Our Flag Means Death: Thread 3. It's still utterly brilliant. We are still obsessed.

[TriceratopsRocks]

Ahoy again mateys! Set sail aboard thread 3 where we still wax lyrical about our favourite show, its cast, its music, fan edits, fan fiction and more 😁(there may also be just a little obsessing over our fabulous leads - pictures extremely welcome)!

If you haven’t yet seen Our Flag Means Death, what are you waiting for? Go watch it (on BBC iPlayer), then come back here and join us. But be warned, some of you may find yourself as hooked as we are 🎣.

You may have heard that this is a comedy about pirates and think it's not for you. But it’s actually a show about self-discovery, healing and found-family with a love story at its heart. The joint leads are both damaged by abusive backgrounds and 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, two full threads and many re-watches later.

If you think this might appeal, do watch it and come back and talk to us. It would be lovely if more were to join our crew. But it's a show that needs time. The 2nd lead arrives in episode 3, so you need to give it at least 4 episodes as that’s when the tone changes and the main story starts. It still took me several more episodes to fully appreciate what I was watching, but by 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
Thread 2 : https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5076581-our-flag-means-death-thread-2-still-utterly-brilliant-and-we-are-still-obsessed?reply=136060611

My brain is a bit 'mush' atm, but I thought this a good place for this gifset/edit.

I also think it's something to do with @CarlaH 's question about mermen. In S1 Ed saved Stede and in 1.10 Stede was emotionally reborn. In 2.3 Stede (as a merman) saved Ed, and Ed was emotionally reborn. In 2.8 they have saved each other from the English found each other again and shared their love for each other - reborn together. I looked up some mermaid symbolism a while back. I'm going to try and find it again... here we go.

"mermaids represent the journey of self-discovery and the transformative power that lies within us. Just as mermaids transform from fish to human form, we too have the ability to change and evolve. Mermaid legends remind us to embrace our own inner transformation and embrace the changes that come with it."

"mermaids often represent a duality of nature—both seductive and dangerous"

https://www.tumblr.com/where-our-stories-start/730520101471862784/our-flag-means-death-2x03-the-innkeeper?source=share

And on origami, I got it totally wrong and was mixing up Ed and Stede's creations. I reckon whoever said snowflake is probably the best bet ❄️❄️❄️

Thanks all for the responses. It's incredible how much thought and care has been taken in the making of this show.

That was me.

Cos he is a special snowflake.

😀

https://www.tumblr.com/captain-flint/683647478594174976/i-havent-seen-or-i-missed-people-discuss-some?source=share

We’ve touched on some of these things before, but I’ve never noticed Stede’s thumb on top of Ed’s whilst they hold hands in the beach scene. Then link that to the 2.5 thumb-war and it’s a callback for them both. It’s a memory. Ed remembers and forgives Stede. This time Ed’s thumb is on top. Stede tells him ‘You won’. You won me that day. 🫠

@ BeBraveLittlePenguin · There is something about Constellationism that makes us do these things.
i was visiting the Kent coast * a few days ago and cunningly suggested a visit to the Turner Contemporary in Margate, to follow the boys on their journey. No light installations this time but there WAS a glamorous looking man with salt and pepper long hair outside the gallery, although I only stole a glance for fear of staring open-mouthed like a crazy person.
(*Sadly I stayed at the Premier Inn Herne Bay and not at the ‘inn’ to the south east, which I was unable to pinpoint despite much research.)
Recently I looked over at the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square and hoped Ed would get it one day and then I actually contemplated keeping a friend waiting in order to take a little detour off the Charing Cross Road to search for Stede’s shop. Beguiled indeed!

Description made me think of Eastwell Manor, although by no stretch of the imagination does that have even 1 let alone 3 Michelin stars 😀 Possibly Eastwell crossed with a touch of Leonardslee House.

I may have had exactly the same thought coming past Trafalgar Square this weekend 😃

@BeBraveLittlePenguin How fast was Ed travelling on that bike? 🏍️

Google maps tells me it’s two hours from London to Margate. I’m not overly familiar with the geography of the south east. Is that right?

I think the time line gets a bit wibbly wobbly 😀 They were driving at 100mph on the M2, woohoo, King of the Road! But yeah, Deptford to Margate would be about 1h45 plus.

Aaaahhh

Not sure if DJ's comment is visible on that but he responds and says "Nope that's just how those two come together".
😍

I’m enjoying the screenshots from the Time Bandits trailer

Me too! I wonder if that's 100% CGI? The white wig is quite lurid after Ed's beautiful hair, but I guess that was a bit unkempt for a supreme being.

@lizziesaurusx at least Taika has his shirt off in this one. Not CGI at all. 😉

Indeed, and it's quite a spectacular sight. But it was Ed I wanted to see - to find out what tattoos he had on his chest, and to see him being close and vulnerable with Stede. It feels a bit weird to me seeing Ed's face but with the wrong hair and clothes - ridiculous to say this after seeing Taika as Hitler, but he doesn't look like Ed in either Jojo Rabbit or Boy.

Was reading this unhinged fic with Ed as God of the sea. The trident pic is quite good for that one!
Are we talking chapter 16 yet?

I’ve decided this is now Ed’s soul emerging from the Gravy Basket after Merstede saves him 😍

@BeBraveLittlePenguin Are we talking chapter 16 yet? yep, since Tuesday AM 🙂 We’re all researching origami.

Would anyone like to play Constellationism predictions? @Phineyj has inspired me with their fortuneteller idea for Stede’s origami. He did say a square… ⬜️

In case anyone was never aged eight, here’s the rules:

Pick a colour: Blue, Teal, Red, Purple (I’ll count the letters out)
Pick a OFMD number (you’ll see. I couldn’t think of anything for eight, so it jumps to nine) I’ll count out the number
Pick a second number for a OFMD-style prediction…

Ooh I'll play! Do I tell you all 3 things now? If so I'm going Teal, 3, 7.

@TriceratopsRocks hold on… T-E-A-L

choices: 3 reasons to live
4 x 10 orange glaze cake
7 sugars
9 crew of the Revenge

Would you still like 3? 🙂

No! I want the orange glaze cake 🍰

I’m only counting out 4, not forty… 🤣 1-2-3-4

Okay, same options as above. Which number would you like for the reveal. Choose wisely…

7 sugars please 🤪 (thats my face after all that sweet stuff!)

Nooooooooo! 🤦🏻‍♀️