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Black Sails
Mar. 19th, 2014 10:12 amThis show, the first season of which has just concluded, was broadcast on Starz, so I assumed it was the replacement for Spartacus in term "vaguely historical, guts, sex and gore, though hopefully also an interesting ensemble and character development". The other reason why I tuned in was because it was announced as a Treasure Island prequel of sorts while also including historical pirates, because Bear McCreary, he of the fabulous music for BSG and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles wrote the music, and because Toby "Son of Dame Maggie Smith" Stephens played the lead as Captain Flint.
As it turned out, this was a good decision. The gore part actually isn't as high as in Spartacus (and there are no Zack Snyder styple slo mo moments, thank God); I'd say it's on a Game of Thrones level. Which reminds me that an aquaintance of mine recently when talking about the show with me described it as Game of Thrones with pirates and I can see the point of comparison - politics, lots of shifting loyalties and alliances - but thankfully Black Sails so far does without sexposition. (Not without sex. But there is no equivalent to the scene where Littlefinger monologues his inner motivations at two whores while they perform sex at his instructions.) What it does have is indeed a good ensemble of characters, both female and male, who are a mixture of fictional, historical and Stevensionian-fictional. It also takes the time to develop said characters. For example, one of the three female regulars and one of the historical types, Anne Bonny, spends the first three episodes with no lines, simply looking menacingly, but then she gets lines, development and drama a plenty; while the harmless accountant in the background during the first few eps, Dufresne (one of the fictional ones, I believe), who also hadn't had more than a line or so becomes a key view point character in the second half. And those are two of the supporting players. The two characters whose ambitions and machinations move most of the plot forward are Flint (he's the one who hid the treasure in Treasure Island and while dead in Stevenson's novel is spoke of with great fear; in Black Sails, he hasn't become a legendary pirate yet but is a privateer captain with burning ambitions for more) and Eleanor Guthrie (daughter of the local kingpin in Nassau who does most of the actual kingpin work and isn't content with secondary power, either). (These two, btw, aren't a romantic couple, though they are business partners who trust each other as far as they trust anyone; romantically/sexually, they're both involved with other people.) Also key players: Charles Vane (one of Flint's rivals, also a historical figure; the scary obsessive type, used to be involved with Eleanor); one young John Silver, very good at bluffing and talking and learning fast, which is good because he's lying about any experience as a cook, sailor or the sea (if you don't know who'll he end up becoming, you're not familiar with Treasure Island; and Max (female despite the name, whore at the local brothel, also in love with Eleanor and on the lookout for a better life, which is a problem because Eleanor wants her current one, minus dad; in case I didn't mention it, Eleanor and Max are both openly bisexual and there are hints Anne Bonny is as well). The only guys with claims to be straightforwardly heroic are among the supporting cast: Mr. Scott (used to be Eleanor's father's slave, has a close relationship with Eleanor, and yes, the show will use him to explore the slavery issue), I already mentioned Dufresne, there are also Mr. Gates and Billy Bones, all among Flint's crew and none of them keen on their Captain's increasingly revealed ruthlessnes and readiness to sacrifice his crew for his personal ambitions.
That's another unusual thing: stories set partially or mostly at sea doing a mutiny plot or two usually choose one of two narrative paths. Either it's the evil tyrannical captain versus the maltreated crew (aka most depiction sof the Bounty saga, as unfair to the historical Captain Bligh as this may be), or it's the malcontent (and often ungrateful) crew just not getting that their Captain knows best and only wants the best. In Black Sails, Flint isn't a crew maltreating sadist, and his tactics when it comes to capturing ships are sound; he's also played by Toby Stephens as a brooding intelligent man with a chip on his shoulder as far as the reason why he's not in the Royal navy anymore is concerned, and a backstory with Mrs. Barlow (the name is an alias) that also involves her husband, and perhaps not in the usual triangle way. (In one of their arguments, Mrs. Barlow says re: Flint's current piratical life, "he wouldn't have wanted that", and since her late husband also was a famous libertine and a scandal is responsible for her and Flint ending up in Nassau in the first place, I'm assuming they had a poly arrangement until canon tells me differently.) However, Flint is also someone who thinks becoming a pirate king is something his crew should just go along with and the narrative firmly sides with his men not agreeing there, and definitely not agreeing that the occasional human sacrifice for the greater (read: Flint's) good is fine.
