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

Are you going to start watching tomorrow? Lady in the Lake looks excellent - I've also been wanting to see Bad Sisters and Ted Lasso for ages - I might need more than a week's trial for all of that though.

We're very much here for it if you'd like to try to draw him 😁I can't even draw well enough to play Pictionary.

I honestly think that Ed in S2 is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. It’s his hair and eyes, but a lot of it isn't just how he looks but the accent and the character’s emotional intensity too. I would've expected my ideal bloke to have Ed's hair, but not to have quite so many tattoos, or wear leathers, but here we are. Rhys is gorgeous, especially in S2, but he’s more like a very good looking normal person, whereas Taika, as @MrsJellybee said, sometimes looks like as if he’s not quite mortal. Other times though his hair and moustache combos are disappointingly unEd-like.

As for Rhys' eyes - just the one hour, really? Impressively restrained. Now imagine seeing them in real life...

Might be planning to…

Yes I have a day off so will watch the first two episodes.

Now I just need Shearwater to update and I’ll have the perfect day!

Oh I’ve just remembered school finished today. Damn.

Oh I'd love to see your Teal morning after robe too, @MrsJellybee . That sorry effort that Taika is wearing looks like the sort of dodgy polyester that would give you electric shocks and needed to be kept well away from naked flame. What a come down from the teal and birds of paradise gorgeousness.

@CarterBeatsTheDevil He's pretty much what I would draw if someone asked me to draw the most handsome man I could possibly think of.

Have you seen the Insta post of Taika working with the chef to make Rita lunch? Whilst it’s usually an Ed 👍 not a Taika for me, he is looking particularly gorgeous in that video. Plus when he says “I can chop the mint” it’s exactly the same vibe as “I can be quiet” in the boat with Fang 🥰

I haven't seen that one, and I'm always up for appreciating the sheer beauty that is Ed/Taika. But I do have to take issue with the description of Rhys as a good looking normal person when he is gloriousness personified! He is a bouncy ball of sunshine 😁.

Oh, and I'm currently standing in the chip shop and got to ask for pineapple fritters again 😁. It always makes me smile now 🤣

Andy Hearnden is the chefs name. I can’t remember how to post a link to Instagram - sorry my tech skills are abysmal! You’ll spot the pic of Taika and Rita to play the video

@TriceratopsRocks But I do have to take issue with the description of Rhys as a good looking normal person when he is gloriousness personified!

Sorry - that was me and in my defence I did say very good looking, and gorgeous, and I did post a truly glorious photo of him last night! He is definitely a ray of🌞

I enjoyed that video very much! One of my favourite Taika facts is that he apparently makes a great steak (according to his wife). I love steak. We are plainly made for each other. Sorry, Rita and Mr Carter.

Rhys reminds me of that Roald Dahl thing about how if you think lovely thoughts they will shine out of your face and you will always look lovely. (Except that that was about ugly people being beautiful because they're lovely inside, and I think regardless of which side of the Taika/Rhys line we fall we all agree that Rhys is jolly handsome)

I mean, he'll never find another woman who loves steak like I do. No other women love steak. I'm the only one.

I haven't got instagram but the cooking video is on youtube too

@lizziesaurusx @TriceratopsRocks Rhys as a good looking normal person when he is gloriousness personified! He is a bouncy ball of sunshine I was going to say the same thing. 🤣 More like super-sugary jelly-baby crossed with a half-demented dolphin (affectionate). But ‘ball of sunshine’ is good.

What Rhys is not is normal. The very idea…

Do I need to be in the teal morning-after robe or will just the robe suffice?

https://telltaletv.com/2024/07/poll-whats-the-most-heartbreaking-tv-cancellation-of-the-year-so-far/

This is apropos of nothing other than continuing to make our voices heard, but please cast your vote for most heartbreaking cancellation of the year. Our show is neck and neck with Station 19.

www.cracked.com/article_42951_taika-waititis-time-bandits-makes-hours-feel-like-days.html I don't have Apple+ and haven't seen the original film either, but this review is a little more positive than the title suggests.

Strangely, it made me want to rewatch The Dark Crystal though!

Oh dear, not a great review @Phineyj

Either would be lovely. Bonus points if you have a lifesized Ed cardboard cut out to drape it over.

It had the opposite effect on me - it made me think maybe it takes a few episodes to warm up! Hmm where has that happened before?!

It's a bit worrying, but it does say that it's bright and hopeful and that the spirit of the film shines through - madcap, erudite and edgy - what does that remind us of? And good point @Phineyj - I might've given up on our beloved show after 1.3 if not for my son.

You did indeed, @lizziesaurusx and I thank you most kindly. I may have stared at that for quite a while yesterday... along with quite a few others as it happens 😋.

But ‘ball of sunshine’ is good.
It was a bouncy ball of sunshine, @MrsJellybee . His energy is most definitely bouncy.

Rhys reminds me of that Roald Dahl thing about how if you think lovely thoughts they will shine out of your face and you will always look lovely.
@CarterBeatsTheDevil I think that is perfect! He just always seems so happy (except when he's being emotional) but still very grounded. It's like his love of life and happiness just shines out of him.

As for looks, can you believe that on a show recently Rhys only rated himself a 7/10 for physical beauty (although he did seem proud of that 7!)? And 3/10 for his mental beauty 😂Anyway, I can't talk about Rhys gorgeousness without posting a pic, so here's a Stede. You can have one of Taika too.

I think regardless of which side of the Taika/Rhys line we fall we all agree that Rhys is jolly handsome
To be honest, I don't think we really have much of a divide. I'm pretty sure all of us agree that both these men are absolutely stunning examples of scrumtiousness.