Facing certain death, Silver pushes Flint to take action.  Teach shows Vane a way forward.  A new threat puts Eleanor and Rogers on notice.  Max makes her play.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

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BEST FLINT MOMENT

The amount of times I shouted “I LOVE YOU” and cursed at my TV screen in overwhelmed emotion during Flint’s “I got my groove back” speech is innumerable.  But by far the most spine-tingling moment was when, lit beautifully from the side, he said this:

“They pledged to follow me when they thought I was alive.  They turned when they thought I was gone.  So I will come back from the dead and lay claim to what I am owed.”

AGH.  His reclaiming of his mythic status is SO. FUCKING. HOT.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Vane!  In this episode, our simple guy gets everything he wants (and I do mean simple, because Mr. Concrete cannot understand the symbolism of Teach’s story about the power of women leaving a mark on a man until it is explained to him, lol). He is a proper pirate!  Fighting men of skill and proving his worth, honoring his victims with last drinks and final conversations.  He also speaks Spanish, which is surprising and lovely!

But maybe having everything he’s wanted isn’t actually satisfying.  After all, he is shaken by the dying Spaniard’s comment that “Money makes sheep of us all.”  You can almost see his mind begin to turn, wondering if his pursuit of treasure isn’t freedom after all, but a different kind of prison.  When Teach says the discovered papers are only useful to someone who wants to retake Nassau, we are left wondering…does Vane actually want to fight for something more than a proper pirate life?

LOL MOMENT

Featherstone receives his pardon, bemoans his returned status to a “humble bookkeeper,” then turns to Idelle.  He delicately touches her arm and says,

“I sincerely hope this doesn’t diminish your attraction to me.”

Idelle gives the BEST expression of “um, WHAT” and I love them both even more.

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

In my recap of 210 – XVII, I tried to navigate Flint’s changing goals concerning Nassau and England.  With the introduction of a colonized Nassau and after Flint’s speech to the Maroon Queen, it’s time for an update.

1. Initially, Thomas and James planned to restore colonial rule to Nassau from the inside.  They wanted to remake civilization there by offering pardons and forgiveness to the pirates in a bid to create a new world of freedom from past sins.  This is now contrasted with Woodes Rogers, who is working to establish colonial rule to Nassau from the inside by offering pardons as a means of control.  The threats underlying his goodwill have been subtle but steady so far, and his motivation being profit rather than reformation has already been admitted.
2. After his exile from London, James took on the mantle Flint in an effort to restore colonial rule to Nassau from the outside.  He planned to make Nassau so powerful and so self-sufficient that it could negotiate a partnership with England.
3. After Miranda’s death, Flint’s opinion largely becomes “screw England.”  Now he wants Nassau to become powerful in a bid to scare England away from ever returning.
4. On Maroon Island, Flint sees his grief and rage reflected in the Queen and her people, and he shifts his defensive plan into something offensive.  He now wants to unite oppressed people throughout the West Indies to “lay down their shovels, take up swords, and say ‘No more.’”  In some ways this is a return to Thomas’s dream of creating a new world based on freedom.  In other ways, it’s very different, since it has broader implications for more people and admittedly, far more violence (swords now, not shovels).

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• Our last hallucination.  Anyone have thoughts on why this time, Flint’s lips don’t move but we hear his voice?
• Flint is still preoccupied with death, but Miranda attempts to dissuade him with two tactics:  1) he is close to achieving something great, and 2) he is not alone.

Miranda:  James, you resented me because we were so close, and I threw it all away.  If you join me now, what if I resented you for the same reason?
James:  What would I be throwing away?
Miranda:  You can’t see it yet, can you?  You are not alone.

• It is so rewarding to hear Mr. Scott say, “Give us the room.”  Finally the man is given the deference that his power has always deserved.  SUPER kudos to Flint for recognizing that Mr. Scott is even more impressive than he’d realized, and he’d already given Mr. Scott a lot of praise.
• “I wonder if ever a war so loudly anticipated ended so quietly” is such a beautiful line.
• Despite saying he was all out of lies in the last episode, Flint steals a tiny knife and reveals his backup plan should his conversation with the Queen go badly – he’ll hold her hostage so that his crew can escape, despite knowing he cannot survive that scenario.  When Silver points out that the plan is suicidal, Flint’s look is all, “I know, that’s why I chose it.”
• Eleanor is back in Nassau!!  And I adore her forcing Hornigold to report to her.

“I suppose I should have seen this, that somehow your grip on this place would be too strong to be denied by a king, his laws, or even your death.”

• When told the governor’s mansion is “home to a smuggler, den to opium fiends, salon to a pirate king,” Woodes Rogers jokes, “Suppose I’ll fit right in.”  #jokes, or is Rogers hinting at something darker?
• Max and Eleanor reunite, and I am so thrilled to be watching a show in which two powerful women arguing about their influence and legitimacy!  I love even more that their posturing fades away as they question how deeply they’ve betrayed each other and the answer turns out to be NOT AT ALL.  Forever crying!!
• Eleanor appeals to Max’s desire for safety, but when she doesn’t bite, Eleanor says, “He can make life very difficult for you.”  Hmmm, civilization doesn’t seem so healthy if it only exists thanks to threats of punishment.  Not to mention that Rogers knows Max is important enough that he needs her blessing of the governing council, but she cannot be a part of it (because she’s a woman/not white).  Not making a great case for the preferability of English rule!
• But Max knows her worth, even if no one else does.  I LOVE HER.

“I own title to more of the street than you ever did.  I earn as much legitimate income as you ever did.  I have no enemies and strong friends.  I am the one they all come to here to make peace between them when no one else can.”

