Here's how Peaky Blinders handled Polly's absence in the final season
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Warning: This post contains spoilers from the final season of Peaky Blinders.
In April of 2021, the Peaky Blinders family lost a major member of its family when star Helen McCrory died from cancer. More than a year later, the series' sixth and final season hit Netflix, with many fans wondering what would happen with McCrory's character, beloved Shelby matriarch Polly Gray. For years, Polly has helped Thomas (Cillian Murphy) maneuver his way out of dangerous situations, advising him on everything from gypsy curses to everyday life. But without McCrory, the show acted swiftly in deciding Polly's fate.
In the opening of Peaky Blinders' sixth season, it's revealed that Polly has been killed by the very same people who ruined Tommy's assassination plan against Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin) in the season 5 finale. Within the premiere episode's first five minutes, Tommy gets a phone call from Laura McKee (Charlene McKenna) informing him that it was the Irish Republican Army that ruined his plans and killed two of his people — Barney Thompson (Cosmo Jarvis) and Aberama Gold (Aidan Gillen). And yet, in the scene there are three bodies being delivered to Tommy's house as part of a "truce."
Ben Blackall© Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd. 2019 Helen McCrory on 'Peaky Blinders'
"We've made some changes to the structure of your organization," Laura tells Tommy. "Ever since you began to build your empire, you've had a crutch to lean on. Last night we kicked away that crutch."
As Tommy leans down to remove the sheet from the third body, the camera stays on his face as he begins to sob. The show then cuts to Polly's gypsy funeral, where Michael (Finn Cole) says goodbye to his mother and promises to get revenge on Tommy for the role he played in her death.
While the show wasted no time in revealing Polly's fate, she continues to be seen and heard throughout the season thanks to old footage. And with Michael's determination to kill Tommy taking center stage, she's mentioned often.
The series also dedicated its first episode "To the memory of Helen McCrory."
Peaky Blinders season 6 is on Netflix now.
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