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

I've just been down my own little Aristophenes rabbit hole - thank you MrsJ, he seems quite a character! I was trying to get my head around whether the 'whole human' theory was something Aristophenes talked about and Plato picked up and ran with, or if it was totally invented by Plato as something Aristophenes might say. But I want a modern revival of 'The Frogs' - it sounds very 'Blackadder does Ancient Greece'! It's phenomenal really that we have these plays that are 2.4k years old and still actually make sense today.

Now you need to read the next part - and then sit screaming quietly with the rest of us while we are all on tenterhooks waiting to know what comes next. If we can't know peace in the meantime, then you aren't allowed either! 😆

Oh wow! I hadn't even really picked up on the recurring oranges (and of course the marmalade!) until this thread, let alone thought about further symbolism.

So many layers. I might need another rewatch (to distract me from unfinished fan fics!)

I'm abroad at the moment and will be for another week. I haven't gone a day without watching OFMD since February or March. It's lovely to be on holiday but I am really missing it. I can't believe I am actually spending my holiday pining for our pirates but it's true.

But on holiday abroad is the perfect place for fan fiction! You could have loads of uninterrupted reading time.

I didn't watch for three days this week and really missed it - they've become the break in my day 😀I hope you have a good supply of screenshots to remind you but if you need us to post any emergency supplies, just say the word. Also yes to a holiday being the perfect chance to get lost in fan fiction.

@TriceratopsRocks Errr... yes please?

Not just a single picture, but even better.

https://unearthlydust.tumblr.com/post/732735955320111104/ed-teach-tied-up-hair-our-flag-means-death

Omg @lizziesaurusx that second one is the truly disturbing expression that really makes that scene compelling!

Pretty please can I go to Jeff's Inn by the Sea for my holiday this year?

@Phineyj I know - the menace is just dripping off him in that scene, and in the other, later scene with Frenchie too - it feels like he could just flip at any moment.

As long as you make a block booking and take the rest of us too. We'd arrive by boat, of course. During the day we'd read books from Stede's library (because of course there would be a library) and he and Lucius would take us on treasure hunts. And in the evenings we'd sit by the sea in our break up robes, admiring the sunset over the lighthouse.

I’m abroad too and ploughing through the fanfic. Been a rubbish family member today…

Fifty pages into Constellationism and 10% battery left on iPad! 😢😫

We need Spanish Jackie and the Swede there too - I'd love a cocktail while watching the sunset. Or maybe Ed does the cocktails? After all, he can do anything.

But he looks so pretty while quietly breaking

(😭)

Not keen on cocktails.

The day I've had, swigging rum out of the bottle appeals, however.

Would cocktails or rum go better with the roasted snake, I wonder? (Given that we wouldn't be able to mention fish with Ed around.)

Yes, please to all of this. And can we visit any lighthouses we come across? My family weren't impressed with the one I made them walk to the other evening because apparently 'lighthouses are boring'. I mean, the cheek of it!

I think rum with the roasted snake. As for fish, I'm looking forward to watching Ed in action with his rod while I relax on the beach. And I haven't had a cocktail for years, but it just seems to be the right thing to drink while we all sit on the beach, watching Ed and chatting to Stede.

Definitely yes to lighthouses @MrsJellybee. Stede can take us all on a walk up to them. He'll tell us all about the fauna, flora and rock formations on the way. It'll be fascinating.

Sadly I'm just not a fanfic kind of person. It's clear that there are lots of talented writers out there given all the recommendations on this thread but, for me, if it doesn't come from the writers of the programme it's just not 'real' for me.

I have watched so often I can practically repeat all the dialogue but I want to see my boys.

Well many thanks for this!

I totally get this.

I was hiding under a beach towel on YouTube on my phone yesterday watching Ed and Stede kiss in 1.9 as I missed them so much. No iplayer so no whole episodes. My roaming bill is gonna be huge. I am a little worried about my sanity sometimes...

Boring? I think not.

Thank you @lizziesaurusx I absolutely agree

Mine was less impressive, unfortunately. There's a much better one around the headland. I would go alone, but I have the orientation skills of Stede at the end of 2.4.

I hope it's helping with the pining.

That's one thing that can give AUs an advantage, I think. Because if they are in a different setting, we can still see them in our heads as the characters we know but we can tell it's not 'real' (because the real characters are pirates, not bakers, or florists, or whatever else). Stories set in 'canon' times can overlap so much with the show that it's easy to get confused. An alternate universe that removes them from the 'real' scenario lets us enjoy a love story with characters we know, while keeping them removed from the show as a definitely separate thing. If that makes sense!