Final Word from Thursday, June 9, 2016
A subplot in the BBC's superb Peaky Blinders interwar TV drama centers around a tough anti-gang copper who serves the very street gang he's supposed to be fighting. Despite his moral flaws, Sgt./Inspector Moss's dress code is impeccable, and he always looks sharp in a uniform or suit. His real-life and real-time counterpart in the Czech anti-mafia police, Robert Šlachta, appeared on Czech TV last night to plead for his job. He was wearing a faded Esprit t-shirt and a gold necklace to match the beard that stretched almost to his chest (but without the mullet he discarded a few years ago). He looked like an undercover agent who was returning from a six-year assignment in a street gang. Compare his appearance to that of the head of any major FBI-like crime bureau, and it won't be favorable. The problem with Šlachta is that it's hard sometimes to determine which side of the law he's serving, which is only partly due to his dress code. [Czech Republic ÚOOZ reorganization anti-corruption organized crime]
Glossary of difficult words
interwar - existing in the period between two wars, esp. the two world wars (i.e. between 1918 and 1939);
flaw - a fault or weakness in a person's character;
impeccable - in accordance with the highest standards; faultless;
mullet - a man's hairstyle in which the hair is cut short at the front and sides and left long at the back;
to discard - to get rid of (someone or something) as no longer useful or desirable.