Black Sails 2.05
Feb. 22nd, 2015 11:21 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakI KNEW IT.
I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT. Allow me to feel exceedingly smug, because in all the pro reviews I've read, the reviewers have been assuming the James McGraw/Future Flint-Thomas Hamilton-Miranda situation would be heading towards Hamilton finding out James and Miranda had an affair and the two running away because of that. Whereas yours truly paid attention to the fact that the relationship the flashbacks had been giving the most emphasis towards building was the one between James Not-Yet-Flint and Thomas Hamilton, not James and Miranda (though Miranda Not Yet Mrs. Barlow in s2 both in past and present has become far more fleshed out and interesting a character, more about her later). And I've posted the reviews to prove it here. So yes, I was absolutely crowing during this episode's flashbacks, when it turned out that instead of a cheating wife & her lover storyline, we had a "three people who love each other in every sense" storyline. Miranda wasn't a "cheating wife" because Thomas had always known, and because they had a mutually non-monogamous marriage while loving each other deeply. The great realisation wasn't Thomas Hamilton discovering the Miranda/James affair but James figuring out he was completely in love with Thomas. THANK YOU SHOW.
Also, it makes sense and jives with so much previously established. The idealistic Nassau Utopia project, first version, collapses because Thomas Hamilton's dastardly father and the admirality use the knowledge of this threesome arrangement to throw Future Flint out of the service and lock up Thomas as a madman, with the family name preserved by telling the public he went mad with grief over being cheated on by his wife and best friend. BTW, both Miranda and Flint in the present assume Thomas is now dead, but now I have to ask: IS HE? Or is he still locked up as a madman? Because right here and now I invoke the tv law of "no onscreen death, no body = survival" and declare we might see Thomas Hamilton again, though not soon - perhaps in a season ending cliffhanger? Then there's the way Flint freaked out about Miranda giving a wounded Richard Guthrie this copy of Marcus Aurelius to read in s1, which makes so much sense if you know it was a present to him by Thomas, complete with inscription. And Silver's observation last episode - that Flint, for all his ruthlessness, does care what people think of him - is repeated here by Miranda's observation that a part of him is still ashamed of having loved Thomas because he couldn't squash that. Not that I think Flint's refutal - that what he's really ashamed of is not having saved Thomas - is wrong, either; I think both are true.
You could complain about visual double standards, that as opposed to the complete nudity in f/f scenes, both men are wearing most of their clothes in the montage where they're both lying on a bed, and that we get "only" a passionate kiss between them as a sexual activity whereas with two female characters, you get explicit sex. And there is something in that. But still. The show has just committed to actively showing male characters as well as female characters bisexual, and since Flint isn't just any male character but actually the leading man of the show, this means: the top pirate is bi and the tragic love affair in his past which is still motivating him was with another man.
Now, re: Miranda, by showing her as loving and openly non-monogamous - and also smart (she figures out the way their opponents will use the Thomas/James part of their situation ahead of time even if Future Flint doesn't listen to her warning) the show also solves the apparant contradictions of her, and hers and Flint's relationship in the present. Her statement to Eleanor in the past episode where she says she was present when Flint's demons were born, but none of them are about her. Her present day plan of how to solve Flint having manoeuvred himself into a Phyrric standoff might or might not work; as Flint points out, the Ashe of the present hangs even people fencing pirate goods and has changed from the Ashe who was Thomas' friend. But it's certainly worth a try. So I hope that once he's finished fighting with Vane in the episode's cliffhanger, Flint will go for it.
In other storylines: the Eleanor and Richard Guthrie scenes certainly flesh out that father and daughter relationship, but I do hope Eleanor won't fall for the "I'm proud of you" conclusion; she should ask Mr. Scott about how trusting Guthrie worked out for him last season (Scott ended as a slave again and only got free because Flint captured the ship in question). John Silver and Billy Bones come to an impasse re: what Billy will tell the crew - and thanks to Randall, who continues to be priceless caustic comic relief, killing Billy isn't an option - but as opposed to Flint & Vane, Silver doesn't have a macho ego problem of needing to square off till the finish, so he takes the gamble of letting Billy free anyway. Before that, we get a lot of quotable lines, like Billy's observation that given his own fate and that of Mr. Gates, Silver appointing himself to the position of Flint's sidekick is either very stupid or very brave, Silver's statement that he doesn't have Gates' and formerly Billy's problem of believing in Flint and then feeling let down, because he simply sees Flint as the matter to an end, and so on. Silver's comment that being liked is almost as useful as being feared; mature, Treasure Island Silver is a master in both, though he usually tries the former first before moving on to the later.
