The British vintage gangster drama Peaky Blinders has gained huge popularity in recent years, becoming one of the most outstanding and thrilling TV series ever on Netflix. Fans love the small but incredibly wealthy Shelby family and how their story has developed over time. Although it can be a little gratuitous with the scenes of brutal violence, the show has become much more than that.
One major character has contributed, more than any other, to protagonist Thomas Shelby's radical transformation: the love of his life, Grace Shelby. There were several sad and pivotal moments on Grace's tragic journey that changed everything - not only for the lead character but also regarding the direction of the narrative.
Updated on September 4th, 2022 by Kevin Pantoja: Earlier this year, the final season of Peaky Blinders aired and it is now officially on Netflix for fans everywhere to enjoy. Although Grace Shelby is a character who was tragically killed several seasons ago, she remains a fan favorite. The former Grace Burgess helped shape Tommy into the man he becomes by the end of the series but even before her death, she had some horrible things happen to her. It made her one of the show's saddest and most tragic figures.
Born as Grace Burgess, this character was an Irish lady who took up employment at The Garrison Pub while she was secretly operating as an undercover policewoman for the Birmingham Police. The original plan was to assist Inspector Chester Campbell in getting close to Thomas Shelby to get information from him.
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What prompted her to do this was a desire to avenge her father's death, a man who had been murdered by the Irish Republic Army during the Anglo-Irish War. So, her intention was to join her father's colleague to investigate the IRA's possible role in an arms shipment theft in Birmingham.
As the plan went forward to root out and destroy criminal people in the city, Grace slowly began to be charmed by Thomas Shelby's natural charisma. Eventually, they both fell in love with each other. This now meant that she was in a vulnerable position because she was battling an internal war - one between her heart and her mind.
As the smart woman she had always been, Grace knew she would be in trouble if she ever betrayed them. At the same time, she couldn't simply disregard her duties, so this made her get placed in a terrible situation.
While working as a spy for the Crown, Grace went from simply being a barmaid to helping Tommy in his "other" businesses. She was even promoted to keep the Shelby & Co books in order. As Grace and the family patriarch grew closer, Tommy invited her to a prestigious horse race for their "date."
Unfortunately for her, Tommy thought this was the perfect opportunity to conduct business and decided to offer her up to one of his potential "partners" as a sweetener. This action blindsided Grace. The situation became even worse when Kimber attempted to force himself on her sexually. While Tommy managed to prevent this from happening, Grace was deeply affected that he would use her in this way.
What started off as a strictly professional relationship between a chief and his agent soon became a personal one. Inspector Campbell started to develop feelings for Grace and, even though he tried to hide it for a while, he came clean at last. He went as far as proposing marriage but Grace turned it down and resigned from her position. Campbell realized that she and Thomas Shelby were having an affair.
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In the final scene of season 1, viewers see a sad Grace standing on a train platform edge. And that's when an angry and heartbroken Campbell finds her and places a gun to her face. It's a traumatizing event that was part of a much larger problem.
After the scene that made fans' hearts skip, where an apparent shot from Inspector Campbell was taken against Grace, season 1 ended. But in the season 2 premiere, fans were relieved to find out that Grace was alive. She survived this confrontation by shooting him through her handbag in the leg.
This was definitely one of the saddest moments of this character's life as Campbell was someone Grace used to trust as his supervisor. After this event, she moved to New York for a long period until she returned to England. Fans anticipated her reunion with Thomas Shelby from day one but that only happened in episode 5, changing her life completely.
At the beginning of season 2, after a few years have passed, Grace had changed into a very different woman. She was now married to a rich banker called Clive Macmillan and was living in the US.
But viewers quickly realized that her feelings for Thomas never disappeared, as she sent a letter to him even though he burned it. While facing fertility issues with her husband, Grace came to London to find medical help. It's when Tommy hears of her return that he decides to go to London too and the two reunite. And the sparkles were still all there.
There's no doubt that Tommy and Grace's love story was the most romantic and idealistic of all of them. They looked like the perfect couple with chemistry like no other. During season 2, when she told him "The thing is... I love you, not him," fans couldn't feel happier to know that there was still a ray of hope for these two.
Ultimately, they were able to get married and settle down (after Grace's husband's death). Yet, her happiness next to this man was always compromised due to the nature of Shelby's "work," which brought danger and drama to their home life more often than not.
As the leader of a Birmingham criminal gang, Thomas Shelby has always had a lot on his hands. Taking care of his "businesses" while managing the explosive and untamed egos of his siblings - namely his brother, Arthur - were a big focus of his day-to-day work activities.
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That, of course, had a strong impact on his relationship with Grace because, as a married woman, she couldn't help being linked to the Peaky Blinders' clan. During season 3, fans saw her as a mom to young son Charles while the couple lived in a luxurious country state. But her home happiness was often obstructed by Thomas's unwillingness to leave "criminal work."
Peaky Blinders may be focused on criminals and their conspiracies but that's not all there is to those characters. Throughout the show, fans empathize with these peoples' lives and the importance given to family ties. Thomas Shelby is surely a complex person but if there's one thing that is unquestionable is his love for Grace.
Although treachery and time apart temporarily separated this couple, deep down, their love remained strong. But the sad reality is that after Grace married Tommy, she became reduced to her role as a "wife" (like perhaps another Shelby trophy) as writers didn't give her a chance to develop more storylines. She used to have a job and a career purpose but her identity became lost in her new status.
Unfortunately, Grace didn't live to raise her son and have the "happy ending" that she and Thomas hoped for. At the time of her death, during season 3, her son was only two years old. Sadly, she turned out to be murdered by a bullet that was meant for her husband. The loss and grief carried out by her husband in the following episodes (even seasons) are perhaps the saddest moments of the entire show.
This duo's chemistry made them one of the best couples on television, making their attraction to one another completely mesmerizing. Even so, Grace and Thomas's path together was not meant to be long-lasting.
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