Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Peaky Blinders, TV and Film
Anish Vij
*WARNING - SPOILERS*
The character of uncle Jack has finally been revealed to Peaky Blinders fans and some will be shocked to know that he might be based on a real person.
As the second episode of the hit drama dropped on Sunday (6 March), we find out that Thomas Shelby finally gets his meeting with Jack Nelson a.k.a, Uncle Jack (James Frecheville) who's the leader of the Boston gangsters.
It's hinted that he's a supporter of fascism.
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Uncle Jack also happens to be uncle of Michael Gray's (Finn Cole) American girlfriend, Gina Gray’s (Anya Taylor-Joy).
In episode one, Tommy decides to frame his cousin Michael and put in jail while he tries to arrange a meeting with Nelson.
After the pair have their meeting in scary looking Catholic church, it is suggested that Nelson wants to meet the likes of Oswald Mosley to discuss politics, one would assume.
The official synopsis for season two reads: "Tommy gets involved in a power game with fascists, freedom-fighters and Boston gangsters.
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"As the players plan to double cross him, Tommy visits an old ally in Camden."
Well, according to ScreenRant, it appears that Jack Nelson is loosely based on Joseph Kennedy Sr., the father of JFK.
They write: "Peaky Blinders season 5 pitched Tommy Shelby against fascism in the form of Oswald Mosley, a threat that is still going to be relevant in the 1933 setting as Peaky Blinders nears World War II.
"Joseph Kennedy was ultimately removed from his post as the ambassador to the United Kingdom because of his anti-British sentiments and his lack of support for democracy.
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"He repeatedly told reporters that the was about self-preservation and not about fighting off fascism, ultimately famously stating that 'Democracy is finished in England'.
"In both public and private communications, Kennedy spoke out against Jews and regularly used slurs to refer to them.
"Kennedy went as far as to respond to reports of Nazi assaults on Jews by suggesting that 'they brought it on themselves' and told the German ambassador to the United Kingdom that he sympathized with their plans to get rid of the Jews but disliked the publicity it created."
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The show's creator Steven Knight didn't convincingly deny the connection either when Den Of Geek posed the question 'is Gina a Kennedy?' Answering "yes" before saying, “No! I mean, I’m not giving that away so soon." Hmm, whatever you say.
Well, whether those claims have any impact on the next episode, it remains to be seen.
The next episode of Peaky Blinders will air on Sunday 13 March on BBC One and will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.