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!

Very much so - endless reality nonsense and then something like this that people genuinely ADORE, nah.

The only comfort is that we didn't leave it at the end of s1 with Ed howling 😰

I love it - it took me a little while to click (unlike What We Do in the Shadows which I adored from the start).

What I love is despite the OTT stuff and outlandish premises the human interactions are so true to life. The way Stede and Ed fall for each other resonates so much with real life - the point where Lucius witnesses their silly world building chat about Ed's desire to open a snake restaurant in s1 is so true to those silly absorbing worlds you build whe you are falling in love.

In s2 the close up of them holding hands and making that that little "finger tower" you do when you are so absorbed in someone physcially - more intimate than a thousand snogging scenes.

For your viewing pleasure

I really love this youtube edit by ella and thought others might also like.

It does, doesn't it. I've never really got into fan fiction for anything else before, but there are so many moments we didn't get to see and it's nice to be able to read them. I'm also loving the gif sets people have created - particularly the slow motion ones. Although it does mean that I am surprised when I watch the main show just how quick some scenes are!

Just rewatched the first 2 episodes of season 2 (as I’ve got my husband watching). Taikia is so good in these episodes, takes Ed to such a dark place … in the glance of an eye

You've all convinced me to give it another go, especially @Ginmonkeyagain because I also loved WWDITS from the very start!

Following on with fan edit recommendations ….

I think this is beautiful 🥰

I love that

There are some amazing Edits around.

Anyone else written a plot for season 3 in their heads, or just me ?

@DJ47 Thank you for posting that - I love it :)

Taikia is so good in these episodes, takes Ed to such a dark place … in the glance of an eye

DD (17), DH and I were having a conversation about actors and she said Taika was her favourite. I thought him a slightly odd choice. Then she introduced me to Our Flag and I totally understood. I really do think he is phenomenal throughout. His facial expressions and his eyes - they convey such powerful emotions, and the way he can twist them in an instant. He's said that when he acts in his own projects, sometimes he feels his acting has suffered because he's trying to keep too many plates spinning as director and producer. But in this one he was free to just act, and it has re-invigorated his love for it. It shows.

Anyone else written a plot for season 3 in their heads, or just me ?

I haven't - I've just got them bumbling around doing up the inn, which they never get around to opening because they enjoy their domestic bliss too much! Frenchie, Zheng and the crew have adventures and keep popping back to say hi. And they need their wedding (that's clearly got to happen, there's been so much foreshadowing). And they need to stay well away from historical accuracy - I really don't need the English spoiling it all!

I meant to add - what's your plot idea @ExtraOnions ?

In my head the Inn is open .. as Mary (having heard a rumor about things) sends him some money to fix the place up

They then settle into domesticity.. it’s quite hard, but they love each other - though Ed has a tendency toward jealousy. He starts to miss the old days, and often retreats to his thinking place (where he talks to the ghost of Izzy .. we can’t not have Izzy), but they are generally ok, and get into occasional scrapes.

Lucious turns up one day, looking worse for wear … lots of whispering in corners between him & Stede (cue Ed jealousy). Turns out the crew have been taken captive and need rescuing … Stede didn’t tell Ed, as he is scared to let him go back out to sea. Ed now knows .. so has to made a decision

End of Episode 1 … maybe I should write some fan fiction 😂

You definitely should. I have considered it but I haven't written anything creative in about 30 years - any writing I do is dry, factual reports. Please keep all the crew alive though. I love them all too much to lose any of them😁

I had forgotten that I also had Mary and the family visiting. I just want her and Doug to see how happy Stede ended up.

Forgot to add - in the Wee John interview this week, I'm sure Con said that there was Izzy backstory they were going to include in S3. Izzy is a fantastic character and must have been a joy for Con to play, but one of my regrets about S2 though, is that neither the crew nor Stede ever found out just how how badly Izzy had behaved towards Ed. That it was Izzy who deliberately caused Ed's kraken spiral. Some of them still think Izzy was Ed's friend, but to me his beheaviour is nearer to coorcive control. That probably comes from spending so much time on Mumsnet!

