Black Sails 4.02.
Feb. 7th, 2017 02:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenakIn which plans are made and foiled, and Robert Louis Stevenson readers get another thrilling "OMG it's SPOILER!" moment.
I mean, given that it's the last season, it was clear the pirate who took Silver captive couldn't be an OC; it either had to be a historical pirate or a Treasure Island one, and we're setting the stage for Treasure Island, so it makes sense to be the later. And yet, despite knowing that, I still had a "ZOMG!" moment when Silver came up with the name "Israel Hands".
(Non-RLS readers: a thoroughly nasty piece of work responsible for a very creepy and suspenseful chapter in which Jim Hawkins is alone on the Hispaniola with him.)
This episode also illustrated why the writers temporarily separated Silver from both Flint and Madi (and their pirates & maroons army). I'll get to the reason on the Flint and Madi side in a moment; for Silver, it's an opportunity to showcase his best skill again. He'll never be the best physical fighter, and not because of his disability (actually Silver now, with one leg, is a far better physical fighter than he used to be with both); but his knack for getting into people's heads and figure out just what to say when the odds are entirely against him. (Older Silver's best showcase for that one in Treasure Island is when the other pirates give him the black spot.) Mind you, it works far better with the male than with the female of the species, as we can see in the final scene with Max when he tries in vain to bluff her into paying ransom for him, but hey. Nobody is perfect.
Max wanting to keep her options open but most of all wanting an end to the cycles of violence is great; I was a bit worried they'd simply let her change sides, which would have felt ooc for me because at this point she has to know that any pirate re-conquering of the island can only be temporary, that it would ruin any future with the British she could have and likely wouldn't give her one with the pirates, either. But Max as a truly neutral party on Team No More Bloody War In Nassau is great. Mind you, the odds are very much against her, too, and not just because Captain Berenger already regards her with suspicion. But Max of all the Black-Sails-only characters is the on whose survival I'd put all my money. Go Max!
The Madi and Flint scenes shape up into an unexpected delight. Uneasy allies and power players for the win. I loved both that Flint figured out Madi had been lying re: the treasure, and that Madi's reasoning was irrefutable and based on the type of strategy she as a ruler-in-training does have experience with. Though she can only delay the inevitable Flint versus Billy explosion, the reason of which does start to answer my question as to what happens that turns Billy from Beloved And Trusted By All The Men (as Madi notes early in the episode) to the guy drinking himself to death in fear and hunted down by what remains of his crew in Treasure Island. There's the lovely irony here that when Billy finally after several seasons goes up against Flint and leads some of the men against him after declaring he's tired and sick of following Flint for some Flint-only goals, Flint in this particular case actually hasn't been guilty of any of the things that turned Billy against him back in s1. He's not holding back secrets or sacrificing people without bothering with an explanation, he's explained his reasons, and they're good ones; they can't maintain the alliance with the maroons when deliberately sacrificing slaves on plantations all over the island. And Billy should have known Madi would side with Flint, because this isn't about personal sympathy, this is about which pirate has just expressed willigness to let her people die and which one is willing to make a strategic retreat in order to save the hostages. As to Billy in general being willing to do that; he may have been the next best thing to a heroic character back in s1, but he was and is a pirate, and as was mentioned back in s3 in dialogue, the pirates might have occasionally freed slaves if it served their purpose, but they sold them as well. Plus the pirates/maroons alliance has the backstory of days of imprisonment and torture, lest we forget (Billy probably hasn't). And he's been preparing and planning for a Nassau takeover that doesn't involve following Flint anymore for quite a while now. So him snapping at this point makes emotional sense to me. Unfortunately, it also showcases why Billy himself never makes it to top dog, because good lord, fighting each other with the militia approaching? Pissing off more than half of your fighting force? So not a good idea.
