'Peaky Blinders': What Happens to Alfie Solomons in Season 6?

 

Those who have kept up to date on the story of Peaky Blinders will know the name of Alfie Solomons. Played by Tom Hardy, the character is the leader of a Jewish gang whose roots are found within Camden Town. When he was initially introduced in Season 2 of the show, fans were immediately drawn to the commanding presence and unique tone of voice that he offered. Alfie was shown to be smart, always able to inflict his dominating presence with his words, but not above getting violent when he deemed necessary, which he did often. In the finale of Season 4, Alfie Solomons was shot and presumed dead at the hands of Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy). However, Alfie made a return in the finale of Season 5 where it is revealed that he survived the attempt on his life and is hiding in Margate while the rest of the world, save for his own people, presumes he is dead. Despite being shot by Tommy and now being blind in one eye as a result, Alfie helps him to develop a plan which inevitably backfires, leading us into Season 6 where Alfie once again makes an appearance to hear the latest plan by Tommy Shelby.

Alfie Solomons and Tommy Shelby have had a checkered history with one another, going from allies to enemies on multiple accounts. In Season 2, Alfie struck up an alliance with Tommy to get rid of a mutual enemy, but he soon turned on the Peaky Blinder and even attempted to force Tommy into signing over all of his business to him instead. This plan backfired when Tommy played a dangerous bluffing game and prevailed over Alfie. In Season 3, a conflict between the two almost led to Tommy killing Alfie, but Alfie was able to sway Tommy by reminding him that they are both wicked men in a wicked world and that if he wanted to kill him that it better be for "an honorable reason." Season 4 showed the two once again attempting to deal with one another for profits, though Alfie betrayed Tommy once again by smuggling in men who wanted to kill the Shelbys into their fixed boxing match. Before leaving, however, Alfie spoke to Tommy and tipped him off to how he can solve the issue of Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody) and he also told him that he was taking time off, deciding to rest in Margate.

This information became useful in the finale of that season when Tommy went to kill Alfie because of the bad blood between them. Alfie seemingly accepted his fate, stating that "there's an honorable reason now to pull that trigger" and he even forced Tommy to shoot him in self-defense when Tommy showed hesitation. This proved to be non-fatal, however, and the boss of Camden Town made a surprise appearance in the finale of Season 5 where he served to give Tommy Jewish men who would have a reason to start a riot at a fascist gathering. This history shows that the two have formulated a bond out of a mutual agreement that the two of them are wicked men who will both be damned to eternity in Hell, and that even with Alfie's consistent betrayals of Tommy that the two are one and the same.

Despite his role as a background character now instead of an antagonist, Alfie Solomons is memorable in every scene he is in during Season 6, and his introduction scene is reminiscent of that fact. We first see the Jewish gang leader in Episode 2, where Tommy goes to meet with Alfie to discuss a business opportunity. The buildup to seeing Alfie is grandiose, with lights coming to life as Tommy walks through the dark basement storage area underneath Alfie's stomping grounds of Camden Town, accompanied by opera music that gets louder the closer he approaches the meeting room. No longer in Margate, Alfie is stationed back in his old territory once more, withdrawn from the world and obsessed with opera. Tommy points out that Alfie has become weak, so weak that he “can’t even extinguish another man’s cigarette, let alone his fucking life.” Despite knowing that Alfie is weak, Tommy has come to him with a proposition, and it would give Alfie enough power to be back in business.

While the relationship between the two of these men has been complex and strenuous at times, they do still consider one another to be friends (as stated by Alfie to Luca Changretta in Season 4 and by Tommy to Alfie in Season 6) in the way that they both want to push the other to always improve. In a display of this “friendship” Tommy offers to give Alfie an opportunity to give the Solomons power once again within Boston after the death of Alfie’s uncle, the man who ran the operations in Boston for the family. In exchange, Alfie would give Tommy the warehouses he kept in Camden so that he can replace the land with homes for the needy. This would further serve to improve Tommy’s identity as a politician and simultaneously give Alfie less of a reason to stay around and potentially become a threat again later down the line. While Alfie doesn’t explicitly agree to the deal within the scene, we get some extra information within the final episode of Season 6.

Alfie goes on to stay within the shadows for the rest of the season, not making another appearance until the final episode, "Lock and Key." Alfie steps into the bar just moments after Tommy walked back in and sat down, exclaiming that he "smells the smell of roasting Irishmen...and the smell of tobacco." We also get to see Alfie in a state of reinvigorated confidence, stating that he now owns half of Boston. With this newfound confidence, Alfie demands that Tommy puts out his cigarette, though he makes no attempt to put it out himself when Tommy continues to smoke. As Alfie gazes outside a window at the mess Tommy made, including the dead body of Michael, Tommy's nephew, he calls the scene, "Justice...and housekeeping long overdue." He also mentions that he can see with his one dead eye Michael's soul ascending to the heavens where he will be forgiven, unlike Tommy.

Noticing Tommy's silence, Alfie asks Tommy how he is doing, to which Tommy then reveals to Alfie that he is dying. While Alfie does show some brief concern that the man he just gave half of Camden to in exchange for half of Boston is potentially dying, he also states to Tommy that, “If you are about to express profound emotion, you might be better served expressing it to someone who gives a fuck.” Alfie continues with his reply, going on to say, “As for death, speaking as someone who has been dead for a number of years, I can only heartily recommend it.” This shows that while Alfie does show interest in seeing Tommy Shelby continue to be the powerful man that he is, he has little interest in his feelings. For Alfie, there is no room for such emotions for men like him and Tommy. The two finish their conversation with Tommy saying that Alfie’s opera is complete and that they should go to witness the final act.

It is currently unknown if Alfie Solomons will be a bigger part of any future seasons of Peaky Blinders, but the door certainly seems open for future plot narratives to involve him. With Tommy continuing to meddle in operations involving the West, there is a chance that Alfie will be a large part of what that may entail, especially with his presence in Boston. Alfie and Tommy also share a mutual respect for one another, despite the knowledge that, given the opportunity, Alfie will betray Tommy almost as if to challenge him as a rival would. For the two of them, they can share in the knowledge that they are both already too far gone to be redeemed and that they can at least take solace in that truth. In that way, Tommy and Alfie know each other more than perhaps anyone else could.

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