How to write a smart character: Peaky Blinders

If you haven't watched Peaky Blinders yet, watch it. Yes, it's on Netflix. I have just finished watching the series and it just captivates you in many different ways. If you love well-written historical dramas, then Peaky Blinders is the one for you.
The best part of the show is hands down the main character: Thomas Shelby. Cillian Murphy does an amazing job with him: he’s suave, cunning, sophisticated and ice cold. One of the smartest characters I’ve ever seen written for television. Let’s take a deeper look at how the writers have made Tommy such a brilliant character.

Character traits

What amazes me with Tommy’s character, is that the moment he’s on screen, his presence is instantly felt. Just feel the weight of his character. Tommy is always in control, even when he seems he’s not, he’s manipulative and a clever problem solver. He runs the family. 
On the other hand many of the main characters surrounding Tommy are the exact opposite. Where Tommy is calculating, Arthur, his older brother, is wild and rash. Where Tommy is manipulative, John, the middle brother, is submissive. Where Tommy is aggressive, Ada, his sister, is complacent. And of course one of the biggest contrasts in season one is found in Tommy’s ex best friend Freddie Thorne: a communist, who is constantly being haunted or scapegoated, while Tommy always seems to avoid the law.
This contrast of traits gives the weight on Tommy’s presence on screen. Each of this traits on their own already make Tommy appear powerful and intelligent. But it is even stronger, when you have other characters to compare against.

Problem solving

One of the crucial things about the show that makes Tommy so brilliantly written, revolves around how he solves the problems he faces. Now there are always characters in film or TV that are written as “smart”, that make you think they’re smart, because they usually throw around technical jargon and sophisticated language, but we can’t understand their intelligence, because we fundamentally cannot understand the problems that is required to be solved. Tommy’s problems, however, are technically very easy to understand. Some of the problems he faces are trying to drum up some business, thoughtfully going to the war with the Lees and having cops interfere with the operations. Easy to understand problems, but difficult to solve. We don’t know how to solve these problems, but Thomas does. He is always two steps ahead of everyone else. He’s already thought of the solution, and when he solves the problems, it almost makes you say. “How come I didn’t think about that?”.

In the last part of my analysis, I want to talk about how the writers of Peaky Blinders have done such a beautiful job creating depth and complexity in each character. The show at its heart is a story of what happens to a family as they try to expand their empire and ascend into power. But Thomas Shelby, we see a character who’s brilliant, but not without flaw. In Tommy, we get character that demonstrates the conflict between ambition and loyalty. Both necessary, but both constantly opposing each other. This is the essential underlying theme of Peaky Blinders. In Tommy’s past, he realises that loyalty to his country required sacrificing all his ambitions, but now his ambition requires a sacrifice of all loyalty to his country, his friends, and even his family.