Our Flag Means Death - Thread 5: Ahoy! Surrender! You have no chance of escape!

[TriceratopsRocks]

Hi all!! Roll up for thread 5 and join our chat about our favourite show, its cast, its music, fan edits, fan fiction and more than a little obsessing over our fabulous leads - pictures extremely welcome! It’s utterly brilliant, and some of us are still in the grips of obsession many months after the last episode aired (the last for now, that is… We live in hope🙏)

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. 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. It’s structured like a theatre production with a prologue and 3 acts. The 2nd lead arrives (briefly) in episode 3, and in episode 4 (the start of Act 1) the tone changes and the main story begins. You need to give it at least that long. It gets better and better and 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
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
Thread 4:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5136377-our-flag-means-death-thread-4-roll-up-roll-up-come-join-us-for-more-pirate-obsession?reply=139560831

I want to hand him a clay model of his nose now at the stage door 🤣

I’d never seen these before so sharing

Thank you for these - I hadn't seen them either. I love the detail of Stede's theatre director outfit. Don't think I've seen that lacing on the knee so clearly before. I love the moody Ed/David shot too.

People do that?! Woah, mortifying.

I can see that would be a challenge to respond to.

I'd have loved to see the Royal Family's reaction to the post box topper someone made for the Coronation, complete with an egg yolk yellow "golden coach" and all the figures leaning over drunkenly.

Off to see Rhys at Ally Pally tonight.

Rhys is just going to be interviewed on Saturday Live on Radio 4. I shall catch it on Sounds later

Rhys is referring to this gig as The Big One so I expect it to be amazing for you! Have a great time.

Oh thank you! First time DH and I have been out for ages and new babysitter so fingers crossed...!

I'm sure you'll have a great time, @Needlenardlenoo . You'll have to let us know how it was :) DH listened to the Rhys interview with me this morning and seems to be quite looking forward to the Birmingham show now (Thursday) after hearing it's about AI and robots 😄

Edited to add:
People do that?! Woah, mortifying.
One thing we learned at the Heathrow convention was that all of us here are remarkably sane in our appreciation for/obsession with this show, when compared with some others in the fandom.

Actually, that was the wrong word. I think 'extreme devotion' is a better way of putting it 😄 I mean, I thought I was obsessed but I have nothing on some of the other fans I met! And the work and crafts and art that some of those more dedicated fans produce is incredible.

But anyway - have a fantastic time tonight @Needlenardlenoo - a bit part of me is wishing I'd booked more tour dates, but Nottingham is one of the easy options for me, and he's done that one now.

Gosh @TriceratopsRocks

I shall report back!

Yes, some of the art and costumes were unbelievable, but you could see that a lot of the fandom actually lived the show and I think that is probably a bit full-on when you're on the other end of it and it was one of a number of jobs which were exciting and challenging and moving but which you've now moved on from a bit maybe

It was interesting when he said in the interview today something along the lines of it being like a family when you're working on a show, but then when it's done, that's it, it's gone, and you move on. But that's just life I suppose and I've heard others say it. He clearly still has a lot of love for our show, though, because of the way he talks about it. And when speaking to him about how Stede inspired me to get out of a rut and make changes to my own life, he really seemed to appreciate that - that he and the character he made were inspirational in that way and had led to people making positive changes for themselves.

I was a bit disappointed at Rhys saying that the fans can be a bit too much but after reading Triceratops’ comments I understand where he is coming from. I also have to accept that the actors really have to move on even if the fans struggle to do so.

Aw, @TriceratopsRocksanyone would appreciate that kind of feedback. I very occasionally get a note like that from students, sometimes years later on LinkedIn etc. Always makes my day.

I think he's quite blunt and pragmatic. Maybe also slightly oblivious to how these remarks might land? I suppose the fear when you're an actor in the middle of your career is that you'll get stuck in everyone's minds as the lead of this two-series show that finished ten years ago (or whatever) and so whilst the adulation is lovely and gratifying, once that opportunity's done you really want everyone to move forward with you rather than trying to keep you stuck in that moment.