As far as the setting is concerned, we're, err, at some point in the 18th century (though definitely before anyone throws any tea parties in Boston and starts wars of independence; Boston, occasionally refered to, is still part of a British colony). There is the very occasional nod to the idea that Eleanor's position would probably be impossible in the mother country (one of many reasons why she's very keen on staying in Nassau), but interestingly, nobody has said anything about Anne Bonny yet (i.e. no "a female pirate? Zomg!" type of line). I'm not well versed enough to tell whether the ships they use are anachronistic or not, but the capture of a ship that forms the mid season's big action set piece is filmed breathtakingly and feels utterly uncliché'd, not least because we're in Dufresne's the until then timid accountant's pov for it if we're not with the slaves in the ship that's being captured. Which brings me to: race and slavery. There are two, possibly three characters of colour who get development and narrative space on the show; Max (who is free at the start and end of the season but in between goes through some horrible stuff, imagine all the trigger warnings) and Mr. Scott (not free at the start, has some, shall we say, character revealing encounters mid-season, ends the season in very changed circumstances). The possible third is a female black slave who shows up mid season in two episodes, but I'm not sure yet whether or not the show will bring her back (a second season has been comissioned); she was very vivid and engaging in the scenes she was in, and had a quite different background from Max and Mr. Scott, so I hope so.
Shipping of the non-nautical persuasion: the three romantic and/or sexual relationships wo have an impact on the plot are Eleanor/Max, Eleanor/Charles Vane and Flint/Mrs. Barlow, but none of them ( spoiler ) On the other hand, the friendships and partnerships that develop or are fleshed out fare (partially) better. Dufresne's arc comes with forming relationships with the other crew members, particularly Billy Bones and Mr. Gates. Eleanor's best scenes are all about persuading a bunch of guys she's the toughest businesspartner of them all, and later in the seasons of forming an alliance of necessity with Anne Bonny. Silver, who is cheerfully open about looking-out-for-number-1, nonetheless has to persuade almost everyone of the other regulars that it's in their interest to keep him among the living, which is reliable entertaining to watch.
Foreshadowing/referencing source material: my favourite instance of this is that one of the few people seemingly immune to Silver's ability to talk himself out of trouble is a one legged sailor with cooking abilities, who is considered an idiot by most of the crew (though a well liked one). After a lot of frustration, Silver has a great "Heureka" moment when figuring out that this seeming idiot just might be the canniest survivor of them all and very worth learning from.
In conclusion: I'm definitely up for season 2.
As it turned out, this was a good decision. The gore part actually isn't as high as in Spartacus (and there are no Zack Snyder styple slo mo moments, thank God); I'd say it's on a Game of Thrones level. Which reminds me that an aquaintance of mine recently when talking about the show with me described it as Game of Thrones with pirates and I can see the point of comparison - politics, lots of shifting loyalties and alliances - but thankfully Black Sails so far does without sexposition. (Not without sex. But there is no equivalent to the scene where Littlefinger monologues his inner motivations at two whores while they perform sex at his instructions.) What it does have is indeed a good ensemble of characters, both female and male, who are a mixture of fictional, historical and Stevensionian-fictional. It also takes the time to develop said characters. For example, one of the three female regulars and one of the historical types, Anne Bonny, spends the first three episodes with no lines, simply looking menacingly, but then she gets lines, development and drama a plenty; while the harmless accountant in the background during the first few eps, Dufresne (one of the fictional ones, I believe), who also hadn't had more than a line or so becomes a key view point character in the second half. And those are two of the supporting players. The two characters whose ambitions and machinations move most of the plot forward are Flint (he's the one who hid the treasure in Treasure Island and while dead in Stevenson's novel is spoke of with great fear; in Black Sails, he hasn't become a legendary pirate yet but is a privateer captain with burning ambitions for more) and Eleanor Guthrie (daughter of the local kingpin in Nassau who does most of the actual kingpin work and isn't content with secondary power, either). (These two, btw, aren't a romantic couple, though they are business partners who trust each other as far as they trust anyone; romantically/sexually, they're both involved with other people.) Also key players: Charles Vane (one of Flint's rivals, also a historical figure; the scary obsessive type, used to be involved with Eleanor); one young John Silver, very good at bluffing and talking and learning fast, which is good because he's lying about any experience as a cook, sailor or the sea (if you don't know who'll he end up becoming, you're not familiar with Treasure Island; and Max (female despite the name, whore at the local brothel, also in love with Eleanor and on the lookout for a better life, which is a problem because Eleanor wants her current one, minus dad; in case I didn't mention it, Eleanor and Max are both openly bisexual and there are hints Anne Bonny is as well). The only guys with claims to be straightforwardly heroic are among the supporting cast: Mr. Scott (used to be Eleanor's father's slave, has a close relationship with Eleanor, and yes, the show will use him to explore the slavery issue), I already mentioned Dufresne, there are also Mr. Gates and Billy Bones, all among Flint's crew and none of them keen on their Captain's increasingly revealed ruthlessnes and readiness to sacrifice his crew for his personal ambitions.
