Our Flag Means Death - Thread 4: Roll up, roll up! Come join us for more pirate obsession!

[TriceratopsRocks]

Ahoy again mateys! Can you believe we are now aboard thread 4? Stick around for chat about this brilliant show, its cast, its music, fan edits, fan fiction and more than 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 and join us 😀

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, three 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 be aware that it's a show that needs time. It’s structured like a theatre production, with a prologue and 3 acts. The 2nd lead arrives (briefly) in episode 3. Episode 4 is the start of Act 1, where the tone changes and the main story begins. You need to give it at least 4 episodes, and from there it just gets better and better. 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. And again. And again! If you like Good Omens, What We Do in the Shadows, Ghosts or even Bridgerton, this might well 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
Thread 3: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5101662-our-flag-means-death-thread-3-its-still-utterly-brilliant-we-are-still-obsessed?reply=137315706

Got to the end of Time Bandits. I thought it was rather good.

My brain was really fighting Lisa Kudrow as anyone other than Phoebe, but I got there in the end.

It said quite a lot about the parents that the two kids ended up fonder of each other and random adults than their actual parents! I could relate.

Con O'Neill was having an indecent amount of fun in medieval England (even getting to make a Lancashire v Yorkshire joke), as was Taika as 'Supreme Elvis'. I liked the African jokes about Europeans not washing. It was all wonderfully camp.

Perhaps Con is the new Sean Bean and will pop up in all historical dramas now.

And the theme tune! The cat's cradle! (I asked DH about the original film and he said grimly It.Was.Confusing 😂).

Overall, excellent value for £0.00 (and no doubt a load of spam from Apple for evermore). No such thing as a free lunch.

My crush on Taika is such that I still fancied him with white hair and a dodgy dressing gown.

Did you buy a trial to watch it? I always worry I will forget to cancel

Yes, I was very disciplined, binged it in 3 nights and then cancelled it.

Mind you, I did the same with Netflix so I could watch The Dig and do actually subscribe now so their loss leader works!

Impressive dedication, @Phineyj . I already had apple TV earlier so I'm not sure if I can get another free trial.

As for Starfury, there may be a temporary solution to my indecisiveness. See attached screenshot. Can anyone with a standard ticket confirm if an upgrade option is showing for them?

@TriceratopsRocks i'm sure they won't sell out due to the cost, but be aware gold tickets are limited in number. So if you buy regular and decide to upgrade later, don't wait until the day before just in case. From looking at other cons on Twitter today, it seems approx 150 tickets are gold and 500 regular.

@Phineyj I thought Time Bandits was fun. A bit hit and miss at times. Lisa Kudrow thawed a bit eventually. I liked the final episode. The love triangle trope and the shack on the beach reminded me of something... Plus the 'this is you' tapestry image. Like Izzy showing Ed a Blackbeard caricature. I liked Taika twirling in the red jacket in episode 9 too. That's already been juxtaposed on tumblr with Stede in the red suit.

The good/evil showdown was typically camp and silly. I thought Jemaine outshone Taika tbh. I felt his comedy timing was more polished.

As an aside, I want to hear what you thought of The Dig. I think it's one of the best films I've ever seen.

Oh, and happy September 2nd 1st 🌖

I thought The Dig was wonderful! The bit where they lie down in the excavation and look at the stars ❤️❤️❤️. And all that tweed and mud and Brief Encounters style terribly repressed emotion.

I didn't particularly like the Time Bandits finale. I got the strong impression everyone had the giggles. But there was definitely enough there to merit a second series.

@Phineyj I thought it was fabulous too. Ralph Fiennes acted his socks off. They were all brilliant in it, and I even tolerated Lily James (just).

I get what you mean about the TB finale. It was a little too knowing and smug. Taika always needs a shorter leash. I did like Jemaine though.

Well the good thing about Jemaine's part was it was entirely appropriate to roll his eyes at Taika!

Yes - I have an upgrade button next to my QR code

Shearwater has indicated a new chapter will be up soon…from the snippet posted on Twitter it looks like they are still in the bath.

Omg they are going to be extremely wrinkly.

Hope that hotel has a large hot water boiler and insurance for the water (or possibly, bath, through the floorboards!

"Quite soon" !

Entropy may be quicker.

They’re going to have trench foot. And not just on the foot.

Yikes. Can I just say "trench dick" is not an Ao3 tag I'm keen to see!

@Phineyj 🤣🙈

🚫🧥🍆

There's slow burn, and then there's Constellationism

I think they're just going to be very cold...

Don’t know if folks saw this last week. Gypsy Taylor won a costume award for OFMD. I think it was for Merstede.

I'm slightly questioning whether I want to go to the convention now. I think it's a "don't meet your heroes" thing (in relation to the cast, obviously, not you lovely lot). I am continuing to mull!

Rhys was lovely when Lizzie and I met him. I can honestly say it's one of the best evenings I've ever had. But just being around and chatting to other people - strangers - who love the show as much (or more) than I do was simply wonderful. And my assumption is that's what you'll get for the £130 ticket. There will be stuff happening, but just being around other fans is what will make it special. The gold ticket will get you that meeting with the 4 cast members. If you are worried about meeting your heroes then that's maybe the bit to miss :)

Will people dress up do you think? Another new experience!
(I have also considered my first ever tattoo. A seabird perhaps, or an anchor or heart or even a teeny tiny Cat Rampant. A secret one to go under my watch strap, just for fun.)

Literally listening to "Seabird" right now. It's a sign! I think I am going to go.

You’d better go else I’m going to hunt you down and drag you there myself (affectionate).