Peaky Blinders Season 4 Episode 1 Recap – The Noose

[00:01:00] Three nooses hanged in a room. A priest came to visit Arthur; he woke up and asked the priest if it was already Sunday. The priest entered his cell with a couple of guards to escort Arthur to his execution. It was the same for Michael and John, but the latter decided to put up a fight. Despite John’s efforts, the police were still able to bring him out of his cell. The three of them met on the way to their deaths. Polly was also awoken by police and brought out of her cell. She thought it was freedom that awaited her, but she realized her mistake when she saw a noose. All four of them were about to hang when a man woke up a fellow named Arthur. He brought Arthur all the files that Tommy had given them.

[00:03:00] The files included all the information about Winston Churchill’s operation, including a letter from the King himself. Arthur didn’t care about Tommy or his family; however, the man insisted that he called off the execution. Otherwise, the King would be involved, and based on the files, the King was really involved. The execution was called off with only seconds to spare. An emissary went to their prisons just before the executioner could pull the lever. Tommy didn’t forget to include his personal interests; he asked to be awarded an Order of the British Empire in order to burn all the files he had.

[00:05:30] One year later, on December 23, 1925, Tommy went to the Midland Hotel in Birmingham. The waiter offered Tommy three girls by the names of Maria, Clara, and Elizabeth. Tommy responded that it was Christmas and asked for someone new. Lizzie went to Tommy and gave him a business report; she also wrapped all of Charlie’s presents and left them inside his room. Tommy wanted to know what he had gotten Charlie for Christmas. Lizzie told him that it was mostly just toys. Tommy bid Lizzie a merry Christmas, but she decided to stay. She told Tommy about the Christmas cards that she had received from everyone, including the invitation for a New Year’s party at John’s house. Lizzie added that Ada would return from Boston to attend the party. Tommy knew about the party as well as Ada’s participation because he had approved Ada’s time off.

[00:08:00] Lizzie wanted Tommy to attend the party and reunite with his family. The look on Tommy’s face showed that he didn’t want to attend after nearly getting them hanged. Lizzie insisted that visiting his family wouldn’t do any harm, and the babies would surely save him from getting killed by any of them. The waiter arrived with Lizzie’s drink, so Tommy asked him who he had for him. Billy told Tommy about a girl named Theresa. Tommy insisted that he wanted someone new. Lizzie told Tommy that Charlie should meet his cousins, but Tommy didn’t want to. Lizzie didn’t want Tommy to spend another year alone. Tommy had gotten Charlie a real horse; it was going to be him, Charlie, and the horse, all alone on Christmas. Lizzie drank a bit of vodka and decided to leave. Tommy took out a wad of cash and gave it to Lizzie.

[00:10:00] Lizzie took the cash and left. Tommy spent the night at the hotel with a prostitute. The next day, he went to the Singer office to take a look at some issues with his workers. He met with Michael, who was disappointed to see him. Michael pointed out that he could handle the issues in the company; however, Tommy didn’t want any more slip-ups. Michael had messed up one of the issues within the company, and it was the same issue again. A union convener named Jesse Eden was rousing all the women workers to join her cause. Tommy wanted to deal with the issue on his own, so Michael decided to leave. Before he left, Tommy took out all the vials that contained cocaine. Tommy asked Michael how Polly was doing. Michael confessed that he sniffed cocaine to keep himself awake.

[00:12:00] Tommy didn’t care about Michael; he wanted to know how Polly was doing. Polly wasn’t in good shape. Michael told Tommy that she was taking pills that were prescribed for her back in prison. Polly had seen spirits when they slipped the noose around her neck, and she was never the same again. Polly held séances at her house, but people attended them to just steal her stuff. Tommy told Michael to throw away Polly’s pills and keep her off the whisky and cocaine. Tommy knew that Polly would eventually come to her senses and get back on her feet. Michael was surprised that Tommy gave him some family advice. He asked Tommy if he was coming back, but Tommy responded that there was nothing to come back to. Michael admitted that everyone in their family was screwed.

