‘Our Flag Means Death’: Love Hurts, Love ‘Arghs’

By Kaleena Rivera | TV | October 14, 2023 |

By Kaleena Rivera | TV | October 14, 2023 |

Embattled exes, toxic relationships, jealous lovers, and so many shifting romantic interests you need a hand-drawn map to track them are only some of the choppy, passionate waters that makes up the second season of Our Flag Means Death. If season one can be summarized as the pursuit of self-discovery, this season is all about healing and within that, love. But no matter what particular flavor of yearning is happening on screen, they nearly all have one thing in common: they hurt like hell.

After an unfortunate stroke of fate foiled Ed Teach’s (Taika Waititi) plan to run off with “The Gentleman Pirate,” Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby), leaving the former to believe he’d been brutally rejected, Teach funneled every bit of his anguish into his “Blackbeard” persona. Rarely has the adage, “hurt people, hurt people,” been made so literal as the heartbroken Blackbeard left death, dismemberment, and psychological torture in his wake. Now stuck trying to make amends with next to no knowledge on how to do so—pivoting from the terror of the high seas to a probationary guest outfitted with a bell around his neck like a mischievous kitten must be bewildering enough as it is—the rattled crew of The Revenge are trying to find ways to cope while Stede attempts to get their relationship back on track.

They’re not alone. Lucius (Nathan Foad) is forced to come to grips with his fear and hostility towards Ed, understandably resentful over being shoved overboard and left for dead. His sweetheart, Black Pete (Matthew Maher), is only able to experience the relief of having the man he loved back only briefly before Lucius’ near-obsessive preoccupation with Ed begins to suck all of the proverbial oxygen out of the room; a matter that isn’t helped after Lucius makes the bitter discovery that vengeance isn’t nearly as satisfying as he initially thought (Ed allowing himself to be shoved into the drink does show that he’s at least willing to try, poor sweet murderous baby that he is). Happily, it seems Lucius has turned a corner while possibly also securing us a maritime wedding, of which Stede would, undoubtedly, be thrilled to help plan—if not take over entirely.

Against all odds, it seems that most of the positive upswings, including Stede’s valuable education in becoming a good ship captain, can be credited to the person who I previously would have thought the least likely to give any sort of constructive advice: Izzy (Con O’Neill). Few, if any, have suffered at the hands of Blackbeard like his erstwhile first mate. Physically tortured, first with the loss of several toes, followed by an entire leg, which was probably only slightly more painful than being cursed with loving someone who can never return the feeling. Going from begging for death to becoming the ship’s “new unicorn” is the sort of character arc typically reserved for entire seasons as opposed to a few episodes. But to quote Stede, “I think my basics might be a bit more basic than your basics.”

A few happy moments aside—Stede and Ed’s sweet kiss being chief among them—there’s a laundry list of interpersonal relationships still to work out, especially between Oluwande (Samson Kayo) and savvy Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao (Ruibo Qian, who’s yet to utter a single line that didn’t leave me in rapturous delight). Her spurned affections aren’t likely to trigger Blackbeard levels of homicidal madness, but I wouldn’t underestimate the potential rage of someone who’s that much of an adorable gumdrop yet whose list of accomplishments happens to include “conquered China.” There’s also the matter of Jim (Vico Ortiz) and Archie’s (Madeleine Sami, a familiar face for Deadloch fans out there) potential romance, now that Jim and Olu have found themselves back on friendship terms. Like Jim and Archie’s post-amputation first kiss, romance below decks is a messy affair. Even the ones that ‘make it’ come with their own unique set of problems, as shown by the truly messy (but utterly electric) Anne Bonny (Minnie Driver) and Mary Read (Rachel House!!). A pirate’s (love) life isn’t for me, but it’s endlessly entertaining.

Kaleena Rivera is the TV Editor of Pajiba. When she isn’t permanently stuck associating the Kate Bush classic, “This Woman’s Work” with merman Rhy Darby, she can be found on Bluesky here.