Flint faces a dilemma upon his return to Nassau.  Eleanor needs help from an unlikely source.  Rackham seeks to repair his reputation.  Vane uncovers an unexpected prize.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

REWATCH REACTION

I’m starting to slow down in my rewatches, because even though the show gets better and better, there are so many betrayals and heartbreaks to watch again, and my heart hurts in anticipation!  I’m actually missing the days of season 1 when we were too busy being introduced to characters to kill them off (mostly).

BEST FLINT MOMENT

Just, every look he gives Miranda while flirting and realizes she sees beneath his proper exterior is. so. hot.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Eleanor!  This is such a good episode between her and her father figures.  The scene when Flint arrives, and she rushes to him with a genuine smile on her face in order to publicly embrace him?  MY HEART.  Even when she realizes he doesn’t have the gold, she says, “I’m so very glad you’re alive.”  Later, she sneaks a message to Mr. Scott so that they can talk, and for a few lines they are genuinely happy to see each other and catch up.

As lovely as it is to see Eleanor happy, she earned her spot here for how she stands up to Flint.  Lesser men and women would cower beneath his fury, but she defends her actions in giving up the fort to Vane.  When Flint realizes she’s strong enough to oppose his strength, he switches tactics and goes for vulnerability.  Kudos to him for being honest about killing Gates (“What did you do?” “What was necessary.”), but it doesn’t work.  He wants her to make the same decision, to kill someone she loves for the sake of their mission.

But the person he wants her to kill is doing a lot toward showing his own love for her…but more on Eleanor and Vane in the Fragmented Thoughts section.

LOL MOMENT

This episode starts with a joke, when Thomas shows James a pamphlet about piracy and says the problem in Nassau is “a problem most insidious.”  James looks for a moment, then suggests, “Illiteracy?”  I love these boys and their shared subtle humor!

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

Miranda:  In my experience, there is an inverse relationship between the degree of one’s happiness and the concern one suffers for what the neighbors think.

Miranda:  I think you’re someone who’s very good at managing how you’re perceived, and perhaps getting what you want without anyone knowing how you did it, or perhaps if it ever happened at all.  Perhaps–
James:  Don’t tell me propriety has worked its evils on you too, now.
Miranda:  I was going to say that perhaps you’re more concerned with whether or not people talk about what you and I may be doing behind closed doors more than with what we actually are doing.

Thomas and Miranda offer James a world in which one can take the things that make one happy without worrying if it is the “proper” thing to do.  At that time (and this time, honestly) an open marriage was something to be feared, scorned, or punished.  Yet Miranda knows James well enough to see that he isn’t as interested in social conventions as his naval uprightness implies.  She sees some of the “darkness” and “wildness” that was shown to us in the last episode.  But where those qualities were condemned by Hennessey, Miranda encourages them.  She invites him to leave propriety behind and take what will make him happy.  The fact that we see them so unhappy together in the present day makes us ask all sorts of questions that I cannot wait to see answered.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• I’m still in love with Thomas’s confidence that the problem in Nassau is not the pirates but the corrupt governors.  His idealism is so sexy!
• James’s realism is also sexy, but that’s because James is still looking so good in these flashbacks.

James:  Put a man on an island, give him power over other men, and it won’t be long before he realizes the limits of that power are nowhere to be seen.

• Silver is officially popular!  The scene where Dooley insists that they return to Nassau despite the incredible danger of sailing into harbor in a Spanish ship seems to imply that the democratic pirate government is flawed.  A popular vote, after all, allows dumb men to make potentially devastating decisions.  If their captain were anyone but Flint, I think I’d be suspicious of this.  As it is, I’m all for Flint as Pirate King…it’s a little unnerving how much I’ve drunk from his Koolaid.
• Vane’s men need better wigs.
• I loved seeing Miranda and Eleanor together!  It must be weird for Eleanor to see evidence of Flint’s domesticity and to hear him called “James.”  She’s SUPER suspicious of the power Miranda seems to hold over Flint, and while that’s warranted, I’m still annoyed at how rude she was to imply Miranda is unremarkable.

