Our Flag Means Death is a comedy about a man who buys a ship, abandons his family, and becomes a pirate. It is also a slow-burn romance between Rhys Darby’s Stede Bonnet and Taika Waititi’s Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. The show, created by David Jenkins, premiered on HBO Max in March 2022 and ran for two seasons, 18 episodes.
The premise is simple and ridiculous. Stede Bonnet, a gentleman of Barbados, gives up his comfortable life to captain a pirate ship called the Revenge. He has no idea what he is doing. His crew is a collection of petty thieves, drunkards, and a man named Izzy Hands who serves as Blackbeard’s first mate. The show follows their chaotic attempts to survive naval warships, rival pirates, and the constant threat of mutiny.
Trailer, via BBC.
Bonnet and the Revenge
Bonnet is the kind of man who is at once endearing and infuriating. Darby plays him as a sincere fool, a man who genuinely believes he can lead a ship even though he has no idea how to sail one. The show leans into his incompetence, but Darby’s performance makes him likable despite his flaws. He is not a hero. He is a bumbling, earnest man who is deeply committed to his own failure.
The crew is a motley collection of characters, each of whom gets a moment to shine. Ewen Bremner plays Buttons, a loyal but dim-witted first mate. Joel Fry is Frenchie, a French pirate with a love for fine wine. Samson Kayo is Oluwande, a shipwright with a sharp tongue. Vico Ortiz is Jim Jimenez, a young sailor who dreams of being a gentleman. Con O’Neill is Izzy Hands, and Kristian Nairn is Wee John Feeney. The cast is full of familiar faces, and each actor finds a way to make their character memorable.
Blackbeard’s Arrival
The show’s real engine is Blackbeard. Waititi plays him with a theatrical flair that makes him both terrifying and oddly charming. He is a legend, a poet, a fighter, and a man who may be insane. The chemistry between Darby and Waititi is the reason the show works, even when the writing stumbles.
The romance between Bonnet and Blackbeard is handled with surprising delicacy. It is not a joke, and it is not a punchline. It is a real bond between two men who are deeply alone in a world that does not understand them. The show’s willingness to take this relationship seriously is part of what makes it stand out.
Where It Falls Short
The show is not perfect. The first season is slow, and some of the jokes land with a thud. The pacing is uneven, and there are stretches where the show feels more like a series of sketches than a coherent narrative. The second season improves, but it also introduces a darker tone that some viewers may find hard to sit with.
The show is also a period piece, and it takes some liberties with history. The series is loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnet, the “Gentleman Pirate,” but it is not a faithful historical account. The show is a comedy, and it treats the Golden Age of Piracy as a playground for its characters rather than a grim and dangerous place.
A Cult Classic
Despite a subdued launch, the show gradually gained word-of-mouth momentum and became a sleeper hit with a cult following. Its unexpected growth in popularity has been compared to the surprise success of Ted Lasso. The show has been widely regarded as one of the best and most beloved examples of LGBTQ+ media, and it has earned critical acclaim, including a Peabody Award, a Nebula Award, and a GLAAD Media Award.
The show’s success is a credit to the strength of its premise. It is a comedy, a romance, an adventure, and a period piece, all at the same time.
| Category | Our Flag Means Death |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy, Action & Adventure, Drama |
| Network | HBO Max, then Max |
| Creator | David Jenkins |
| Main cast | Rhys Darby, Taika Waititi, Ewen Bremner, Joel Fry, Samson Kayo, Nathan Foad, Vico Ortiz, Con O’Neill, Kristian Nairn, Matthew Maher, David Fane, Samba Schutte |
| Running time | 18 episodes, 2 seasons |
The show is a flawed but charming piece of television. It is a comedy about failure, about the absurdity of life, and about the strange bonds that form between people who are lost at sea. It is not a masterpiece, but it is a show that deserves to be watched.
7 of 10.
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