Black Sails 2.08.
Mar. 16th, 2015 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which the show continues to be fabulous, but makes me very worried indeed for one particular character.
Max' question/observation to Jack about whether there were ever so many men complaining about getting rich cracked me up, but though I hadn't thought about it before, Jack and his Quatermaster had, of course, a point - if they return with the Urca gold in their tiny vessel and tiny crew, chances are they won't keep it long. Jack scoffing at the idea of burying the treasure was a great inside gag, given the origin of a third of the characters in this show. Not sure whether his solution - storing it at the fort, giving either Charles Vane or whoever succeeds him a percentage wouldn't have resulted in Vane (or whoever) just keeping the entire lot, but now the question is academic, of course.
(While I like Jack, he gets no sympathy for me on the Anne matter. You put your captaincy ahead of her, you lose the right to be suprised when she skeedaddles.)
The former madam of the brothel, last seen in late s1 when Jack and Anne fired her, turns out to use one of the girls as a spy, not on her own behalf but on Eleanor's, who thus finds out about Operation Get The Urca Gold, thought the Madam drew some wrong conclusions about how it came to be, i.e. thinks Max killed Charlotte and Flint's crew member after learning the position of the treasure from them . (It occurs to me that this might be a useful story for Silver if (or rather, keeping Treasure Island mind, when) when the Urca gold thing doesn't work out as planned for him.) Since the Madam is also a fan of the Eleanor/Flint plan for a governed Nassau (or so she claims; personally I think she just wants the brothel back from the Max-Jack rulership), she tells Eleanor this means getting rid of Max & friends or get no governed Nassau. Eleanor, who at this point is still feeling guilty re: Charles Vane, looks even less thrilled at the prospect of having to go against another former lover (again), and for now shoots the idea down, but not only is this bound to be a temporary thing because that's the way this show works, but Eleanor's day ends up getting even worse when it turns out Charles Vane's reaction to her actions from last episode was to crucify her father (so that's why Richard Guthrie and his relationship with Eleanor got some screentime in the last two episodes) and leave to play Apocalypse Now in Charleston with Flint. Things look awful for Eleanor, but she's not the woman I worry about, and nor is Max, because they're both survivors against the odds.
No, whom I'm currently fretting most for is Miranda Barlow, formerly Hamilton. Not only got she fleshed out this season and turned into a fascinating character, but her relationship with Flint improved to no end after Miranda had her chat about Thomas with him. In this episode, as in the two previous ones, they have some great scenes as confidantes and comrades. Then there's the conversation they have about how they know each other as both their previous and their current selves (which no one else does), and that's enough; about being ready to face judgment, and Miranda insisting that she must as well (as one more minor mystery from last season is cleared up - the man whom Flint killed and then wrote to her "it's done" about, aka the issue which first put Billy and what's his name on distrust with Flint when they found out, was Alfred Hamilton, Thomas' dastardly father who looked him in a madhouse; Miranda found out he was en route to the New World, and told Flint). And the knowledge that, well, Flint won't go back to being James McGraw. His fate is prequel ordained - becoming the most feared pirate, and then dying. At the moment, he still thinks it's possible to go back (on his terms), and Miranda shares that dream with him. So I'm very much afraid that while Flint, Silver and Billy all will have to make it out of Charleston alive (because prequel), possibly with Abigail's help (as she's come to respect Flint and seems to be fascinated by Billy), Miranda, who is a Black Sails only character, her fate not even guaranteed by history, will die in order to galvanize Flint abandoning his James McGraw self (and related legitimacy dream) for once and all and become exclusively Flint the pirate. Which would be exactly the type of "female character dies, motivates male character" thing the show has avoided so far - I won't say fridging because actually Miranda did get her own story and she chose to come with Flint to Charleston in the fulll awareness she could die because she wanted to confront her past; a death would be not coming out of nowhere as an end to this - and I would hate it because Miranda has grown so much on me this season. Don't do it, show! Kill off Charles Vane instead.
