Tender as hell

I am reading Tim Curry’s 2025 memoir, Vagabond

and in it, he not only devotes a chapter to Muppet Treasure Island, but also references this very post

so, to recap

no, Tim Curry is absolutely NOT a Muppet; however

for the scene to be worth writing in the first place it needs to (1) be funny and/or (2) advance a plotline. izzy carefully tying little bows while grumbling about how this sucks and bows look goofy and all this is beneath the dignity of the mighty blackbeard does both: first of all if there's one thing i know about what the ofmd writers' room thinks of izzy it's that he's funniest when his boss is making him do stuff he hates (especially when you know he's going to do a bad job with the bows at first and ed's just going to make him keep retying them till they're perfect). second it provides an obvious opportunity to reinforce the "falling in love with the mark" plot that's ongoing at this point - izzy won't stop complaining, ed shuts him up by reminding him that this is a crucial step in a plan that's supposed to end in ed stealing stede's identity and izzy becoming blackbeard 2.0, the thing he wants most in the world. this sets up the seismic shift in ed and stede's relationship that happens over the course of the episode, and it also reinforces izzy's character arc for the episode in multiple ways: it sets up the homophobia/femmephobia/whatever you like to call it before his interaction with lucius starts, and it tells us before we actually see izzy briefly in charge of the ship how much he's motivated by the hunger for positions of power over others. this gives context not only to the way izzy treats the crew while the captains are gone but also to the story fang tells about how the only time izzy's ever previously been in charge of the ship he literally shit himself. it's tying together what alex sherman told us was the writers' room's main thesis on izzy in s1 - that his central motivation is desperately craving authority while also being totally incompetent at actually wielding authority. you can argue all of that is clear enough from other stuff that's already present in the episode - and i'd guess the writers room agreed with you, most likely it was cut for redundancy and quite likely it was the right call for that reason! but the point of it would have been to reinforce stuff that's already there.

stede finding a new way to live. stede finding a new way to grow. stede finding a new way to be a man, to be gentle, to be kind, to be loving. stede finding a family that loves him. stede finding a love he didn’t think he could have. stepping into a new world of violence and abuse and saying, what if it wasn’t? what if it didn’t have to be like that? 

it doesn’t have to be like that. they can talk it through as a crew. they can show up for one another. they can stand by one another. they can be happy. 

stede can be happy. 

stede can be surrounded by life and growth and flowers. stede can sit on a beach with a man he loves and love him. and he can be loved. and he can show ed the way through all this, into hope and beauty and gentleness, the same way ed can show him fierceness and self preservation and protection. they can learn from each other. they can try again. they have. they will. 

happy june the third, my dears. 

may you also find life and growth and flowers, and hope and beauty and gentleness, and fierceness and self preservation and protection. may you learn, and laugh, and forgive, and try again. may you find the love you’re looking for.