My wife is from New Zealand. We met while she was working as an au pair for a family that went to the same church as I did. On a Saturday morning in 2013, we went to a service event (Feed My Starving Children) and met at a table sealing bags of food for needy kids around the world. Throughout the course of our relationship, it was important for her to share some aspects of New Zealand culture with me. She shared New Zealand foods like vegemite (hard pass) and pavlova (absolute recommendation). She made sure I knew that a kiwi is a bird and a kiwi fruit is a fruit and that she prefers to be called mum and not mom. Knowing that I like movies, for Christmas one year she got me some films by New Zealand filmmakers. One of the films was called Boy. It’s about a boy who lives in New Zealand who gets the chance to meet his criminal father who is looking for money he buried a long time ago. Boy is a great movie and the first time I got to see something by Taika Waititi. I’ve caught everything ever since he’s been involved, whether it’s movies or TV.
The new show he’s involved in, Our Flag Means Death, is another win in an already impressive resume.
Our Flag Means Death, created by David Jenkins, is a rare TV show about pirates! The show follows the gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and his crew aboard the ship The Revenge. Whether they are encountering the English, the French, indigenous people, or other pirates, Bonnet and his crew engage in hilarious adventures. Things get even more completed when Bonnet and crew encounter the dreaded Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). Our Flag Means Death is on HBO Max and has ten episodes in season one.
I loved the humor and I loved a lot of the jokes. Pirates don’t get a lot of chances to shine from a comedic standpoint on TV so I really liked all the situational humor.
Right off the bat, this show is very funny.
The entire crew holds its own while finding moments to shine not only as an ensemble but also individually as well. One of my favorite things about the crew is that they’re not only coworkers but they bicker and act like a family at times. When there’s a conflict, they have a motto: “we talk it through, as a crew.” I want to shout out specifically crew members Frenchie (Joel Fry), who has a hilarious line about cats that made me laugh pretty hard, the Swede (Nat Faxon), and Oluwande (Samson Kayo). All of them have hilarious moments, particularly in the pilot episode.
Through and through, this is Rhys Darby’s show. Darby shows a command of the crew while also showcasing how much he sticks out as the most non-pirate pirate out there. Calling himself the gentleman pirate, he doesn’t fit the mold of the typical pirate. Whether he’s trying to sell someone for cash by screaming “man for sale” in the pirate republic or his reaction when he realizes he’s drinking the juice of severed noses, Darby has comedic timing, physical comedy, and can play the straight man in a group of pirates. Since he comes from wealth, he can help the crew navigate certain situations better than others. The end of the series shows how much he loves being a pirate and the lengths he would go in order to continue to be a pirate, even if it means sacrificing literally everything he has.
Starring alongside Darby is Taika Waititi’s turn as Blackbeard. I do love what they did with Blackbeard and how they flipped the script a little bit. Yes, he is a murderous pirate but he is also lonely and he’s looking for something beyond just killing and looting. He’s a damaged Blackbeard and Waititi does a wonderful job of showing the vulnerabilities while still managing to be tough. Darby and Waititi’s interactions together are quite lovely.
This show is ultimately about finding what you love, whether it’s what you love to do or someone you love. This aspect of the show has a lot of heart and emotion that I was not expecting.
But was a welcome addition to an already amazing show.
They both compliment each other through mutual needs and a shared desire for the other person to be successful. There are a lot of nods to lessons they teach one another and how it helps them out. There’s a scene in the final episode where Blackbeard is on The Revenge, specifically the library/study, that is so emotional that it made me cry. I really felt bad for Blackbeard and I’m curious to see where the story goes from here.
The guest stars in the season are great as well. Some standouts include Will Arnett playing Blackbeard’s friend Calico Jack and Nick Kroll playing French aristocrat Gabriel. Both of them have hilarious lines and they fit in so well with the rest of the cast. Leslie Jones stands out above all the guest stars by playing Spanish Jackie, a pirate out for revenge against some of the members of The Revenge. I want to see more of her during season two (which I hope there will be another season). Everyone felt like they were having a great time being pirates together and looked like they were having a blast. I really enjoyed all the guest stars.
The only real thing I can knock the show for is that with such a big crew not everyone got a chance to shine. Some people were relegated to background players but still had funny moments. They just didn’t get a lot of chances to shine. The other thing I wanted to see more of is a little more action. This isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the conversations and interactions with everyone; however, for a pirate show, there aren’t a lot of action pieces. I would have liked to have seen more sword fighting or even more battles on the sea. The ending leaves us wanting more, which I suppose is the point of a season finale. Everyone on The Revenge is left in perilous positions so I’ll be curious to see how it gets resolved, particularly with Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard.
Our Flag Means Death is a funny and shockingly heartfelt show that I would recommend to anyone looking for a change of pace comedy in an uncommon setting.
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There aren’t a lot of pirate shows out there and this is one of the only ones that are a straight comedy. I’m hoping HBO gives them a shot to tell more stories. This is definitely a recommendation from me. This has Darby’s and Waititi’s fingerprints all over this from a humor standpoint, which is another feather in the cap to two very successful collaborators together.
Score: 7/10
