It’s the second-to-last episode of Our Flag Means Death! Will our captains escape from the clutches of the English? Will Jim get revenge on the rest of the men who killed their parents or will they return to Oluwande and the crew? Will Izzy Hands ever find happiness or will he keep being an angry little man? We won’t actually find out the answers to all that, but we will find out what makes Ed (not Blackbeard) happy. (Spoilers ahead!)
1. Baby Bonnet’s bill comes due
In the first episode, Stede accidentally killed a man. He meant to use a “stun move” on his bully, Captain Badminton, but the man fell (literally) on his sword. Eight episodes later, Badminton’s twin brother boards the Revenge looking for revenge. (Stede’s ship really was named the “Revenge” which came in handy for thematic purposes several hundred years later when a television show was made about him.) Admiral Badminton puts Blackbeard and Captain Bonnet on trial, using Stede’s journal as evidence of Stede’s guilt.
Ed tried to take credit for the murder, but Stede confesses. To both of the Badminton brothers, who stand in for Stede’s father and all the bullies he’s faced in his life, Stede will always simply be “Baby Bonnet,” the spoiled rich boy who liked to pick flowers and didn’t fit in. Stede has faced a torrent of abuse for not conforming to toxic masculine ideals, and though he says “talk it through as a crew,” Stede has never once tried to talk his own issues through with the people he’s come to trust. Taunting by a Badminton is exactly what caused Stede to lash out in the first episode but now it triggers a mental breakdown. Stede is still wracked with guilt over his actions, unable to let go of the fact that he failed to be who he was expected to be and (accidentally) killed a man. He prepares to be executed, even going so far as to say he deserves to die.
When in front of the firing squad, however, he changes his tune. (The immediate reversal of his bravery is one of the things I love most about Stede. He is brave, but only to a point.) But Ed also isn’t prepared to see the Gentleman Pirate executed. He puts himself in front of the firing squad, shielding Stede with his body and invoking the “Act of Grace.” It allows pirates to gain clemency if they renounce their crimes and serve the King, but it only applies to real pirates. Stede’s crew speaks up to vouch for his acts of piracy (stealing a plant). In the first episode, they were minutes away from mutiny, but here they are, rallying in support of their strange captain. Stede’s face lights up with genuine joy when his crew insists that he’s a real pirate. His wish came true, and the wooden doll became a real boy. Er, pirate.
2. Edward Teach, born on a beach
The Act of Grace granted a kind of royal pardon for men who engaged in piracy, allowing them to basically keep doing what they were doing but only if they agreed to do so in the name of the crown and to try and only attack the King’s current enemies. Ed and Stede sign together, tying their fates to one another. For Blackbeard, it’s a repudiation of everything he previously stood for, giving up his life and freedom to save Stede’s. And for the English, it’s a major win, as they can claim that they’ve forced the fearsome Blackbeard to surrender.
When Ed and Stede return to Barbados to an English reform camp, Ed loses his beard, freaking Stede out with his new smooth face. It’s quite an adjustment! After all this time, we’re used to seeing only Blackbeard’s eyes. Stede is also shocked to find out that his family has reported him dead. It makes sense from their perspective since the average career of a pirate was rarely much more than a year. But Stede has never been all that good at looking at things from his family’s perspective, has he?
3. Izzy’s Revenge
Captain Hands, meanwhile, is living large on the Revenge. As expected, he throws his weight around and takes pleasure in being as mean as possible. But just as the crew was ready to mutiny on Stede, they’re ready to mutiny on Izzy. Being a pirate captain is a delicate balancing act, where you have to weigh the needs of your crew against the realities of life at sea, and if you don’t, you’ll be thrown overboard tied to something heavy.
Continued belowBut who would be captain once Izzy’s gone? It needs to be someone who has the whole crew’s interests at heart, and someone the whole crew trusts. The only answer, of course, is Oluwande. He’s been a constant source of reason and calm on an otherwise chaotic, silly, messy ship full of big personalities. And since Oluwande doesn’t want the job, he’s obviously perfect for it. The scene where he’s voted captain of the Revenge is so satisfying — it gets me every time I watch it. Oluwande has spent the whole series as an excellent supporting character and here he gets the recognition he deserves. In the first episode, he was the only crew member who didn’t want to mutiny, having seen the benefits of Stede’s leadership style. To see him getting recognized for his quiet, compassionate competence makes me want to pump my fist in the air in support of Captain Boodhari.