• Mr. and Mrs. Scott are so cute!!  “Do you trust me to make this decision?”  “Of course I do.”  He knows she’s the one with all the power, and I’m forever dying from strong men admiring stronger women.
• Billy’s “uh DUH” expression when Silver points out that he’s awfully eager to be rid of Flint, lol.  These two constantly circling Flint and missing each other in the process is super fascinating.  I would love someone else to parse their relationships with the captain and each other throughout the entirety of the series.
• Max bribes Woodes Rogers with her share of the Urca gold, hidden from Spain because of its new form as black pearls etc.  Only it turns out Mrs. Hudson is a spy for Spain and they know about the double dealing!!  (How great is it that this show refuses to let women be anything other than complex and amazing??)
• Eleanor didn’t tell Woodes Rogers about her relationship with Max, huh?  Sex with a pirate is one thing, but sex with another woman?  Civilization couldn’t stomach that.
• Silver doesn’t want Flint to die!!  I realize that this is an incredibly low bar to clear, but, um.  It’s so sweet??

“I understand the allure of ensuring that no one will ever think you the villain you fear you are.  What a waste, it seems to me, knowing it doesn’t have to be this way, knowing the man who talked me into giving a shit about this crew, why, he could talk those people out there into anything.  If he wanted to.”

• I know that Silver is calling back to his 205 realization that Flint doesn’t want to be a villain, but I think he also now understands this from his own experience.  Based on how ashamed he was to tell Flint of his betrayal re: the Urca gold, I think he’s afraid he’d be a villain to the crew if they found out.  Extra sad, knowing his eventual role in Treasure Island.
• Silver knows Flint, and this is EXACTLY what he needs to hear to leave the knife (Plan B) behind and trust fully in his ability to sell a dream to someone by giving SUCH A GOOD SPEECH.

“Let us assume that I can offer you something better.  You have hidden in this place for a lifetime, hidden from the harsh realities that lie beyond this veil that you have constructed here, but the moment that that shot entered his belly, that veil began to unravel.  Sooner or later, you are going to have to confront these realities, chief among them being that England takes whatever, whenever, however it wants:  lives, loves, labor, spirits, homes.  It has taken them from me. I imagine that it has taken it from you.  And when that veil drops altogether, they will come for more.”

• Revolutionary Flint is SUCH A GOOD FLINT.
• This is just, FULL FLINT.  A culmination of his pursuit of freedom from oppression (now extended to more people), his rage (now turned into righteous fervor), and his military prowess (now turned against an empire).  He wants to bring it all down, and I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.
• Woodes Rogers and Eleanor kiss for half a second before being interrupted.  Even though Rogers realizes he can’t accept Max’s bribe, problems are complicated because Spain knows there’s another portion missing!
• Cut to:  Jack, Anne, and an enormous treasure chest.  Jack goes back to Nassau because he won’t give up his name.  He knows it’s dumb, but he cares.  She knows it’s dumb, but she loves him.  He kisses her on the hat, and it’s so cute, but SERIOUSLY.  People should listen to Anne!!  “We did it.  We beat the fucking game.  Walk another half mile, we get in that boat, and we win.”
• The Walrus crew is let out of their cages, and we see Flint putting on his captain’s coat because symbolism is delicious.

Silver:  I’m going to admit something to you.  Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that was actually going to work.
Flint:  Me neither.  Thank you…for opening that door.

• They are SO CUTE, but Flint is all, “Now we go find Charles Vane,” because that is his City Sacking Buddy.

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

Civilization returns to Nassau, and sets its sights on Vane.  Flint, Silver, and Billy encounter a new enemy.  Rackham takes a stand against his crew.  Scott finds his place in the new regime.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

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BEST FLINT MOMENT

Silver questions why Flint is even entertaining Billy’s plan to escape into the trap-laden jungle, to which Flint replies, “It gives him focus.  Keeps his mind off the fact that there might not be a better plan.  Why would we want to take that away from him?”

Flint’s kindness is always a delightful surprise, as is the revelation that his role as captain extends in so many nuanced and exhausting directions.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Teach!  He is such a good Pirate Daddy for Vane.  Without even knowing that Vane hopes to flee with him, Teach appears in the middle of Vane’s escape fight, and together they are so amazing!!  Teach in particular is a graceful and deadly fighter, which is very cool to see.

He accepts Vane onto his ship, and even gives him one last look (test?) at Eleanor.  He wants to know if his Pirate Son will betray him for her once more, either by abandoning their dangerous plan for fear of hurting her or by betraying Teach to save her.  When Teach realizes that Vane can think beyond his emotions, he is so proud.

It’s really nice to see such a loving relationship between two male pirates.

(Although…I guess Vane and Jack have something similar?  How does Vane uniquely inspire such non-sexual male love??)

LOL MOMENT

“Godspeed, Charles.”
“Fuck you, Jack.”

Me:  SOBBING

Okay, this is maybe not as Laugh Out Loud as I intended, but it is surprising and cute before the sadness sets in.

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

Let’s talk about Flint and his relationship to vulnerability.

In this episode, Silver makes two gestures of vulnerability to Flint.  First, he allows Flint to sit beside him while he cleans his stump with his prosthetic off, even though he has isolated himself from the crew to do so.  Second, after falling in the woods, he uses Flint’s shoulder as a crutch during the hike.  This is not necessarily surprising, since in the last episode Silver established a precedent of vulnerability with Flint in a bid for his partnership (by both admitting his role in stealing the Urca gold and in admitting his dependency upon the Walrus crew for purpose).