[00:14:00] Tommy asked Michael to investigate Jessie Eden and get his cocaine out of their legal businesses. Polly woke up and began talking to the spirits. No one was there, but it really seemed like she was talking to someone. She took a pill to calm her nerves. Polly heard weird noises around the house and looked out the window to check. Meanwhile, John was in his estate trying to shoot birds from the sky. He missed every single shot and saw a car pulling up their driveway. John knew it was Ada, so he returned to the house to welcome her. Ada didn’t plan on staying as she wanted to spend time with Polly. Esme came in to talk with Ada. She didn’t want anything to do with the Shelby’s because of what had happened to John. Ada told Esme that her return was about setting things right.

[00:18:00] Esme wanted Ada to take a curse back to Tommy to set things right. Ada asked John how Arthur was doing. John told Ada that she should get Arthur a sewing kit in order for him to sew his balls back. Esme phoned Linda to tell her that Ada was coming over. They had also received a letter from the mail like Polly. Linda didn’t open the mail, but she went over to Arthur to tell her about Ada’s visit. Arthur was out collecting eggs with his son, Billy. Meanwhile, Jessie Eden went to Tommy’s office to discuss the disparities in pay among his employees. Tommy pointed out that the women and men worked in different factories. Jessie knew that Tommy owned the majority of the houses and factories in Birmingham. Jessie pointed out that the factories were just under a different company, but everything came back to him.

[00:22:00] Tommy agreed to raise the women’s pay by five shillings, but he would cut the men’s pay by five shillings to balance everything. Jessie didn’t like the agreement and threatened to call all of their members to strike. Tommy knew that a strike wouldn’t happen, especially with the workers that needed to feed their families. Jessie wasn’t afraid of Tommy, and she made it clear that a strike would happen on Boxing Day. Tommy was at his home office reading the paper when his maid, Frances, walked in to bring the mail. She asked Tommy how many people would be eating tomorrow for Christmas dinner. Tommy responded that 27 people would come to eat with him and Charlie. Frances was thrilled to have family over, but Tommy had asked Johnny Dogs to come with his family instead. Tommy also wanted Frances to eat with them.

[00:25:30] Frances tried to decline, but Tommy insisted as thanks for her services. In the end, Frances agreed and left. Tommy decided to check the mail, and he also had received the same letter as Arthur and Polly. He decided to open the letter, and inside was a Christmas card from Luca Changretta and his family. There was a grim look on Tommy’s face knowing that the Changretta family wanted revenge. Ada arrived at Arthur’s to ask them how they had been. Linda was still job-hunting without much success due to the Shelby family name. Arthur, on the other hand, didn’t need to look for a job since he had been paid handsomely by Tommy. The phone rang as Arthur and Ada were talking to each other. He volunteered to answer the call so that Ada could chat with Linda.

[00:28:00] John had given Arthur a call because he received the same mail as Tommy, Polly, and Arthur. It was a black hand from Luca Changretta. John reminded Arthur who Luca was and what the black hand meant. Arthur ended the call and went back to Ada. He wanted to speak to Ada privately. Linda wanted to join them, but Arthur ordered her to stay. Linda knew that something was wrong. Esme was eavesdropping on John and Arthur’s conversation. She knew he was about to call Tommy, but she didn’t want him to. John explained what the Black Hand meant. He told Esme that it wasn’t important who killed Vincent Changretta. Luca would have sent everyone a black hand, and he was out to get revenge. Esme reminded John that they had made an agreement with each other. They were going to solve the issue as a family without involving Tommy.

[00:30:30] Arthur took Ada out into his backyard to show her the letter. They were defenseless in his own home because Linda didn’t want him keeping weapons in the house. Ada told Arthur that she was going to speak with Tommy about it. Ada wanted Arthur to get her gun from the car in order to defend his family. She asked Arthur to hug her because Linda was in the house eavesdropping on them. Arthur gave Ada a hug and bid farewell. Arthur gave Ada a bunch of eggs in order to slip her gun down his trousers. Linda asked Arthur who he was speaking to on the phone earlier. He responded that it was John, wishing him a merry Christmas.

