Spoiler alert: this blog discusses plot points in seasons one and two of Black Sails.
Modern TV thrives on mysteries, stretching them out beyond tolerable limits to keep the plot going; seemingly introducing the unknown because nobody has figured out what to fill the empty space with. A truly satisfying payoff – one that flips everything you thought you knew about a character on its head and makes you want to rewatch the whole show from the start – is incredibly rare. But that’s exactly what has happened with Black Sails over the past few weeks.
Black Sails shouldn’t on the face of it, be throwing up any great surprises. The show is a prequel to Treasure Island mixed with historical events surrounding the “king’s pardon” offered to any surrendering pirate in 1718. To expect shocking revelations in Black Sails is like watching a movie about the Titanic while remaining convinced it is going to swerve that iceberg.
Captain Flint (a never-better Toby Stephens) takes no joy in piracy. His obsession with going after the biggest plunder has been unexplained; a simple hunger for notoriety and riches were all the motivation given to viewers who assumed that this was just the way pirates behaved. Now we know that isn’t the case. With season two’s narrative hopping back and forth through time, we have seen flashbacks to Flint’s former life; one that is so very far away from now but still drives this fascinating character.
That Flint was a naval officer comes as no real shock: he was always more cultured and able than his near-feral crewmates and competition. That he was disgraced makes sense too: why else would he be so far from home? But it his relationship with the equally guarded Miranda Barlow and her husband Thomas Hamilton – who, in this world, came up with the controversial notion to grant the pirates pardons in order to make Nassau a legit asset to the crown – that has proved most revealing. We were led to think that Flint and Miranda were having an affair, with Thomas’ tacit approval. In fact it was far more complex than that; some kind of menage a trois with Thomas being the foremost in Flint’s heart.
The discovery of this set-up by Hamilton’s fearsome politician father, aggressively against the pardoning plan, resulted in Thomas’ incarceration in an insane asylum where he kills himself. Flint and Miranda are exiled and the shame, grief and unfairness of his lover’s death drives Flint to increasingly desperate and devious plans to realise the dream of a legal Nassau. Flint’s sexuality isn’t the big deal here. There were/are plenty of same-sex relationships among seafaring folk – the only shock is that the show doesn’t have more. What really rocks the show to the core is the idea that Flint isn’t even a pirate – he’s doing all of this for political reasons more than simple personal gain.
Of course, his sexual preference is what has ired some dullards. “Fans” of the show on social media have complained this is “gay propaganda” and “isn’t what we signed up for”.
What they should be doing is praising Black Sails for playing such a blinder. For brilliantly doing something that few other shows can; delivering the goods when a mystery needs a solution, virtually turning it into an entirely different show. Oh, and this week we learn Flint’s entire real name: James McGraw. The surprises keep coming, turning a great show into something truly unmissable.
