Our Flag Means Death: Thread 2. Still utterly brilliant and we are still obsessed!

[TriceratopsRocks]

Ahoy there mateys! Hop aboard our ‘safe space ship’ thread 2, where we can continue to wax lyrical about our favourite show.

If you haven’t yet seen Our Flag Means Death, what are you waiting for? Do go watch it (on BBC iPlayer) and then come back here and join us.

You may have heard that this is a comedy about pirates and think that's not for you. But it’s actually about self-discovery, healing and found-family with a love story at its heart. It does begin as a sort of pirate workplace comedy, but in episode 4 the tone changes and that’s where the main story really starts. The joint leads are both damaged by abusive backgrounds and think they want what the other has. The show is about their healing and their respective journeys. It’s tender, romantic, funny, emotionally intelligent and utterly refreshing. It subverts genre expectations. There is comedy, absurdity and a good amount of heartbreak and despair - sometimes in the same scene! The acting is outstanding (Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby especially). But the writing, music, costumes, sets, the sheer attention to detail – for a show with only 18 half-hour episodes it is still keeping us talking, a full thread and many re-watches later. Can you tell how much I love it?

If you think this might appeal, do watch it, then come back and talk to us. It would be lovely if more were to join our crew. But be aware it's a show that needs time. The 2nd lead doesn’t arrive until the end of episode 3 and that’s when the main story starts. You need to give it at least 4 episodes. It then took me several more to fully appreciate what I was watching but then I was hooked - and had to immediately watch it all over again. If you like Good Omens, What We Do in the Shadows, Ghosts or even Bridgerton, this might be the show for you.

(I’ve kept this spoiler free, but if you scroll down you will no doubt find many, so beware!)

Thread 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5008593-our-flag-means-death-its-utterly-brilliant-and-i-am-obsessed?reply=135294204

Thanks for that. So just telling porkies.

I'm probably wrong!

@CarlaH @Phineyj Yes, ‘20 Brigands’ 👃🔪

Tumblr going feral over ‘nakey shoulder’ this afternoon. And why not?

https://www.tumblr.com/sugashook/751273095782858752/for-you-guys?source=sharece=share

Ha - that's scant compensation for the lack of a single shirt-off shot of Ed in the entire show. I wanted to see those tattoos!

It does but the dancing (kind of) on the roof in the watch is worth it. I can't believe it's such a short timeline. I spent the day trying to be professional and focused despite knowing that Ed and Stede are in a hotel somewhere in Kent with the snow falling softly outside...

@TriceratopsRocks I was reading until about 2.30am!

2am here! It's magical. Definitely no fan fiction after midnight tonight though.

I'm glad you asked as I was wondering the same and will give it a go too. I think Taika is a bit like a chameleon though - his performance in Boy is so different from Ed - even his the pitch of his voice and his accent- that if I didn't know it was the same actor I'm not sure I would've guessed. Both are very different from Viago too.

The mention of JojoRabbit reminded me that What We Do in the Shadows is on iplayer, but only for another 17 days. Like OFMD I didn't love it at first and actually gave up, but my brother encouraged me to have another go as the story does take a bit of time to get going, and I'm so glad I did.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b053fyv3/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-film

Another convert thanks to this thread! Saw your thread on Active, started watching the series and went 0 to 60 v quickly. Love Mary as a character, and Izzy is brilliant, both so well played.
Not sure how I managed to miss this gem when it came out?!
Thank you so much for this thread! 🙏

Welcome Fawful! So glad you found it. The reason so many people missed it was the complete lack of promotion, and what promotion there was didn’t really hit its audience as they were trying to keep the heart of the show as a surprise. Maybe if they had just come up with the line “ it’s the love story you didn’t know you needed”…… but how do you capture the essence of this gem - cos it’s like nothing else I’ve ever seen 🥰

Pirate news in today's Times! With Avery shown in a very Stede-like coat

OFMD is high art. Bare chests, indeed. The very notion.

Oh now that's just mean. Any more of that and I'll have to post another picture of updo Ed.

@lizziesaurusx are you trying to kill with kindness? 🤣

Polite menace, surely?

Ah, it's like watching baby's first steps as everyone (a) obsesses about show (b) obsesses about leads - assume everyone has seen the Vanity Fair lie detector video and all the behind the scenes stuff? (c) tries fanfiction - canon only, there being limits (d) fuck that, AU, canon, anything

And those waiting for the Constellationism update, 2 MONTHS we've had them snowed in so far. 2 MONTHS!!

