Back for a second season is 18th-century piracy/romantic comedy Our Flag Means Death – streaming on Neon. Even with Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi torn apart, the show’s tone remains distinct writes Adam Fresco, as it walks a tightrope between historical sitcom and romantic adventure.
The biggest surprise about the first season of Our Flag Means Death was that it wasn’t just a comedy about pirates. No. It was, as it turned out, a romantic comedy about pirates. Not only that, the romance was between the two leads—Rhys Darby’s foppish “Gentleman Pirate”, Stede Bonnet, and Taika Waititi’s seemingly savage Blackbeard. So whilst I boarded the first season expecting a sort of What We Do In The Shadows of the Pirates of the Caribbean, what I got was a riotous tale of swashbuckling romance, in a sitcom set firmly in a high-camp, costume comedy version of high-seas history, which a friend recommended to me, describing it incredulously as: “Sort of like Blackadder, only where Baldrick and Blackadder fall in love.”
Created by David Jenkins, with Taika Waititi on board as executive producer, the show takes its inspiration from the real Stede Bonnet, aka “The Gentleman Pirate”, a wealthy 18th-century landowner from Barbados who gave up his comfortable life to take to the seas under the skull and crossbones. But that nugget of historical truth aside, the rest of the show is pure farce, sprinkled throughout with fantastical nonsense. And, if you enjoy broad, scattershot comedy, I mean that in a good way.
Rhys Darby brings to Bonnet the comedic ineptitude and naïve optimism he brought to Flight of the Conchords as Brett and Jemaine’s incompetent manager, Murray. Darby’s would-be pirate is a fish-out-of-water, an effete gentleman convinced he can play the role of nice-guy pirate, blind to the blindingly obvious fact that he’s not fooling anyone, least of all his motley crew of dim-witted misfits and sociopathic brigands, who see right through his woefully inadequate attempts at being a buccaneer. Being a ruthless bastard, it turns out, is not as easy as it looks. Especially when you are brought up with impeccable manners, a desire to help others, a sense of right and wrong, and, worst of all, a conscience. But, despite these impediments to the pirate profession, Bonnet does his best to be bad.
Season one set up Stede as the inept captain of pirate ship The Revenge, and his befriending the fearsome pirate, Blackbeard, a role played by Taika Waititi with the kind of scenery-chewing aplomb Rik Mayall brought to his outrageous Blackadder character, Lord Flashheart. Together, Darby and Waititi are the comedic heart of Our Flag Means Death, which took their bromance right to the very edge of a full-on romance when, by the end of season one, the pair realised they had fallen in love. But their plans to run away together and start a new life were shipwrecked by manic misunderstandings, chaotic circumstances, mutiny and betrayal.
At the start of season two, the star-crossed pair are estranged, alone, and nursing broken hearts. The question, set up right from the opening of the new season, is can and will Stede and Blackbeard reunite? Despite Stede’s opening dream, (in which he appears fully bearded on a beach, running in slow-motion towards his lost love), getting back together seems a forlorn fantasy.
Love as they say, hurts and, despite the zany, quasi-historical costume comedy, what makes Our Flag Means Death unique is its big, soft, squishy heart, replete with characters who may appear big, brash, bloodthirsty pirates on the outside, but are actually, when it comes right down to it, lost puppies in search of love and companionship through the storm-tossed seas of life. That, and a vast amount of alcohol, sex, stolen treasure, gold doubloons, gratuitous violence, and general bloodthirsty piracy.
Rejoining the crew are a multicultural, multi-gendered, multi-faceted cast, featuring the likes of Vico Ortiz as Jim, and British comedy stalwarts Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting) as the dim-witted Buttons, and Joel Fry (Paddington 2) as the delightfully irreverent Frenchie. Kicking off season two is Saturday Night Live alum Leslie Jones as Spanish Jackie, playing hostess to Stede and his crew, as they search for a new vessel to help them seek their lost pirate ship.
Joining the fun are a host of familiar Kiwi faces, including Madeleine Sami as Archie, one of Blackbeard’s cutthroat crew, and Erroll Shand as Ricky Barnes, a self-proclaimed “minor prince”, who wants to “lead a life of my own invention” by following Stede’s example of leaving the safety of the landed gentry for an exciting life at sea. New faces also include Rubio Qian (Manchester by the Sea), as Zheng Yi Sao, a character with (no spoilers here) more than a soup-spoon up her sleeve, as well as guest appearances from Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting), and Bronson Pinchot (True Romance).
Whilst the supporting cast and guest stars add spice, the rum here is in Darby and Waititi’s double act. Even with the pair torn apart, the show’s tone remains distinct, walking a tightrope between historical sitcom and romantic adventure. From the comedic juxtaposition of Darby’s polite pirate, requesting a seating reservation in a violent, filthy tavern full of roughnecks, to scenes in which Vico Ortiz’s Jim delights shipmates with tales illustrated by a bewildering array of delightfully funny talking animal voices, Our Flag Means Death continues to defy convention.
Bizarre, bonkers, bold, and brash, over eight rollicking episodes, all sumptuously shot in Aotearoa New Zealand, the pirate comedy continues apace, rewarding fans of the first season with all the silliness turned up as high as the crow’s nest atop The Revenge’s mast. Yet there remains plenty of melodramatic emotional wallop, not just wrung from Darby and Waititi’s estranged lovers, but from their zany pirate crews too.
It’s a funny, frenetic, and fascinating show that picks up from where it left our heroes at the end of the first season, and sets sail on an adventure that may, or may not, see Bonnet and Blackbeard back together again. Will they or won’t they? Can they or can’t they? The only way to find out is to pop on an eyepatch, perch a parrot on your shoulder, hoist the mainsail, and raise the skull and crossbones, because Our Flag Means Death is back pillaging the high seas of our TVs.
