The internet is in love with Our Flag Means Death

What began out as an offbeat historic comedy starring Rhys Darby has turn out to be a worldwide TV sensation. Stewart Sowman-Lund unpacks why.

*Incorporates spoilers for season one in every of Our Flag Means Dying*

It’s described as a comedy a few real-life aristocrat turned “gentleman pirate”, and stars Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi, so that you would possibly perceive my shock when Our Flag Means Dying turned out to be a full-blown romance. Now, it’s blowing up the web. 

Whereas the primary handful of episodes are a unusual office comedy set aboard an 18th century pirate ship, the HBO Max present (screening on Prime and accessible on Neon in New Zealand) has pivoted in its second half – and in doing so has gained a legion of latest followers and turn out to be a web based sensation.

Darby performs Stede Bonnet, a largely unknown however really actual one who turned to a lifetime of piracy after deciding he’d had sufficient of his comfortable dwelling with a spouse and youngsters. He gathers a ragtag crew that usually hate their incompetent pirate boss however, shock shock, develop to turn out to be a household because the collection progresses.

For some time, it’s precisely what you’d anticipate a present that options Rhys Darby enjoying a pirate to be. After which all of a sudden, it’s not – when Waititi reveals up 4 episodes in as Blackbeard. 

His status precedes him, in fact, as a result of he’s Blackbeard! However whereas he’s launched to the present as a fierce and infamous determine, it quickly turns into clear that Darby’s Stede and Waititi’s Blackbeard aren’t destined to be mortal enemies. As an alternative, they shortly turn out to be mates – after which issues flip as soon as once more. The previous couple of episodes turn out to be a will-they-won’t-they rom-com with Stede and Blackbeard because the romantic leads. Within the last episode, the pair even kiss. 

It’s a stunning shift within the present, and one which wasn’t marketed early on, resulting in plaudits from followers who had been frightened it might find yourself as simply one other instance of “queer baiting” – an unlucky trope the place a present hints at, however then doesn’t really depict, same-sex romance or LGBTQ+ illustration. Suppose Rachel and Quinn on Glee, or Finn and Poe in Star Wars, or Holmes and Watson on Sherlock. Or virtually any of the same-sex characters on the trash heap that’s Riverdale.

In a submit on Instagram, Waititi defined that this present was explicitly meant to be extra than simply the “bromance” it initially gave the impression to be. “It’s ROMANTIC,” he wrote on Instagram. “In case you hate this present, don’t fear, I nonetheless love you. And I hope you start to know the numerous layers that love can embody. Love is love child.” 

In an interview with Leisure Weekly, Waititi jokingly mentioned the inventive determination was merely to piss off “homophobic historians”. However, he elaborated: “All of it stems from this mutual curiosity and fascination with each other. Blackbeard’s seen all of it, and he sees this man who’s given up every thing to be a pirate, when he is aware of nothing concerning the ocean life.”

The present’s creator David Jenkins mentioned Darby and Waititi, who’ve recognized one another and labored collectively for over a decade, had been at all times onboard with the present’s premise and the “opposites entice vitality” that’s current all through. “I first began studying about Stede and the way he befriended Blackbeard and we don’t know why. In a short time, it was like, ‘Oh, it’s a romance’,” Jenkins mentioned. 

And it’s not simply the connection between Stede and Blackbeard that units Our Flag Means Dying other than many a present earlier than it. The comedy contains a outstanding non-binary character, examples of different homosexual couples, and exists in a much more numerous universe than the true Stede would have possible inhabited. It additionally avoids any conversations and even specific acknowledgements that these relations are “irregular” within the present’s setting. Jenkins informed Decider he wished to “side-step” the approaching out subplot. “I simply need a romance. I need a Titanic romance between these two folks. We don’t must do the approaching out story after which the non-binary story… We don’t must do the ‘I’m no matter,’ the pronouns, nevertheless they’d do this. I assumed it was simply actually good to skip it as a result of we’ve seen it.” 

As an alternative, Waititi described Our Flag Means Dying as a love letter “about minorities to minorities” and hoped it might communicate to those that really feel, or have felt, like they’re outcasts. 

The response on-line has been quick and immense. Our Flag Means Dying has been trending on the each day on Twitter (effectively, earlier than the Oscars imploded anyway), with the requisite mixture of fan artwork, unrestrained reward and requires a second season. “Our Flag Means Dying has a grip on me and these two imply the world to me”, one person tweeted, together with a drawing of the Stede and Blackbeard smooch. “The illustration on this present means a lot to me as somebody who’s trans and queer”, said another. “Seeing myself represented with out being a joke or having to “come out”, thanks for this superb present.”

Whereas HBO is but to formally order one other season, Jenkins informed Polygon issues had been wanting good. All going to plan, a second sail on the seven seas gained’t be too far-off.

Learn extra: Rhys Darby takes Murray to sea in Our Flag Means Dying

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