The first time we see Polly Gray (Helen McCrory) in the Peaky Blinders pilot, she’s pointing a gun at her nephew John Shelby’s (Joe Cole) head. Turns out, he left the loaded weapon lying around, and his younger brother Finn started playing with it. John, who’s been having a hard time since his wife died, leaving him a single dad, apologizes and promises never to do it again. Polly agrees to keep the incident between them and pats him on the back before spitting out, “I know having four kids without a woman is hard, but my boot’s harder.” 

That zinger is Polly, aka Aunt Pol, in a nutshell: Doling out equal measure motherly advice and insults; she’s the toughest member of the Peaky Blinders criminal gang and leader Tommy Shelby’s (Cillian Murphy) (red) right hand woman. Over the last five seasons, Polly has been a driving force in the Shelby family’s rise from street gang to criminal empire. But just before the series headed into its final season, McCrory, whose crackling, nuanced performance shaped a now-iconic anti-heroine, died in 2021 of cancer.

In many ways, Aunt Polly’s character represents the countless women who have been forgotten by history. Capable, ruthless and ambitious, she chafes against the cultural and economic limitations placed upon the women of her time. But she’s also not a fantastical unicorn: Women like Polly existed and thrived, and creator Steven Knight stresses that it was important from the start that they be at the center of the series.

“Having come from a working-class background, and in Birmingham, the women run the show,” Knight said. “The idea that you’d have this environment where the women were completely subservient? Nonsense.”

Ahead, we look back at some of Aunt Polly’s most memorable moments over five seasons of Peaky Blinders. 

Polly’s Past, Revealed (Season 1, Episode 6)

The Day Polly's Children Were Taken | 'Peaky Blinders' S1E6

This scene between Polly and Ada (Sophie Rundle) early on in the Season 1 finale sheds some light on the former’s mysterious backstory. Gazing down at Ada’s newborn son Karl in his cradle, Polly tells her niece how her own children were taken by the police when they were 2 and 5 years old after a neighbor snitched on her for illegal dealings. 

“They never told me where they took them,” she cries. “And they did it because they could, and because I was weak. They would never take your baby away from you. Do you know why? Because Tommy won’t let them. Because Tommy won’t let them walk all over us.”

The confession prompts Ada to forgive her brother, whom she believes had her husband, Freddie, sent to prison, but also sets up Polly’s arc for the following season, in which she’s finally reunited with her long lost son Michael. For the viewers, it’s a rare glimpse into the emotions that drive a woman who’s had to develop a steely outer shell in order to survive in a cruel world.

Confronting Grace (Season 1, Episode 6)

Grace Faces a Death Threat for Her Betrayal | 'Peaky Blinders' S1E6

When Grace’s (Annabelle Wallis) betrayal of Tommy Shelby comes to light, Polly goes to the Garrison Tavern to confront her. Their exchange introduces the audience to Polly’s ruthless side: If you cross her or her family, you might not even live to regret it. But where a man might have resorted to violence, in Polly’s words, “we women have more sense.” The two share a civilized drink, and even a laugh or two, before Polly lays out the facts. She knows what Grace has done, and she will never, ever forgive her — even if Tommy eventually does. 

“He might forgive you,” she says in a monologue that deploys McCrory’s trademark quiet fierceness. “He might take you in. You can never tell with men. They go for whoever their dicks point at and there’s no changing their minds. But I should tell you something. I will never forgive you. Or accept you. Or take you in. And it’s me who runs the business at the heart of this family. And as far as I’m concerned, you’re a snitch from the parish, and if you’re not gone from this city by tomorrow, I’ll kill you myself.”

Grace may be Tommy’s romantic partner of choice, but where business is concerned, Polly wields the power.

Shooting Major Campbell (Season 2, Episode 6)

Polly Has Her Revenge On Major Campbell | 'Peaky Blinders' S2E6

“Don’t fuck with the Peaky Blinders.” With those six little words, Polly finally gets revenge on Major Campbell (Sam Neill), who violently assaulted her earlier in the season when she came to ask him to release her son Michael from prison. While Tommy is carrying out his plans at the Epsom Derby, Polly corners Campbell in a phone booth and coolly shoots him in the heart before primly walking back out, a red stain visible on her checkered suit. 

