Our Flag Means Death. It's utterly brilliant and I am obsessed!

[TriceratopsRocks]

I'm sure I found a thread on this series a while ago, but now season 2 is out I've looked back and I can't find anything apart from the renewal petition.

For anyone who hasn't come across it yet, I would thoroughly recommend. It starts off as a sort of workplace comedy set on a pirate ship, sort of in the style of Ghosts, and with a similar fanbase to Good Omens. When the 2nd lead character arrives at the end of episode 3, it starts to change and it only hit me two thirds of the way through season 1 that I was actually watching a very different sort of show to the one I thought I had started watching.

From that point it's phenomenal. The attention to detail is superb. Both leads are clearly neuro diverse, from abusive backgrounds and damaged because of these. They both want what they think the other one has. It's about them discovering themselves, accepting themselves for who they really are, and healing. There is comedy, but also heartbreak and despair. The show handles these so sensitively and accurately, down to minute details, and Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby deserve every award under the sun for their work here.

I don't think I've ever obsessed about a show as much as this one. I've tried to make this not too spoilery in case some of you want to watch it, but really I just want someone to talk to about it! I've already watched it countless times and the more I rewatch the more I appreciate it. I said I was obsessed and I really am!

The show has sadly been cancelled, despite its popularity, and the producers are currently trying to see if it will be picked up by another network. I have read that they are keeping an eye on the iPlayer numbers as part of this, so I also wanted to shamelessly plug it here 😁

If any of you haven't seen it and fancy giving it a try, it grows into itself in the first season and you really need to give it at least 4 episodes (episode 4 is where the main story really starts). Its not a show I would have thought to watch myself (DD wanted me to watch it with her) but I'm so glad I have.

I don't really know what I want from this thread really. I want more people to find it, but I also want to just talk about it and obviously can't do that without more spoilers than I've already given. Help me out people!

My lottery ticket has also not come in … but I live in hope

Another lovely fan edit I just found...

And a fun one :)

I see it as a love story as well. Beautifully done and no huge song and dance about them being the same sex. I am obsessed with Blackbeard and don't even mind the whiny Steed Bonnet too much.

Hi Chaosmaker, welcome to the thread. Oh yes it is absolutely a love story first and foremost. As David Jenkins said, "the show is the relationship". But I thought that was the most spoileryist spoiler of all so I left that bit out of my OP :)

Fair enough, also all the other love stories going on in the crew. I did like the Rhys Darby interview. I think I dislike his performance voice? The whole cast though, are phenomenal and I like all Button's scenes. I do hope there will be another series. Much talking of crowd funding and they probably could raise enough money if they tried it that way.
I suppose they will keep churning out dross instead as long as there is an audience for it. I have to admit to watching MAFS but that is it when it comes to reality. Gutting they cancelled Doctors in favour of Masterchef of all things....

Also the Swede's character development was pretty good in the 2nd series. Got a whole new side to him with Jackie :)

I really struggle to choose a favourite crew member. It's basically all of them :) But special mentions go to Frenchie for his intelligence and schemes, Pete for his one liners, Roach for his slight edge of insanity, Lucius for his emotional intelligence and sardonic wit, Archie for her mad exuberance, Buttons for, well being Buttons... To be honest I love them all, and think most had great development and character arcs, even if they had less focus in S2.

And I actually love Rhys's portrayal of Stede just as much as I love Taika's Blackbeard/Ed. I've never really thought of him as whiny. I think Rhys did a brilliant job of capturing his emotions, his exuberance, his cluelessness, his whimsy, his arrogance in a really endearing way.

And I fully agree - with all the garbage TV that keeps being churned out, it's ridiculous that a genuinely wonderful, original show like this, with such a devoted following, is one of the ones that gets cut. I really don't know if it's purely financial, or if the senior bods at WB/HBO had it in for the show for other reasons.

I have wondered occasionally whether David wasn't able to get another network to take on the show because there was just one more season to go. If it had been successful it's possible that another network would have wanted more than just the one.

It does look like an expensive show to make. Considering they had to deal with a 40% reduction in spend they did a pretty good job really.

I am still gutted that they had to cut two episodes. The pacing of season one was so good by comparison with season two but you can't lose 20% of your time without obvious issues.

I can't imagine that anybody could have played Stede as well as Rhys so, in my opinion, he was perfect.

It would be a very interesting show to do a Belbin team roles analysis of. Stede is clearly a "plant". I've worked with (and taught) a few. They divide opinion. But life would be so boring without them.

www.belbin.com/about/belbin-team-roles

Agree with all of this. If he's saying "there is definitely only one season left" then I do think it could make it harder. But I don't think that needed to be the case. Yes Taika and Rhys might only have one more series left, but surely there could be a lot of milage in "Captain Frenchie and Catpain Zheng adventure on the high seas"? That could be a whole new story and more open ended.