Abigail stops being a damsel in distress in this episode, with together with the fact that her father is the governor and that she goes from seeing pirates as monsters to seeing them as people (some good, some bad), and with her having told Eleanor in the previous episode about how she adored Miranda as a girl and wished to become like her, makes me wonder whether Abigail won't turn into the show's version of Elizabeth Swann. (In the sense that Jack Rackham is a more realistic Jack Sparrow.) I.e. like I said, I think she'll help our Anti Heroes escape when whatever goes down happens (Peter Ashe turning against them either because Charles Vane's impending attack, or maybe he always intended to, despite his welcome), and might even go with them when/if her father gets killed (because a surviving Ashe would just repeat the previous hostage scenario situation), thus following in Miranda's footsteps. Which would be great (there's always room for more female characters!), but please don't let it be to replace Miranda as the noblewoman exile in Nassau.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing evolution of John Silver subplot: I had assumed he'd stay in Nassau in order to join Jack on the Urca gold retrieval but Silver, smarter than me, knew that if he and the two guards did that, Flint would immediately realise he'd been had, so they're all part of the Charleston-sailing crew. This is very risky indeed (totally leaving aside the impending Vane factor and the part where Peter Ashe became famous for hanging pirates), because of one of the two guards blabs Flint won't be amused at all. And that's when something starts to happen which I've been waiting for. As mentioned a few reviews ago, John Silver, (bad pun unvoidable) silver-tongued rogue with a sense of humor, looking out for No.1, is just one part of his mature character. His later self is also a ruthless killer if it serves him. However, on the show so far Silver has only killed in combat situations, when his life was immediately threatened, or in one case when Flint's was. So the question was when he'd make that step. I had assumed it would happen via a personal killing. But the show does something else, which fits with one of Silver's main gifts being the power of persuasion, and using it in a way to make people believe he's on their side. Scott and Billy briefly talk about Silver in this episode, and while Billy is scornfully amused at Silverr appropriating another seaman's story in order to do his motivating-the-crew-for-Charleston speech, Mr. Scott, always one of the wisest characters on the show, points out that the point is the power of the storytelling employed, and that's Silver's. Now when Silver tells the second guard that the first one is going to be a problem, both the second guard and yours truly assumed this means "kill him". Turns out, it didn't, not consciously at least, but the killing is done regardless, and Silver's reaction is a mixture between appalled and fascinated as he realises the power he now has. Which is different from Flint's type of power - authority, charisma and single-mindedness - but there. It's also not something that goes with ruling, btw. In Treasure Island the other pirates eventually turn against Silver - though he's able to talk himself out of that one for the necessary while; his great gift is in subverting and persuading them against authority, not commanding them. Which is probably why Silver in the end won't go off on his own but stick with Flint.
Max' question/observation to Jack about whether there were ever so many men complaining about getting rich cracked me up, but though I hadn't thought about it before, Jack and his Quatermaster had, of course, a point - if they return with the Urca gold in their tiny vessel and tiny crew, chances are they won't keep it long. Jack scoffing at the idea of burying the treasure was a great inside gag, given the origin of a third of the characters in this show. Not sure whether his solution - storing it at the fort, giving either Charles Vane or whoever succeeds him a percentage wouldn't have resulted in Vane (or whoever) just keeping the entire lot, but now the question is academic, of course.
(While I like Jack, he gets no sympathy for me on the Anne matter. You put your captaincy ahead of her, you lose the right to be suprised when she skeedaddles.)
The former madam of the brothel, last seen in late s1 when Jack and Anne fired her, turns out to use one of the girls as a spy, not on her own behalf but on Eleanor's, who thus finds out about Operation Get The Urca Gold, thought the Madam drew some wrong conclusions about how it came to be, i.e. thinks Max killed Charlotte and Flint's crew member after learning the position of the treasure from them . (It occurs to me that this might be a useful story for Silver if (or rather, keeping Treasure Island mind, when) when the Urca gold thing doesn't work out as planned for him.) Since the Madam is also a fan of the Eleanor/Flint plan for a governed Nassau (or so she claims; personally I think she just wants the brothel back from the Max-Jack rulership), she tells Eleanor this means getting rid of Max & friends or get no governed Nassau. Eleanor, who at this point is still feeling guilty re: Charles Vane, looks even less thrilled at the prospect of having to go against another former lover (again), and for now shoots the idea down, but not only is this bound to be a temporary thing because that's the way this show works, but Eleanor's day ends up getting even worse when it turns out Charles Vane's reaction to her actions from last episode was to crucify her father (so that's why Richard Guthrie and his relationship with Eleanor got some screentime in the last two episodes) and leave to play Apocalypse Now in Charleston with Flint. Things look awful for Eleanor, but she's not the woman I worry about, and nor is Max, because they're both survivors against the odds.
