The Gothamette Gazette

This one’s for you guys!

Hoh, boy! Did you really just ask me what Black Sails is? This is the Best. Day. Ever. Pull up a seat, Nonny, there is nothing in the world I’d rather talk about!

First of all, thank you for the kind words about my work, and no, I don’t have any pirate-focused projects published yet. BUT, I am actually working on just such a thing at this very moment, so details to follow closer to publication, I promise.Now, Sails:

Black Sails is a show on the Starz network about, asyou may have guessed, pirates. The third season airs in January (in the States,anyway) and the show has already been renewed for a fourth. It is set (primarily)in 1715, right in the heart of the Golden Age of Piracy, and features a geniusmix of historical pirates, including Charles Vane, (Calico) Jack Rackham andAnne Bony and fictional pirates from Robert Louis Stevenson’s TreasureIsland, including Captain Flint (played by the amazing Toby Stephens,above), Billy Bones and (not yet Long) John Silver. For the Treasure Islandgang, Black Sails serves as an astonishing prequel to their better known adventures.The historical pirates are well into their legendary careers.

The story is dynamic, exciting, fast-passed, gritty,high-stakes and almost entirely relationship-driven. Though expertly plottedand action-packed, Black Sails is fundamentally a character study, andthe characters are amazing. Though developed slowly and not fully payingoff until the second season, the underlying experiences and motivations thatpropel these characters forward are specific, unique and profoundlyhuman.  The show is, in places, brutal, tender, funny and breath-taking,with smart, careful writing and acting that is a joy to watch (when you’re nocrying so hard you can’t see your screen, that is).  

Black Sails has all the sailing, fighting, drinking, sex,treasure and peril you could possibly want while also being, somewhatremarkably, one of the most genuinely LGBTQ-positive shows on TV. Honestly, Ihave no idea why more people aren’t talking about this. There are kickassfemale characters wall to wall, and male characters that run around doingincredible things without ever once being motivated by the death of theirgirlfriends and/or wives. Season one was arguably a touch gratuitous in places,but by season two the show is firing on all cylinders and features a characterreveal/plot twist that will blow your socks off if you have any empathywhatsoever for the human condition. The Kinsey scale is represented in fullfluidity and there may even be an emerging asexual character.

A few things you’ll find in Black Sails: ship fights,canon fights, gun fights, sword fights, fist fights, and verbal arguments thatyou’ll actually care about. There’s hot sex, passive-aggressive sex, releasesex, group sex, professional sex, love-making, gay, lesbian and bi-sex,on-again off-again sex, I-got-this-you-should-go-now sex, andthank-you-for-killing-that-guy-for-me sex. There’s even allegations ofgoat-fucking, but nothing is ever proven.  You like music? It’s got a scoreby Bear McCreary. Into period pieces and costume dramas? Every detail islovingly attended. Prefer big explosions and special effects? This show has youcovered. Central themes include constructed identity, trust and honesty, shame,democracy and the intersection between societal contracts and individualfreedom. It’s brainy, brawny and oh so very pretty.

What you won’t find in Black Sails: ghosts (unless you countopium hallucinations), monsters (except for the human kind) or anyone eversaying “arrr!”

From a writing standpoint, one of the qualities of the showI admire most is that nothing in Black Sails is thrown away. Thematicallyfaithful and tightly constructed, the show asks you to pay attention, andrewards you if you do. If a character casually mentions a book, it meanssomething. If a character relationship feels stilted or off, there’s a reason. Ifsomebody goes into a metaphor about a clock I am telling you right now, payattention to the fucking clocks. Everything pays off.  

I’d say more, but this is the second time I’m writing thissince Tumblr ate my first attempt and also, I don’t want to get into spoilers. SoI’ll leave you with these three parting thoughts: 1) go watch it, 2) go watchit NOW and 3) if anyone ever decides to do a comic or graphic novel adaptation I,with every fiber of my soul, call dibs.