And yes to the timing issues/cuts. The obvious missing bits are the 'boyfriends' scene (which was clearly scripted given the latest Samba video shows more outtakes of that line) and the full Roads to Moscow scene. But so many other bits where the pacing just seemed to jump about a bit too much. I reckon people would pay good money for a directors 'extended cut' of those last two episodes particularly. I know I would.

That is a fascinating idea. It's many years since I've even thought of that role analysis. But the crew is clearly a team that works so it would be an interesting exercise.

Just thinking back to what @chaosmaker said about crowdfunding. I have no clue even what ballpark they would be looking at to make a TV series like OFMD. But I expect it's not the cost of making it that's the main issue. It'll be the cost of buying the rights from Max that I expect is extortionate and the reason it wasn't cost effective for anyone else to pick up. That's my guess anyway.

Personally I don't think I would feel the same about the show without Rhys and Taika but if it was made I would certainly give it a chance.

I have just rewatched the full Roads to Moscow scene on my iPad and this time I was able to 'open it up' so it almost filled the screen, which was excellent. I wonder if I will be able to do it another time.

I so wish that DVD's hadn't fallen out of favour. I am sure that ten years ago it would have been out on DVD with plenty of extras for us to enjoy. I suppose I should be grateful that I came late to the series so didn't have all the angst that fans did when Season One was left on a cliffhanger.

I was speculating with my husband this morning that maybe the streamers don't want DVD releases of their popular shows thus forcing those who want to rewatch to continue to pay subscriptions.

Could you refresh my memory about the 'boyfriends scene'. Apologies if I am being dense.

Could you refresh my memory about the 'boyfriends scene'. Apologies if I am being dense.

Samba has released 2 'outakes' now of the scene from S2E8, where Stede, Ed and Zheng arrive back at Jackiez and Stede explains his plan to get out past all the English. The first was a couple of months ago, filmed on someones camera so shaky and quiet, but where Stede says in front of the whole room "let's live if possible, I mean, I've only just got back together with my boyfriend. Oh, can I say that?" And Ed replies "Actually I fucking love it". (or something along those lines - that's from memory). And a couple of days ago, Samba posted another version where Stede delivers the same line, and Taika messes about doing some awesome comedy/sultry hair flicks and calls Stede "Zaddy". He's clearly just having fun because he starts giggling in such a cute way afterwards :) But Stede's line about them being boyfriends is the same in the 3 or 4 outtakes, so that's why it looks like it was scripted. I'll see if I can find them...

Thanks that would be great.

Here you go :)

First one
https://www.reddit.com/r/OurFlagMeansDeath/comments/1awmean/deleted_scene_of_stede_calling_ed_his_boyfriend/

Second one
https://www.reddit.com/r/OurFlagMeansDeath/comments/1c85vkk/new_deleted_improv_scene_hair_flips_and_zaddy/

So grateful to have found this lovely thread. I’ve been hanging around for weeks waiting in vain for this obsession to pass and am mightily relieved to know that I am not the only one who has somehow been seduced by our beloved captains and their sweet family. They are not only living rent free in my head but have clearly done something to my brain as I have never been beguiled by anything like this before. I even wake up hearing Gnossienne No 5 or Seabird playing in my mind. Thanks so much for the links and other insights.

Thanks for these. I really am full of awe for actors who can give a performance surrounded by all that paraphernalia.

Hello @MrsBruin, welcome to our crew. Rest assured you are certainly not alone in being seduced by this lovely show. I watch, read or listen to something to do with it every day, and can't tell you just how many times I've seen the whole thing. And I'm always happy to chat about it, if you ever feel the urge 😀

In separate news my quest to win enough on the lottery to get us all to Basingstoke is still alive. On Saturday I won!

...a lucky dip entry into Wednesday's draw. The dream is still alive 😁

@MrsBruin They are not only living rent free in my head but have clearly done something to my brain as I have never been beguiled by anything like this before

Same. Literally thinking about the show, dreaming about it.

It’s becoming my Roman Empire.

I want to come back to neurodiversity at some point. I know there’s a lot online about both leads being seen as ASD/ADD coded. Rhys Darby himself says he thinks he has undiagnosed autism. This show has touched so many people as it has made them feel ‘seen’.

I didn't see either of the leads as neurodiverse but they were very, very damaged by their childhoods and other life stuff. I think that probably a lot of creative people might be neurodiverse though.

I do find the current labelling obsession interesting though. That people want to limit themselves via putting themselves into specific and increasingly narrow boxes.

I also just rewatched WWDITS - another work of genius. Definitely thought Taika was sexy in that too, as was Jermaine or Vlad :)

Thank you for the warm welcome. So much to discuss… and a lottery win! What were the odds on that? Very high, apparently!

Congratulations on the lottery win.