I discovered this series today on Mumsnet and love it! Thanks for enlightening me! Petition duly signed.

Welcome to our corner of the Fandom @Wormwoodgal

@TriceratopsRocks … yea, the whole Izzy & Blackbeard dynamic is an odd one. They were toxic, however, I think Izzy had the biggest journey for me, and tried to make up for his errors post “red flags”

In the Wee John insta live, there were a couple of things that Con said that were interesting .. that Emerald Ring (Stede did wear one in S1, and we saw Ed wearing one in S2), the backstory of what sounded like a failed romance, and how they had to cut the stories of other characters.

The last 2 episodes are so rushed.. it’s such a shame.

So glad you found us, @Wormwoodgal The more people that love this show the better :) I'm sorry if our latest posts here have given you any spoilers you didn't want! (and be warned there are more coming up...)

@ExtraOnions I do see Izzy as someone who had controlled Ed for years - pushing his buttons to keep him as Blackbeard, isolating him, making sure that Izzy always appeared the 'reasonable' one, while Ed was the 'insane' one. Ed never stood a chance of being himself with Izzy around. But Izzy had an great character arc after he realised he'd gone too far and his transformation in Calypso's birthday and his speech to Prince Ricky were great moments. He was still 'reframing' things right to the end, though, and didn't admit his manipulation of Ed until he was actually dying. He was an incredible character, but I'm glad he's out of the way! Learning about his back story in S3 would have been interesting. Maybe you can include it in your fan fiction 😁

I always assumed that Ed's emerald ring was one of Stede's btw. It didn't fit him, and would have been a bit annoying, unless he was wearing it for sentimental reasons (I just looked back to S1 to see if it was the same ring, but it wasn't. I did get sidetracked watching the show again though so it was time well spent!)

We need a Jenkin's cut of those last 2 episodes - we missed out on so much.

When you are watching it again, watch the kiss scene in “act of grace” … Taikia right hand is all over the place 😂

Watched “The innkeeper” episode last night - I love the ending so much.

Making my husband watch it, he’s enjoying it at last

When you are watching it again, watch the kiss scene in “act of grace” … Taikia right hand is all over the place 😂

Oh how did I not spot that!! I'm clearly spending far too much time gazing at their adorable faces. Which I will keep doing btw. Of course then you made me watch more of that episode - the whole scene where Stede is about to be executed, right up to them signing the act of grace. The panic on Ed's face; they way he puts himself in the firing line; the crew's affirmation of Stede & Stede's delight; "you don't have to do this" "yeah I know I don't"... How on earth can Stede still be so oblivious to just how much Ed loves him?? That episode is definitely one of the best.

Watched “The innkeeper” episode last night - I love the ending so much.
I think I'm with @mynumber above - it's one of the best scenes in any TV show, ever. And the fact that they really did it all - Taika being dragged underwater expelling air, having to wait for all the bubbles to go, and then start acting.

Making my husband watch it, he’s enjoying it at last
Mine has only watched ep1, said it was 'ok' but he wasn't bothered about watching any more. I've turned down several shows he wanted me to try after 1 episode so I haven't really attempted to persuade him to give it another go. He already thinks I'm a little too obsessed so I'm not going to ask him again (for a while anyway) 😁

I started my husband on Episode 4 … we’ll go back to 1, 2 & 3

Loved this

Ah, you see I didn't have that choice. DD introduced both of us to it together, so I didn't know what was coming at that point. She did tell us that it got really good from episode 4, but ep1 didn't grab DH enough for him to stick it out that far.

It's beautiful.

Watched “fun and games” last night … noticed thar when Mary picks the axe up to throw at the cuckoo clock, the newspaper is sat on is called the “Fanny Tickler Tribune”

I loved the Ann and Mary characters, more of them please

Right, you’ve convinced me, @TriceratopsRocks. Starting Ep1 now.

(Apols only 1/3 of way through the thread.)