Arthur Shelby - Peaky Blinders

PEAKY BLINDERS S1-S5 SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!

After having it on my Netflix list since forever and my best friend trying to get me to watch it for the past three years, I recently binge-watched Peaky Blinders. And loved it. I am planning on doing a post about the show in general, but today I wanted to write a post about my favorite character from the show, Arthur Shelby.

Arthur Shelby is portrayed by Paul Anderson. Let me be real, I was drawn to the show by Cillian Murphy because he is one of my favorite actors. But shockingly, Cillian's character, Tommy didn't become my favorite. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Tommy. But I have a soft spot for Arthur.

Arthur is the oldest Shelby brother, though he is not the leader of the Peaky Blinder's gang. If you have not seen the show, please do. It is so good. They're shooting season five right now and I am so excited.

I don't know why I was so drawn to Arthur as a character. I don't know why I have such a soft spot for him, but I do. I think I called him my "smol broken son" in a text to my best friend once. All of the Shelby brothers have problems, but Arthur, in my opinion, is the most messed up.

Honestly, at first I thought Arthur was a problematic character and I really thought he was an annoying character. He just seemed like an unnecessary burden on the Shelby family, but then in season one, they explored him more. We met the father of the Shelbys, Arthur Sr. and we go a little bit of an idea why Arthur is the way he is - besides having shell-shock from fighting in WWI.

I will tell you the moment Arthur became my favorite character. In the scene where he tried hanging himself, I really did yell at my laptop screen for him to stop. When he failed I felt relieved and it was because this guy had been through so much, but he deserved more. At least I thought he deserved more.

In that same episode - season one, episode five - Tommy confronts Arthur after he tries killing himself and Tommy goes "next time, use a gun". That scene is one of my favorite scenes in the whole series thus far and it made me appreciate Tommy and Arthur's relationship.

Arthur is a very broken man, but he still is able to get things done most of the time. He has struggled with substance and alcohol abuse in the show and he's probably the most broken of the family. I mean Tommy is also messed up, but I think Arthur takes the cake.

Season two is when his substance abuse becomes a problem. During a boxing match, he beats a young guy to death. After someone tries to kill Tommy at an auction, Arthur brutally beats them. He burns down a pub with his younger brother, John. He leads the Peaky Blinders attack on Sabini's club.

Then later in season two, Arthur is framed by Alfie Solomons for the murder of Billy Kitchen. He is arrested and jailed. He got beaten by the police and I really did yell at my computer screen because I just love him so much and I knew he was innocent. In prison, he is visited by John and John mocks him by saying, "you've tried to hang yourself twice, now the King's gonna do it for you". I'm not gonna lie. That line upset me, but also I wouldn't expect anything else from John, In the end, Arthur gets out of jail, but that whole situation had me on edge.

In season 3 we see Arthur get married to Linda. Personally, I can't stand Linda. I respect that she loves Arthur, but I just don't like her. Let me say, though that when Linda told him she was pregnant I was genuinely happy and I was ready for cute Arthur as a dad content. Linda and Arthur plan to escape to California at the end of season three,  but their plans are foiled when Tommy turns in his family and Arthur goes to jail.

In season four, the most recent season SO MUCH HAPPENS. John dies which really upset me. Like I love John so much. Why was that necessary? But we do get a little bit of Arthur being a dad. His son's name is Billy and I think Arthur is an adorable dad. The whole Shelby family got threatened by Luca Changretta. Since Changretta's gang was responsible for John's death Arthur has it in his head that it should be him that kills Changretta. After some convincing from his wife, he leaves it to Tommy. But Arthur is almost killed in a factory attack by two of Changretta's men, but he survives.

THEN he fakes his death with the help of Tommy and their aunt, Polly. I did not know that they were faking his death and I really locked myself in my aunt's bathroom at 2am and I sobbed and probably looked really ugly. I was a mess. But then he came out and he wasn't dead and I was upset that the show writers and producers hurt me.

Now we wait for season five and I am so excited. I cannot wait. Arthur is my favorite character in this show and Paul Anderson plays him so well. I cannot see all the ways the writers have planned to break my heart. I promise I'll write a more general post about Peaky Blinders because I love this show so much. If you haven't seen it, go watch it! It's on Netflix!