5 Best Alfie Solomons Moments In Peaky Blinders

If there is one man who has left a mark on "Peaky Blinders" as deep as Cillian Murphy's Thomas Shelby, it is his unhinged equal, Alfie Solomons, played by Tom Hardy. Before he was cracking skulls in "MobLand," which is set for a second season, Hardy joined the series in Season 2 and has been on uneven terms with the head of the Shelby family ever since. It is almost unthinkable that, despite his impact, Alfie appears in only 13 episodes across the show's six seasons. Nevertheless, those turnouts have teed up some of the show's greatest moments, putting him at odds or alongside Tommy, leading to barbed words and even bloodshed.

From rageful outbursts to darkly funny encounters in the midst of evil deeds, Alfie Solomons really does feel like a special treat in a show that is already full of them. It is also why his brush with death at Tommy's hands feels like a close call that fans are glad he survived. As it stands, there is no telling whether Solomons will appear in the feature-length "Peaky Blinders" film, "The Immortal Man," or in any future stories Steven Knight has for the "Peaky Blinders" sequel series, set after WWII. For now, though, let's just relish in the awesome addition that he has become and the fan-favorite character that he'll always be.

"Peaky Blinders" was already on another level of entertainment before Tom Hardy joined the ranks, but the second he stepped into a scene, it gave the show a jolt we didn't know it needed. Their first encounter comes in Season 2, Episode 2, with Tommy already worse for wear. Hiding desperation behind bloodshot eyes, Shelby gets sized up by his new potential business partner, who is fully aware of the drama he's brought with him.

What follows is a chest-beating contest that Tommy has no interest in indulging. All Alfie needs to see is that this stranger who killed Billy Kimber (Charlie Creed-Miles) is a man of steady nerves and smart thinking, which is made abundantly clear. In sharing war stories about performing a "personal form of stigmata" and sizing up wooden cabinets after putting bullets through them, we learn everything we need to know about Alfie. He's a monster, but a cunning one, and can be as clever as he can be chaotic. He's also perhaps the only character to understand Tommy more than anyone, because in some dark and twisted way, they are one and the same.

There are many times throughout "Peaky Blinders" when, as cool a customer as Tommy might be, his grip on the situation slips ever so briefly, and those close to him find themselves in danger. One such misstep in the Season 3 finale sees Tommy's youngest son, Charles (Billy Marwood), kidnapped. Suspecting Alfie's involvement, he draws a gun on his frenemy, accusing him of crossing a line, thereby leading Solomons to give Shelby a brutal dose of honesty.

Alfie explodes into a speech that easily stands as one of Hardy's defining moments on the series. Squaring off against Tommy, Solomons corrects his associate, explaining that there is no line and that the anger he feels is "unf*****g justified." Shelby has brought this on himself by living in a wicked world that those outside it will never understand. It's a course correction that Tommy is desperately in need of, getting it from the only person brave enough to stand against and alongside him. Enraged and offended as Alfie might be, he has respect for Tommy. This is cemented when the Londoner assures Shelby that he didn't know about Charlie being kidnapped.

Have you ever had to introduce friends that don't know each other and assure one that the other is fine once you get to know them? That is exactly what the meeting between Alfie, Tommy, and Aberama Gold (Aidan Gillen) feels like in Season 4, Episode 4. If talk of lines being crossed showed Solomons at his worst, the meeting between three men over a boxing match shows him at his most philosophical, poetic, and wonderfully hilarious. With the attention span of a golden retriever and the ferociousness of a bulldog, Alfie still has his "mate" guessing over just which side he's on. That's all before Gold even enters the room and gets a first and unfiltered introduction to Alfie Solomons.

"Tommy, when a ***** walks in with hair like that, you've got to ask yourself, 'Have I made a mistake?'" Will go down as one of the funniest lines in the entire series, and it is a great opening to an illustrative, lengthy breakdown of who he is and the reason for his attendance. Alfie is here for his nephew, the boxer, who, according to Solomons was "adopted by Satan himself and returned out of fear of his awkwardness." Among Solomons' many standout appearances, this one consistently earns the biggest laughs.

It's rare for Alfie to appear without Tommy Shelby staring him down, but since this moment involves a betrayal, that dynamic would have undercut the scene. While Adrien Brody might lay it on thick as this season's big bad, his secret get-together with Canning Town's most terrifying crime boss is still certainly an engrossing watch. Unlike Tommy, Changretta (Brody) underestimates the man standing before him. It's a mistake Alfie relishes, as he voices his postwar hatred of Italians while engaging in a form of treachery against Thomas that feels both calculated and permissible to him.

Once again, this is two impressive performers giving a brutal back and forth, with Hardy taking the lead by way of Alfie's demands. His cold calculations of funds and "a list of costs pertaining to the assassination of a dear friend" highlight the conniving, crafty, and unintentionally comedic nature that continues to make Alfie a standout on "Peaky Blinders." Of course, his actions would have consequences by the end of Season 4 when Tommy would seek his revenge on the stranger he thought he could trust. It all culminates in a shootout on Margate Beach that leaves audiences believing Alfie is truly dead. But Alfie Solomons is made of something different, isn't he? Whatever it is, it keeps him alive for a surprise return in Season 5.

In a life that was haunted by ghosts, it was a welcome surprise when Tommy answered the letter of one that was waiting for him in Margate. In Season 5, Episode 6, we learn that after a heartfelt, respectful duel between these longtime rivals and friends of a rare breed, Alfie survived Tommy's gunshot, with one less eye to show for it. His attitude is unfazed, if only having seemingly embraced God more after his close encounter with the afterlife, which only makes him a more fascinating character.

Once again aligning with Tommy in his mission, only this time against Oswald Mosley (Sam Claflin), Alfie stays at an even greater distance from the deals he makes, which makes sense. More a specter than ever, Alfie appears in only two episodes of Season 6, while Tommy grapples with family business that ultimately sees him kill one of his own. As brief as these appearances are, though, the amount of time provided for Solomons proved that you really couldn't keep a character that beloved down.