Jack-Anne-Max: moves on from similar scenes as requested, but not in a way that's good for poor Anne. The show loves its irony: after all the Jack fretting about Max driving a wedge between him and Anne and turning Anne against him, he turns out to be the one to betray Anne, not for sexual reasons but because his new crew will except either Max as a shareholder or Anne as a crew member, but not both (because of Anne being the one who actually killed the guys from Vane's crew last season), and Max has made herself quintessential through all the information gathering she provided. Argh.
Vane is hardly in the episode, except for one scene in the middle where he decides to solve his problem the way he did the last one, by killing the leader, i.e. Flint, and the final cliffhanger where he tries to do just that. Now since Flint's life is prequel protected (he's not going to die until he's collected a big treasure and an even more fearsome reputation), I'm not betting on Vane, but on the other hand, I can't see the show killing off Vane this easily. Since they're in Eleanor's house, my guess is that Eleanor and/or Miranda will interrupt before the guys can kill each other, and then an enraged Ashe will show up (remember, Vane send his ransom note before the siege started) with several war ships in tow, causing a shifting of allegiances yet again.
Lastly: okay, now that we've established Flint is bi, do I suddenly spot the possibility of canon Flint/Silver in the future?
ETA: aaaand a quick look at the comments to what reviews (which are totally surprised about the James/Thomas reveal but not disapproving) are already posted (at IGN and TvFanatic) tells me a lot of fanboys are enraged about "every show" suddenly making "everyone gay" and why this happens to their tough leading man. These are of course the same people who enjoyed the Eleanor/Max and Max/Anne scenes. Fanboys, why so predictable? Also, in which 'verse are you living where every show has gayness, because I sure would like a glimpse?
Son of ETA: I so wish this show were viewed by more people in lj and dw-dom, because it occured to me that the reactions (as posted in comments to articles) to this latest episode are a sociological experiment in fandom, running. But it's impossible to discuss in an unspoilery way, so under an cut I go again.
It's a common (and not untrue) complaint in fandom: a film or tv has a relationship build up that, were it between a man and a woman, would be turned romantic, but because it's between two men, it doesn't, though there might be jokes and innuendo. And another often heard complaint: why, if a character's sexuality is not discussed on screen and he or she doesn't define it, should we automatically assume it's straight by default? And yet another: the rarity of bisexual or gay leading men, though by now the occasional bi or gay male supporting character isn't that big a surprise anymore.
Well, Black Sails has just shown that its leading male character fell in love with another man, a relationship that was indeed build up over half the season in flashbacks. (And the previous, first season gave at least two hints I can think of.) The surprise in the professional reviews is telling, because, as mentioned above, this did not come out of the blue at all - they were just train not to read increasing closeness between two men as a romantic build up, and definitely not if one of them is in the present day action a ruthless pirate. (And in this fictional universe will eventually become the most feared pirate of them all.) Spartacus had gay male supporting characters who were an important part of the overall story (and, gasp, two of them got a happy ending, which the rest of the cast didn't because history), but Spartacus himself was presented as straight. The Borgias had an important gay supporting character, Michelotto, but while there was arguably subtext between him and Cesare, it never became on screen show text. If we move from the trashy-yet-compelling to the critically praised historical shows, Deadwood did include f/f and m/m, but the two male leads, Seth Bullock and Al Swearangen, definitely were straight. Now the upset commenters to the articles I've seen don't evoke other historical shows. Instead, one complained "imagine if Dexter or Walter White had been suddenly revealed as gay!"
