Peaky Blinders S6 May Explore Hayden and Arthur’s Friendship

Stephen Graham’s Peaky Blinders guest appearance is finally here! He played Hayden Stagg, a worker at the Liverpool docks who has been stealing opium from the Shelby Company Limited.

He comes late into S6 episode 3, where despite his limited screen time he makes a powerful impact. This has left fans wondering if he will make a comeback in the next episodes and how?

When sent to reprimand Hayden Stagg for stealing from the Peaky Blinders, Arthur is shocked to find that Hayden has successful recovered from drug addict, and hence is unable to beat him up. For Hayden’s future, this may mean a friendship with Arthur or a worse punishment from Tommy.

While some fans were disappointed with introducing Graham’s Hayden this late into the show, I think his character is still a welcomed addition, especially if it will be explored alongside Arthur’s storyline. Let me explain how:

Will Arthur become friends with Hayden?

Before taking his beating, Hayden addresses Arthur as comrade as he can clearly identity him to be a recovering drug addict. Plus, there are all sorts of tales going around about Arthur and what he gets up to under opium’s influence.

Hayden uses this to build a connection with Arthur, telling him that he too was a drug addict, after being introduced to morphine during the war.

It’s not exactly a friendship — after all, Hayden does taunt Arthur calling himself a strong, sober man as opposed to Arthur who gets beaten up by his addiction every single day. But in another light, it’s also an invitation: He’s telling Arthur it’s possibly to recover from his addiction and become healthy again. In fact, Hayden could even show him how to do it.

Ultimately Arthur calls off the warning and leaves Hayden alone. I’m still deciding if it was heartbreaking to see Arthur get disconcerted so easily, or hopeful about Hayden being a good influence in his life.

But one thing’s for sure, Arthur ultimately did not carry out his Peaky Blinders’ order. He didn’t even talk about Hayden’s opium theft in earnest and that is going to cause big problems in the coming episodes.

Tommy Will Punish Hayden

In Tommy’s eyes, Hayden should be dead for even thinking of stealing from him. But Ada levels down the kill order to just a beating and warning.

Watching Tommy go berserk in episode 4 and killing innocent people in the aftermath of Ruby’s death makes me think that he’s not going to take Hayden being alive very lightly. He may have words to exchange with Ada, along with finishing up the job she didn’t do: killing Hayden and punishing him for selling his opium for a profit.

In the grand scheme of things, this needs to be done. The opium is a necessary part of his Boston operations and Tommy cannot have folks thinking they can one up him and simply get away with a beating. To send a warning to anyone else who dares to defy him, Hayden must die.

There’s small slimmer of possibility that Hayden might escape unscathed if he manages to cut a good deal with Tommy. We may find out more in episode 5, releasing March 27.

About Peaky Blinders

Peaky Blinders is a British period crime drama television series created by Steven Knight. Set in Birmingham, England, the series follows the exploits of the Shelby crime family and their leader Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in the direct aftermath of the First World War.

The fictional family is loosely based on a real urban youth gang of the same name, active in the city from the 1890s to the early 20th century. It stars Cillian Murphy, Sam Claflin, Aidan Gillen, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Finn Cole, and Tom Hardy

Netflix, under a deal with Weinstein Company and Endemol, acquired the rights to release the show in the United States and around the world. In January 2021, it was announced that the sixth series would be the last, followed by a spin-off film. The final series was broadcast in 2022.