Warning: Contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders season 6, episode 1.
In the opening scenes of Peaky Blinders season 6, Helen McCrory, who plays Polly Gray, sadly ed away from cancer at the age of 52, and the first episode of the season is dedicated to her memory.
Peaky Blinders season 6 picks up where season 5 left off, with Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) contemplating suicide after his assassination attempt on Oswald Mosley goes drastically wrong. Tommy is saved by the fact that Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson) had removed the bullets from his gun, but when he returns to the house he is greeted by an unwelcome phone call. The IRA explain that they are responsible for foiling Shelby’s assassination plot, and deliver the dead bodies of Barney Thompson, Aberama Gold, and Polly Gray. As the smoke from Polly Gray’s funeral pyre rises into the clouds, a pair of eyes is revealed before the storyline jumps forwards four years into the future.
The eyes in Peaky Blinder season 6 episode 1, “Black Day,” could be read as a simple tribute to Helen McCrory, but they also play an important role in the story. As the episode continues, it becomes clear that Polly Gray will still play a major role in the story of Peaky Blinders despite her death. In the wake of Polly’s death, Tommy Shelby becomes a remarkably changed man, giving up alcohol and trying to abstain from violence when possible. He’s ultimately trying to get out of the game, a dream that Polly herself once held but had always seemed impossible for him when his mind was as busy as it was when he was drinking. Similarly, Michael is driven by Polly’s death as he, like Tommy, now seeks revenge for Polly’s death, but blames Tommy for it. While Polly might be dead, it is clear that she is still setting the chess pieces and her character will continue to watch over and influence those who are still living.
Peaky Blinders season 6 using these eyes also marks a big departure from past seasons of the TV show. The show has often dabbled in spiritual ideas with Tommy fearing that the necklace he gave Grace was cursed and having extensive conversations with visions of his dead wife. However, those could always be explained as purely being a representation for how Tommy saw the world. The eyes in the clouds in Peaky Blinders do not come directly from Tommy’s point of view, but are implied to actually be watching. This seems to be confirmed towards the end of the episode when Tommy, having heard that his daughter spoke Romani while delirious, sees the lights flicker and tries to speak to Polly, suggesting that he knows that her spirit is still there.
While Polly Gray’s death drives Tommy and Michael towards changing who they are while pursuing vengeance, they are not the only characters whose narratives will be defined by Polly’s absence. Arthur Shelby is clearly a mess with no one to keep him in check, and it appears from Peaky Blinders season 6 episode 1 that Ada Shelby (Sophie Rundle) will be taking him and the Shelby family in hand. This sets Ada up to take over Polly’s role as the powerful matriarch as Peaky Blinders season 6 progresses.
Peaky Blinders releases new episodes Sunday on BBC.