long overinterpretations of the show black sails

1: close-up of Silver looking somber as he says, “And my greatest fear has been that in the moment he decided it was in his interest to betray my trust, that he would find a way to do so (…) and I would be just another tool that he’d used and then promptly discarded.”

2: Silver in the jungle on Skeleton Island saying, “That’s all this has ever been, isn’t it? A partnership only insofar as it enables you to do whatever it is that matters to you in any given moment.”

3: on the warship, Flint pins silver to the wall and holds a knife to his throat. Silver says, “You are truly amazing, you know that? We’re both better off now than we were two minutes ago, yet you’re angry about it because it didn’t happen your way.”

4: a continuation of gif 2, in the jungle. Silver says, “And right now it matters far less to you whether she lives or dies than it happens your way, on your terms.”

plain text: an argument that runs deep and goes back ages

i've heard the same. i know it's hard to stomach and it isn't as good as the other seasons but i do genuinely love s1 and the show would not hold together without it.

like first. it provides ESSENTIAL context for the characters. it's important to know a silver who ISN'T pathologically obsessed w flint. it's important to know flint's violence and tyranny before you understand it. and MOST importantly to ME it's important to know a max who hasn't been betrayed by her lover and it's important to know that the max of the later seasons has been deeply influenced by both eleanor's betrayal and the fact that she was brutalized at the hands of pirates in full view of nassau. like max's worldview isn't unchanging throughout the show s1 is part of the foundation of her counterrevolutionary activity. and if you dont watch season 1 you don't get a good sense of how these characters (and eleanor as well) evolve and call me crazy but watching characters evolve is one of the most deeply satisfying things abt watching a well written story idk!

people say it's bad bc it comes off as game of thrones with pirates and like. i guess that's true on a superficial level? but even themes and characters aside s1 is actually a good action show w a well written plot all the moving pieces slot together really well. i love shows like that but i understand if that's not to your taste. But i think some people dismiss it because that's not to their taste but they also think that it's thematically not as important which is just. Categorically untrue. it IS. this is the scary story that they tell their children! this is a story about brutality and betrayal and joshua wearing scary fake teeth before you get to the deconstruction of what all that really means. this is the whole POINT they tell the story one way in season 1 and they tell the same one in a different way in s2. and there's a reason for that! would the reveal about thomas be half as impactful as it was in s2 if it happened in s1? no! and the reason is bc you have to believe the story of Captain Flint you have to internalize it so that when they subvert the whole thing it actually means something.

Also. a lot of characters are shown at their moral worst in s1 and i think that thats important. sure the storytelling the villains etc but also. they did do those brutal things and just bc theyre not treated fairly by england doesn't mean that they're saints or even that theyre good. and thats also part of the point. suffering doesn't make you a revolutionary it makes you fucked up! being a perpetrator doesn't make you a monster being a victim doesn't make you a saint and being one doesn't preclude you from being the other. people like to put their favorite characters in the perpetual victim category but s1 tells you in no uncertain terms. All of these people have both committed and experienced unspeakable violence. s1 says the victim perpetrator dichotomy is a false and carceral one and one we have no use for thank u very much!

the london flashbacks are primarily flint's memories, but those that are miranda's are clearly framed as such, and from what they choose to remember we can infer what they are thinking and feeling now:

flint is processing the loss of one partner in gates and considering his newfound partnership with silver, while reflecting on the material circumstances and ideological motivations that have driven him to this point.

miranda, on the other hand, is more concerned with flint's recklessness, his emotional turmoil, the demons that haunt him. she considers the terrible loss that brought them here, the warnings that went ignored.

in 4.01 flint calls silver a friend, and madi remembers discussing their friendship with silver, how she questioned the legitimacy of that friendship —doubts which she will begin to shed in the following episodes.

i'm always wondering about the 4.09 flashbacks for that reason. the episode opens with a flashback: "but if every man fights differently, seems to me what you'll really be teaching me is how to defeat you." "i'll take my chances."

then cut to silver. is he recalling the lessons flint taught him, now that he's planning to face him? is he looking back to their friendship, questioning his choice?

then again, from john to the flashback —from "i wonder if he knows… just how much you learned from him." to the "it has made me transparent to you." flashback. is that what he is thinking? from him i learned how to defeat him?

but then, dooley tells flint "when the time comes, i'll [kill silver]." and it cuts from flint to the flashback. to silver asking "can that be enough and there still be trust between us?" and sure, it's easy to interpret flint's silence as a denial, much like madi's silence after silver's "would i be enough?" is a denial, but the fact is that flint continues to trust silver. is he thinking that he was a fool to trust him? is he reminding himself of just how much he feels for silver?

there's a quick camera shift from flint to silver before the scene cuts to the last training flashback, and it's book ended by a shot of the two together, so i believe this is a flashback that could go either way. maybe it's the two of them, remembering the other's weaknesses and strengths, both aware that this is their friend they are fighting against.

the last memory of silver's conversation with madi is self-evidently his, even though he's in the background of the frame, and while it could be an expression of guilt, i think it's silver justifying his betrayal to himself: i believe he's telling himself that flint betrayed his trust and genuine friendship by choosing the war over madi, so silver's own betrayal is justified. but they have just put a stop to their fighting in order to react to the cannon-fire, so the flashback could just as well mean an entirely different thing: maybe it's silver remembering that, despite everything (despite himself), this is his friend he is standing besides.

we’ve been rewatching Black Sails again (my third time this year lololol not my fault it was my partners idea this time) and last night we watched episode XV and holy shit this show. I cannot stop thinking about the handling of Anne Bonny’s breakdown.

