polly that she just smelled the flowers. Tommy didn’t want things to get complicated, but Polly wouldn’t let it go. He finally told Polly the truth, Michael’s stepmother had come to visit. Polly angrily left; Tommy and Michael couldn’t do anything about it. Back at the factory, Arthur went to the paint shop to sort things out. One of the men spilled paint on him, so he engaged him in a fist fight to get him out of the factory. Luca’s men arrived, but they didn’t recognize Arthur as he was covered in paint. Arthur managed to run for his life before the men could identify him.

[00:19:00] The gunmen followed him into the factory where Arthur got creative. He knew the factory like the back of his hand, so he managed to get behind one of the gunmen and knock him out. The other gunman made his way back and Arthur shot him. The first gunman came to his senses and tried to crawl out of the factory, but Arthur wasn’t done with him. He dragged the man back to the paint container and drowned him in red paint. Meanwhile, Luca called two of his men because the men they had sent to kill Arthur hadn’t come back. He ordered his men to reach out to the families and tell them about the deaths of their loved ones. Luca told them to wear ordinary clothes because they looked suspicious in their suits.

[00:23:00] One of the men complained that his clothes didn’t fit him anymore and that he couldn’t eat anything in Birmingham because everything was disgusting. Luca didn’t like his complaints and shoved bread up his throat. Luca wanted them to focus on finishing their mission so that they could go back home and eat decent food. The men handed Luca a photo of a woman who was another enemy of the Shelby’s. It was the mother of the boy that Arthur had killed a few years back. She wanted revenge and offered to call one of the brothers to her house. Luca agreed to take the woman’s offer. Arthur went back to the betting shop after cleaning himself up. Tommy arrived looking for Arthur. They directed him to the office where Arthur was having a drink.

[00:25:00] Tommy told Arthur that he needed to inform them if he was not going to show up at a family meeting. Arthur wasn’t in the mood to be scolded as he had just killed 2 of the 15 Italians that were out to kill them. Arthur had also heard from Ada that they had taken a vote without him and given his job to Aberama Gold. He told Tommy that he would still pursue Luca because it was his fault that John had been killed. Arthur had shot Vincent Changretta, and he wanted to make things right by killing Luca for John. Tommy wanted to know how the Italians got inside the factory. Arthur responded that they had walked in through the back door because someone opened it and tried to have him killed. He went home drunk and confronted Linda.

[00:28:00] Arthur arrived and saw Linda putting Billy to sleep. He knew that Polly had told Linda to come to the factory in order for him to miss the meeting. Linda and Polly didn’t want Arthur to be killed. She begged Arthur to just get rid of the bullet for Luca. Linda wanted Arthur to just allow Aberama to do the killing for them. Arthur choked Linda in his anger. He explained to her that there were certain things that men needed to do and this was one of them. Arthur really wanted to kill Luca for John. Linda got up from the floor and left.

[00:31:00] Tommy went back to the factory to speak to his floor manager, Mr. Devlin. He wanted to know whether it was fear of the Italians or hatred of the Peaky Blinders that had made him unlock the back door to the factory and give up his brother. Mr. Devlin’s family had already left for Glasgow three days ago. Isaiah had caught him trying to catch the midnight train to Glasgow. Tommy knew where his family lived in Glasgow and threatened to kill them if he didn’t cooperate. Devlin explained that he lived on a street with men laid off from their jobs. Men who had lost their jobs threatened to kill him. Devlin added that Tommy had a lot of enemies, but he feared him more, which was why he returned to his job every day.

[00:34:00] Mr. Devlin knew that the Italians had communist allies. He suspected that one of the communists had opened the door for them. He was too busy trying to stop the men from burning the paint shop that he had forgotten to lock his office door earlier. The key to the back door was hanging inside his office. The man begged Tommy to let him leave for Glasgow to see his family, but Tommy refused. Tommy assured his manager that his friends in Glasgow would take care of his family. After his meeting with his factory manager, Tommy decided to visit Jessie Eden’s apartment. He came to her with an improved offer for the union. The two of them had a little talk about their pasts. Jessie brought up the Tommy before the war, and Tommy brought up Jessie’s sweetheart after the war.

