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I am extremely conflicted about this show. The endless scheming over Nassau that never goes anywhere, the fact that every single character is an irredeemable monster (wait, has Billy stayed okay?) and you have literally no one to root for, there's no narrative throughline because you should want to see every one of these people hanged. Even Jack Rackham crossed a moral line in season 2 that made me hate him and let's not even get into that time Anne brutally murdered some random woman over nothing - god, that was so messed up and unnecessary. But on the other hand, ships and ship battles are really loving awesome and terrifying. And Black Sails makes them look real nice. There's no other show where I can watch two guys on a rowboat drag a live shark up by a hook and stab it furiously through the brain. Similarly, the tension of the scene where they boarded the trap ship last ep was brilliantly crafted. And even though Flint is just the loving worst (I really liked Gates, okay?!), Toby Stephens plays him with enough intensity that I find him INTERESTING to watch and naturally find myself WANTING to root for him, even when he was clearly in the wrong all the way back in ep 1 with the big bald guy. And in fairness to the showrunners, they seem to have improved each season, cutting down on the worst parts and expanding the good parts. I have some sympathy for them there too, because they can't really get away with an all-male cast like Master & Commander could, but it seems the only way to credibly write women into this vaguely historical pirate show is to have all the brothel-scheming and boring political-trading discussions. It's unfortunate for everyone. 
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Feb 10, 2016 16:54
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People talking about season 1 sucking when season 3 despite a great start with THE STORM and whatnot, has now sunk into its lull of island politics and Flint's crew spending 2+ episodes trapped in cages.
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Feb 23, 2016 15:04
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Another weak episode in a string of them. Standard Black Sails fare though. Open the season strong with lots of ship goodness and then settle in for a stretch of people trapped on islands and constantly shifting factions vying boringly for power, then usually pick it up for the season finale when something is allowed to happen again. (But no important characters will die.) Is anyone actually rooting for Flint or Blackbeard or Jack or Woodes Rogers or bloody Max or...? Positives: I still sit through the theme song. That beach where the really disappointing duel happened was pretty. I liked the scene where the sail lashing fell apart - that was nice and ship-based. Flint's shaved head is still rad.
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Feb 28, 2016 18:00
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Xoidanor posted:Rackham would fit right in at Better Call Saul.
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Feb 29, 2016 18:35
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Okay, Woodes Rogers is unreasonably reasonable and the only character to root for despite being the most boring option. Also, I was watching the Mythbusters finale and they played clips of when Adam Savage had a shaved head and a goatee and uh...was he the basis for Flint's look this season? Like, even down to the earring?
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Mar 6, 2016 21:57
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Yeah, he is also unreasonably ripped and hairless, but so is every gent on the show. Jack's line rang a little hollow though. Like Rogers is going to be "oh no, you mean I'll hurt her feelings? Oh, what a cost to bear!" Actually selling out Jack though? Fair point.
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Mar 6, 2016 23:56
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Was the carriage chase one take? That was loving rad. That's why I hatewatch this show! And I'm paradoxically annoyed it isn't more popular. This is TELEVISION, people! That poo poo used to be unimaginable in movies!Roach Warehouse posted:I found it a bit dark to make out the details of the reprisal scene in the bunks. Was that Silver's retribution for the idiot who "lost his temper"? Mouse Dresser posted:I actually said "You mother fucker!" when Rogers shot Vane. He's the best character in the show right now.
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Mar 13, 2016 18:51
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Aphrodite posted:The circumstances of Vane's death are already dramatic enough that it would be a shame not to use how he died for real.
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Mar 14, 2016 07:58
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Reminder that skipping all Eleanor scenes drastically improves the show.meristem posted:So, they take Eleanor, make her stupid for the purpose of revenge, conveniently temporarily take out Rodgers to absolve him of the blame (can't have the bro participating in such a heinous act, after all, even though the historic Rodgers hated Vane himself); Vane is now some sort of a heroic warrior for individualism and freedom, so the historical occurrence of Jack Rackham deposing him from captaincy, leading to Vane's historical death, is, of course, also out - after all, the two are heroic freedom fighters now, it's not the kind of behaviour that happens among honourable people! And all this for a mundane 'people's uprising' plot. It's like this show forgot that these people were backstabbing each other left and right, and drank the 'pirates were misunderstood and cool' kool-aid. I think Vane was a lovely character on the show and they didn't really have anything to do with him, so the death makes sense, but I'm deffo curious about what drama we missed. And the way they took Rogers out of the picture definitely felt forced there. FrensaGeran posted:e: This episode peaked early on, when Flint handbrake parallel parked his pirate ship onto the beach and pulled out his gats Immortan posted:Also liked Flint's dialogue with Silver about that one dude. I know it sound silly for a show that's ostensibly just "tits and canons" - but Flint has really made me re-examine concepts of leadership, like the importance of decisiveness and the optics of it. Especially in season 2(?) when he was voted out of the captaincy and sort of crept in and re-took it when the other guy hesitated. Space Pussy posted:"Get on with it, Motherfucker" was an obvious The Wire reference and pretty cringeworthy considering a former HBO director wrote this episode EDIT: In an interview with IGN, Zach McGowan (Vane) said it was his idea: quote:the only thing I asked was that he didn't plead. I was like, "Hopefully you guys don't write that he pleads for his life or anything like that. I would really just love to say, 'Let's get on with it, mother**ker.'" So they gave me that. VagueRant fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 14:01
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Surprised people expect another main cast death at all. Isn't that the first one they've ever done? Oh wait, I guess there was Quartermaster Gates. (And did Mrs Barlow or whatever count?)
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Mar 22, 2016 15:55
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What did happen to The Coat?
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Mar 30, 2016 09:49
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In fairness, Flint is about as one dimensional, it's just that Toby Stephen's steely glare makes us all think he's deep and cool. The problem with Eleanor and Max is just that they represent the worst, most fillery part of the show which is a lot of behind-the-back scheming and bickering about island politics, while the men of the show generally represent actually moving the plot along and also SHIPS (which are unquestionably awesome).
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Mar 31, 2016 21:07
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In fairness, John Silver is also unreasonably ripped and so was Woodes Rogers. There is definitely a valid point to be made about male body standards in media, and no one (that I can see) is saying that discounts similar issues with regards to women.
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Apr 4, 2016 16:31
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Robutt posted:I realise all the ship battles are greenscreen but they are great and I need more of them.  The set is simultaneously super impressive and also...kind of disappointingly small? But it's like they loving built Nassau. EDIT: there's also a video tour courtesty of Charles Vane. Interesting footage, but horribly edited. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Nyzma9Gp0 VagueRant fucked around with this message at 21:50 on May 2, 2016 |
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May 2, 2016 21:48
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