Forget Our Flag Means Death, ‘Best Pirate Show of All Time’ Just Dropped on Netflix
We’ve seen enough of the vulnerable and touching pirates, now let’s see the merciless and furious ones.
The pirate dramedy Our Flag Means Death had a short but bright life. It has managed to get two brilliant seasons, gather a devoted fanbase, and break viewers' hearts with the news that there will be no third chapter.
Yes, Taika Waititi managed to reinvent the mythology around the stern and violent sea wolves, adding his signature awkward New Zealand humor. But maybe it's time to move on?
Black Sails Is a Pirate Version of Game of Thrones
On April 17, Black Sails, "the best pirate show ever", according to many critics and fans, dropped on Netflix. Officially, Black Sails is a prequel to Treasure Island. But don't expect this show to be a "safe" spectacle aimed at the youngest fans of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel.
Because Black Sails is tougher than both Treasure Island and Pirates of the Caribbean. This is a violent, bloody and ambitious pirate show for adults.
What is Black Sails About?
The year is 1715, the golden age of piracy in the Caribbean. The island of the former British colony of New Providence is a lawless land controlled by the most notorious pirate captains in history. The most fearsome of them all is Captain Flint.
But the British fleet is returning to these waters, threatening to destroy Flint and his crew. Driven by his own motives, Flint forms an alliance with the formidable Eleanor Guthrie, daughter of a local kingpin who turns the pirates' loot into profit.
Together, they devise a plan in pursuit of the ultimate bounty, which can prevent the takeover of their homeland and ensure their survival.
Black Sails is One of Those Undeservedly Overlooked Projects
The series aired on the Starz channel from 2014 to 2017 – and perhaps became one of the most underrated shows of the 2010s. Along with The Leftovers, which was released in the same years and received its status of an overlooked gem of cable television a few years later. Hopefully, Black Sails’ release on Netflix will bring the pirate show the attention it deserves.
Black Sails began as a pirate doppelganger of Game of Thrones. Fiction mixed with history, bloody battles on ships and on land that give way to explicit scenes in brothels, and a tangled web of intrigue where no one is guaranteed a chance to survive.
HBO’s Rome once showed that explicit scenes mixed with history result in a hit, Game of Thrones proved it, and Black Sails followed the successful formula, not forgetting to add pirate passions and large-scale scenery.
Pirate captains get drunk, argue with each other, rob ships and try to fight back the British fleet that is trying to destroy them. What more do you need?
All four seasons of Black Sails are now available on Netflix.