4. You make Stede happy
While Stede struggles with life after piracy, Ed is going with the flow. The two share an intimate conversation on the beach where Ed says that he’s enjoying his new life as “Edward.” After years of being Blackbeard he just wants to be Ed and keep doing “what makes Ed happy.” And what makes Ed happy? Stede, obviously it’s Stede. Though he hesitates while saying it, Ed follows his words with a kiss that takes Stede (and many viewers) by surprise.
How to write about the kiss? It’s romantic and awkward and achingly sweet. Stede and Ed aren’t wearing fancy outfits or badass leather. There’s no ship around them, no crew to impress, no reputations to maintain. Both Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate are gone, this is just Ed and Stede, on a beach. For Stede, it’s a moment of loss and confusion as he struggles to figure out how to process the ways his actions have affected the people in his life. But for Ed, this moment is a beginning of sorts, as he finally makes the leap he backed down from in episode five. He admits, out loud, that what he wants is to be with Stede, not as Blackbeard but as Ed. It’s a huge risk and when Stede reciprocates, the joy on Ed’s face is plain to see. They make plans to escape and Ed leaves to work out the details while Stede remains with a stunned look on his face.
Many of the creators and actors have expressed surprise at the intense reaction to the kiss in episode nine. But it’s still just so rare to see an earnest on-screen romance between two men on a mainstream television show. As a culture, we’re still so used to “bromances” that toe the line between friendship and something more. So a genuine, honest-to-goodness romance was a surprise to fans, many of whom may have felt gaslighted by shows and movies that tease queer relationships but don’t commit to them. Our Flag Means Death does.
5. If you don’t love me now… You’ll never love me again
What did I say in last week’s recap? Every love story has to have a breakup or two? Well, here comes breakup number two. Sorry, folks.
Badminton ruins Ed and Stede’s plans to run away together (to China, apparently). He kidnaps Stede and tries (unsuccessfully) to kill him. Chauncey Badminton has become convinced that Stede is a monster, someone who ruins the lives of everyone around him. Sadly, Stede agrees. He thinks he’s broken his family, killed a man, and ruined the world’s greatest pirate. Only one of those things is (mostly) true, but Stede still can’t see himself as anything but the spoiled rich boy who won’t ever amount to anything. He doesn’t understand how his influence on Ed could be anything but bad, and when Chauncey trips and accidentally shoots himself in the eye, he screams with anguish so pure it hurts to hear. There’s nothing funny about Stede in this scene. We’re so used to Rhys Darby being a funny actor that the sincerity with which he reacts to being kissed, then the horror of once again (accidentally) killing a man is a little surprising. It’s a little like how Our Flag Means Death lures you in promising to be a silly show about pirates, then surprise! It’s also a love story that examines the effects of toxic masculinity and a rigid class hierarchy.
Continued belowEd waits. Taika Waititi gazes up at a purple sky while the second-saddest song ever (“Perfect Day” by Lou Reed) plays and his face slowly falls as he realizes Stede isn’t coming. As this episode closes, Ed gives up and rows back to the ship and Stede goes back home. How will Stede adjust to “normal” life? Will Ed get over being dumped? Does Stede even understand that he dumped Blackbeard? We’ll find out next week on the last episode of Our Flag Means Death!
Other favorite things from this episode, in no particular order:
- Lucius trying to get a job with the English while under suspicion of piracy by the English
- “I forgot you were twins.”
- Ed saying that all the English soldiers (aka the white guys) look alike
- Black Pete calling Lucius ‘sweetie’ and ‘babe’
- Frenchie inventing epistolary fanfiction in 1717
- “Great punch, Captain.”
- Show creator David Jenkins saying in an interview that Ed’s color scheme gets even more purple (from mostly black) as he falls in love with Stede, then seeing the sky entirely purple as Ed waits at the dock