Miranda:  Every man has his torments, demons born of past wrongs that hound and harass him.  You perceive the effects of Captain Flint’s demons, echoes of their voices.  But I know their names.  I was there when they were born.  I know the things they whisper to him at night.  So you can believe me when I tell you that within his chorus of torments none of them look or sound like me.

• The scene between Max and Vane is beautiful.  Her suppressed fear of him is so sad considering the last night she saw him, he was letting his men abuse and assault her.  Max seems to be implying that it is weak of Vane to want to protect Eleanor from Ned Lowe, but like, Ned is a brutal psychopath?  I don’t think you have to still be hopelessly in love with someone to not want to see them raped and tortured (though…he totally is).  “I found a way to stop caring about her.  Would you like to know how?”  “No.”
• ❤ Eme and the other former slaves are working and finding places in Nassau!
• UM, I too would invite myself into James’s apartment if he answered the door shirtless and with messy hair.  This is a painful scene in some ways, though, as the power dynamic between James and the Hamiltons is driven home.  He is so obviously pained at her attempts to compliment his small and undecorated room.  Later, we see class rearing its head again when he says the Hamiltons are wealthy and secure enough to scorn propriety – James doesn’t have that luxury.
• They are SUPER good at flirting.  Wow, their faces!
• Fandom seems very married to the idea that Vane is Loyalty Personified, but I don’t really see it.  In this episode, he restores Jack and Anne to influence, abandoning loyalty to the crew they murdered, and NOT because of loyalty to them, but because he got what he wanted from Max.  Which!  I love!  Because I like my Black Sails characters morally complex.  But why is fandom so determined to see a Vane that I cannot?
• As Flint remembers his past with Miranda, it inspires him to make a gesture of reconciliation by bringing La Galatea to her.  But when he arrives at her house and sees her giving piano lessons, it’s clear that there is no place for him there.  He leaves the book instead, and my heart breaks because he cannot have everything that he wants.
• Ned Lowe is DEAD, and I rejoice!  Vane is such a badass, and I was very impressed by his subtle dig implying that Ned not only will submit to Vane (“you know your place”), but that he’s one of the only captains that will do so.  This scene plays out so beautifully, leading us to assume that Ned has the upper hand, but Vane was playing him all along!  I’m so impressed that this show had the balls to kill off such a charismatic, terrifying character after just three episodes.  It shows that they know how strong their central characters truly are.
• After seeing Ned’s head on a stick, Eleanor goes to Vane to reward him with sex.  Half of me is annoyed by this trope, but the other half of me is genuinely touched.  This is the most intimate they’ve been during and after sex, and the fact that Vane watches her sleep does things to my heart. I am NOT a believer in their relationship as something healthy, but there’s just enough good there to convince us why they would keep returning to each other.
• Speaking of surprisingly lovely sex scenes, Anne’s mostly unspoken invitation for Jack to join her and Max is really sweet.  Despite Max wanting to get between Anne and Jack (“did he see you come up?”), Anne refuses to play these power games and asks for everything she wants.  And in asking for everything, she gives up everything, disrobing for the first time.  It’s a vulnerable moment for anyone, but especially for Anne, who lets Max (and us) see her back full of scars for the first time.
• Flint’s final speech resonates VERY hard after knowing some things that are going to happen to him in the near future:  “I know how you must feel, how desperate you must be to go home and be embraced by Nassau again.  But I’m here to tell you, that place no longer exists.  It has been taken from us by a madman, held hostage by threat of force that no one on the island seems able to resist…Nassau was unable to resist him, but we have yet to have our say.”

Not done reliving the episode?  Listen to Daphne and Liz’s podcast at Fathoms Deep!

Flint gives Dufresne some advice.  Silver must make himself indispensable.  Eleanor is asked to depose a captain.  Rackham gets ambitious.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

BEST FLINT MOMENT

This episode IS Flint.  We see him at his most brilliant and most ruthless, and we learn from the flashbacks that he has always held these two traits.  It’s hard to remember that his actions intentionally resulted in the death of a LOT of innocent men when it is so damn satisfying to watch this play out:

DeGroot:  What are we waiting for?  Why aren’t we moving?  Give the order, Mr. Dufresne.
Logan:  Why the fuck are we waiting for him?
DeGroot:  Because he’s in charge here.
Logan:  No one is in fucking charge here!
Flint, coming from nowhere:  You have to sink her.

