I can't believe it took me this long to find this relatively underrated show, and though many aspects of this show have damaged me in a way only a show I love could, I highly recommend OFMD to those who haven't seen it already, seeking healing. Like What We Do in The Shadows (silly vampires) is to Interview with The Vampire (angsty vampires), Our Flag Means Death (silly pirates) is to Black Sails (angsty pirates). And I'm not saying the shows are "silly" through and through, but they definitely are funny and definitely comforting compared to their angsty counterparts.

Mine has always been and always shall be

"Tits tits... fruit fruit... plant plant. They're the fockin saaame!"

Seriously. He killed dozen trained men, both pirates and the navy multiple times alone singlehandedly without even getting hit once. And then Flint, who each time gets in a fight always has trouble getting out of it alive and always barely manages to win. Yet in their fight Flint just casually beats him in under like 10 seconds. Even the fat pirate dude from first season who wanted to start a mutiny against Flint gave him more trouble.

This is one of my favorite Flint quotes

I recently started a rewatch and just finished season 1 and I'm wondering, was there any chance Flint's plan to take out the warship could have worked?

Even with the mutiny at the worst possible moment the Walrus and the Ranger still managed to get 2-3 good rounds of fire in before the warship was in position to unleash her guns, and those attacks pretty much did nothing.

His whole plan was to finish her before the fight really started, after seeing how little damage their two ships actually could inflict I can't see a how it could have turned out differently.

I love his character and hate him at the same time, i wish he had more screen time in the earlier seasons as i think he only had some agency in season 4. I think the Flint's crew as a whole should've had more screentime instead of some other characters in general.

I think the introduction of Ned Low followed by his quick disposal is emblematic of the problems with season 2 in general.

Rather than the writers working within the show’s world as though it is alive, it feels like they just treat the world as a collection of coincidences they can shuffle through until they find one that supports some artificial idea for how they want to steer the show’s plot.

“Well isn’t that just called writing?”

No, it’s called bad writing. Is there no difference?

S2 feels like they crammed way too much stuff in. They were trying to maintain the pace of S1 with more subplots, and their solution was to not give enough depth and development to any of them.

It’s not just Ned Low either. Far from it.

Hornigold’s role feels very tacked on, undeveloped, almost deus ex machina. Suddenly defies Flint, but it doesn’t feel like his character is actually invested in attacking the fort or defying Flint, it just feels like the writers needed Hornigold to do this because they had some other thing in mind down the road that would depend on it.

Hornigold’s turning up to capture Eleanor feels sudden and random.

Vane murdering Eleanor’s father is similarly just out of nowhere. What could have been an interesting dramatic plot long enough to fill half a season, instead becomes just a throwaway moment.

Vane tries to murder Flint, then takes over his ship, then suddenly wants to save him. It doesn’t feel like Vane has a mind of his own, it just feels like he’s a puppet the writers are using to advance the plot to whatever next point they have in mind.

I could go on, there’s plenty more, but I’ll leave the examples at that for now.

In summary it feels like the show got handed over to an amateur writing team in S2. S1 wasn’t perfect but I got the sense that the people making it liked it, they liked inhabiting the mindd of the characters and the world they were building. S2 just feels like the world is there as a backdrop for whatever events the writers think the show “should” have. They seem neutral and sometimes hostile toward the show’s world.

With a hefty rum cocktail

Is there any explanation for that? As I understand it the original hat was very sentimental for her and then for season 3 she has a fancy nice hat but seems to return to the original for season 4. Was that just a stylistic choice or is there a confirmed reason within the story that I may have missed?

I absolutely adore how the writers portray James McGraw's fury, revenge, and eventually, his hatred of 'civilization' and what it represents. His fury is not only fueled by revenge but by his hatred of England's use of civilization to crush what it doesn't approve of.

He sacrifices his own happiness, the happiness of his loved ones, and his humanity to a cause, and in the end, doesn't regret it. Usually, writers make their characters regret their pursuit of something better, and in the end, give them a little family with children, where the character always says, 'I regret opposing the status quo; the real happiness is living with my beautiful wife/husband and children in the same regime that now makes me happy.' I absolutely despise this sort of narrative; it kills the hope of achieving better conditions.

