Just a quick one this week. Buttons and Auntie only have a couple scenes together, but I enjoy their interactions.

When Auntie approaches Buttons on the Red Flag in 2x02

First off, the “red sky at morning” backdrop is ominous but lovely

When Auntie says, “But then you probably know that,” (she’s searched for him “far and wide,”) I love Buttons’s response and the stare he gives her: “Best not assume we know anything at all, ma’am”

I like Anapela’s super-dramatic whisper on, “Be gone, wise demon. Await for me above”

When Auntie gives Buttons the spell book in 2x02

Another great reaction shot from Buttons when Auntie says, “I see you've adopted the form of a humble man, sea witch”

His looks during these scenes are so good, because they’re so plausible for both Sea Witch Buttons and Non-Sea Witch Buttons Acting Like He Knows What Auntie’s Talking About. We get our answer a bit later, of course, but in this episode, Ewen is playing Buttons’s responses straight down the middle

I like Auntie averting her eyes from Buttons as she offers him the spell book, telling him, “Take it, thou demon. Use it wisely”

When Stede tells the crew about the “vacation” in 1x02

Of course, it’s in the previous scene that Buttons tells Stede that “young and succulent” Lucius would be the ideal crew member to eat first

So, it’s fun to get this little unspoken exchange between the two of them here. As Stede assures the crew they have plenty of food and won’t need to eat each other, I like the way Buttons eyes Lucius. Meanwhile, Lucius clocks it, though he certainly doesn’t realize why Buttons is looking at him like that

When Lucius watches Buttons whittle in 1x02

One thing that’s fun about the early episodes of an ensemble show is that you tend to get a lot of variety in scene partners as the series figures out the overall dynamics/who clicks together/etc. Later on, things can get more cemented, and characters are less likely to stray from their lane—Lucius, for instance, spends the lion’s share of his season 2 screentime with Pete or Stede, and we don’t get as many moments like this

And really, this “figuring out the dynamics” thing is true within the story as well. From the sounds of it, the crew hasn’t been sailing together too long (in the pilot, Pete says they’ve been at sea “for weeks,”) so they don’t know each other super well yet. People are still getting to know each other and making friends. So I like that Lucius kind of awkwardly asks Buttons what he’s whittling, because it’s the first topic of conversation he can think of

I adore Buttons’s dramatic pronouncement, “This...will eventually be a harpsichord.” Even Lucius gets sucked in by it! But then immediately taking it down a notch with, “No, it kinda resembles a sharp carrot,” hee!

We then get Buttons’s spectacular take on a conversation starter, “Wanna wager I can name a thousand different sea creatures?” Love it! It cracks me up that he fully ignores Lucius from here on out and just starts shouting the names of sea creatures while emphatically whittling

And yet, Lucius just kind of quiets down and resigns himself to listening to Buttons name sea creatures. It’s not until Frenchie and Wee John’s explosion takes out a tree (which Buttons also has no reaction to) that he decides to remove himself from the situation altogether

I really like the way Lucius walks away, clomping through the sand with his palms turned down and his fingers spread wide. It’s so gay and makes me so happy!

I love, “Pomatomus saltatrix, which is Latin for ‘bluefish’”—also, “Other kinds of jellyfish. Don't wanna get stang by one of them, send you into a tunnel of despair…”

When Buttons bites Lucius in 1x06

“Ow, you bit me! What the fuck?!?” “I thought you were a demon, boy!” Flawless, outstanding! I love everything about it. I like that Lucius is equal parts bewildered/annoyed and that Buttons’s explanation is perfectly logical to him

“Sorry, laddie, ye triggered my fight-or-bite response,” is just a pitch-perfect line, impeccably delivered by Ewen! It always make me laugh on rewatch, and I use it as a vocal stim all the time

I also love the reveal of Buttons’s “summer” teeth—“Some are teeth. Some ain't.” Lucius’s reaction is great too!

When the crew is having broth on the Red Flag in 2x02

Look, I know Lucius is struggling right now, and it can be genuinely painful to watch what he’s going through, but it can also be so funny sometimes, and kudos to the show for threading that needle

Because this is the scene where Pete asks, “So babe, you smoke now?” and Lucius gives the worst “trying to be nonchalant” answer of all time—“Do I? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Erm, I must've picked it up somewhere or something. I don't know”

1x01 - It cracks me up when Stede yells for everyone to hide and he just sort of slumps behind the wheel

1x02 - Listing sea creatures while emphatically whittling his “sharp carrot”

1x03 - Waxing about the Republic of Pirate with an ominous, far-away look—”An isle not too far at all, where the law lies doggo and plunderers rule"

1x04 - I’m gonna have to go with his (and Karl’s) introduction to Ed, especially the matter-of-fact, “Karl’s the bird”

1x06 - There are lots of great Buttons moments in this episode, but I just adore, “Sorry, laddie. Ye triggered my fight-or-bite response”

1x08 - Another great episode for Buttons—I’m gonna have to go with, “Oh lord, you must be Olivia”

1x09 - When Oluwande tries to take himself out of the running for captain and Buttons decides that that settles it

1x10 - Two words—“Pure tone”

2x01 - “May we go back to the sea now, cap’n?” Awww!

2x02 - I just love his delivery on, “Ye don’t know if ye picked up smoking?”

2x03 - Springing into action and giving everyone orders as soon as they zipline back over the Revenge, getting the ship moving so they can escape