It is GLORIOUS to watch him step into command, bringing order to the chaos.  The men hesitate only a moment before obeying.  Captain Flint is back!

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Jack!!!  This is one of my all-time favorite moments of his, and honestly, favorite moments of the whole show.  It is our first real glimpse at how complexly Black Sails is going to handle love, sex, and romance, and my first time through I was completely blown away.  In a lesser show, Anne’s confusion, Jack’s insecurity, and Max’s ambition would have led to a power struggle that would destroy them all.  Instead, Jack defuses the situation and basically says, “Alright, if there’s to be a threesome, let’s make this threesome legitimate and profitable to all of us.”

Not just profit, though.  His love for Anne runs deeper than sex or jealousy, and it’s so so beautiful.

“Darling, I can understand why you wouldn’t want to tell me about this, but please know that all I have ever wanted for you is to be happy.  Come to bed when you’re through.”

My heart.  ❤

LOL MOMENT

I didn’t laugh at loud in this episode, but I did find Silver’s first failed attempts at ingratiating himself into the crew, and Flint’s subsequent confusion/concern, quite amusing.

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

The theme of the episode (and show, really) is “strange pairs” that can “achieve the most unexpected things.”  Thomas is the one who says this, referring to himself and James.  Thomas sees their vastly different worldviews as an asset, something that will make their combined efforts stronger.

We cut immediately from this flashback conversation to Flint and Silver.  Silver reveals that his only interest is in the gold, and that he doesn’t like being on the crew or being at sea even.  His motivations are selfish, but his goal of walking away from piracy is exactly Flint’s dream of leaving the sea behind until he finds someone who thinks an oar is a shovel.  Flint sees this, and pushes Silver to be better, to prove his usefulness to the crew.  Throughout the episode we see their differences – Silver explicitly says he doesn’t care if people hate him so long as they need him, whereas Flint desperately cares what others think of him (this will be revealed even more fully in future episodes).  Silver will put up with being ridiculed, but FlashbackFlint gave men a beatdown for insinuating an insult.  They are very different men, but strange pairs can achieve unexpected things.

I also think we see in this episode how “strange pairs” applies to Eleanor and Vane (though they share characteristics and have different goals, which makes me skeptical of their partnership), Silver and Randall (same goal of surviving, different ways of doing so), and Jack/Anne/Max (same goal of profit, confusing sexuality issues to be navigated).

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• Billy is alive!  And being tortured very dispassionately by a British officer.  Civilization hurts you with a polite smile on their face.  This is, I think, more cruel.
• Thomas is a dreamboat, insisting that the pirates of Nassau are merely a symptom of systemic problems in the British empire.  He is a man of deeply held values, and I love him.  He’s also clearly impressed by Flint’s ability to immediately list the numerous changes necessary to make Nassau a healthy colony.  And Flint, in turn, is stunned by Thomas refusing to be intimidated by this list (“Are you sure three ships would be enough?”)
• We’ve long known that Flint is brilliant when it comes to manipulating battles, but we see in this episode that he is equally as good at manipulating people.  When he asks if Dufresne has read any of the books in the captain’s quarters, I think this is his last attempt to see if there is any reason to respect the man.  Dufresne fails, and Flint takes him out.  It is so satisfying to watch Flint tell him how “lettered men are harder to keep in line and more resistant to persuasion” WHILE he is manipulating and persuading him.  He uses flattery, vulnerability, and subtle criticism (they’ve been losing wind for hours and Dufresne hasn’t noticed) to thoroughly ensnare Dufresne’s pride.
• The best thing is, Flint’s advice is sound.  Dufresne SHOULDN’T have attempted to take a prize.  If he’d gone back to Nassau to regroup as Flint suggested, he would still be captain.  But Flint knows that Dufresne’s pride will win over his good advice.  God, he’s brilliant.
• In the tavern flashback, we learn that no matter how far James has fought his way up the ranks, his Navy peers still see him as a social climbing son of a carpenter.  It’s especially ironic to hear them talk about his supposed selfish motivations for keeping his assignment when we’ve just seen him try to talk Thomas into firing him.
• It’s very interesting to me that Max implies that Jack has long known that Anne is attracted to women.  I didn’t notice this the first time through, and it helps explain why his later acceptance of their being in bed together, though still difficult for him, is not quite as shocking as it might have been.

