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

He knows what he’s doing…

Word on Tumblr. There is a ‘get your tits’ out campaign for whenever Warner Bros Discovery shares dip below $7. Apparently they did so on 17th June, and Rhys posted the above on the 18th, with the caption ‘here you go then’. Coincidence? Who cares. It’s Rhys’ chest. 🙂

The little head-tilt Ed does when he places his thumb on top to ‘win’, just sends me into the stratosphere. Ed wants to ‘play’. And he gets to play with the love of his life in the moonlight. Snogging, sure. But for Ed the shared playfulness with Stede is everything. It’s what made him fall in love at breakneck speed.

@MrsJellybee It's one of my favourite things too. Ed so loves having a friend he can play with. He thinks the reason he doesn't have any friends is that he is unlovable, when actually it's the world he is in ("what sort of pirate has a friend?"). You can't trust anyone enough to let your guard down. Despite the 'fun and games' with CJ and Anne/Mary, who all claim to be BBs friends on the surface, they all show they are out for themselves first and foremost and Ed can't trust them; CJ openly betraying him and Anne/Mary enjoying tormenting him and Stede for their own entertainment. Just to have someone he can relax and play with is new and exciting. For Stede too. I love how they call each other their 'friend' all the time because it's such an important part of their relationship.

@MrsJellybee Oh 'wow!' to that campaign if it prompts Rhys to post photos like that (I'd seen the photo but not the campaign).

😍

I read a comment a while back that you don’t really understand the show until you realise that in the early BB scenes, Izzy isn’t Ed’s first-mate, he’s Ed’s gaoler. And the Stede plan is a gaolbreak. 🤯

@MrsJellybee This is a very interesting observation and so true. Izzy desperately needs Blackbeard, not least because he's not much of a pirate himself. He's shown to be a poor leader, a poor sailor, lacking in understanding, imagination and flair. Even his skill with a sword is debatable; his arrogance gave Stede openings in the duel where Izzy could have been killed if he were fighting someone who wanted to do so. Izzy loves power, but he only has it through Blackbeard so Izzy needs to keep him isolated and controlled. 'Gaoler' is a very apt term.

It reminds me of Blake’s ‘mind-forg’d manacles’. Izzy has Ed’s whole mind and identity in a self-limiting, uncreative vice. One day, Ed sees the door ajar, a sliver of light, and makes a life or death break for freedom.

Loved the Glaswegian poem @MrsJellybee. Thank you.

This arrived yesterday. It should hopefully keep me away from the fan fic for a while 😁

Now that sounds like a good idea. In all honesty although I have enjoyed returning from hols and getting back to rewatching it's becoming a bit pointless now as I can basically speak all the dialogue along with them. I need some time away.

I know what you mean. I've already been having a bit of a break from rewatching because I've been reading so much fan fic instead. I've thoroughly enjoyed some of it, but now I'm ready to take a break from that and get back to the show properly. My last attempt at a rewatch stalled again at 1.9 because I keep getting distracted, so I watched it again early this morning and hope to pick up 1.10 later tonight. RL has been getting in the way for me a bit lately so I'm keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't intervene again! Rhys' book and the actual show is what I now hope to be spending time with :)

Do let us know what you think of the book please.

@TriceratopsRocks What do you think about Ed's voice in Blackbeard's cabin the first time we meet him in 1.3, when he's talking to Izzy "Nice, very good, lovely.

As @MrsJellybee says, Ed loves to play and he's also very bored indeed, so I wonder whether it's just him trying to amuse himself, trying out a mocking fancy, British-sounding voice, playing momentarily at being a British captain, maybe partly to wind up Izzy?

After such detailed analysis of both Ed and Taika's voice and accents, I'm not sure I can believe you if you say your crush is Ed and not Taika - sorry 😉

I do find the accents thing fascinating but yes, you're 100% right and I definitely have a crush on both of them, in different ways. I don’t quite know how I got here: three months ago I’d only vaguely heard of Taika as the guy who made Wilderpeople and Thor as my son loves those. But he’s so funny, smart, interesting, talented and I love his energy and enthusiasm and the way his brain always seems to be buzzing with ideas. I think he's definitely believing the hype more these days though: judging by interviews, he was always cocky and a bit pleased with himself, but also more self deprecating, but now he seems to have lost that aspect and just comes across as a bit arrogant sometimes. Maybe that comes with being in the US, or with the huge increase in fame? Or maybe he's just having a bit of a mid life crisis? It's a bit annoying but hopefully he might tone it down a bit. Sometimes he's very endearing - I really like this interview, though it's from a few years back:

s

I find it quite hard to reconcile the interviews he gives with and about the people he works with and the ones he gives with Rita Ora. It's like he's two different people.