Okay, a minute for the facepalm. (Sure, Dexter can be a serial killer and Walter White can build a drug empire and ruin the lives of everyone around him, but at least they never have sex with another man!) Though presumably this isn't how they meant, I can see benefits in Dexter and Walt not being presented as bi or gay - again, Dexter is a serial killer, and "gay serial killer" is a cliché the world doesn't need more presentations of. As for Walter White, the Walt and Jesse relationship is at the emotional center of the show as it is, and it does turn emotionally abusive in the show's later stages. Add a sexual dimension, and again, you could end up evoking bad clichés by the dozens. (Especially since neither show would have balanced this by presenting positive same sex relationships between regulars at the samee time.)
But Black Sails already, and from the pilot onwards, has shown first two, then three of its female regular characters as bisexual, and having sex with each other. Given that nearly all male characters of the show are seamen, and bearing Churchill's famous quip about the British navy being run on rum, sodomy and lashes in mind, shouldn't the surprise rather be it took the show so long to confirm at least one male regular is bi? Instead, and no, I'm not really surprised by this, you get "I'm not homophobic, I have gay friends, but why oh why did they have to ruin Flint by making him gay?" type of comments. (Flint: can kill a man who trusted him and make his living as a pirate with all that implies in the present, and started a damaging mini war on the island because of male pride, that's all cool. But revealing he had, not just a one night stand but a long relationship with another man? HORROR.)
It's hard not to conclude that viewer (or at least commenter) gender factors in there, since the more likely lj and dw (and tumblr, but I mostly avoid tumblr) reaction would be to post gifs of Toby Stephens snogging Rupert Penry-Jones instead. But be that as it may: luckily, Black Sails has already been renewed for a third season, so the show doesn't have to fight for its existence (yet), should it lose a part of its viewing public because of this reveal. Which I still hope won't be the case, because this is the first time I can think of where an historical adventure show goes in such a direction with its leading man, and I really don't want it to be the last.
I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW IT. Allow me to feel exceedingly smug, because in all the pro reviews I've read, the reviewers have been assuming the James McGraw/Future Flint-Thomas Hamilton-Miranda situation would be heading towards Hamilton finding out James and Miranda had an affair and the two running away because of that. Whereas yours truly paid attention to the fact that the relationship the flashbacks had been giving the most emphasis towards building was the one between James Not-Yet-Flint and Thomas Hamilton, not James and Miranda (though Miranda Not Yet Mrs. Barlow in s2 both in past and present has become far more fleshed out and interesting a character, more about her later). And I've posted the reviews to prove it here. So yes, I was absolutely crowing during this episode's flashbacks, when it turned out that instead of a cheating wife & her lover storyline, we had a "three people who love each other in every sense" storyline. Miranda wasn't a "cheating wife" because Thomas had always known, and because they had a mutually non-monogamous marriage while loving each other deeply. The great realisation wasn't Thomas Hamilton discovering the Miranda/James affair but James figuring out he was completely in love with Thomas. THANK YOU SHOW.
Also, it makes sense and jives with so much previously established. The idealistic Nassau Utopia project, first version, collapses because Thomas Hamilton's dastardly father and the admirality use the knowledge of this threesome arrangement to throw Future Flint out of the service and lock up Thomas as a madman, with the family name preserved by telling the public he went mad with grief over being cheated on by his wife and best friend. BTW, both Miranda and Flint in the present assume Thomas is now dead, but now I have to ask: IS HE? Or is he still locked up as a madman? Because right here and now I invoke the tv law of "no onscreen death, no body = survival" and declare we might see Thomas Hamilton again, though not soon - perhaps in a season ending cliffhanger? Then there's the way Flint freaked out about Miranda giving a wounded Richard Guthrie this copy of Marcus Aurelius to read in s1, which makes so much sense if you know it was a present to him by Thomas, complete with inscription. And Silver's observation last episode - that Flint, for all his ruthlessness, does care what people think of him - is repeated here by Miranda's observation that a part of him is still ashamed of having loved Thomas because he couldn't squash that. Not that I think Flint's refutal - that what he's really ashamed of is not having saved Thomas - is wrong, either; I think both are true.