[00:32:00] Meanwhile, a few Italian men arrived at the port of Liverpool. One of them was Luca Changretta. He told the port master that his visit to Britain was for pleasure. Michael went to Polly’s to talk to her. Polly hadn’t seen the Black Hand because she hadn’t opened her mail. He tried to talk sense into Polly and use Tommy’s advice. Polly knew that Tommy had asked Michael to keep her off the whisky when he brought out the champagne. Polly responded that she’d drink champagne the day Michael left Shelby Company Limited. It was Christmas eve; Tommy and Charlie left out a meal for Santa with a glass of whisky. He bid Charlie a good night’s sleep as Frances took him to bed. As soon as Charlie went to bed, Tommy drank the glass of whisky himself.

[00:37:00] The next day, a car was pulling up on his driveway. He went to his gun closet to arm himself. Tommy looked out the window and saw Ada get out of the car. He lowered his defenses as Frances told Tommy about Ada. He didn’t bother to welcome Ada properly as Tommy got down to business. Tommy wanted to call a family meeting on Boxing day. They were to meet at Charlie’s scrapyard. They needed to go back to Birmingham as that was their stronghold. Tommy wanted Ada to convince Michael and Polly while he talked to Arthur and John. Ada wanted to know what he was going to do with Esme and Linda. Tommy pointed out that the people Luca worked for wouldn’t hesitate to kill them all, women and children included. He gave Ada a spare gun, too, as a welcoming gift for her return.

[00:40:00] Tommy tried to call John, but he was fast asleep with Esme. Tommy decided to call Arthur. Arthur answered the call, and Tommy told him about the family meeting. He told Arthur to pull a gun on Linda if he had to in order to attend the meeting. Tommy bid Arthur a merry Christmas and ended their conversation. Ada arrived at Polly’s, but everything wasn’t okay. Michael had thrown away Polly’s pills, and she had become hysterical. Ada hugged Polly to calm her down, but she couldn’t sit and talk because things had changed. She told them about the letters that everyone had received. Ada handed Polly’s letter to her, so she opened it and saw the Black hand. Ada told them about the family meeting as well.

[00:44:00] Frances went to Tommy’s office to ask him about family dinner. The chef insisted on asking Tommy when Johnny Dogs would arrive. Tommy had had enough of his new chef. He explained to Frances that Johnny Dogs was just camped by the river and didn’t need to be called. Tommy realized that the new chef could be one of Luca’s men. Frances explained that there hadn’t been any problems with the new chef, only with his sous-chef. They had hired both Italian chefs around October. Frances added that the chefs would be working until midnight. Tommy told Frances she could go to bed. Frances responded that she was happy to sit at Tommy’s table tomorrow. Tommy pulled out the chef’s files and found that he came from San Marco’s.

[00:46:00] Tommy went downstairs to meet with his chefs. He greeted everyone, especially the sous-chef named Antonio. Tommy asked him why he was peeling potatoes. He responded that there was an emergency, which is why he needed to do the basic work. Tommy went to the back to meet with the head chef. He asked him a few questions and knew that Antonio was the assassin. Tommy realized that Antonio had been asking the time of the guests’ arrival because he was planning to kill him. Tommy ordered the head chef to call Antonio to the back. Antonio took his gun and went out back. Tommy was waiting for him to enter the room. The moment Antonio entered, Tommy stabbed him with a meat hook.

[00:52:00] Tommy dragged Antonio across the room. Antonio cursed at Tommy in Italian while he asked him how many of the Black Hand had come to America. The head chef translated for Tommy, and Tommy shot Antonio in the head. Tommy ordered his head chef to go back to London and tell Darby Sabini that he had picked the wrong side of the war. He called Johnny Dogs to dispose of Antonio’s body. Tommy called Michael and ordered him to take Polly and Ada to the scrapyard immediately. Tommy also asked him to fetch John since he couldn’t reach him. Michael arrived at John’s the next day. He ran into a farmer bringing hay up the road, but he didn’t realize that was the enemy. John didn’t want to leave their home and return to Small Heath.

[00:56:00] Esme came outside to argue with Michael, but that cost them time. The Italians pulled up and riddled John and Michael with bullets. John tried to fight them off, but he was no match for the Italian’s machine guns.