What is especially interesting to me is how Flint reacts to this.  Instead of using Silver’s vulnerability against him, Flint responds with vulnerability of his own.  In the dark of their cage, Flint tells Silver his past: about Miranda and “her husband,” Peter Ashe, and their goal of obtaining a universal pardon to introduce to Nassau in order to establish colonial rule.  This is something he’s told no one else (I don’t think Gates even knew this).  I do think this is partly because he thinks they will all die on that island, but even so, he wouldn’t have shared that with anyone but a Silver who had previously opened up to him.

What I’m saying is, Flint is desperate to love and be loved, to know and be known.  His role as a pirate captain has necessitated that he close himself off from all emotions save greed and anger.  Miranda was his one outlet, but even his relationship with her was guarded and abrupt until very recently.  Now there is a person in his pirate captain life who interacts with him as an equal to be trusted and relied upon, and it is no surprise that our secretly tender-hearted Flint blossoms under such attention.  He wants a safe place to be vulnerable, and for now, he has found it in Silver.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• When Silver lets Flint in on his revelation about the bigger picture about the pardons, he says it is “the opening move in [the] attack.”  As things get murky and even Flint finds himself wondering why they’re fighting against what seems to be his original goal, it’s important to notice Silver’s choice of words.  The pardons they are being offered are an “attack” while the pardons Thomas envisioned were forgiveness.  TBD as the series continues.

“For whatever reason, when you and I speak with one voice, we seem to be able to compel them to any end.”

• Why is Flint/Silver as the unstoppable dream team SO SEXY?  Full confession:  I did not ship Flint and Silver the first time I watched through the series.  I didn’t even think of it as an option until I finished and saw that fandom was all about them.  I remain a diehard James/Thomas fangirl, but I SEE IT, OKAY.  I see it.
• Woodes Rogers has a very accurate summation of Eleanor:  “Because you’re smart without needing anyone to explain to you how to be.  And because you’re not afraid of being thought to be wrong when you know that you’re right.”  Later, when she admits the worst of herself to him via the opinions of those in Nassau (“That I’m untrustworthy, that I would turn on anyone at any time, no matter how close they were to me.  No matter who it hurt or how severely.”), he takes it in and then continues to use her as his senior counselor.  I’m not emotionally attached to this relationship, but I can totally see why Eleanor would feel seen and valued.
• Jack the badass!  The way he opened the fort’s door, shot a guy in the head, and shut the door again??  UM.
• Anne is very smart in this episode.  I think everyone in the show overlooks her, but she’s the one questioning why Vane is singled out as unforgiveable, and later she’s the one telling Jack that they’ve won.  They have an enormous treasure, and they can go learn French and live in Brussels.  Anne, honey, you deserve to be listened to.
• I LOVE our introduction to Maroon Island.  The men and women who have escaped slavery are initially presented to fit into our historical narrative as “savages” covered in paint.  But they are immediately shown to be smart and prepared (littering their forest with traps) and civilized (in the good sense).  They have built a stunning city considering they started from nothing about fifteen years ago, and they have a system of government fun by the ineffably elegant QUEEN.  “She is everything here: priestess, governess, warlord.”
• I love that the Black Sails writers thought, you know what we need?  Another strong female leader!  No wait, TWO.
• MADI AND HER MOTHER.
• I love them.
• When the Queen asks who their captain is, Flint immediately assumes responsibility.  When she asks for the quartermaster, Silver pauses before doing the same.  Since this season is all about Silver learning how to be a leader, this is very indicative of his progress.
• Treasure Island alert!  Ben Gunn joins the Walrus crew.
• The only thing this show could do to make me like Hornigold for even a second is to have him warmly greet Mr. Scott and show him special attention.  Augh, fine!  You get ten seconds of my goodwill!
• Mr. Scott, however, is being very problematic by offering to find the escaped slaves and return them.  Of course, we later learn that he actually found them and is helping them escape to Maroon Island!
• Speaking of escaped slaves, we learn that Jack left their prison unlocked when the fort exploded, which…okay, that’s nice.  I’m glad he didn’t leave them there.  But this is framed as something practical more than moral, since by letting them escape, he prevents the English from using slave labor to rebuild the fort quickly.  This whole plot line (now ended?) has been very frustrating for me, but I suppose I appreciate that the show refused to make our heroes anachronistically heroic.
• Hallucination alert!!  It’s a short one but a good one!

Miranda:  You’re curious again.  Ready to follow me through a door that is somehow less frightening knowing I await you on the other side.
Flint:  I miss you.
Miranda:  I miss you, too.
Flint:  When we arrive out there, I am to leave you behind?
Miranda:  Yes.
Flint:  What if I were to stay?

• Flint’s death wish is now fueled by sadness rather than rage.  He’s moving through the stages of grief quite nicely.
• Silver goes on a field trip to meet Madi!  This is when the show steps up a notch.  So far it has been a story of oppression of white people by white people.  But instead of letting that be an analogy for people of color to see themselves in, Black Sails says, no.  We’re bring African men and women who were enslaved to the table and letting them speak about their oppression for themselves.  IT IS SO GREAT.

“There are one thousand men and women here.  Among them there is no shortage of anger or hate or fear.  Perhaps you have noticed.  They have suffered cruelties you cannot possibly imagine.  Sisters separated from brothers.  Husbands from their wives.  Mothers from their sons.  No one has greater cause to swear England an enemy and desire vengeance against her as we do.”

• Mrs. Hudson is being nosy, and we don’t know why.
• FIRE SHIP!  This is definitely one of the coolest naval strategies they’ve done so far.  The pirate fleet escapes, and England is down one ship.
• Silver is confused as to why Flint is not plotting.  His knowledge of Flint’s psyche is revealed by this telling question: “Where are you?”  Flint is in 1705, which he tells Silver about in a stunning display of vulnerability (discussed in more depth in the Best Flint Moment above).