That's another unusual thing: stories set partially or mostly at sea doing a mutiny plot or two usually choose one of two narrative paths. Either it's the evil tyrannical captain versus the maltreated crew (aka most depiction sof the Bounty saga, as unfair to the historical Captain Bligh as this may be), or it's the malcontent (and often ungrateful) crew just not getting that their Captain knows best and only wants the best. In Black Sails, Flint isn't a crew maltreating sadist, and his tactics when it comes to capturing ships are sound; he's also played by Toby Stephens as a brooding intelligent man with a chip on his shoulder as far as the reason why he's not in the Royal navy anymore is concerned, and a backstory with Mrs. Barlow (the name is an alias) that also involves her husband, and perhaps not in the usual triangle way. (In one of their arguments, Mrs. Barlow says re: Flint's current piratical life, "he wouldn't have wanted that", and since her late husband also was a famous libertine and a scandal is responsible for her and Flint ending up in Nassau in the first place, I'm assuming they had a poly arrangement until canon tells me differently.) However, Flint is also someone who thinks becoming a pirate king is something his crew should just go along with and the narrative firmly sides with his men not agreeing there, and definitely not agreeing that the occasional human sacrifice for the greater (read: Flint's) good is fine.
As far as the setting is concerned, we're, err, at some point in the 18th century (though definitely before anyone throws any tea parties in Boston and starts wars of independence; Boston, occasionally refered to, is still part of a British colony). There is the very occasional nod to the idea that Eleanor's position would probably be impossible in the mother country (one of many reasons why she's very keen on staying in Nassau), but interestingly, nobody has said anything about Anne Bonny yet (i.e. no "a female pirate? Zomg!" type of line). I'm not well versed enough to tell whether the ships they use are anachronistic or not, but the capture of a ship that forms the mid season's big action set piece is filmed breathtakingly and feels utterly uncliché'd, not least because we're in Dufresne's the until then timid accountant's pov for it if we're not with the slaves in the ship that's being captured. Which brings me to: race and slavery. There are two, possibly three characters of colour who get development and narrative space on the show; Max (who is free at the start and end of the season but in between goes through some horrible stuff, imagine all the trigger warnings) and Mr. Scott (not free at the start, has some, shall we say, character revealing encounters mid-season, ends the season in very changed circumstances). The possible third is a female black slave who shows up mid season in two episodes, but I'm not sure yet whether or not the show will bring her back (a second season has been comissioned); she was very vivid and engaging in the scenes she was in, and had a quite different background from Max and Mr. Scott, so I hope so.
Shipping of the non-nautical persuasion: the three romantic and/or sexual relationships wo have an impact on the plot are Eleanor/Max, Eleanor/Charles Vane and Flint/Mrs. Barlow, but none of them ( spoiler ) On the other hand, the friendships and partnerships that develop or are fleshed out fare (partially) better. Dufresne's arc comes with forming relationships with the other crew members, particularly Billy Bones and Mr. Gates. Eleanor's best scenes are all about persuading a bunch of guys she's the toughest businesspartner of them all, and later in the seasons of forming an alliance of necessity with Anne Bonny. Silver, who is cheerfully open about looking-out-for-number-1, nonetheless has to persuade almost everyone of the other regulars that it's in their interest to keep him among the living, which is reliable entertaining to watch.
Foreshadowing/referencing source material: my favourite instance of this is that one of the few people seemingly immune to Silver's ability to talk himself out of trouble is a one legged sailor with cooking abilities, who is considered an idiot by most of the crew (though a well liked one). After a lot of frustration, Silver has a great "Heureka" moment when figuring out that this seeming idiot just might be the canniest survivor of them all and very worth learning from.
In conclusion: I'm definitely up for season 2.