When @lizziesaurusxand I met him in Edinburgh last year, he was so good at engaging with fans, yet after a while I thought "yes, you've had enough now". Like he really appreciates the fans, talks to them (us!), was generous with his time - wonderfully so - but after a little while he just wanted to be able to properly relax, and I don't blame him! And as @CarterBeatsTheDevilsays, some fans are very full on. I bet that could get a bit scary! His career seems quite stellar atm and he can't live in the past, but he's said he'd love to play Stede again and I totally believe him (I was still naively clinging to a sliver of 'one day' renewal hope, but I think that went when David told us the ending).

Also, the "full on" bit might have been a reference to some of the rather explicit material that's been written/drawn of not only his character, but also of Rhys himself, which clearly makes him uncomfortable. I mean, there is Rhys/Taika porn on AO3 (which I won't read) as well as the Ed/Stede fics we know and love. Rhys has said he avoids all that sort of stuff (unlike another cast member we could mention 😂).

I’m aware from a source I trust that at one of Rhys’ US gigs last year, a female fan was extremely inappropriate, grabbed at him when he came out to meet fans, and demanded he ‘perform’ for her… (euphemism). And they whisked him away. The ‘normal’ fans apparently dealt with that woman. That’s an extreme example, but I do think some people are unhinged around Rhys. I don’t think he means to upset his fanbase at large. He interacts and reaches out in ways many don’t. But I do think some fans think they own Rhys, body and soul. He isn’t public property.

Just to add ‘…it was a little bit too much for me’ possibly refers to his need to run to Costa Rica after series one. Fans were tagging or sending both him, and Rosie, graphic art which obviously looks like himself and Taika. I think he had a small breakdown over it, and suffered burnout. It’s a lot to take.

Poor guy. I'd forgotten about Costa Rica. It must have been such a shock to them both, and definitely scary - suddenly being exposed to that level of... adoration, obsession, lunacy? Whatever you call it. You are so right about some people being unhinged around him. I'm not surprised it was too much. As he said, when he found fame in FotC, there wasn't so much social media around, so this was new and I think unexpected.

I just found this snippet from one of his interviews. He also talks about being skittish about social media and not liking all the sexual stuff.

Full Interview

Wonder if Rhys’ Series 1 exposure inspired the “paper-ratzi” and the what it’s like to be famous speech (drinks, tattoos) in Series 2?

Also, he’d never been cast as a swashbuckling sex symbol before. Stede was groundbreaking for Rhys, and a total serve away from the funny, geeky support roles he was known for.

Rhys' show was great! I wrote about it earlier but it didn't post. He has a terrific ability to pull together threads of a complicated (and totally bonkers) story and tie it all up satisfactorily at the end. The part I liked most was where he forgot a bit, admitted it and reorganised himself to get back to where he wanted to be. I could relate to that. Happens to me a lot in teaching...

I don't go to lots of comedy (although I sometimes watch Live from the Apollo etc on TV) and it was a surprisingly clean show really. DD was annoyed not to be invited (and doubly annoyed to find a babysitter was involved) but actually she probably would have enjoyed it, had she been old enough to be let in, I think. Although I don't know if I want her to find out just yet that a very few lucky people get to make their living looping sheep noises and pretending to be a Cybertruck.

Where Rhys gets his energy from though, I do not know. Amazing.

Last night, if I hadn't known that was in his repertoire I really wouldn't have guessed.

Even just the ability to wear clothes like Stede did (last night he was in quite unflattering skinny jeans, a tour tshirt and trainers).

I guess there's an inner 18th C aristocrat in a surprising number of people.

That sounds amazing. I’m so excited. I love he was able to double-back and reconnect his ideas. Yep, teachers have all been there… ‘What was I saying… I’ve missed something vital.’ Not sure which is scarier - a full Ally Pally or 30 teens.

Can’t wait for the tight jeans.

@TriceratopsRocks and I had a blast in Birmingham yesterday. Shame there were quite a few empty seats, but the vibe overall was fantastic. Rhys is beyond awesome. I don’t know how he has the energy, but he clearly loves what he does.