“Peter Ashe, Miranda, her husband, and I, we worked to obtain a universal pardon and introduce it to Nassau to eliminate piracy and restore colonial rule there.  I moved away from those things.  Inch by inch, I forgot it all.  And now, in this cage, in the belly of this thing that has swallowed us whole, I wonder if the civilization of Nassau isn’t exactly what I tried to achieve all those years ago.  If resisting it doesn’t set me in opposition to everything I once understood to be good and right.  To forgive.  To make order of chaos.  I wonder if the pardons are the victory, and that the most enlightened thing that I can do is sit still.  Accept what appears to be inevitable, and let this be the end of Captain Flint.”

• I assume anyone watching the show knows that Captain Flint will not just sit still, but technically saying so spoils the next episode.  Whatever.  This is Flint’s dark night of the soul; he’s tired of fighting, he’s confused, he misses Miranda, and he wants it all to be over.  But I’m reminded of what Miranda herself once said about Thomas:  “Great men…are made 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 to.  And that is what makes them invincible.”
• In the midst of his grief, Flint makes some Very Astute character assessments.  Billy’s lie is that he will fight his way out, and Silver’s lie is that he will talk his way past.  Flint is usually a combination of both fighting and talking, but now…he says he has no more lies within him.
• Which is very FITTING, because when Madi confronts her mother, the Queen says she doesn’t trust “lying pirates.”
• Madi is too trusting because she did not experience life as a slave.  The Queen is not trusting enough because she did.
• Oh, and REVEAL.  Mr. Scott is Madi’s father and the Queen’s husband, which makes him a KING.  Our man is finally given the role he deserves.

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

Stranded at sea, Flint pushes Silver to his limit.  As Nassau prepares to repel an invasion, Rackham takes the reins, while Max gets her house in order.  To stave off defeat, Vane makes a difficult choice.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

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BEST FLINT MOMENT

After killing the two crewmen accused of stealing rations (even after hallucinating one of them as Miranda), Flint retreats to his cabin and locks the door.  His breakdown, quiet because we know people can hear what goes on within, is heartbreaking.  Flint’s loneliness and self-hatred are so evident.  It’s beautifully acted and beautifully shot.  Just stunning.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Miranda!  This is an excellent hallucination that reveals so much of Flint’s relationship with Miranda.

Flint:  When I lost Thomas, I raged.  I was distraught.  I wept.  But with you, I’m ruined over you.
Miranda:  When I first met you, you were so unformed.  And then I spoke and bade you cast aside your shame, and Captain Flint was born into the world.  The part of you that always existed yet never were you willing to allow into the light of day.  I was mistress to you when you needed love.  I was wife to you when you needed understanding.  But first and before all I was mother.  I have known you like no other, so I love you like no other.

I am first and foremost a James/Thomas shipper, but I also ADORE James’s relationship with Miranda, and that the show gives so much weight to their partnership and subsequent loss.  After all, James was with Thomas for months, months in which he was at his best (respected, intelligent, productive).  James then spent ten years with Miranda, years in which he was at his worst (vengeful, resentful, villainous).  No wonder he misses her unconditional love so much.  They were everything to each other for so long, because they had no one else.

Oh God, THIS SCENE.  I miss you, Miranda!

LOL MOMENT

Every time I watch the tension-filled scene of Flint and Silver teaming up to catch a shark, after which they both lay back panting, at which point Flint says, “Again?”, I break out in uncontrollable giggles.  I love these men!

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

In this episode in particular, Flint is punishing Silver for not being the partner he wants him to be.  Twice he lays the guilt on Silver VERY thick; first, by reminding him they are in this mess because Silver allowed the crew to choose to check out Hallendale’s abandoned ship, and second by killing the crewmen and then implying Silver is a burden when he says, “If you’re not strong enough to do what needs to be done, I’ll do it for you.”

Flint is recklessly lonely, and Silver knows the cause.  He explicitly remembers that pivotal conversation in 204 when he realized that Flint didn’t want people to think he was a villain, and he intuits that Flint’s death wish is the result of his increased villainous behaviors and therefore, increased self-hatred.  But that’s not the most important thing going on here.  In 204, during that conversation, Flint wanted Silver to defend his actions and remind him of his goodness.  We know this because it is during this episode that he remembers his famously sexy defense of Thomas Hamilton.  (I discuss this in my review of 204 here.)

Flint is punishing Silver for not being a good enough partner.  Silver makes bad decisions, yes, but more hurtful to Flint is how Silver villainizes Flint for the hard decisions he makes as leader (cutting rations).  He wants a partner who will understand the hard things he does and love him anyway (Miranda).  Because Silver is not doing this, Flint lashes out and attacks him for less vulnerable reasons (the bad decision-making as evidence that Silver is weak).

In the launch as they investigate the whale, Silver explicitly asks to be Flint’s partner.  He offers up the worst and best parts of himself (the cleverness of stealing Flint’s Urca gold, the betrayal of that same thing, the goodness of giving up his share, the vulnerability in admitting it was because he worries he is nothing but a cripple without the Walrus crew), and in this moment, Flint sees the possibility of the partnership he craves.  It is still not entirely settled, but in the most beautifully obvious symbolism, when they team up, food and fresh wind is returned to the crew.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• Anne and Max are facilitating the conversion of gold to pearls with the help of the most disgusting, racist man on the show.  Max is SO magnanimous to put her professionalism above his “complimentary” racist comments, and I love Anne for pointing out the theme of the show:

“A world where he’s the civilized one and we’re the savages is a world I’m never gonna fucking understand.”

