I’ve heard good things about this show, and now I read online they’re wrapping it up after 6 seasons, which has put it back on my radar as maybe a show to check out.
But, I’ve avoided this show specifically because I have this thing where I’m squicked out by depictions of people getting permanently blinded. Especially with razor blades, and I think the ‘Peaky’ part refers to old-timey gangsters hiding razor blades in their hat brims, which they whip out to blind their rivals.
So, how prevalent a part of the show is "people gettin’ blinded’? I assume pretty darn prevalent, since it’s part of the title. But if it’s very sporadic, like maybe once every few episodes or less, and there’s a lot of plot development that has nothing to do with slicing eyeballs open, I miiiight be able to tolerate it.
I’ve only watched the first season but I dont recall that actually happening in the show. Some other violence for sure but not particularly graphic. Your baseline for that may differ to mine but I wouldn’t call it gory.
I watched most of 4 seasons and I also do not recall that specific act being done.Sure, there’s violence- they are a gang after all- but I’m going to say there’s nothing over the top due to the fact that I can’t even bring to mind any particular example.
There is at least one time when a razor is specifically used to take an eye. Specifically, it was John Shelby cutting Angel Changretta in 3.2, leading to an assassination attempt on Thomas, and Grace’s death.
I watched the first 5 seasons as they came out. My gf never saw a single episode, so I offered to rewatch with her. She stopped after one episode, I binged them all again. IMHO, seasons one and two were the best.
I just started season 4. If you’re worried about slow torture scenes, or something like that, there haven’t been any. Some fights where someone gets whipped across the face with a knife or razor, followed by screaming and blood, but no graphic shots of eyes getting split in half.
Having said that, the violence & gore is pretty extreme, but it’s definitely a very good show.
The name ‘Peaky Blinders’ is actually a reference to a real-life gang that existed in Birmingham in the late 19th/early 20th century. There are rumours that they took this name in reference to keeping razor blades in their caps, but another hypothesis is that it was because they had a very distinctive, flashy style of dress for the time. The show gives a nod to both ideas, and they certainly do keep razor blades in their caps, but they tend to use them as a general weapon rather than for blinding people.
So you shouldn’t be concerned about people getting blinded regularly. Beaten up and shot, certainly. Plenty of pub punch-ups and violent outbursts. But blinding, no.
That wiki article I linked to also cites that ‘Blinder’ is a Birmingham slang term for a smart dresser, still in use in parts today. As a Brummie-by-birth myself, it does sound vaguely familiar, although more in the context of ‘he played a blinder’, as in ‘he performed well’ (pick any appropriate sport or business pitch).
Thanks for all the great replies! Yeah, I can take most fictional ultra-violence, just have a squeamish thing about razors and eyeballs. So it sounds like the show would not be too traumatic for me. Will bloody well put it on the watchlist.
Check out the free website “Doesthedogdie.com” It’s a crowd-sourced site where you can look up various movies, TV shows, and some books to see if they contain distressing scenes of cruelty and abuse of adults, children, and animals so you can avoid them or at least be forewarned and not (as it were) blindsided. You will also find things listed like suicide, miscarriage, diseases, and other thing that trigger you.
I use the site all the time. I’m very sensitive to violence on TV. I feel like it’s manipulative of the audience, often used for shock value, and an excuse for poor writing.
Agreed, wholeheartedly. I got used to watching GoT only delayed so I could FF through the gratuitous violence. Did the same with Sons of Anarchy. Outlander never seems to be a problem, except for the very rare ______.
Don’t really know anything about the show or guys actually being blinded but do know a guy from the Manchester area who got his face sliced that way by some asshole.
I mean, it’s brutal. There is a lot of painful violence, and it’s hard to shrug off because the lives of people in that time are so accurately depicted. I have a low tolerance for brutality, especially torture. But I got so invested in the characters of this show that I watched it through multiple times anyway.
My strategy is to hit the “Mute” button any time Arthur is losing his temper. That’s when it goes completely out of my tolerance range. (And I used to date a professional boxer.) The visuals are not particularly graphic but the Foley work is almost too well done.
But no, there is very little that is specific to eyeballs, and what there is has no American-style CGI closeups. I can think of one fight with caps being flicked at the enemy’s faces, and an Arthur scene in a Quaker Meeting House that you’d be well advised to fast forward over. But otherwise you should be fine.