Flint:  What was that?
Silver:  I am convincing the crew to allow me to remain with them.  As we discussed.
Flint:  Is that what you’re doing?

• In an interesting flip, it is Flint who assumes his crew are too adult to fall for Silver’s ploy, and it’s Silver who cynically assumes they’re little better than boys.
• I skipped Mr. Meek’s beheading this time through.  It is one of two violent acts that are just too visceral for me to watch.
• The Vane/Eleanor stuff is very interesting this episode!  He shows up to a meeting, and he constantly tells her that “If you aren’t strong enough to protect your own interests, then I urge you to stop behaving as though you are.”  I’m a little confused by this.  According to his role in the Consortium, isn’t he SUPPOSED to be the muscle?  Why does he keep acting as though he’s doing them a favor?  Or is it her personal power, as shown in her bodyguards, one of whom is murdered by Ned Lowe?
• I did really love their last scene together in which Eleanor is vulnerable with Vane.  She admits that everything she has, personally and professionally, is very fragile.  “You want me to believe that you have some manner of concern for me.  Then show it.”  But along with the vulnerability, she also offers Vane the “mysterious asset” on Ned’s ship, thus insuring that she can never be sure if his actions are motivated by love for her or for profit.
• “If you’re trying to impress me, it isn’t working.”  Liar!  Flint is attracted to nothing more than persistence.  Silver stands up for the fourth time, accepts a beating, and finally finds the line in the sand…the poor dairy goat.
• In the moment of Silver’s triumph, he looks to Flint for validation.  Later, when the merchant ship strikes a flag of surrender, Dufresne also looks to Flint in his moment of triumph.  Whether positive or negative, everyone wants Flint’s approval.
• I love Flint teaching Silver the intricacies of piracy.  It’s good exposition for us, but I think it also shows that he now sees Silver as someone deserving of instruction.

“My concern for you is over that which cannot be known.  That thing which arises in you when passions are aroused – good sense escapes you.  All men have it.  But yours is different.  Darker.  Wilder.  I imagine it’s what makes you so effective as an officer.  But when exposed to extremes, I could not imagine what it is capable of.  And of greater concern, I’m not sure you do either.”

• Civilization sees darkness and wildness and says to suppress it.  Pirates (as embodied in Ned Lowe) say to embrace it.  Is there a middle way?  **
• Dufresne realizes that he was played by Flint too late – he’s lost the captaincy.  As much as I enjoy Flint’s success (that jacket!), Dufresne isn’t wrong.  Flint chose to put his crew in danger, and he chose to slaughter an entire ship full of innocent merchants and sailors in order to retake control of his ship.  This is…not good.  Again and again, the show asks us this question:  “What level of loss is acceptable as you fight to achieve your dream?”

** SPOILERS FOR SEASON FOUR

Any character talking about darkness makes me think of Flint’s speech in 410: “In the dark there is discovery, there is possibility.  There is freedom in the dark when someone has illuminated it.”  I think this is the middle ground.  Avoiding the dark and wallowing in the dark are both unhealthy.  Wading into the darkness with the goal of illuminating it?  That is where change is possible.

Not done reliving the episode?  Listen to Daphne and Liz’s podcast at Fathoms Deep!

Flint and Silver face judgment before the crew.  Vane enjoys his new position on the island.  Max confronts Bonny.  Eleanor faces a new threat.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

REWATCH REACTION

Season two is my favorite, and rewatching its first episode only reminded me of how right I was to think so!