• Woodes Rogers wants a peaceful transition of power in Nassau, which sounds really great.  Eleanor presses him to consider a show of force, which might take longer but she believes will ultimately be more effective.  This leads us to discover that Rogers’ desire for peace is less a moral position (like it was for Thomas) and is actually because he needs the transition to be quick so that he can pay back his creditors and appease Spain.
• Twice we get Walrus crew members talking about Flint as though he’s God.  My favorite of the two is by a random crew member moaning about how God has abandoned them…until suddenly I realized, wait, is he talking about Flint?  It there even a difference between the two to this poor man?

“We’re all dead men.  Smote by a storm, the product of his rage.  We are dead men.  Consigned to a place where we are no longer worthy even of the good lord’s anger and must endure his indifference.  We are dead men.  Left to suffer, knowing that he no longer hears our cries, because in this place he is absent.”

• And of course, we later get Silver pondering the same kind of thoughts, saying to Billy, “Once again, he is able to conjure the reality he desires just as it was in Charles Town, and just as it was in that storm.  There is no denying a man with that kind of power.”  At Billy’s incredulity, Silver qualifies his statement by saying it doesn’t matter whether Flint conjured the storm or conjured the men into fighting it.  Either way he has a godlike will.
• Jack and Vane try to convince the pirates of Nassau to unite in a show of force against the coming Navy fleet.  Despite his best efforts to be a leader, no one is giving Jack the time of day.  It isn’t until Teach arrives and supplants Flint (“Flint is dead…I’m prepared to step into Captain Flint’s shoes”) that the pirate captains agree to the plan.  This is not because he cares about Nassau, but because he cares about Vane.

Teach:  I do not seek your partnership because I am too weak to defend myself.  I don’t seek it to protect my things or to increase profit.
Vane:  Then why do you?  You’ve been gone eight years, and suddenly my partnership is this valuable to you?  Why?
Teach:  Eight years.  Nine wives.  No sons.  There is an instinct to leave behind something made in one’s own image.  Nature has denied me the ability, but not the need.

• I really like that Vane immediately told Jack his plan to leave with Teach after the defense of Nassau.  It says a lot about the trust they have in each other.  I also adore Jack’s conversation with Anne, and how she teases him with truth, and he laughs and accepts it.

Jack:  It bothers me.  Why do you think that is?
Anne:  ‘Cause you give a shit what he thinks of you.  You always have.
Jack:  You think?
Anne:  Yeah.  You ain’t alone.  Plenty of men in this place have done plenty of stupid shit just to hear Charles Vane call him a proper pirate.  Though you might be the only one who actually made a career of it.

• Billy teaches Silver to be a leader, how sometimes that means you accept the unfairness of greater rations because you need the strength to do your job well.
• Max and Anne break up in the most loving way possible.  They are the healthy version of Eleanor/Vane – they have fundamentally different goals in life, but they discuss this openly and accept it without trying to change the other person.
• We get Max’s backstory, beautifully and heartbreakingly delivered by Jessica Parker Kennedy.  I admire her very much for admitting what she wants and admitting that she will accept horrible things in order to get it:  “The things it took to make that room possible, they were awful things.  But inside that room was peace.  That is what home is to me.”  This helps me accept her habit of protecting herself and her people without much care for how it will affect the rest of Nassau.  Ignorant selfishness is repugnant to me, but self-aware selfishness is something I can understand.
• ANNE KISSES MAX’S FOREHEAD which is Jack/Anne code for I Love You So Very Much.
• Billy swings wildly between supporting Flint for the good of the crew to saying Flint has gone too far (in this episode and in the show at large).  He puts all the responsibility for fixing it on Silver, claiming that he’s next in line after Gates and Miranda to be a person who can reach Flint and change his mind.

Billy:  He listened to them, altered his plans when they told him to.  It’s possible.  The difference is he saw them as his equal.  He respected them that way, so he was willing to listen.  You need to find a way to do the same.
Silver:  Both those people ended up dead.
Billy:  *stares at Silver*

• Flint’s hallucination of Miranda (discussed in depth in the Runner Up section) ends with her saying, “At its end is where you will find the peace that eludes you, and at its end lies the answer you refuse to see.”  As she says this, Flint envisions death standing before him on the Walrus deck.  Death is the only peaceful ending that Flint can imagine, but at that very moment, the whale is spotted and the possibility of food is discovered.  THIS SHOW and its beautiful symbolism!
• Silver and Flint rowing the launch out to the whale, having Very Tense Conversations, and capturing a shark is one of my favorite scenes in the whole series!  I could watch and rewatch it forever.
• As mentioned earlier, it is no small matter that once Flint and Silver learn to work together as partners, the Walrus escapes the doldrums!
• I love Eleanor for how she simultaneously compliments and insults Hornigold in suggesting he be the one to read Rogers’ pardon to the people of Nassau.

“Whatever’s about to happen, there’s no stopping it now.”

• At this point in the show, I am emotionally confused.  The pardons are extended, many people accept them, and…this seems like a successfully peaceful invasion.  Other than the bounty on Charles Vane’s head, it’s hard to figure out why exactly this isn’t a good thing.  Then again, going to Peter Ashe in Charles Town seemed like a good partnership with civilization too…

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

The Walrus crew battles the elements.  Teach and Rackham have a disagreement.  Rogers and Eleanor set terms for their partnership.  Bonny fears for her future with Max.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

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BEST FLINT MOMENT

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Max!  I love her in this episode, both for her practicality when it comes to preparing for the future by converting bulky Urca gold into transportable black pearls, and for her selfless love of Anne.  She tells both Jack and Anne that she knows the two of them will wind up together, though she gives different reasons to each.  To Jack, she says it is because her months with Anne cannot compare to the lifetime the two of them have shared.  To Anne, she says that eventually, civilization will catch up and their love will not be allowed.