[00:36:00] Tommy had been a sweet boy who had joined the communist party before the war, but that sweet boy had never returned from the war. Jessie’s sweetheart had also joined the war and returned home with shellshock. He blew his own brains out. Both pasts had hurt them, but they needed to move on. Tommy wanted to know if she had recognized any of the Italians in the photograph with Luca Changretta. Tommy explained that Arthur had nearly died because one of their party members let the Italians in. Jessie didn’t provide Tommy with any information; instead, she gave him a photo of his young self from before the war. It was a photo of Tommy and Greta, his first love. He took the photo and ended his meeting with Jessie.

[00:43:00] Tommy looked at the photo when he returned home. He was in pain, and so were Arthur and Jessie. Arthur lay on their bed in tears as Linda entered the room. She consoled Arthur and told him to listen to the sweet voice of God. Jessie, on the other hand, burned the photo that Tommy had left her. The next day, Tommy heard a gunshot and went outside. Finn told him that the shot had come from Arthur’s house. Tommy banged on the door, and Linda opened it. Tommy came rushing to the back to find Arthur in his undergarments. Linda told Tommy that he had fired the bullet with Luca’s name on it. Tommy understood as Arthur told him that Linda convinced him about the modern ways. He agreed and told Arthur that everything would be alright.

[00:46:00] Tommy praised Linda on his way out in managing to convince Arthur. Linda responded that God had spoken to Arthur. Polly went back to the betting shop where Lizzie was counting their gains. Polly told her that she was back and wanted to resume her old job. Linda also arrived at the betting shop, which surprised both Lizzie and Polly. She wanted to take bets for them using the telephone. Polly reminded Linda that the betting shop was a place of sin. Linda responded that she was not the one doing the betting. Finn arrived at the betting shop and scolded them about the doors. Polly asked Finn what he was doing at the betting shop. He told them that Tommy had left him in charge because Arthur was taking the day off.

[00:48:00] Polly gave Linda a telephone and told them that they needed to make Finn’s first day as boss memorable. Lizzie went to Tommy and told him that placing Finn in charge of the betting shop was a mistake. They found out that Finn was still a virgin and planned a surprise for him. Tommy assumed that nothing would go wrong given that Linda was with them. Lizzie explained that Linda loved the idea of Finn having his first experience in bed. Tommy couldn’t do anything but tell Lizzie to keep an eye on Linda. He then invited Lizzie out of the office to go somewhere.

[00:50:00] Tommy took Lizzie to the riverbank where he had used to secretly meet with Greta. He told Lizzie that Greta would wait for him there for hours even though he wasn’t going to make it. In turn, he had also waited for Greta even though her family would keep her locked inside their house. Tommy wanted to have Lizzie by his side since he hadn’t returned to the canal in years. He kissed Lizzie and had sex with her on a bale of hay. Tommy told Lizzie to increase their donations to charitable foundations, and he also instructed her to start working on two more foundations for destitute children. Lizzie wanted to know why he was doing this when they were at war. Tommy explained that he had promised someone that he was going to change the world.

[00:53:00] Tommy returned to the betting shop where he saw Finn. He asked him how his day had been and how the prostitute treated him. Finn didn’t like what had happened with the prostitute. He told Tommy that he didn’t want to have sex with a woman who was only doing it for the money. Tommy told Finn that he needed to man up because John’s gone, and there was a void in the family business that needed to be filled. Finn accepted Tommy’s offer and left. Meanwhile, Polly went out to a bar to meet Luca Changretta. Polly asked Luca to spare Arthur, Finn, and Michael in exchange for Tommy. Luca didn’t want to accept, but their past was enough for him to change his mind.