Blackbeard’s back, alright! Or is he Ed? We get to know the man behind the beard a little more this week in the fourth episode of Our Flag Means Death. Viewers have gotten to know Stede Bonnet, the incompetent “Gentleman Pirate” in episodes one through three, but here we get a glimpse of the unhappy life Stede lived before he set out to be a pirate. He has more in common with the fearsome Blackbeard than you might think.
1. Discomfort in a married state
The episode title refers to a real historical document that described Stede’s reasons for abandoning his luxurious life to become a pirate. As in Our Flag Means Death, the real Stede Bonnet was married to Mary Allamby and the marriage was not a happy one. In episode four, we get to see more of Stede’s life before he set out for adventure on the high seas, in the form of delirious flashbacks Stede has while recovering from being stabbed and nearly hung to death. Mary and Stede had an arranged marriage and two children, and although Mary tries in vain to enjoy their life together, Stede is miserable except when he’s able to play pretend pirates with his kids.
In a flashback, Stede and Mary are married on the beach on a foggy day, standing before a lighthouse. The priest tells them to be guiding lights for each other but both look like they’d rather fling themselves on the rocks than spend eternity in each other’s company. Later, Mary paints the lighthouse for Stede, presenting it to him as an anniversary gift. He doesn’t appreciate the gesture, nor does Mary appreciate the gift Stede tries to give her — a model replica of the Revenge, which he brings with him when he leaves his family behind. In his dreams, Mary mocks him for his cowardice, telling him to enjoy his new life in hell.
2. This is how we treat pirates?
Blackbeard, who is much more amiable than expected, introduces himself to the nervous crew of the ship he invaded / rescued. He’s fascinated by Mr. Buttons and his bird familiar, Karl, as well as Stede’s knick-knacks (including the model ship Mary derided). Though Izzy tries to get him to focus on a plan to escape the Spanish Navy, Blackbeard seems uninterested in anything else but an unconscious Stede. He keeps a vigil at Stede’s bed as the wounded gentleman is taunted by fever dreams. When he wakes, Stede doesn’t realize the man with the giant black beard sitting by his side is Blackbeard, so he introduces himself simply as “Ed.” The two men shake hands and chat, while Stede has no idea it was Blackbeard watching over him.
As it turns out, being Blackbeard is boring. Ed is tired of his life raiding ships and being the scariest pirate of all time. He’s ready to give up his usual life but doesn’t know what to do next. Sound familiar? He and Stede bond over their yearning for a different kind of life. Ed finds one of Stede’s fancy gowns and asks about it, making Stede ask, in the most Stede way possible, “Do you fancy a fine fabric?” It’s a question that unlocks something in Ed and sparks the beginning of the relationship between the two. Stede shows Ed his fancy wardrobe and his library, all the things he was mocked for by Badminton not long ago. But instead of mockery, Ed is fascinated by Stede’s eccentricities, delighted by all the things that made Stede seem lesser in the eyes of those who tormented him.
3. Can I be Jim?
Jim’s identity as Bonifacia Jimenez was outed by Fred Armisen’s smarmy Geraldo in the last episode, and the crew is unsure how to react to the sudden knowledge that Jim is not a man, doesn’t have a beard, and can speak. Having Jim be outed as a castaway posing as a man is not an unexpected development, since real-life figures Anne Bonny and Mary Read were well-known female pirates who donned disguises in order to live on pirate ships among their male colleagues. It’s not uncommon for fantasy shows to feature women who live among men in disguises, and they’re usually portrayed as under constant threat of danger if exposed.
Continued belowWill the crew of the Revenge react violently? Will they ostracize Jim? Threaten violence? Or at the very least, treat Jim differently? Though Elizabeth Swan is grudgingly accepted by the undead pirates in the big Disney pirate franchise, she’s never really treated as just one of the crew. So you might think you know how Jim’s story is going to unfold. But you don’t! Because Our Flag Means Death lets Jim just … be Jim. They’re a nonbinary pirate who doesn’t have to define their gender but does pull a knife out of their sleeve at the suggestion that women have crystals in their bodies that attract demons. The Swede and others are curious about Jim’s identity but not angry or violent, and once Jim asks to be left alone and treated as Jim, the crew, miraculously, does.
