I disagree with the author of the article. Spoilers ahead. The underlying thread throughout the series is, who is the rat, and what are the underlying motives of the characters. All has not been revealed. What has been revealed is that Maeve is actively sewing chaos with the rival family. In episode 5 the Harigan's successfully shut down Maeve and her protege Eddie at the funeral, but, the whirling dervish that she is, got her way in the end. As you may have followed the "red wedding" carrot-and-stick to the funeral and subsequently been disappointed with the anti climax at the funeral summit, the plot tried to be a little less predictable than that, yet still surprise you with the carrot in the final scene of the episode. The driving chaos thus far is that neither crime family leader wants a war or a restructuring except for Maeve, and she's determined to get it. Helen Mirren in this central role is interesting and appears to be, in a way, inspiring Pierce Brosnan to step it up a notch. Is it a formulaic casting? No. But at a time when consumers are drowning in recipe driven content, casting a few unexpected and good actors is one way to remedy the monotony. Peaky Blinders showed us that going with the better, more unique, *actor* is one ingredient to a meatier formula.