@TriceratopsRocks Cryptid podcasts, but I can't remember which one - how are you getting on with those btw

I've listened to everything back to January 2023 and still really enjoying it - I
tend to listen to a couple a week. Are you still working your way backwards
too? Have you heard the one with a supposedly completely unscripted cameo by
Taika, on his way to an Argentinian meat shop? It’s number 8, from back in
2013. Also, did you hear Rhys on No Such Thing as Fish - he's done two episodes and in the second one he talks about Stede!

I haven't watched any interviews he's done with Rita Ora but that does confuse me too and feels quite mid-life crisis-y. I listened to a podcast interview with her and while she seems sweet and likeable, she does seem very focused on her brand, image, looks and she doesn’t come across as having that offbeat quirkiness that Taika has or as being as thoughtful or quick witted. I've seen a couple of short tiktok things she's posted though and they do seem to genuinely share a childlike playfulness and enthusiasm and I guess you can never judge someone else's relationship.

they do seem to genuinely share a childlike playfulness

That’s the conclusion I’ve come to. When I look at interviews with Chelsea Winstanley, I can’t actually imagine how they were married. She must’ve felt like his mother. Intellectually they are likely equal, but emotionally… 😳. In the interviews with his ex-wife, she seems to strongly suggest he forgot how to ‘adult’ once he went to the US.

Whereas I doubt Rita is his intellectual equal, but emotionally, they both seem the same. The Valentine’s clip on Twitter where she keeps making him jump… I think that’s the one where she puts her false eyelashes on him too… they just seem to get each other. Taika seems to have left for a more ‘playful’ relationship. Art does imitate life.

Apart from 1 episode in my latest chunk, I'm back to Jan 22 (episode 70). I like it when our show gets mentioned (😁) but I'm enjoying all of it. I love the relationship between the 3 of them and that they don't prepare so it can get really random. They are all smart, quick and it is sometimes very funny indeed. I've watched one "fish" episode on YouTube with Rhys. I remember it being very good but it's been a while since I watched it. I'll have to look out for the other one. I also want to see the weirdos one that you tried to get tickets to.

On a separate note, I'll get a new thread up tonight. Can't believe how quickly we've got through this one!

@MrsJellybee The Valentine’s clip on Twitter where she keeps making him jump

That plus the Shrek one and one where Taika is fixing door handles are the ones I've seen - all very endearing. They do seem to laugh a lot and pass the time together so well 😀

@TriceratopsRocks I've watched one "fish" episode on YouTube with Rhys. I remember it being very good but it's been a while since I watched it. I'll have to look out for the other one. I also want to see the weirdos one that you tried to get tickets to.

Was the one you saw the one about the goats? I think that was Comic Relief or similar and there are two others, both podcasts. The weirdos one doesn't seem to have been released as a podcast which is really annoying - I wish now that I'd gone and loitered outside to try to get a last minute ticket, but it's quite a trek to London. Next time!

I can't believe we've nearly filled up another thread - I see that we're quite a bit more active than the Bridgerton thread - not bad for a show that got barely any publicity and has been cancelled!

Was the one you saw the one about the goats?

Yes!! It was goats!! 🐐🐐🐐 I knew there was something about animals but couldn't remember what it was.

And how can we be more active than Bridgerton? Isn't that really popular and still being released?

It is - the publicity for it seems to pop up everywhere. I gave up half way through series 1, though I watched Queen Charlotte and thought it was fantastic, and I really like Nicola Coughlan so perhaps should give this series a go sometime. I also loved the Doctor Who Bridgerton episode - my favourite Doctor Who in years.

The Bridgerton thread that started the same time as this one only has 604 posts, but then OFMD fans seem to have a reputation for being particularly zealous and after all it's the best show ever. If only our enthusiasm had the power to reverse cancellation 🙁Lucky Bridgerton fans with more series to look forward to.

Edited to say just think what could have been for our pirates with the Bridgerton production and publicity budgets!

@lizziesaurusx That Tipsy Talk interview - is Taika even capable of sitting in a chair? 😂 This does seem to be a recurring theme!

And in other news, thread 3 is up :)

Helps if I link it 😁

www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5101662-our-flag-means-death-thread-3-its-still-utterly-brilliant-we-are-still-obsessed

Their IG stuff is very sweet, it's true