Spoilers for this episode and all previous episodes of Black Sails herein

Based only on the previews, this season of Black Sails has seemed like it is going to take an all new turn in comparison to the previous seasons. The show has entered into the actual historical aspect of the “Golden Age of Piracy.” Obviously because Flint’s storyline is fictional it’s fascinating to see how the creators/writers integrate his tale into that of the real pirates. I believe the transition has gone seamlessly, especially in the beginning’s of season 3 so far.

The episode starts with our introduction to Blackbeard. It’s apparent from the scene that Blackbeard had a marriage he’s decided he wanted out of, something his wife agreed to. Three men come to confront Blackbeard about this and we immediately see not only how cruel he is, but how he’s not someone to be messed with either. Blackbeard let’s the three gentlemen know that they have been misled and made a serious mistake coming to confront him. As a result of this mistake, he kills them all without a moment’s hesitation and continues on with his business. Blackbeard’s historical terror comes to life in this moment and we immediately see this is someone not to be trifled with. His interaction with the other Captain’s is going to be something very entertaining to watch.

We move on then to the rest of the character’s and various storylines we’ve grown accustomed to the past 2 seasons. Starting with Flint there is a whole new dynamic between him, the crew, and most importantly John Silver. The first big takeaway from Flint’s new attitude and look, post Barlow’s demise, is that he looks different. He now has shaved head which works as a new look for a man who is now different internally as well. On one hand you see a brutality and violence that now seems unmatched, maybe even by Blackbeard, and on the other you can understand why.

Flint is going after the people who ruined his life. It is becoming obvious there’s a good chance season 3 will be the best yet of the show, but the best purpose of the first two season’s was actually serving as a way to learn about the other Captain’s struggles. We know Flint now, we know his story, we know what makes him tick, we know the pain he’s endured. For all intents and purposes everyone he loved has been killed by England and now his life’s purpose is to get revenge on them. Silver is the only one who has a similar insight to us as the viewer and he tries his best to reason with Flint to no avail. Flint’s new found violence and brutal ways are showcased best when he kills a Magistrate who hung pirates. You get a sense Flint might leave after killing him, but nope, Flint has no time for mercy and kindness and kills his wife too.

The entire storyline of Flint and the Walrus crew is serving as a means to show the new found terror of the Pirates of Nassau. Speaking of which brings us to Vane and Rackham. Vane is sent on a hunt where he captures slave’s which, from his history, we know is an uncomfortable topic. We find out Rackham lied to him about the prize knowing this history but he wants to use the slaves to help rebuild the fort to help protect Nassau. While he doesn’t actually want to use slaves but he has no choice because of the money required to actually hire other pirates. It’s the best option for the stability of Nassau. Based on this conversation about rebuilding the fort we also find out there was a meeting between Vane, Rackham, and Flint to determine what to do with the gold.

Therein lies my only main problem with episode 1. It would have been great to have a flashback there. I know time is limited but running over time or filming an “extra” sequence here to share online would’ve been great. I can only imagine a scene with the dynamic between Flint, Silver, Vane, and Rackham. All we get is “there was an agreement” and it was a lackluster way to present a situation bred for television. Vane’s “I stood between you” gives you an idea of what an explosive scene it could have been. On one hand I appreciate the idea of using our imagination for how that meeting played out, on the other the meeting in season 1 that included Vane, Flint, and Rackham is one of the best scenes from the series, so we know the writer’s would have been capable of making a great scene using that situation. On the bright side we have an entire season ahead and Blackbeard to come as well, there’s the potential for an explosive Captain meeting, and I hope we get that to some extent this season.

Going further into the episode we meet Benjamin Hornigold and Dufresne again, this time as hired agents for England. They catch Flint in a trap and that’s where we’ll continue on next week. There are a few key realizations to this ensuing fight so far. One is that Billy Bone’s is now aware there’s something huge at play with how many pardon’s Hornigold is able to offer them (this alludes to Woodes Rogers). Another is that Flint and his crew will do anything, including head into a massive deadly storm, in order to avoid being pardoned. The speech Flint gave was one heck of an acting job and we’re only in the first episode. Toby Stephens is really owning this role. The Walrus crew is taking the fearsome reputation thing to some crazy extremes. They’re matching Blackbeards actual historical reputation at this point, and maybe even surpassing it.

The episode (almost) comes to a close with the introduction of Woodes Rogers and the showing of Eleanor Guthrie again. Rogers makes his desires known to be the Governor of Nassau and needs Guthrie’s help so he will be pardoning her for her assistance. He requests she write down who can help him reach his goals and who will hurt. Eleanor write’s just one name down and state’s “as long as he is alive, you will not succeed” and the camera then shows Charles Vane. This was the juiciest set up of the first episode, especially for pirate history buffs, because it shows the war coming between Vane and Rogers. This entire story is what everything at Nassau and Black Sails is all about. Flint is going around making sure the pirates are feared but Vane exemplify’s what these men are really about: Freedom. We know Vane was a slave, we know the letter he wrote to Eleanor when he killed her father, this is a man who will be free whatever the cost even if it is his life. He draws comparisons to another Starz Channel character, Spartacus. One could argue he’s the Spartacus of Nassau. The battle between him and Roger’s is well known historically and will be awesome to watch play out this season (and beyond?)

The finale of the episode is a brief clip of Blackbeard showing up at Nassau and asking where Charles Vane is. Again, for history buffs, you know Blackbeard and Vane have a history together and Blackbeard was a mentor to Vane. You could imagine Vane learned his brutal and violent ways from Blackbeard. Watching them meet again next week and seeing that relationship unfold will also be interesting to watch. Altogether this season has a lot of promise, there’s inevitably going to be more clashes with armies and anti-pirate figures, as well as growing dynamics between the various Captains of Nassau. This was a great set up for the weeks ahead and what we can expect this season. I haven’t seen many TV shows go with so many action scenes for episode 1, the body count was high.

Quote of the Episode:

Flint: We’re fighting a war to protect Nassau, a war in which our most effective weapon is the fear we can instill in our enemies