To Jack:  Of course she will choose you.  The fort is going to fall, tomorrow, next week, someday.  I do not believe for a moment you will let yourself be buried beneath it when it does.  It will pain her to leave me behind.  What we have shared these past few months, it will be very hard.  But without you, there is no her.  I am here in part to secure my own future; I will not apologize for that.  But that is not why I’m asking you to cooperate with me. I am asking because though I know we have our differences, I know there is one thing we share.  We both love her.

To Anne:  You and I spoke of what will likely happen the day England returns to this place.  We spoke of how I must stay, must find a way to enter into their world.  I believe you would want to enter it with me.  But if we are honest with each other, I think we both know sooner or later, the day is going to come when, no matter our feelings, the world will demand that you and I —

LOL MOMENT

The guy cast as the Dumb Pieces of Eight Dude is PERFECTION.  The entire scene in which he requests a second bag of gold in as many days and completely misses Featherstone’s suggestion that he request less is pure entertainment.

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

One of season 3’s central themes is leadership, and in this episode we see how a Seasoned Leader and a New Leader cope with the reality of losing people under their care.

When it becomes clear that the top sail’s inability to come down will jeopardize the safety of the entire ship, Flint crawls across the deck to cut it loose, dooming men to fly into the sea with it.  He pauses for a moment, staring up at the men before he begins chopping the rope.  I read that as him acknowledging the consequences of his actions by seeing the men, but moving forward with no real hesitation.

In contrast, Silver finds himself stuck below deck with Muldoon, who drowns when he is trapped by ship parts and water rushes in through several holes.  Silver does everything he can to save his crew mate, ultimately holding his hand while he dies.  In fact, he holds it long after until someone else opens the hatch from above.

It isn’t that Flint or Silver has the better reaction.  Silver’s intimate connection to Muldoon’s death is obviously beautiful, but it is also the experience of one new to leadership.  Silver treats his crew mates as friends, whereas Flint has learned to emotionally distance himself from those he leads.  Suddenly the callousness he is so often accused of makes sense, and we are left wondering if Silver will toughen up, Flint soften, or if a middle ground exists between them.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• Our absolutely stunningly blue intro quickly becomes creepy when Flint dreams that Miranda’s corpse crawls onto his ship and below deck.  I have a theory that her appearances become less horrific as Flint processes his grief, and right now it is bad.
• As Flint sails directly into the storm with full sails, he sends men into the rigging so that they can bring the sails down as soon as Hornigold gives up the chase.  He asks Billy to lead them, and Billy hesitates for a moment.  I can’t help but wonder if he is remembering the last storm during which he did something dangerous with Flint…

“Flint had them exactly where he needed them: angry, resentful, afraid.  I understand why they would rather do battle with that storm, but he had me there too.  He had me there.  And that is not supposed to happen.”

• Silver is unnerved by Flint’s power and how he, along with the men, was totally swept away by the speech at the end of the last episode.  He says “that is not supposed to happen” and I wonder if he is worrying about his role as quartermaster or his personal objectivity.
• We meet Mrs. Hudson, and I immediately love her for calling out Eleanor’s privilege.

“My understanding is that your father built a criminal enterprise and you inherited it.  The only difference between you and the ladies I have served in the past is their families had better lawyers.”

• Woodes Rogers shows off the fleet to Eleanor and tells her that he will send her back to London the moment he doubts her usefulness.  She calls his bluff with an amazing, “You don’t know, you don’t know, you don’t know…but I do.  To slay Nassau, you must know her.”
• The scene between Silver and Muldoon while they plug holes below decks is so lovely.  Silver is desperate not to feel useless, and Muldoon tries to convince him that leg or not, he’s integral to the crew.  They share real vulnerabilities with each other, and they could have been such good friends if only!

Muldoon:  What part of ‘let us take care of you’ did you not understand?  If it wasn’t for you, we’d all be planted at the bottom of the Charles Town bay. We got a debt for that.  It ain’t right not to let us pay it.
Silver:  All the shit we been through the last few months, do you wanna know what the most terrifying part of all of it’s been?  ‘We’ll take care of you.’
Muldoon:  I get it.
Silver:  Do you?
Muldoon:  Course I do.  Look at me.  I know what it’s like to be afraid of being the one ain’t strong enough to stick.  But it don’t work that way here. And even if it did, it wouldn’t work like that for you.

• Hearing Eleanor’s backstory of how she took over her father’s business as a 17-year-old girl by identifying her strongest opponent (Teach) and kicking him off the island makes me love her even more!!  Woodes Rogers is clearly very impressed with her too, though when he realizes she and Vane were lovers, he thinks her plan to make Vane a pardon exception is a lover’s quarrel.  Instead, Eleanor lays out a very concise description of the various kinds of pirates in Nassau.

“I know Flint is dangerous, but he can be reasoned with.  I know Rackham is devious, but all he cares about is his legacy.  And because I have history with Charles Vane, I know him most of all.  I’m all too aware what he is capable of destroying when he sets his mind on it.”

