By Dan Golon ‘20

I promise, after a couple episodes of “Peaky Blinders,” you won’t be able to stop watching.

Set in Birmingham, England, in 1919, Cillian Murphy plays World War I veteran Tommy Shelby. World weary and plagued by PTSD, he rules over his family, who head the gang responsible for the show’s title, a name derived from the razor blades they strap under the brims of their caps.

Yet another series about gangsters, this one gained popularity by being about 1920s British gangsters. The Shelbys are doing their best to corner the market on criminal enterprise in the city of Birmingham.

Expect lots of threats, lots of showdowns with the police, and lots of attempts to game horse races so as to maximize the amount of money made on betting.

The brutal but sensitive Tommy Shelby, will stop at nothing to turn his family’s gang into a legitimate business. His rival in Season 1 is Campbell, a cop from Northern Ireland.

No episode ever lacks an intense fight scene or unforeseen twist.

So well imagined and presented is this hellish world that there’s a dangerous style over content with “Peaky Blinders,” especially when it comes to the shocking slo-mo violence. But stick with the cast; it is a must, and the plot, as it slowly grabs your attention more and more, becomes truly absorbing.

Personally, I almost appreciate the cinematography as much as the actual plot. The directors were able to magnificently bring to life Birmingham in the 1920s and it is breathtaking.

There’s lots of plot involving stolen guns and bookmaking operations and bad romance, but the show is mostly about Tommy Shelby’s beautiful moodiness versus Campbell’s moralistic “police” work.