From this point onward, the crew refers to Jim with “they/them” pronouns, following their lead, and it’s amazing. To see a nonbinary character treated with respect and for it not to be remarked on with an “afterschool special” type of moment is an example of this show’s brand of inclusion. Jim’s story is about Jim’s history and life quest, not about Jim coming out as nonbinary. It’s not violent and it’s not traumatic. Our Flag Means Death has earned heaps of praise from the LGBTQ+ community for exactly this — treating queer characters as people with desires and lives outside their identities while still including and celebrating them for who they are. We love to see it.
4. Edward Teach’s guide to dressing like you own the place
In previous episodes, we’ve seen how seriously Stede takes the proverb, “The clothes make the man.” In this episode, Ed basically says, “Hold my beer.” Having found unexpected delight in Stede’s vast wardrobe and eccentric gentlemanly ways, he suggests they switch clothes. Ed appears on deck as Stede, taking his frilly outfit, down to his rings and a lovely black cravat. Meanwhile Stede, despite being recently stabbed and still sporting a rope burn around his neck, gamely dons Ed’s Mad Max-inspired leather outfit and does his best to strut around as Blackbeard.
When the Spanish Navy catches up to the ship, having switched places, Stede is hard-pressed to decide on a course of action. He’s not up to the task of being a fearsome pirate captain — not yet, anyway. But Ed, having remarked on the shape of the clouds earlier in the episode, predicted that a dense fog would set in and obscure the ship. The crew hails Blackbeard as a genius tactician. And he may well be, but he miscalculates the tides, and with the fog hiding them, the Spanish ship is on a collision course. (Never mind that 1717 was not a leap year. Stede’s tombstone also shows his birth year, making him 29, so this show is not at all concerned with details like days, years, or time in general.)
5. To the lighthouse
Resigned to their fates, Captain Blackbeard and Captain Bonnet retire to Stede’s quarters to drink. Stede shows the lighthouse painting to Ed, lamenting the fact that he failed to be a guiding light for his family as the painting and his promise to Mary suggests. But really, lighthouses are meant to be a warning to sailors that they’re near a dangerous shoreline, and the pair realize together that they can save the ship by becoming one. Stede and Ed work together to rig up a system with mirrors and a lantern that simulates a lighthouse, using Wee John’s booming voice like a foghorn. Their trick works, and the Revenge narrowly escapes another incident with the Spanish.
As a new day dawns, Ed and Stede sit together and share a tasty marmalade. Ed proposes an arrangement. He’ll teach Stede how to be a pirate if Stede will show him how to be a gentleman. They shake on it, and it looks like the beginning of a strange, special friendship. But Izzy Hands is still here and still fuming. Ed convinces Izzy to stay with the ship, telling him that he’ll be made captain when Blackbeard kills Stede and takes over his identity. But will he? The episode ends with a series of shots that show Taika Waititi smiling at Stede with genuine happiness, then smirking confidently at Izzy, practically glowing with confidence. But the last one is of him alone, facing no one with a look of such complex sadness it takes my breath away. This closeup is what made me sit up for the first time and really notice what Waititi is doing as an actor in this series. He imbues Ed with so much pathos, despite the fact that only half his face is visible behind a massive beard. It’s a performance that digs much deeper than the leather-wearing badass facade might at first suggest.
Continued belowOther things:
- This episode contains possibly my favorite joke in the entire series. When pressed on what to do about the impending Spanish invasion, Stede suggests talking to them. But does Stede speak Spanish? No, he doesn’t. When pressed, Stede suggests that perhaps the Spanish Navy speaks Ecclesiastical Latin, to which Blackbeard makes a face that looks like he’s smelling extremely dubious cheese.
- Little clever details abound. When Blackbeard appears in Stede’s fever dream, he looks the same way he was described and briefly shown in episode two. And Stede imagines that Blackbeard stabs him with a spear that mirrors the spear shown on Blackbeard’s flag.
-Speaking of flags, note that when it was shown in an earlier episode, Blackbeard’s flag is incomplete. It shows a skeleton with a spear, but he’s not stabbing anything — yet. - The black cravat that Ed steals in this episode, like so many other little details in this show, will make several more appearances in future episodes but I won’t spoil their significance until we get there.