And the rabbit hole of other things the cast has done (working my way through Joel Fry repertoire - LOVE Plebs!)
Cross over between an interview Taika and Jemaine did for WWDITS where they interview each other, one question being “ what’s your most embarrassing moment”. Taika's answer involved nude modelling, fainting, falling off the stage and crushing an easel! Jemaine “that doesn’t sound too embarrassing “ Taika “I WAS NAKED!” Then I read the A03 of the art classes with Ed as the nude model 🤣🤣

I can! Believe the short timeline, that is. So many of the fics are almost a 'love at first sight' scenario, which lets face it, isn't too far off what the show gives us, even if it takes one of them a little longer to realise it. And I'm sure you did a great job of 'professional-ing', Lizzie :)

“it’s the love story you didn’t know you needed”
If only they'd marketed it like that, @DJ47 - yes it may have ruined the surprise, but it may have got the audience it warranted.

I think Taika is a bit like a chameleon though
Agreed @lizziesaurusx. He really should do more acting. He's stunning. I know I've said that before, but it's truuuuuuuue!

Oh now that's just mean. Any more of that and I'll have to post another picture of updo Ed.
Errr... yes please?

It's why I've always avoided unfinished fics - but I'm really glad I've read this one, I'm happy to read it again and again while I wait :) I'm expecting you've read it more than just once or twice, @BeBraveLittlePenguin 😁

I only saw S1 when S2 was coming out in the US. I watched it loads for a month or so and then tried to put it out of my head until S2 was available here. That's when my obsession ramped up several levels! I think it only took me about a week to go through all your stages, @BeBraveLittlePenguin , plus as @DJ47 says, start going through their other work. I've just checked back and I first posted here on 15 Feb. I was already deeply lost at that point and just really wanted some people to talk to about it. And look where we are! Thank you everyone🎉🎊🍰(sadly the cake isn't orange, but it will have to do).

Hmmm. Stede really likes oranges. They do keep cropping up. Is there any significance to oranges specifically, do you think? I've no idea if they are supposed to represent anything (generally, I mean not just in the show). Some investigation may be in order :)

Ha ha, this is so true! I've reached step (d) in the last few days.........

Hmmm. Stede really likes oranges. They do keep cropping up. Is there any significance to oranges specifically, do you think? I've no idea if they are supposed to represent anything (generally, I mean not just in the show). Some investigation may be in order :)

Oh, the oranges mean something. This is OFMD after all. In Spanish, they have a phrase 'Mi media naranja*', 'My half orange' which is the English equivalent of... my better half, my soulmate. The Spanish works here too as we are on Jim's home turf. (BTW I think there are oranges also behind Lucius and Pete when they are 'checking the stores'.)

Stede digs up a petrified orange. I have often interpreted it as Stede's heart. But it's possibly also symbolic of Stede and Ed's relationship here. Discovered, but still frozen with fear and doubt. Petrified.

That Stede still has it when he returns to Mary (ignoring the massive plothole there), speaks to it as Ed, but then leaves, half of it with his daughter is huge! Stede's heart is torn in two. He leaves one part with Alma and takes the other half, the better half to go find his 'better half'. To find his media naranja. 🍊

*my DH speaks Spanish

Oh, Lord. The half-orange theory began with Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium. Just been down a rabbit hole. We are all split at creation: one soul, two bodies. We will only fit correctly to the other half of our orange. Enter Stede. Enter Ed.

This show.

@MrsJellybee you are an absolute marvel. All a quick google gave me last night was something about the shape representing unity and completeness, and the colour happiness and joy. I was going to come back to it today.

In Spanish, they have a phrase 'Mi media naranja', 'My half orange' which is the English equivalent of... my better half, my soulmate. *
This is perfect - the sort of thing I was vaguely wondering about but had no idea where to start looking.

But your Aristophanes find... Wow! How do the writers know so much stuff? They are extraordinary (I'll admit I can't quite get to grips with the idea of a whole human having 4 legs, 4 arms, 2 faces and rolling everywhere though😆)

The bigger question now is how much more stuff have we not even spotted yet?

Edited to add this link

@TriceratopsRocks the three sexes thing is amazing. It links entirely with the show. The ancients knew a thing or two I feel we are only just rediscovering.

There is definitely an Aristophanes link with his comedy 'The Birds' too. That birds are superior to humans. That to turn into a bird is a way to find true happiness, challenge the Gods and find cloudcuckooland (your happy place). The play's two main protagonists are middle aged men jaded about life and looking for more.

I've finished Up Down Turn Around.

Love the British Library replaced the Carribean Ocean. Loved the hair canopy. Love that Ed's inner theme tune is a New Order song. I can relate, but mine is usually Blue Monday.