Black Sails 3.04
Feb. 14th, 2016 11:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakThis show, people. This show. It slays me with how good it has become.
So last week, I said in a reply that the one thing I was fretting about was that the show, having landed our (anti)heroes on an island where there are already people of color, could pull a Pirates of the Caribbean II , which, just, no. (Clarification: I don't mean Dead Man's Chest in its entirety, I liked the second movie a lot, but the whole "Cannibal Island" sequence was cringeworthy, and I wish they hadn't done it.) And lo, Black Sails gloriously avoided that trope and turned it upside down. The island's population are escaped slaves (and children of same), with the best of reasons to mistrust and fear any white sailors they see. They're led by a woman who is treated by characters and narrative as a respected leader who puts the safety of her people first, and there's no way the pirates are not a threat to this if she lets them go. And when the next trope that could go badly wrong raises its head - "pretty daughter of chieftain" - this, too, is turned around; Silver doesn't try to get to Madi , the daughter of said leader, (spelling?) by charming her or appealing to female compassion or what not but by seeing an opening in the natural division between old experienced leader and rebellious young follower. (Which is an extremely John Silver in any incarnation tactic to use.) Nor does Madi just get bamboozled by that chat but talks with her mother about what concerns it raised in her. (I'll get about the reveal that follows later.)
(Sidenote: though of course another candidate for the future Mrs. Silver has just presented herself, given that all Treasure Island tells us about her is that she's a woman of color.)
Speaking of Treasure Island: I knew the survivor from the slave trader crew had to be Ben Gunn as soon as we saw him, so I'm glad he gave his name about 20 seconds later. :) That was a cool moment. It occurs to me that the show this season so far as kept the fictional pirates from Treasure Island origins entirely in a separate storyline from the historical pirates in Nassau, though inevitably there will be intermingling once Flint & Co. return there. Otoh, making Ben Gunn the sole survivor from a slaver before he meets up with the Walrus crew also gives him overtones of the historical template of Robinson Crusoe. Also: if this island is THE island, the entire settlement of free slaves is DOOOMED (since there are none in Treasure Island), unless they resettle elsewhere, which I desperately hope they will. Either way, it means the concern of the matriarch of the settlement is already justified by history, fictional and real.
Meanwhile, turns out showing Flint you can outwit him is indeed the way to his heart. As far as the ongoing Flint & Silver (or Flint/Silver) plot thread is concerned, I started the episode delighted when Flint seeks out Silver and helps him with his stump and finished it mouth open when Flint actually told Silver about his past. Well, not all of his past, but the "Thomas, Miranda, Peter Ashe and were the original creators of Plan Amnesty To All Pirates To Reestablish Order In Nassau" part of it, in reply to Silver's "Where are you?" (in your mind) question. And then he confessed to wondering whether this isn't, in fact, the best ending he could hope for; Thomas' plan, finally fulfilled, and why not die now? Of course, Silver is very much against the whole dying now part of it (and was never keen on Lawful Order In Nassau anyway), and Flint's inner Miranda tells him he's not so resigned to death as he thinks because "you're curious again". The obvious and delicious in a dark way irony is this: I think Flint is absolutely right. This is the best ending he can hope for: dying now in the knowledge/assumption that the plan he once fought so hard for is about to become reality, without continuing as the self created monster he has become. But you can see Silver is going to drag him back to life metaphorically and presumably literally, and they'll become ever more infamous and feared pirates together, which is anything but a happy ending.
Also: last week we had Billy and Flint talk about Silver, and Silver and Billy talk about Flint; this week we have Silver and Flint talk about Billy, resulting in the eminently quotablle: "Billy's lie is that he can fight his way out of this, yours is that you can talk your way out of this, and at this point, I'm not sure I have any lies left in me." They've become a triad this season, and it's absolutely fascinating.
Meanwhile, back in Nassau: Jack organizes Charles Vane's escape from being the new target of bounty hunters and gets a manly farewell hug for it, while Rodgers officially makes Eleanor his right hand woman, despite her (true) confession of her reputation for doublecrossing absolutely anyone to save herself. As Rodgers says, this doesn't matter as long as their interests coincide, and she's way smarter and has better local knowledge than anyone else at his disposal. I have to say, as of now, Rodgers is impossible to dislike, and while I'm sure he and Eleanor will fall out at some point, for now, I'm enjoying their partnership. Just for added frisson, the newly escaped Charles Vane is now aware whom he has to thank for the bounty on his head, and that Eleanor, far from being hanged in London, is back and on her way to the top again.
But the big Nassau reveal wasn't Charles seeing that Eleanor's still alive (and active). No, it was that Mr. Scott has been leading a double life all this time, being the husband of the matriarch on the secret escaped slaves settlement (and Madi's father). Now I'm trying to decide whether or not his s1 scenes with the slaves in the ship where he was temporarily kidnapped contradict or work with that, because it was the one time we saw him with slaves and with no white person in earshot, but I think it works. Anyway, since Mr. Scott during Eleanor's early teenage years was in charge of the Guthrie enterprise in her father's absence and then later was Eleanor's second in command, he had ample room to organize escape routes.
Speculation: Mr. Scott getting shot (as in wounded, not dead; no way they're going to let him die of that wound directly after that reveal) at the end of the episode and the escaping slaves thus forced to take him with them means he'll soon end up on the island with the Walrus crew, but, as his wife (hopefully we'll find out her name next episode) said to their daughter, she's the leader of the island, not him. It's also by no means certain he wouldn't agree with her reasoning that the Walrus crew has to be either killed or kept imprisoned; he got along well enough with Flint and Billy and the rest, but if its their lives versus everyone else's... Otoh of course Flint & Co. are going to survive somehow, so I'm hoping for a compromise, see above re settlement maybe ending up on another secret island, safe from discovery again.
