I firmly believe Peaky Blinders could've done more justice to Ada Shelby (until this one plot modification in Season 6)

Peaky Blinders ran for six seasons and proved to be one of the most-watched shows on BBC. Now, with the upcoming Peaky Blinders movie right around the corner, the buzz about the show is at an all-time high. Each and every cast member on Peaky Blinders, ranging from the acting powerhouse Cillian Murphy to the late Helen McCrory, brought an indomitable energy to the table. Although I am generally in tune with each and every one of the narrative choices made by Steven Knight and the rest of the team, I can't help but feel that the BBC show could have done more justice to the character of the Shelby family sister, Ada Shelby, played by actress Sophie Rundle.

I can't shake off the knowledge that for such a prospective character, Ada wasn't accorded much attention throughout the earlier seasons of the show. It was only during the sixth and final season that I finally saw Ada being given much of her agency to exert, and it was a fulfilling moment for me. I firmly believe that the first few seasons of Peaky Blinders would have gone down differently had the show given more screentime to Ada Shelby.

Here's everything that you need to know.

Peaky Blinders underutilized Ada Shelby until season 6

Ada Shelby started out on Peaky Blinders as the only sister among her brothers. She was introduced right in the pilot episode of the show and soon found herself in a burgeoning romance with Freddie Thorne, Tommy Shelby's former WWI friend and a Communist unionist. Although Freddie's political involvement led to a falling out with Tommy, he genuinely loved Ada.

After Freddie was forced to flee Birmingham following a police raid, Ada discovered that she was pregnant with his child. Being bereft of a mother, Ada, along with the other Shelby siblings, had been raised by Aunt Polly, and it was to her that Ada turned for advice. Ada and Aunty Polly were about to board the train for Camden to abort the child, but were stopped in their tracks after Freddie met them at the station and proposed to Ada. Freddie and Ada were soon married.

The next time I saw Ada on the second season of Peaky Blinders, she was a widow, as Freddie was dead. By this time, she had given birth to their child, Karl Thorne, and was living in London, away from the Shelby family. Although she was determined to sever her contacts with her family, as she considered herself opposed to their criminal lifestyle, Tommy continued looking after her and providing for her. The third season of Peaky Blinders finally saw Ada coming around to being more involved in their family business after she assumed the position of Head of Property and Acquisitions at a US branch of the company.

She gradually began taking an increasing interest in the affairs of the family and tried to contribute to the best of her ability. Regardless, I still feel that she remained underutilized during this period and that the show could have done her character more justice by preparing a different arc for her, one that saw her taking more decisive action without overreaching her place in the family. Ada's fortunes finally changed for the better on the sixth and final season of Peaky Blinders, and her character responded well to a plot modification. The third episode of the sixth season saw Tommy delegating his control of the family to Ada as he needed to be away and wanted her to function as the head of the family for five days. By this time, Tommy was in deep with Oswald Mosley and the British Fascists.

Ava took up the job from her residence at Mayfair and soon sprang into action. During the subsequent social lunch with Mosley and Lady Diana Mitford, Ada held her ground firmly, and in the ensuing back-and-forth between herself and Mitford, she was able to prove that she's no less of a Peaky Blinder than Tommy or Arthur. She even unearths the Liverpool union man Hayden Stagg, who is responsible for chiseling the Shelby family opium, and calls upon Arthur to do her bidding.

Sophie Rundle opens up about her role on Peaky Blinders

Sophie Rundle was fortunate enough to land a role on Peaky Blinders right after graduating from drama school. In the years that followed, she has portrayed many memorable characters; however, the BBC show has constantly been a point of reference for the actress.

Speaking in an interview with TheDigitalFix.com, Rundle opened up about her time on the show. When asked if she had ever thought that the show would run successfully for six seasons, Rundle answered:

"No, but I've said this before, I mean, I didn't have a clue what was going on. When I started Peaky Blinders, I was fresh out of drama school. Looking back now, I realise that it had this energy to it. Everybody was really excited when we came to work every day, because what we were shooting was so cool and unusual. But I didn't know that that was any different, I was just so excited to have a job. I kind of assumed that it would always be there. I had no idea that it wasn't always this way, and that in ten years' time, I'd be sat here talking about this amazing show, this incredible thing that we've created. What a lovely thing to sit, and just take a moment to sort of acknowledge that, for sure."

She was then asked about Ada's state of mind upon being accepted back into the family's fold, and Rundle explained:

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"I think Ada, as much as she has issues with her family, at the end of the day they're her family, so she has to bring them back. It's born out of necessity, isn't it? No one else is going to do it, and she can do it, so she does. The series is the culmination of six seasons of her grappling with 'Am I a Shelby, am I not a Shelby, do I want to be a part of this world do I not?', and accepting that you can't run from who you are."

Peaky Blinders is available on Netflix.

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