• Of course, she is operating under pre-209 knowledge.  Is Flint capable of being reasoned with anymore?  And is Vane quite so destructive?
• Her comment about mutual self-interest creating better partners sounds a lot like season one Silver.
• The “slaves rebuilding the fort” plot continues to make me mad.  Vane (though none of his men) works alongside the slaves, but Mr. Scott (!!) tells him to stop in order to avoid a confusion of roles.  Which??  Nassau is a place where roles are reversed!  For everyone but black slaves, apparently.
• Teach confronts Vane in THE most dramatic way possible, sliding a sword through a linen wall and under his throat, only to wind up hugging his old son surrogate.  It is so theatric, and I love it.
• Jack’s expression when he sees Teach is priceless, especially after Teach says “Jack Rackham” out loud.  “That’s my name,” he responds in the world’s tiniest, most awestruck voice.
• Unfortunately, Teach is very unimpressed by Nassau, and I am very unimpressed by his “good ol’ days” attitude.  Jack is talking about Nassau needing an identity, and Vane is talking about pirate alliances, but Teach wants it to return to its old lawless state.  Although I admit he has a point that the influx of Urca gold has made Nassau weak, his complaints do not take into consideration the very real threat of England’s return.
• Although the sails are now down, the Walrus must still fight against the storm pushing them back into Hornigold’s path.  Billy takes everyone below, except for Flint, who is tied to the wheel alone and did I already mention WOW.
• Hornigold arrives on Woodes Roger’s ship and is super annoyed that Eleanor has found a way back into his life (her appearance is such a gloriously non-verbal ‘fuck you’ to him).  He produces the Walrus’s pirate flag as evidence that Captain Flint is dead.
• Not so!  He’s only dreaming that he met death.  When he awakes, he immediately knows that they’re not moving.  They’re becalmed, and with very few supplies.  Yikes!

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

Flint and his crew wage war against the world.  Eleanor receives an offer of clemency.  Vane objects to Rackham’s methods.  One of Nassau’s most notorious returns.

(Summary provided by starz.com)

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BEST FLINT MOMENT

“There will be no battle today.  Our disadvantage is too great.  But what price surrender? To beg forgiveness from a thing that took my woman from me?  My friend?  Murdered her, displayed her body for their amusement.  I can walk away from this fight if I just sign my name beneath a solemn oath never again to do violence against it.

No.  Not after all it has taken from me.  Not after all it has taken from you.  I will do great violence against that thing.  They say they will pardon us all, but I say to offer to pardon something one fears is the act of a coward.  To offer them in volume suggests that their fear of us is becoming unmanageable, that we have shown them what we are capable of and it terrifies them.

Do any of you want to surrender to men who fear you?  Lay down arms in a battle that we are winning?  Neither do I.  Fuck Benjamin Hornigold, his king, and their pardons.  This war isn’t nearly over.”

In an episode dominated by Flint’s lack of emotion, here we see his disgust for England and “civilization” in full (the first time he shows an emotion is when he says ‘took my woman from me” and my heart died).  This is Flint at his most magnetic, convincing men to scorn pardons when just weeks (months?) earlier, Silver gave a speech convincing them that pardons were their best option.  And although Flint says this is for “all it has taken from you,” it is very clear that he’s rallying these men to fight for his revenge, his grief.  And they do.  Because he frames them as winners, and winners have no reason to forfeit.  He’s given them a vision of themselves that they want to hold on to.

TODAY’S RUNNER UP

Honestly, this episode felt very much like Flint & Everybody Else.  But amidst those clamoring for second billing, Silver probably wins out.  He’s both better and worse than we’ve ever seen him before.

He’s settled into his role as quartermaster, comfortable offering Flint advice, conveying Flint’s orders with a positive spin (as he does with Dobbs), and shouting ship-speak to the crew.  But he’s also deeply possessed by a fear of other people’s perception of him.  This is because he now has a position he fears losing, but more than that, this is because he desperately doesn’t want to be known for his crippled leg.  He isn’t cleaning it properly, and he’s avoiding using crutches despite being told this might lead to his having more of his leg cut off.  The poor man is on a mission to prove that he’s more than his limitations, and this is a VERY different turn from the guy we first met who was happy to let you think he was more limited than he actually was.

LOL MOMENT

Anne sits beside Max in a bath and, after listening to the sounds of sex from the next room, dryly comments:

“We got all the money in the world.  Maybe we could find a room that ain’t in the middle of a whorehouse.”

WELL-FORMED THOUGHTS

Flint’s got a death wish.  He’s always been recklessly violent, but he is no longer careful in the slightest.  In his first scene of the season, Flint strides into the city he’s sacking, walking directly at a man who tries to shoot him.  Flint doesn’t duck or pause; the only thing that saves him is pure dumb luck that the gun misfires and Flint can cut the man down.  Later, when he lists all the reasons they shouldn’t go onto the Bait Ship, he lets the wrong decision be made instead of sticking to his opinion.  And when Silver tries to send someone else before Flint for safety, Flint crosses over first with zero fucks as to what happens.

When they find the marooned captain’s log scrawled with “we die alone” over and over again and it’s mentioned that he must have gone mad, it’s easy to draw a comparison to Flint.  This comparison is solidified when DeGroot says the storm Flint wants to sail into is a ship killer, and Flint replies, “Then he’d be mad to follow us in there,” (AKA I’m mad for going in there).

Losing Miranda and losing his last connection to Thomas (in the form of his dream of a colonized Nassau) has utterly undone Flint.  He has a new purpose now – to take down England and see Nassau free of its influence – but he cares very little whether or not he lives to see it happen.

Poor Silver has a big job ahead, saving Flint from himself.

FRAGMENTED THOUGHTS

• We meet Blackbeard for the first time!  He’s very composed, erudite, and ruthless.  But not ruthless like Ned Lowe in season 2, so I am HERE for it!

“There is no forever.  Everything moves toward its end.”