So last week, I said in a reply that the one thing I was fretting about was that the show, having landed our (anti)heroes on an island where there are already people of color, could pull a Pirates of the Caribbean II , which, just, no. (Clarification: I don't mean Dead Man's Chest in its entirety, I liked the second movie a lot, but the whole "Cannibal Island" sequence was cringeworthy, and I wish they hadn't done it.) And lo, Black Sails gloriously avoided that trope and turned it upside down. The island's population are escaped slaves (and children of same), with the best of reasons to mistrust and fear any white sailors they see. They're led by a woman who is treated by characters and narrative as a respected leader who puts the safety of her people first, and there's no way the pirates are not a threat to this if she lets them go. And when the next trope that could go badly wrong raises its head - "pretty daughter of chieftain" - this, too, is turned around; Silver doesn't try to get to Madi , the daughter of said leader, (spelling?) by charming her or appealing to female compassion or what not but by seeing an opening in the natural division between old experienced leader and rebellious young follower. (Which is an extremely John Silver in any incarnation tactic to use.) Nor does Madi just get bamboozled by that chat but talks with her mother about what concerns it raised in her. (I'll get about the reveal that follows later.)
(Sidenote: though of course another candidate for the future Mrs. Silver has just presented herself, given that all Treasure Island tells us about her is that she's a woman of color.)
Speaking of Treasure Island: I knew the survivor from the slave trader crew had to be Ben Gunn as soon as we saw him, so I'm glad he gave his name about 20 seconds later. :) That was a cool moment. It occurs to me that the show this season so far as kept the fictional pirates from Treasure Island origins entirely in a separate storyline from the historical pirates in Nassau, though inevitably there will be intermingling once Flint & Co. return there. Otoh, making Ben Gunn the sole survivor from a slaver before he meets up with the Walrus crew also gives him overtones of the historical template of Robinson Crusoe. Also: if this island is THE island, the entire settlement of free slaves is DOOOMED (since there are none in Treasure Island), unless they resettle elsewhere, which I desperately hope they will. Either way, it means the concern of the matriarch of the settlement is already justified by history, fictional and real.
Meanwhile, turns out showing Flint you can outwit him is indeed the way to his heart. As far as the ongoing Flint & Silver (or Flint/Silver) plot thread is concerned, I started the episode delighted when Flint seeks out Silver and helps him with his stump and finished it mouth open when Flint actually told Silver about his past. Well, not all of his past, but the "Thomas, Miranda, Peter Ashe and were the original creators of Plan Amnesty To All Pirates To Reestablish Order In Nassau" part of it, in reply to Silver's "Where are you?" (in your mind) question. And then he confessed to wondering whether this isn't, in fact, the best ending he could hope for; Thomas' plan, finally fulfilled, and why not die now? Of course, Silver is very much against the whole dying now part of it (and was never keen on Lawful Order In Nassau anyway), and Flint's inner Miranda tells him he's not so resigned to death as he thinks because "you're curious again". The obvious and delicious in a dark way irony is this: I think Flint is absolutely right. This is the best ending he can hope for: dying now in the knowledge/assumption that the plan he once fought so hard for is about to become reality, without continuing as the self created monster he has become. But you can see Silver is going to drag him back to life metaphorically and presumably literally, and they'll become ever more infamous and feared pirates together, which is anything but a happy ending.
Also: last week we had Billy and Flint talk about Silver, and Silver and Billy talk about Flint; this week we have Silver and Flint talk about Billy, resulting in the eminently quotablle: "Billy's lie is that he can fight his way out of this, yours is that you can talk your way out of this, and at this point, I'm not sure I have any lies left in me." They've become a triad this season, and it's absolutely fascinating.
Meanwhile, back in Nassau: Jack organizes Charles Vane's escape from being the new target of bounty hunters and gets a manly farewell hug for it, while Rodgers officially makes Eleanor his right hand woman, despite her (true) confession of her reputation for doublecrossing absolutely anyone to save herself. As Rodgers says, this doesn't matter as long as their interests coincide, and she's way smarter and has better local knowledge than anyone else at his disposal. I have to say, as of now, Rodgers is impossible to dislike, and while I'm sure he and Eleanor will fall out at some point, for now, I'm enjoying their partnership. Just for added frisson, the newly escaped Charles Vane is now aware whom he has to thank for the bounty on his head, and that Eleanor, far from being hanged in London, is back and on her way to the top again.
But the big Nassau reveal wasn't Charles seeing that Eleanor's still alive (and active). No, it was that Mr. Scott has been leading a double life all this time, being the husband of the matriarch on the secret escaped slaves settlement (and Madi's father). Now I'm trying to decide whether or not his s1 scenes with the slaves in the ship where he was temporarily kidnapped contradict or work with that, because it was the one time we saw him with slaves and with no white person in earshot, but I think it works. Anyway, since Mr. Scott during Eleanor's early teenage years was in charge of the Guthrie enterprise in her father's absence and then later was Eleanor's second in command, he had ample room to organize escape routes.
Speculation: Mr. Scott getting shot (as in wounded, not dead; no way they're going to let him die of that wound directly after that reveal) at the end of the episode and the escaping slaves thus forced to take him with them means he'll soon end up on the island with the Walrus crew, but, as his wife (hopefully we'll find out her name next episode) said to their daughter, she's the leader of the island, not him. It's also by no means certain he wouldn't agree with her reasoning that the Walrus crew has to be either killed or kept imprisoned; he got along well enough with Flint and Billy and the rest, but if its their lives versus everyone else's... Otoh of course Flint & Co. are going to survive somehow, so I'm hoping for a compromise, see above re settlement maybe ending up on another secret island, safe from discovery again.