Meanwhile, Team Lawful Nassau, i.e. Eleanor and Woode Rogers, faced with the dilemma of a) a vengeful Blackbeard blockading the harbor and demanding Eleanor's head, and b) Rogers' creditors at his heels due to his separation from his wife Sarah (btw, I did note in the last and this episode everyone refers to Eleanor as "the governor's wife" - leaving aside Eleanor is a Black Sails OC and Rogers a historical person, did he in this universe actually marry her, or do they mean his common law wife, with the divorce from Sarah not yet finalized?), have come up with a two-fold plan of Eleanor going to Grandpa Guthrie for cash while Rogers acts as decoy, drawing Blackbeard away so Eleanor can escape. While being entirely aware that sooner or later, there will be a betrayal between Eleanor and Woode Rogers simply because everyone on this show has one of these experiences (even Jack and Anne, when he chose his captaincy over her), I continue to enjoy them as a couple, and this episode is a good example of why. They're both pro-active; Eleanor comes up with a plan to solve the cash problem that involves her doing something, and Woode Rogers' reaction to hearing Blackbeard's "gimme Eleanor or be prepared to see more of your men die!" demand isn't either to hand Eleanor over or go all virtuously and uselessly "never!", but to come up with a distraction plan that allows Eleanor to go on her cash and reinforcements organizing mission while drawing the danger to himself, not more of his men.
Speaking of Blackbeard, Jack here finally gets some respect from the man, and he does it by talking sense into him, too, just as Anne earlier talked sense into Jack. By pointing out that their dilemma is what they want more, revenge on Eleanor or a chance to end the war by capturing the governor, and postulating that Vane himself, feeling about Eleanor as he did, would go for the "capture Rogers" option (not entirely sure about that, but probably yes), Jack gets through to Blackbeard - and inadvertendly fulfills Rogers' plan, since Rogers had been gambling on them making that choice. I liked that scene, but the more intriguing one to me was the one between Jack and Anne earlier, when Anne confided her feelings re: Max - first wanting revenge on her for, as Anne saw it, betraying her re: saving Jack (not really true, but Anne can't know that, not being gifted with an omniscient pov on s3 events), then realising she doesn't want that anymore but wants (much like Max, if she only knew) an end to that cycle.
Lastly: when Eleanor talked about her family's wealth I had a moment when I wondered how they'd square this with Eleanor not having tried to win the other Guthries around before, notably when she was about to be hanged as a pirate - that there were rich other Guthries and that her father was seen as something of a black sheep was in fact established in s1, so this wasn't a retcon -, but then the script had her kindly deliver the explanation. True, a (sort of) respectable governor as a guarantee could move Grandpa Guthrie to some investment where the black sheep daughter of his black sheep son alone would not, but she'll have her work cut out for her. And I'm really looking forward to finding out who will play Eleanor's grandfather now.
I mean, given that it's the last season, it was clear the pirate who took Silver captive couldn't be an OC; it either had to be a historical pirate or a Treasure Island one, and we're setting the stage for Treasure Island, so it makes sense to be the later. And yet, despite knowing that, I still had a "ZOMG!" moment when Silver came up with the name "Israel Hands".
(Non-RLS readers: a thoroughly nasty piece of work responsible for a very creepy and suspenseful chapter in which Jim Hawkins is alone on the Hispaniola with him.)
This episode also illustrated why the writers temporarily separated Silver from both Flint and Madi (and their pirates & maroons army). I'll get to the reason on the Flint and Madi side in a moment; for Silver, it's an opportunity to showcase his best skill again. He'll never be the best physical fighter, and not because of his disability (actually Silver now, with one leg, is a far better physical fighter than he used to be with both); but his knack for getting into people's heads and figure out just what to say when the odds are entirely against him. (Older Silver's best showcase for that one in Treasure Island is when the other pirates give him the black spot.) Mind you, it works far better with the male than with the female of the species, as we can see in the final scene with Max when he tries in vain to bluff her into paying ransom for him, but hey. Nobody is perfect.
Max wanting to keep her options open but most of all wanting an end to the cycles of violence is great; I was a bit worried they'd simply let her change sides, which would have felt ooc for me because at this point she has to know that any pirate re-conquering of the island can only be temporary, that it would ruin any future with the British she could have and likely wouldn't give her one with the pirates, either. But Max as a truly neutral party on Team No More Bloody War In Nassau is great. Mind you, the odds are very much against her, too, and not just because Captain Berenger already regards her with suspicion. But Max of all the Black-Sails-only characters is the on whose survival I'd put all my money. Go Max!