BEST FLINT MOMENT

Annoyed that Silver of all people volunteered to take the ship with him, Flint insults his only partner, takes off his shoes, and starts swimming to take the Man O’ War all by his goddamn self.  His insane determination is so charismatic, and no one can resist its pull.  Least of all Silver, who sighs and takes off his jacket to follow.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Silver!  The partnership between Flint and Silver that began in 108 is flourishing here.  They are SUCH a great team.  Despite being so different (or because of it), they work together incredibly well, filling in each other’s weak spots and pushing each other to do more and be better.  For MUCH more flailing about their scenes together, head down to the Fragmented Thoughts section.

LOL MOMENT

This is such a funny episode!  The dynamic of Desperate Silver trying to win over No Fucks Left to Give Flint is constantly hilarious, culminating in the truly masterful scene in which both of them are caught by the Spanish crew.  Just minutes after assuring Flint that he has no reason to distrust him, Silver sells him out in exchange for gold and freedom.  Flint’s face goes gloriously twitchy as he chair-hops over to murder Silver with…his face?

Silver bails, and then RETURNS TO THE RESCUE!  Flint gives Silver a quick strategy lesson, at which point:

Silver:  So I actually have to fight him?
Flint:  Well, what the fuck did you think was gonna happen?

Silver’s face, and Flint’s voice crack of exasperation KILL ME.  Like, mad cackling into my hands at these fools.  I love them so much.

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

We get our first flashbacks to Flint’s past, and I am here for it.  Finally, after a season of watching a man pursue a vision so fiercely that it compels him to murder his closest friend, we are starting to find out what led him here.

It is in these flashbacks that we see a very different Flint – in fact, in 1705 that’s not his name at all, but James McGraw.  He’s very cleaned up and VERY attractive, and in his conversations with Thomas Hamilton, we see his role reversed.  Thomas is the idealistic one with plans for redeeming Nassau, and James is the one declaring how impossible that plan is.

We also get our first glimpse at Civilization proper, a London of beautiful buildings, clean clothes, and nice manners.  As per the show’s theme, the ugly underbelly of this facade is quickly revealed when James takes Thomas to view a pirate hanging.  He knows that piracy flourishes because it benefits the British empire to create a monstrous enemy to fight against (“Civilization must have its monsters.”)  In order to eradicate piracy, the empire must change, and James doesn’t believe this is possible.

Their conversations reveal another theme: complementary partners.  Thomas is idealistic but with no experience (he’s never even been to a pirate hanging before, despite his deep interest in the pirates of Nassau).  James has a lot of experience, but no ideals.  Time will tell how this partnership will work out, as it will also address the success of the present-day complementary partnership between Flint and Silver.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• Another season opener, another pirate boarding from the perspective of the boarded merchant vessel.  Contrasted with season 1, however, this one is very ominous and silent, since the merchant captain is prepared to surrender peacefully.  I love his assertion that pirates are “men, not monsters,” and in most cases he would be right.  But unfortunately this episode introduces us to Ned Lowe, a madman who terrifies me and slaughters everyone for the prize of a mysterious woman connected to “Lord Ashe.”
• I love the look of annoyance on Flint’s face as he stares at the Man O’ War.  You can literally see him thinking, “Well, shit, I’ve just had a brilliant idea.  I guess I can’t let them kill me just yet.”

“Even if it weren’t for the soldiers, even if it weren’t for the guns, there’s a fucking warship watching over every inch of the bay.  A fucking warship that has already killed half your number, a fucking warship that would prevent any approach to that beach via the sea.  There’s simply no way of stealing that gold.  But there might be something else you can steal.  The fucking warship.”