No, whom I'm currently fretting most for is Miranda Barlow, formerly Hamilton. Not only got she fleshed out this season and turned into a fascinating character, but her relationship with Flint improved to no end after Miranda had her chat about Thomas with him. In this episode, as in the two previous ones, they have some great scenes as confidantes and comrades. Then there's the conversation they have about how they know each other as both their previous and their current selves (which no one else does), and that's enough; about being ready to face judgment, and Miranda insisting that she must as well (as one more minor mystery from last season is cleared up - the man whom Flint killed and then wrote to her "it's done" about, aka the issue which first put Billy and what's his name on distrust with Flint when they found out, was Alfred Hamilton, Thomas' dastardly father who looked him in a madhouse; Miranda found out he was en route to the New World, and told Flint). And the knowledge that, well, Flint won't go back to being James McGraw. His fate is prequel ordained - becoming the most feared pirate, and then dying. At the moment, he still thinks it's possible to go back (on his terms), and Miranda shares that dream with him. So I'm very much afraid that while Flint, Silver and Billy all will have to make it out of Charleston alive (because prequel), possibly with Abigail's help (as she's come to respect Flint and seems to be fascinated by Billy), Miranda, who is a Black Sails only character, her fate not even guaranteed by history, will die in order to galvanize Flint abandoning his James McGraw self (and related legitimacy dream) for once and all and become exclusively Flint the pirate. Which would be exactly the type of "female character dies, motivates male character" thing the show has avoided so far - I won't say fridging because actually Miranda did get her own story and she chose to come with Flint to Charleston in the fulll awareness she could die because she wanted to confront her past; a death would be not coming out of nowhere as an end to this - and I would hate it because Miranda has grown so much on me this season. Don't do it, show! Kill off Charles Vane instead.
Abigail stops being a damsel in distress in this episode, with together with the fact that her father is the governor and that she goes from seeing pirates as monsters to seeing them as people (some good, some bad), and with her having told Eleanor in the previous episode about how she adored Miranda as a girl and wished to become like her, makes me wonder whether Abigail won't turn into the show's version of Elizabeth Swann. (In the sense that Jack Rackham is a more realistic Jack Sparrow.) I.e. like I said, I think she'll help our Anti Heroes escape when whatever goes down happens (Peter Ashe turning against them either because Charles Vane's impending attack, or maybe he always intended to, despite his welcome), and might even go with them when/if her father gets killed (because a surviving Ashe would just repeat the previous hostage scenario situation), thus following in Miranda's footsteps. Which would be great (there's always room for more female characters!), but please don't let it be to replace Miranda as the noblewoman exile in Nassau.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing evolution of John Silver subplot: I had assumed he'd stay in Nassau in order to join Jack on the Urca gold retrieval but Silver, smarter than me, knew that if he and the two guards did that, Flint would immediately realise he'd been had, so they're all part of the Charleston-sailing crew. This is very risky indeed (totally leaving aside the impending Vane factor and the part where Peter Ashe became famous for hanging pirates), because of one of the two guards blabs Flint won't be amused at all. And that's when something starts to happen which I've been waiting for. As mentioned a few reviews ago, John Silver, (bad pun unvoidable) silver-tongued rogue with a sense of humor, looking out for No.1, is just one part of his mature character. His later self is also a ruthless killer if it serves him. However, on the show so far Silver has only killed in combat situations, when his life was immediately threatened, or in one case when Flint's was. So the question was when he'd make that step. I had assumed it would happen via a personal killing. But the show does something else, which fits with one of Silver's main gifts being the power of persuasion, and using it in a way to make people believe he's on their side. Scott and Billy briefly talk about Silver in this episode, and while Billy is scornfully amused at Silverr appropriating another seaman's story in order to do his motivating-the-crew-for-Charleston speech, Mr. Scott, always one of the wisest characters on the show, points out that the point is the power of the storytelling employed, and that's Silver's. Now when Silver tells the second guard that the first one is going to be a problem, both the second guard and yours truly assumed this means "kill him". Turns out, it didn't, not consciously at least, but the killing is done regardless, and Silver's reaction is a mixture between appalled and fascinated as he realises the power he now has. Which is different from Flint's type of power - authority, charisma and single-mindedness - but there. It's also not something that goes with ruling, btw. In Treasure Island the other pirates eventually turn against Silver - though he's able to talk himself out of that one for the necessary while; his great gift is in subverting and persuading them against authority, not commanding them. Which is probably why Silver in the end won't go off on his own but stick with Flint.