You could complain about visual double standards, that as opposed to the complete nudity in f/f scenes, both men are wearing most of their clothes in the montage where they're both lying on a bed, and that we get "only" a passionate kiss between them as a sexual activity whereas with two female characters, you get explicit sex. And there is something in that. But still. The show has just committed to actively showing male characters as well as female characters bisexual, and since Flint isn't just any male character but actually the leading man of the show, this means: the top pirate is bi and the tragic love affair in his past which is still motivating him was with another man.
Now, re: Miranda, by showing her as loving and openly non-monogamous - and also smart (she figures out the way their opponents will use the Thomas/James part of their situation ahead of time even if Future Flint doesn't listen to her warning) the show also solves the apparant contradictions of her, and hers and Flint's relationship in the present. Her statement to Eleanor in the past episode where she says she was present when Flint's demons were born, but none of them are about her. Her present day plan of how to solve Flint having manoeuvred himself into a Phyrric standoff might or might not work; as Flint points out, the Ashe of the present hangs even people fencing pirate goods and has changed from the Ashe who was Thomas' friend. But it's certainly worth a try. So I hope that once he's finished fighting with Vane in the episode's cliffhanger, Flint will go for it.
In other storylines: the Eleanor and Richard Guthrie scenes certainly flesh out that father and daughter relationship, but I do hope Eleanor won't fall for the "I'm proud of you" conclusion; she should ask Mr. Scott about how trusting Guthrie worked out for him last season (Scott ended as a slave again and only got free because Flint captured the ship in question). John Silver and Billy Bones come to an impasse re: what Billy will tell the crew - and thanks to Randall, who continues to be priceless caustic comic relief, killing Billy isn't an option - but as opposed to Flint & Vane, Silver doesn't have a macho ego problem of needing to square off till the finish, so he takes the gamble of letting Billy free anyway. Before that, we get a lot of quotable lines, like Billy's observation that given his own fate and that of Mr. Gates, Silver appointing himself to the position of Flint's sidekick is either very stupid or very brave, Silver's statement that he doesn't have Gates' and formerly Billy's problem of believing in Flint and then feeling let down, because he simply sees Flint as the matter to an end, and so on. Silver's comment that being liked is almost as useful as being feared; mature, Treasure Island Silver is a master in both, though he usually tries the former first before moving on to the later.
Jack-Anne-Max: moves on from similar scenes as requested, but not in a way that's good for poor Anne. The show loves its irony: after all the Jack fretting about Max driving a wedge between him and Anne and turning Anne against him, he turns out to be the one to betray Anne, not for sexual reasons but because his new crew will except either Max as a shareholder or Anne as a crew member, but not both (because of Anne being the one who actually killed the guys from Vane's crew last season), and Max has made herself quintessential through all the information gathering she provided. Argh.
Vane is hardly in the episode, except for one scene in the middle where he decides to solve his problem the way he did the last one, by killing the leader, i.e. Flint, and the final cliffhanger where he tries to do just that. Now since Flint's life is prequel protected (he's not going to die until he's collected a big treasure and an even more fearsome reputation), I'm not betting on Vane, but on the other hand, I can't see the show killing off Vane this easily. Since they're in Eleanor's house, my guess is that Eleanor and/or Miranda will interrupt before the guys can kill each other, and then an enraged Ashe will show up (remember, Vane send his ransom note before the siege started) with several war ships in tow, causing a shifting of allegiances yet again.
Lastly: okay, now that we've established Flint is bi, do I suddenly spot the possibility of canon Flint/Silver in the future?
ETA: aaaand a quick look at the comments to what reviews (which are totally surprised about the James/Thomas reveal but not disapproving) are already posted (at IGN and TvFanatic) tells me a lot of fanboys are enraged about "every show" suddenly making "everyone gay" and why this happens to their tough leading man. These are of course the same people who enjoyed the Eleanor/Max and Max/Anne scenes. Fanboys, why so predictable? Also, in which 'verse are you living where every show has gayness, because I sure would like a glimpse?