• This feels especially prescient now that we’ve passed the halfway point of the show.  In this episode, it really FEELS like everything is moving toward its end.  Eep!
• Ninja!Flint OMG ❤
• Yikes, Ninja!Flint has no emotions in his mission to avenge hanged pirates.  This particular magistrate is banking on the fact that Flint is a good man.  We know he is, so we expect him to either mete out a lesser punishment or at least show remorse for murdering him.  Nope!  This empty Flint murders both the magistrate and his wife, and when he hallucinates Miranda’s corpse as his victim instead, he just leaves the room, blank-faced as ever.
• Billy is not very perceptive in this episode.  Silver can see that Flint has changed, but Billy is just like, “nah, it’s a mood.”  And later when on Ship Bait, Billy is all “why would they maroon their captain on a boat rather than an island?” while Flint is figuring everything out.  Billy, my man, step up!
• It feels very odd to see Vane as Featherstone’s captain.  But I love this side of Vane, who both 1) refuses to let slaves die and 2) refuses to let the slaver ship escape.  Very clever move on his part to use the launches!
• I really dislike Max in this episode.  The fake Eleanor trial is in poor taste, and it highlights the fact that Max panders to people rather than inspiring them.  She is okay with the status quo, so long as herself and those closest to her are treated well by it.  And later, when she says the iconic “In another time, another place, they would call me a queen,” I couldn’t help but notice that everything she lists as evidence are Eleanor’s accomplishments.  I wonder how much of this is something she realizes and fears?

Mr. Scott:  You wanted to replace Eleanor.  She was the one Nassau relied upon to solve those problems no one else could or would.  I hope for all our sakes you are up to the task.

• Anne is caught between Jack and Max.  Jack calls Max Anne’s “husband” and later Anne warns Max that she’s getting close to the one thing she promised never to do – make Anne choose between the two.
• I ADORE the scene when Silver walks in on Flint while he’s asleep.  It belies the intimacy they now share, though Flint is very much keeping up some walls.  When Silver tries to use the power of emotional speechifying against Flint, he is Shut Down (for being a little too correct).  Silver is trying to step into his role as a partner, but Flint doesn’t want anyone that close after losing Miranda.

Silver:  I understand this is all incredibly personal to you after the loss of Mrs. Barlow.
Flint:  Now, wait a minute –
Silver:  And I understand the burden of playing the role you currently play must be taking a toll even you cannot fully comprehend.
Flint:  Stop.  Now you have wormed your way into the heads of the men out there, and they’ve granted you authority over them because of it.  But in my head, you are not welcome.

• I REALLY wish we’d seen the meeting between Flint, Vane, and Jack right after season 2.
• Vane is pissed at Jack for sending him after slaves to use in the fort.  I am baffled by this plotline?  After quite eloquently explaining how awful slavery is, Vane just…agrees?  Is the point of this supposed to be that our heroes can use slave labor so long as they feel badly about it?  Why not use the power of their names and start working themselves and inspiring their crews to join them?  I buy Jack thinking of this plan because he’s got enough white man privilege to blind himself to what he’s doing, but Vane?
• Flint wants to avoid the ship bait, but Silver is in favor.  They’re in need of resupplying and there’s a storm coming.  Silver is annoyed that Flint thinks he made the wrong call and says, “How would you have argued [it]?” leading to another excellent Flint speech!

“These days any man who can sew a black flag and get ten fools to follow him can take a prize.  They can take it because of the fear that I and men like me have instilled in their prey.  But they can’t do what I can do.  They’re not built for it.  And sooner or later, they’ll be exposed.  Any fool who followed Hallendale deserves whatever end they got in his company.  You were right – the war is getting more dangerous.  The strong among us must stand together and face it.  But the fools and the pretenders, they were were never truly among us to being with.  As their quartermaster, it’s your decision.  But that’s how I might’ve argued it to my men to avoid unnecessary delay.

• UM, am I reading too much into Silver’s look when Flint says “the fools and pretenders were never truly among us to begin with”?  Does Silver feel like a pretender and fear that Flint sees him that way too?
• Flint’s realization as to the purpose of the Bait Ship and his plan to evade capture is SUCH FAST THINKING.  Oh Captain, my captain.
• Max wants to be a queen, and she knows that “when civilization returns, do you know what they will call me then?  The whore that lost everything.”  Her rags-to-riches story only exists outside of civilization and their status quo.

Billy:  Whoever that is out there, he has us.
Silver:  Bullshit.  That man [Flint] has a goddamned answer for everything.  He’s working on an answer for this.

• Ooooh Silver, remember when you said, “I’m certain I won’t make the mistake you both [Billy and Gates] made.  I don’t believe in him.  To me, he is the means to securing a very valuable prize, no more, no less.”  Sure sounds like you believe in him now!
• Ugh, Hornigold and Dufresne.  I hate them, but it’s not even an interesting kind of hate.  They just suck.
• Just wanna draw attention to the fact that I already quoted Flint’s amazing anti-pardon speech at the very beginning of this post, and it’s worth reading again in the flow of the episode!  One thing I didn’t mention there – after calling Miranda his “woman,” he adds that she was his “friend.”  One term is for his men to understand, the other is his truth.  I love that he needs to say out loud who she was to him.
• Woodes Rogers appears!  I like his introduction, mostly because he admires the way Eleanor gave her testimony in court.  And I like his honesty about his selfishness, how he wants to use her story to bolster his own.
• My love for Eleanor only grows when Rogers tries to comfort her emotionally, and she’s all, “yeah, yeah, yeah, but let’s get down to practicalities” and then immediately tells him the one name he needs to worry about.
• The first time I watched the series, I hated Eleanor and was so confused by her season 3 arc.  But we left her in season 2 with Vane confirming all her worst fears of pirates by murdering her father.  Last she heard, her plan with Flint was to partner with England to restore Nassau, so aligning herself with Rogers against the Dangerous Pirates (Vane) in order to restore a proper governor to New Providence Island is exactly in character for her.
• So many soldiers!  So many ships!  oh no!

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