I'm really grateful that in the show they never do this with Flint's character. Until the end, he remains true to his cause.

A Eleonor é definitivamente uma das personagens que eu mais senti raiva na série, mas gostei bastante da Max pela sua inteligência. Não posso dizer que a Eleonor era apaixonada pela Max, acredito que a paixão era pelo Charles, mas acredito que amava a Max, não falo de amor romântico. A relação entre as duas começa a fluir bastante para algo saudável na 3 temporada, nota-se a consideração e o respeito da parte dela pela Max. A série inteira mostra personagens femininas bastante fortes, acredito que há uma identificação interessante entre as duas embora a classe social seja diferente, uma empatia e uma consideração que poucos homens conseguem demonstrar pelas duas.

I wanted to get that pirate vibe before playing AC Black Flag Resynced and this show just such a great job. Especially the locations which almost look identical to the game.

Just in case you're missing Black Sails from Netflix like I am, and need to binge it again.

I know everyone talks about the cast of Black Sails, but why is Zach McGowan as Captain Vane never in the conversation when people discuss the hottest men in Hollywood?

I am not even talking about the scenes where his impressive endowment is on display. I mean the whole package: the face, the expressions, the voice, the physique, and the sheer screen presence. Add in the acting, and he absolutely steals every scene he is in. For me, he is genuinely one of the most attractive actors in Hollywood, yet I almost never see his name brought up. Am I the only one who thinks he is criminally underrated?

Towards the end of season one, Billy is voted in as Quartermaster. Then in season 2, he returns but later in the season, we see Mr. Scott as quartermaster. Why wouldn't Billy be quartermaster on his return? I'm not sure I missed how Mr. Scott got the job.

In your opinion guys, who had the greatest character conclusion in Black Sails?

Just finished Black Sails, and it is honestly the greatest piece of fiction I’ve ever seen

I'm just now realizing Toby Stephens played Prince John in Robin Hood! 🤯 That's wild. Now I kinda wanna rewatch Robin Hood and compare his performance with Captain Flint. I can't believe I never made the connection!

The Official Rum from Black Sails.

This is about as official as it gets.

Zach McGowen said on the Fathoms Deep podcast, that this was the preferred rum of some of the cast with their off-set get-togethers and parties.

My Girlfriend surprised me with this as a Christmas present last year, after I introduced her to my Black Sails box set (now signed by Toby Stephens 😊).

Needless to say she became a little bit obsessed by the show and after hearing about this on Fathoms Deep podcast - 'knocked it out of the park' with this epic gift. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

.... and yes, it is a really tasty rum!. ☠️

When something is a flashback, dream or vision, the image is desaturated with sharp lighting. Much of the color was leached out. It seemed to me that when they did Flint’s ending, with the VO of Silver recounting it to Madi, it was somewhat desaturated, with quite a bit of white, especially in the costume choices.
And the previous episode they had extensive flashbacks of Flint and Silver doing sword training, as if to remind us of the effect.
Of course, we know from Treasure Island that the rum took Flint in Savannah, so he’s in the right region.
None of the other endings had that effect, they were in regular lighting.
Do you think the show was trying to create ambiguity there? Or were they just portraying the harsh Georgia sun.

at first i was in search of the series that would be kinda similar to “our flag means death”, i found “Black Sails” and started to watch this series, it was about two years ago, but then i quickly neglected it in the middle of the second season ‘cause i was short of time, now i renew the watching and HOLY SHIT the last episode of the second season had me on the edge of my seat. The events and actions were so fast that i didn’t manage to catch the aims of the characters, but then i did, actually, i just want to say that this series is a real ABSOLUTE CINEMA

i also can’t stop to scroll my Tik Tok watching fan edits, even if they contain some spoilers, what is a big mystery for me, because i hate spoilers in all their ways. Moreover I saw that there would be more new characters in the next seasons, so i can’t wait for the further watching!

Recently rewatched another of my favorite shows, and remembering its distinctly piratey ending brought me here after I started planning a rewatch for Black Sails.

If his goals took him to piracy for example?