It’s a moment of triumph, but tinged with real pain — McCrory displays roughly 6,000 emotions on her face as she pulls the trigger, and her expression when she leaves the phone booth could fill a novel. No one ever really knows what Aunt Polly is thinking, and that’s what makes her so compelling.

The Strike Walkout (Season 3, Episode 4)

The Women Decide to Strike | 'Peaky Blinders' S3E4

When Arthur’s wife, Linda (Kate Phillips), comes to headquarters to help out while the men are on a job, she mentions that union organizer Jessie Eden (Charlie Murphy) is organizing a walkout for women workers to protest for better working conditions and equal rights. Tired of being treated like second-class citizens even within their own families, the women of Peaky Blinders decide to march with them — with Polly leading the charge. “Fuck it,” she says, exhaling a cloud of cigarette smoke. “I’m not in the mood today.”

What’s so striking about McCrory in this scene isn’t so much in the action, but in the intention. As she strolls out into the street in slow motion, sunglasses on, coat collar popped, and cigarette dangling from her lips, Peaky Blinders gives her the kind of slick gangster treatment you tend to see from actors like Robert DeNiro in Goodfellas. Polly is smart, Polly is vicious, but above all, Polly is really, really cool.

Climbing Through The Window (Season 4, Episode 5)

How Polly's Near-Death Experience Set Her Free | 'Peaky Blinders' S4E5

Season 4 opens with the bleakest of situations: John (Joe Cole), Polly, Arthur (Paul Anderson) and Michael (Finn Cole) being escorted to their deaths. Arrested for the murder of Chief Inspector Campbell, they have each been sentenced to hang. But at the very last minute, the four get a reprieve after Tommy manages to blackmail the King and his government with some compromising information. Still, the experience is deeply scarring for Polly, who leaves the Shelby Company and goes her own way — until news of a gang war with Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody) brings her back to help. Later in the season, she describes her near-death experience to Aberama Gold (Aidan Gillen), a fellow Gypsy hired by Tommy to help in the fight against Changretta. Polly and he are having a picnic by a lake and flirting, when she explains that the noose set her free, like “putting your head through a window and seeing the whole world.”

“First I thought it was madness, but no,” she adds. “When you put your head out of that window, you can do anything you want, because there are no rules. There are no risks.” 

Immediately after, Polly threatens Gold with his own knife, and the two make out. For Polly, power and freedom always go hand-in-hand with violence and sex. But for the first time, she’s found someone who understands and respects her for it.

Listen For Her Footsteps (Season 5 Episode 3)

Polly and Tommy Confront a Nun | 'Peaky Blinders' S5E6

The Peaky Blinders may be gangsters, but they also look out for the community. In Season 5, that means confronting a group of nuns funded by the Grace Shelby Foundation who were abusing the children in their care. While Tommy resorts to threats and violence, smashing the Mother Superior’s (Kate Dickie) glasses on the table, Polly is quiet and visibly emotional, tears rolling down her face as she describes the testimony of children who have experienced horrors. But as ever, confuse Polly’s emotion with weakness at your own peril; she leaves the nuns with some parting words that hit harder than a punch ever could: “If I come for you, and I still might yet decide to come for you, I will wear high heels so you can hear my approach on the cobblestones and have time to repent. You listen for my footsteps.”

Now, that’s what we call a knockout.

“Polly Gray, Gypsy Queen, Will You Marry Me?” (Season 5 Episode 4)

Polly Gray, Gypsy Queen, Will You Marry Me? | 'Peaky Blinders' S5E4

Aunt Polly is tough because she’s had a hard life. She’s survived losing her children and her husband, cared for her nephews like a mother, ran the family business alone while they went off to war, and weathered countless storms with a cool head. She deserves a happy ending. Of course, this is Peaky Blinders, and nothing comes that easy. But Polly gets at least one moment of true romance toward the end of Season 5. During a performance of Swan Lake at the Shelby house, a very dapper Aberama Gold sneaks Polly away into the garden and gets down on one knee. Then, he asks her to marry him: “Polly Gray, gypsy queen, will you marry me? A poor commoner who loves you?”

Polly accepts, and the two share a truly heartfelt moment before celebrating in true Peaky Blinders style: By having a quickie as Tommy’s guests enjoy the ballet. Later, Polly caps off the evening by saving the day and shooting a distraught Linda before she can kill Arthur. Sex, violence and a red right hand: Welcome to the Shelby family!