• Everyone HATES Flint, and it is amazing to watch them fight against how annoying it is that he is still so brilliant.
• In our first flashback we get so much information about James McGraw/Flint!  He’s “a son of a carpenter.  No record of any formal schooling and yet, more literate than any three boys I knew at Eton.  You are a rising star with a bright future in the Admiralty.”  Our man James is meritocracy personified, fighting his way up the ranks through sheer brilliance.
• Eleanor and Vane are still trying to prove who’s on top.  Vane’s line about “If your friends aren’t capable of protecting themselves, I’d argue that they aren’t worth protecting” is VERY essential to his character.  He’s attracted to strength, and has no time for weakness.
• I’m less enamored with his constant attempts to make Eleanor see how similar they are.  While they definitely share strength and an attraction to it, he’s wrong about her priorities.  He wants her to be as in-the-moment and selfish as he is, but her desire for profit includes a desire for peace.  I love her outburst, “Stop telling me what you think I think!”  Yeah, girl.  Be your own self.
• The scene between Flint and Silver alone on the beach is one of my all time favorites!  “You shit.”  “Um.  Beg pardon?”  LAUGHING FOREVER.  Silver’s genuine surprise that Flint intends to singlehandedly take a Spanish Man O’ War, and Flint’s genuine surprise that Silver is surprised.  I love them!

• During the flashback to the pirate hanging, Flint gives his oft-quoted speech that ends with “in most cases a man trying to change the world fails for one simple and unavoidable reason: everyone else.”  Which makes me wonder:  SHOULD a person change the world if no one else wants it?  Who gets to determine which causes are worth changing the world for?
• Poor Jack.  “I used my wits to build the name.  Jesus Christ, what’s become of my name?”  He’s being beaten, pissed on, and called “Jack Rackham, Crew Killer.”  Poor Jack.

Flint:  You almost got us killed!
Silver:  Almost.  Almost!
…
Silver:  You are truly amazing, you know that?  We’re both better off now than we were two minutes ago, yet you’re angry about it because it didn’t happen your way.  Might you consider for a fucking moment that your distrust of me is completely unwarranted?  I warned you about Billy.  Was I right?  I found you over Mr. Gates’s body, and did I do anything but defend you?  When you were sinking to the bottom of the sea, who do you imagine it was who dragged you onto that beach?  Brace yourself, but I’m the only person within a hundred miles of here who doesn’t want to see you dead.

• Eleanor is such a good businesswoman, dealing with bloody cargo and unhappy quartermasters, confronting the brothel crew about leaked information.  Max super doesn’t care, and I think enjoys showing Eleanor how much power she now has.
• Max is hella brave. She’s obviously genuinely afraid of Anne, but she trusts her instincts enough to know that Anne’s anger is rooted in something deeper than resentment.  The confidence it must take to kiss someone who has you at knifepoint on the assumption that they are secretly attracted to women is amazing.  It’s also super hot.
• The FANTASTIC scene where Silver rescues Flint through being a coward!  And after they save each other back and forth, they barricade themselves with three pistols, Flint’s sword, and Silver’s…tiny knife.  Hahaha, this episode is seriously so funny!
• And then the Walrus crew comes to their rescue!  Yay!  And they sail away in their fancy new Man O’ War.
• Ugh, I hate that Ned Lowe is actually pretty charismatic.  AND TERRIFYING, YIKES, that speech about how he feels no remorse about the horrific things he does?  Yikes yikes yikes, I don’t like him.
• Another flashback, and we see James meet Miranda for the first time!  They form the Thomas Appreciation Club while watching him give money to a poor mother and son.  Flint is still unsure whether Thomas’s amazingness is for real, but Miranda assures him it is.

“Great men aren’t made by politics, Lieutenant McGraw.  They aren’t made great by prudence or propriety.  They are, every last one of them, made great by one thing and one thing only: the relentless pursuit of a better world.  The great men don’t give up that pursuit.  They don’t know how.  And that is what makes them invincible.”

• Flint is seeming pretty invincible in this episode, surviving a crew’s rage and taking over an enemy ship.  Does this mean he’s a great man?
• The last scene between Flint and Silver is one of my favorite things that they do:  honestly tell each other their motivations and concerns about the other.  Silver tells Flint that he would have betrayed him had their interests not aligned.  He is clearly in awe of Flint, but he doesn’t pretend that this makes him a blind follower.  And I think Flint appreciates this, both the being known (hell yeah, he’s going to take back his captaincy) and the being honest.

Not done reliving the episode?  Listen to Daphne and Liz’s podcast at Fathoms Deep!