I feel like this show had the misfortune of being on Starz and coming out like 5 years too early. It's really good. A lot of the politics would probably be more popular now post-Bernie. I just want to be a pirate and wage war against the colonial powers and get drunk and sing song with the fellas now.
I think part of why it went under your radar is that the first season is pretty damn weak. I struggled through about half of the first season when it aired, and then gave up.
Only finally, when it ended and there were lots of "best shows you haven't been watching" articles did I return. And yeah, the first season still sucks, but the rest is so good.
I didn't think the first season was bad but yeah I guess it wasn't as good as good as the later seasons.
I spent the first season trying to figure out what the writers were going for, and then realized, especially once I'd finished the series, that the writers were too.
I didn't even realize it was a Treasure Island prequel until like Season 4.
That probably explains our differing perceptions. The show was heavily promoted as a Treasure Island prequel, so I came in expecting that, and it didn't deliver.
I recognized all of the historical pirates and thought that was cool and that they were just doing fictionalized history, and when they gave him the name Long John Silver I slapped my forehead.
That song is a bop and between just finishing Black Sails and discovering that song the other day I am ready to sail the high seas.
Counterpoint: Flint is ultraleft and John Silver correctly analyzed material conditions and realized they couldn't win a war against the British.
If you depict a return to the status quo and try to disguise it as a happy ending I will call you a lib.
spoiler
All the former slaves involved were freed and the pirates were pardoned, so that's not a return to the status quo. The British had >500 ships in their Navy at the time and the goal of spreading rebellion throughout the West Indies would have likely drawn other colonial powers like Spain into the war. IRL Woodes Rogers plan worked the first time around and he ran off or killed the pirates that didn't take the pardon mostly with the use of former pirates. Nassau/New Providence simply does not have the resources in terms of lumber, metal, food, or people to be able to sustain a war against the British. If they had been based on Cuba or Hispanoila our even Jamaica, they might stand a chance, but not on New Providence Island.
I just started this. A lefty friend bugged me for years to watch it. I too am ready to be Pirate now, which works out, because I think being a pirate is my husbands only actual life goal.
Loved it initially, couldn't finish Season 4. Got too tired of Flint's psychopathy and the writers artificially creating conflict between characters to move the plot along. It's popular among leftists for some reason, dunno why.