Julian pointed out that if the GOT writers did this plotline, they would’ve had Max manipulate Anne, and Anne would’ve maybe hurt Jack when he returned. It would’ve been stupid essentially. But we have Steinberg/Levine and their team and its not stupid its amazing.

I love that Anne has to be brought to this. She’s so fragile, pointy and co-dependant on Jack in S1. You can tell she’s wearing the costume of “Vicious Pirate” and it fits, but not perfectly - there’s theatre in it, there’s discomfort. And when she has her breakdown after Jack leaves, after no crew will have her - she can’t wear this “Vicious Pirate” costume anymore and without that, without Jack, who the fuck is she?

She says it herself “If I’m not what I was when I was born and I ain’t what I’ve become instead, what the fuck am I?”

(i mean, part of my answer is “you’re a non-binary lesbian pirate Anne” but im not her therapist)

She feels fundamentally outside of traditional womanhood and feminine roles in this society - she tries it on when she puts on the dress and goes along with Jacob’s assumption that she’s a sex worker. Maybe if I can’t pirate I can do this? She’s also profoundly disassociated at this point, and Idelle stops her. But she’s adrift, and trying to figure out without the tethers she had before, who she actually is. She’s realised she hasn’t grown up, that she’s relied on Jack for too long, and that she needs to figure herself out.

And the reason this all works so well is Max’s reaction. A lesser show would’ve had her punish Anne, avenge Charlotte, manipulate Anne to become her pawn. But she doesn’t? She brings a profound, radical empathy and understands that punishing Anne would do nothing but perpetuate violence. And Max never perpetuates violence if she can help it. She knows that Anne is already in a totally lost state, and that to ensure she’s stable and not randomly violent, she needs safety and support. And Max gives it to her. 

She treats her so gently, she lets her rest, lets her talk, takes care of the dirty work and when Anne is ready, presents her with options. She knows that Anne wont have answers yet - who she is, what she wants, what her future long term will look like. But she knows that making her feel useful would help. And it’s not about Anne being useful as a brutal fighter - but as a sailor and procurer of spies. She can do that. And you see how Anne perks up at the idea. 

Max is so gentle. And while it’s not the result Idelle wants, it does keep the rest of the workers at the brothel safe - Anne never hurts any of them ever again. Max knows if she threw Anne out she would probably die but if she didn’t it would only harden and embitter her - and then they’d all have something to worry about. 

And it works, it works beautifully! Anne goes off, gets the spies, and continues learning about who she is. She returns to Jack, and reaffirms their non-conventional relationship - twins, lovers, soulmates, something between all of those. She continues her romance with Max, now on a far more even, trusting footing. Anne is finally stable - she doesn’t cloak herself in that sneering, sweary vicious pirate costume she had before. She’s relaxed, focused, still Anne but more comfortable in herself. She’s still violent in battle, but not this chaotic force you have to tiptoe around. The difference between S1 Anne and S3 Anne is incredible. 

And it’s because she’s done all that hard work, she’s grown up and self-actualised and become a person. Because she did that, when Max betrays her and Jack and she realises she would kill her if she saw her, it frightens her. She’s not chomping at the bit to seek revenge, she’s wary of the impulse and scared about her own violent tendancies. The part of her that grew up, and loves Max, doesn’t want to do it. And she ultimately never follows through on. She sits with it, discusses it with Jack, she has her recovery time to process how she feels about what Max did, what she did, and what they owe the other.

And when Max comes to her in Philadelphia, to apologise and commit to trying to repair their relationship, Anne returns the empathy and forgiveness that Max gave her in S2. They hold hands in the snow and you know they’ll be ok. They have this gorgeous relationship predicated on compassion, from the moment Anne rescued Max from the tent, Max nursing her through her breakdown, to the very end. 

How the turntables

While we’re talking about Billy, I’ve been thinking about this for a while.The above scene comes early in the first episode– the very first episode! –of Season 1. Billy is showing Silver the ropes of Pirate Life, and telling him his duties as a cook. And one of the things he really stresses is this bit: 

“No one gets any special treatment from you of any kind. No extra ratons, no preferences in cuts of meat. Not for me, not for the quartermaster, not for the captain.  Here, every man is equal.”

This is such a big deal for him! He’s really clear about it! the practicalities-when the mess is served, where to get supplies- he brushes over with a mention. But the idea that all the crew are equal– that’s essential. 

Oh but what’s going on in S3:

The Walrus is becalmed, stores are running low, and Flint, talking to Billy and Silver, says: 

I would suggest that we draw up two lists. One with the names of the men critical to sailing this ship once the wind returns, and second, for the men who aren’t. 

Silver asks: You think we should feed some of the men more than others? and Flint answers: 

No, I think we should feed some of the men and not others. 

Billy is standing right there.  He’s standing right there because he’s chosen to follow Flint- despite the fact that Flint probably tried to murder him, despite the fact that Flint has made him perjure himself and made him accessory to murder, despite the fact that Flint killed his surrogate father, Gates– because Billy really does care about the pirate brotherhood, this more-egalitarian life.  He values that life and those people so much he was willing to put aside everything Flint’s done, because he thinks Flint is their best commander and best chance of preserving that. 

And here’s Flint, dismissing the most  important thing  about that life.

Flint’s absolute arrogance in his very British-Navy taught way of treating his crew, recreating the inequality of the society they’re all rebelling against– it has a huge role in the endgame being what it is. And I think it’s an obvious but weirdly underrated part of why Billy does what he does.

…oh, and here’s another part of both those things: 

Silver saying “you can’t divide the men like that.”