With the launch of Our Flag Means Death, pirates are officially back in style — though maybe not quite in the way they'd expect. The new HBO Max series, which hails from David Jenkins (People of Earth), manages to be part-workplace comedy, part-swashbuckling adventure, led by a phenomenal duo in Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi who are flanked by an ensemble cast you couldn't swing a sword in the midst of without hitting some serious talent. It also serves as a distinct tonal shift from the pirates and plunderers we've seen on television within the last several years — while past shows like Black Sails situated themselves firmly in dramatic territory to excellent returns, Our Flag Means Death tackles the same blend of fictional characters positioned opposite of actual historic figures, and the results are the equivalent of a comedic treasure chest overflowing with one-liner gems and some surprisingly tender moments between its leads to boot.
The series is loosely based on the real-life story of Stede Bonnet (Darby); to briefly recap history, Bonnet was a former aristocrat who seemingly decided one day to give up his life of wealth and privilege and turn to a life of crime whilst sailing the seven seas, becoming known as the "Gentleman Pirate" in the process. On Our Flag Means Death, this decision manifests itself as a midlife crisis of sorts, wherein Darby's Bonnet realizes that he's significantly unhappy with his life to date and decides to sneak out in the dead of night, leaving his wife and children behind in favor of a chance to reinvent himself as an infamous pirate.
This idea might sound thrilling in theory but is way more difficult in practice; Bonnet wrangles himself a very motley crew made up of men with a varying range of talents, some of whom have significantly more pirating experience than others and are more than happy to voice their discontent with his inept leadership skills loudly and within earshot of the rest of the group. It doesn't take long for Bonnet to realize that he might have dissension in the ranks, even while he continually lulls his crew to sleep by reading to them from a book of fairytales (different character voices and all), but that's also not his biggest problem to wrangle — his disaster antics have also attracted the notice of the notorious pirate Blackbeard (Waititi), who sets his sights on Bonnet with what appear to be dastardly intentions.
Our Flag Means Death would initially have you believe that the show plans to revolve around the face-off between Bonnet and Blackbeard, the fancy dandy of a man in jewel-toned coats versus the black leather-wearing, tattoo-covered rogue — but where the series actually offers one of its biggest surprises is by shifting the relationship between them to something that isn't antagonistic but looks a whole lot more like the beginning of a beautiful friendship. In real life, the two men were actually closer to brothers-in-arms, even briefly sailing their ships together; on Our Flag Means Death, we see the birth of this alliance begin to take shape over the course of the series' initial episodes.
It doesn't hurt that Darby and Waititi have also been off-screen friends and professional collaborators for many years, and that not only contributes to the staggering degree of natural chemistry the two of them have whenever they're on-screen together — it also results in some of the show's most emotional (and perhaps even most romantic) moments, several of which take place on the deck of the Revenge right as the sun is setting. In spite of their very distinctive differences, Bonnet and Blackbeard actually have much more in common than they think they do; both men have been feeling significantly disillusioned with their lives up until this point, with Blackbeard questioning whether he even wants to continue on his current legend-making path or harbor the thought of an inevitable retirement, and Bonnet wishing he could be as ruthless and cutthroat as his peers but continuing to go about it all in a very counterintuitive way. (One scene, in which Blackbeard happens upon Bonnet combing through another ship's library and replacing it with books he's already read from his own, is a textbook case of their different approaches to pillaging.) The two do begin to realize that they can learn important lessons from one another, but in this seduction of opposites, theirs is also a dynamic that seems poised to encounter a lot of obstacles, especially since pirates don't always tend to be the most honest of folk.
With a series so well-anchored by these two men, the range of the ensemble in place to support them also happens to be a wealth of comedic riches. Kristian Nairn (Game of Thrones) feels absolutely born to play a pirate, even if Wee John Feeney is more at home sewing up a potential flag design for Bonnet's ship rather than standing around looking intimidating with all his tattoos. Matthew Maher, as the self-dubbed Black Pete (a name he dons partly to copy his hero Blackbeard), is present to remind just about everyone and anyone about his own impressive resume as a pirate, 20 kills per raid and all. Comedian Nathan Foad, in his first major on-screen role as Lucius, is the only crew member who can both read and write and is therefore tasked with documenting all of Bonnet's major escapades as the Gentleman Pirate for posterity, but also occasionally (if unsuccessfully) tries to intercede whenever he thinks Bonnet has a reckless idea in mind that won't pay off. Nat Faxon, as the Swede, has mastered the art of delivering the most inane pieces of dialogue with an absolutely straight face, and other recognizable members of the crew like Joel Fry, Ewen Bremner, and Samba Schutte round out the Revenge's team with the exact blend of beleaguered energy and mustered-up enthusiasm whenever the ship encounters a potential target on the open sea.
One of the supporting cast's most moving friendships plays out between Samson Kayo's Oluwande and Vico Ortiz's "Jim," the latter of whom is clearly disguising themselves on board the Revenge even if the exact reason for the deception is unknown when we first meet the two together. It's a reveal that doesn't necessarily come as a surprise when it occurs, but does something even more important in exposing the depths of that particular relationship — and the test of loyalty that arises as different crew members gradually discover the true identity hiding behind a tipped-forward hat and a drape of ill-fitting clothing. Here, too, lies an example of something that Our Flag Means Death pulls off so well: the blending of comedy and sincerity, especially between the type of people who are still trying to discover the truest versions of themselves. It's obvious that much of the Revenge's crew, Bonnet chief among them, have set sail in part to learn who they really are — and pirating ends up giving them more than an objective, but a sense of unity and family too.
Of course, it'd be remiss not to mention the show's delightful bevy of guest stars, each of whom brings their own unique energy to the table. Rory Kinnear presents himself as a sneering antagonist from the beginning in British naval man Captain Nigel Badminton, someone who knows Bonnet well from his aristocratic origins (and even long before that when they were the bully and the bullied at boarding school) but who also underestimates the Gentleman Pirate at his own peril. Leslie Jones and Fred Armisen pop up early on as members of the so-called "Republic of Pirates," where talks are just as likely to happen at the end of a knife as they are over a mug of ale. Kristen Schaal and Nick Kroll also appear as simpering, over-powdered aristocrats at a fancy party where Blackbeard is trying to make a good impression by acting opposite his marauding ways for a much-needed change of pace — even if, unsurprisingly, things don't end up going according to plan.
After a swath of serious pirate dramas and period pieces, Our Flag Means Death breathes salt-fresh air into the genre, with an unexpected approach to tackling the story of an aimless drifter who finds renewed purpose and expanded freedom by embracing a long-harbored dream. In fact, there's a lot about the series that almost flies in the face of everything we tend to affiliate with pirates themselves but makes total and complete sense as it plays out on-screen. That's not to say that there isn't drama, that the stakes themselves aren't high, or that even death carries little weight, because the life of a pirate is a dangerous business. But ultimately, Our Flag Means Death is a show that exists in the same place as the sea itself: sometimes calm, sometimes raging, but never lacking in depth and surprises.
Rating: A
Our Flag Means Death premieres with its first three episodes on March 3 on HBO Max.