Featured Photo by Max
Story by Larry Rincon
2023 has brought second seasons to many fan-favorite television series. Specifically a show about a happy-go-lucky ball of sunshine and their edgy all-black clothing counterpart, and I do not mean “Good Omens”.
This past week, Max released the first three episodes of Taika Waititi’s “Our Flag Means Death” season two. Comedy and romance strike once more since the season one break-up between Stede Bonnet and Blackbeard has created an interesting ambiance for season two.
For those new to “Our Flag Means Death,” the story follows an aristocrat named Stede Bonnet (played by Rhys Darby) who leaves his life of luxury behind to achieve his dream of becoming a pirate. Along his journey of piracy, Bonnet ends up meeting Edward Teach (played by Taika Waititi), more commonly known as Blackbeard, and the two eventually develop a friendship and furthermore an unofficial romantic relationship.
Eventually, events lead the two to part ways, and the first season ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Stede had faked his own death in order to renounce all his wealth and return to piracy with his newly realized feelings for Blackbeard. Edward, on the other hand, was drowning in his sorrows and returned to his old persona.
The second season could not have started any better. With a dream sequence of Stede killing Blackbeard’s first mate Izzy, I thought I missed something from the first season. However, instead, the audience is caught up on the current whereabouts of Stede.
Since the end of season one, Stede and his old crew have taken residence on the Republic of Pirates working for Spanish Jackie. Their hard work leads them nowhere causing them to steal Jackie’s most prized possession, indigo. They fail but are luckily saved by a brand new character this season, Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao.
Meanwhile, Edward is grieving in the worst ways possible. He is so devastated that Stede is no longer by his side, and takes out his anger on his crew. He makes the attack ships, killing everyone to steal their treasures, but in the end, he makes them toss the treasure overboard. There is no point in stealing treasure if you are not going to keep it yourself.
Each of these situations eventually allows Stede and Edward to reunite, but I would rather focus on the details happening around Stede and Edward’s relationship problems.
Edward’s new state of mind is one of the antagonists this season. He takes out his frustrations on Izzy and his crew, and eventually, they do not want to follow his orders anymore. The crew fears him, but they also miss the way things were back when Stede was around. The original crew only split up because Edward got rid of everyone minus Frenchie and Jim, and this split results in a few new relationships.
For fans of Jim and Olu’s relationship in season one, I have bad news. Another new character named Archie joins Edward’s newly established crew. She is a strong and tough character who finds Jim cute, and the two form a close bond. Olu on the other hand has a short-lived fling with the Pirate Queen, but it seems that neither Jim nor Olu hold any negative feelings against each other. The two still remain the best of friends like in the previous season. However, as cute and charming as the two new relationships are, I would still like Jim and Olu to be endgame.
Leaving romance behind, I would like to praise the addition of the Pirate Queen. If you are a history buff, you will recognize a lot of the names as names of pirates that existed in real life. Just like in real life, Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao is a brilliant character.
She knows how to manipulate others to do what she wants, and she is far more intelligent and cunning than most other pirates. Her Achilles heel ends up being her adoration for Olu. She likes him so much that she takes in his crew aboard her ship, the Red Flag, and ends up being backstabbed by all of them when they take back their old ship.
She certainly will not be forgiving them anytime soon, and I cannot wait to see what she’ll do to get her revenge.
Now that the original gang is back together, minus the Swede who became Spanish Jackie’s 20th husband, I am excited to see where the story goes. Edward has won his battle between life and death, and Stede is happy to be reunited with Edward.
Stede can tell that a lot has happened to Edward since their time apart, so I hope to see a couple more episodes of tension before the two properly make up.
Season two has lived up to the expectations and has introduced so many new characters and plotlines. There is bound to be some good drama coming up. As the rest of the season unfolds, we can definitely expect to see even more fun ahead, especially now that Edward and Stede are going to have to talk about their feelings properly.
To contact Lifestyles Editor Destiny Mizell, email lifestyles@mtsusidelines.com. For more news, visit www.mtsusidelines.com, or follow us on Facebook at MTSU Sidelines or on X at @MTSUSidelines.