The Madi and Flint scenes shape up into an unexpected delight. Uneasy allies and power players for the win. I loved both that Flint figured out Madi had been lying re: the treasure, and that Madi's reasoning was irrefutable and based on the type of strategy she as a ruler-in-training does have experience with. Though she can only delay the inevitable Flint versus Billy explosion, the reason of which does start to answer my question as to what happens that turns Billy from Beloved And Trusted By All The Men (as Madi notes early in the episode) to the guy drinking himself to death in fear and hunted down by what remains of his crew in Treasure Island. There's the lovely irony here that when Billy finally after several seasons goes up against Flint and leads some of the men against him after declaring he's tired and sick of following Flint for some Flint-only goals, Flint in this particular case actually hasn't been guilty of any of the things that turned Billy against him back in s1. He's not holding back secrets or sacrificing people without bothering with an explanation, he's explained his reasons, and they're good ones; they can't maintain the alliance with the maroons when deliberately sacrificing slaves on plantations all over the island. And Billy should have known Madi would side with Flint, because this isn't about personal sympathy, this is about which pirate has just expressed willigness to let her people die and which one is willing to make a strategic retreat in order to save the hostages. As to Billy in general being willing to do that; he may have been the next best thing to a heroic character back in s1, but he was and is a pirate, and as was mentioned back in s3 in dialogue, the pirates might have occasionally freed slaves if it served their purpose, but they sold them as well. Plus the pirates/maroons alliance has the backstory of days of imprisonment and torture, lest we forget (Billy probably hasn't). And he's been preparing and planning for a Nassau takeover that doesn't involve following Flint anymore for quite a while now. So him snapping at this point makes emotional sense to me. Unfortunately, it also showcases why Billy himself never makes it to top dog, because good lord, fighting each other with the militia approaching? Pissing off more than half of your fighting force? So not a good idea.
Meanwhile, Team Lawful Nassau, i.e. Eleanor and Woode Rogers, faced with the dilemma of a) a vengeful Blackbeard blockading the harbor and demanding Eleanor's head, and b) Rogers' creditors at his heels due to his separation from his wife Sarah (btw, I did note in the last and this episode everyone refers to Eleanor as "the governor's wife" - leaving aside Eleanor is a Black Sails OC and Rogers a historical person, did he in this universe actually marry her, or do they mean his common law wife, with the divorce from Sarah not yet finalized?), have come up with a two-fold plan of Eleanor going to Grandpa Guthrie for cash while Rogers acts as decoy, drawing Blackbeard away so Eleanor can escape. While being entirely aware that sooner or later, there will be a betrayal between Eleanor and Woode Rogers simply because everyone on this show has one of these experiences (even Jack and Anne, when he chose his captaincy over her), I continue to enjoy them as a couple, and this episode is a good example of why. They're both pro-active; Eleanor comes up with a plan to solve the cash problem that involves her doing something, and Woode Rogers' reaction to hearing Blackbeard's "gimme Eleanor or be prepared to see more of your men die!" demand isn't either to hand Eleanor over or go all virtuously and uselessly "never!", but to come up with a distraction plan that allows Eleanor to go on her cash and reinforcements organizing mission while drawing the danger to himself, not more of his men.
Speaking of Blackbeard, Jack here finally gets some respect from the man, and he does it by talking sense into him, too, just as Anne earlier talked sense into Jack. By pointing out that their dilemma is what they want more, revenge on Eleanor or a chance to end the war by capturing the governor, and postulating that Vane himself, feeling about Eleanor as he did, would go for the "capture Rogers" option (not entirely sure about that, but probably yes), Jack gets through to Blackbeard - and inadvertendly fulfills Rogers' plan, since Rogers had been gambling on them making that choice. I liked that scene, but the more intriguing one to me was the one between Jack and Anne earlier, when Anne confided her feelings re: Max - first wanting revenge on her for, as Anne saw it, betraying her re: saving Jack (not really true, but Anne can't know that, not being gifted with an omniscient pov on s3 events), then realising she doesn't want that anymore but wants (much like Max, if she only knew) an end to that cycle.
Lastly: when Eleanor talked about her family's wealth I had a moment when I wondered how they'd square this with Eleanor not having tried to win the other Guthries around before, notably when she was about to be hanged as a pirate - that there were rich other Guthries and that her father was seen as something of a black sheep was in fact established in s1, so this wasn't a retcon -, but then the script had her kindly deliver the explanation. True, a (sort of) respectable governor as a guarantee could move Grandpa Guthrie to some investment where the black sheep daughter of his black sheep son alone would not, but she'll have her work cut out for her. And I'm really looking forward to finding out who will play Eleanor's grandfather now.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-07 09:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-08 08:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-08 09:17 am (UTC)Incidentally, I highly recommend "Johnson"'s A General History of the Pyrates, if you haven't already read it. It's the main source for just about every pirate story since, whatever you think of its reliability.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-08 09:19 am (UTC)