Son of ETA: I so wish this show were viewed by more people in lj and dw-dom, because it occured to me that the reactions (as posted in comments to articles) to this latest episode are a sociological experiment in fandom, running. But it's impossible to discuss in an unspoilery way, so under an cut I go again.
It's a common (and not untrue) complaint in fandom: a film or tv has a relationship build up that, were it between a man and a woman, would be turned romantic, but because it's between two men, it doesn't, though there might be jokes and innuendo. And another often heard complaint: why, if a character's sexuality is not discussed on screen and he or she doesn't define it, should we automatically assume it's straight by default? And yet another: the rarity of bisexual or gay leading men, though by now the occasional bi or gay male supporting character isn't that big a surprise anymore.
Well, Black Sails has just shown that its leading male character fell in love with another man, a relationship that was indeed build up over half the season in flashbacks. (And the previous, first season gave at least two hints I can think of.) The surprise in the professional reviews is telling, because, as mentioned above, this did not come out of the blue at all - they were just train not to read increasing closeness between two men as a romantic build up, and definitely not if one of them is in the present day action a ruthless pirate. (And in this fictional universe will eventually become the most feared pirate of them all.) Spartacus had gay male supporting characters who were an important part of the overall story (and, gasp, two of them got a happy ending, which the rest of the cast didn't because history), but Spartacus himself was presented as straight. The Borgias had an important gay supporting character, Michelotto, but while there was arguably subtext between him and Cesare, it never became on screen show text. If we move from the trashy-yet-compelling to the critically praised historical shows, Deadwood did include f/f and m/m, but the two male leads, Seth Bullock and Al Swearangen, definitely were straight. Now the upset commenters to the articles I've seen don't evoke other historical shows. Instead, one complained "imagine if Dexter or Walter White had been suddenly revealed as gay!"
Okay, a minute for the facepalm. (Sure, Dexter can be a serial killer and Walter White can build a drug empire and ruin the lives of everyone around him, but at least they never have sex with another man!) Though presumably this isn't how they meant, I can see benefits in Dexter and Walt not being presented as bi or gay - again, Dexter is a serial killer, and "gay serial killer" is a cliché the world doesn't need more presentations of. As for Walter White, the Walt and Jesse relationship is at the emotional center of the show as it is, and it does turn emotionally abusive in the show's later stages. Add a sexual dimension, and again, you could end up evoking bad clichés by the dozens. (Especially since neither show would have balanced this by presenting positive same sex relationships between regulars at the samee time.)
But Black Sails already, and from the pilot onwards, has shown first two, then three of its female regular characters as bisexual, and having sex with each other. Given that nearly all male characters of the show are seamen, and bearing Churchill's famous quip about the British navy being run on rum, sodomy and lashes in mind, shouldn't the surprise rather be it took the show so long to confirm at least one male regular is bi? Instead, and no, I'm not really surprised by this, you get "I'm not homophobic, I have gay friends, but why oh why did they have to ruin Flint by making him gay?" type of comments. (Flint: can kill a man who trusted him and make his living as a pirate with all that implies in the present, and started a damaging mini war on the island because of male pride, that's all cool. But revealing he had, not just a one night stand but a long relationship with another man? HORROR.)
It's hard not to conclude that viewer (or at least commenter) gender factors in there, since the more likely lj and dw (and tumblr, but I mostly avoid tumblr) reaction would be to post gifs of Toby Stephens snogging Rupert Penry-Jones instead. But be that as it may: luckily, Black Sails has already been renewed for a third season, so the show doesn't have to fight for its existence (yet), should it lose a part of its viewing public because of this reveal. Which I still hope won't be the case, because this is the first time I can think of where an historical adventure show goes in such a direction with its leading man, and I really don't want it to be the last.
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Date: 2015-02-23 12:55 pm (UTC)Merlin: sounds exactly the same. And yeah, Teen Wolf is hardly perfect, or the best written show ever, but parts of the fandom... I don't think I've met such a bunch of whiny, entitled and ignorant brats before - and as you know, my experience includes Buffy fans. And they are of course all about representation! Unless it comes to characters not said pairing getting the spotlight, or a WOC becoming the girlfriend of one. Right.