Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining

A thoroughly outstanding episode 2.2 of Black Sails  on Saturday, in which Flint in his customary display of brilliance and cunning regains his rightful place.

He begins by giving Dufresne some advice about which winds and route to take.  It was clear that this advice was designed to suit Flint not Dufresne, though it dawned on him at the end of episode, when he was already deposed as Captain.  Along the way, we get a running narrative on what a captain should do and keep in mind when approaching a victim ship.   This was actually good advice - a fine lesson in captaining - but, it, too, was given because Flint knew Dufresne would fail when put to the test.  The advice was predicated on the captain of the captured ship thinking he had no chance against a pirate captain like Flint.  Dufresne's serious and intelligent, but lacks the essential instinct of a pirate captain, and it shows.  Meanwhile, just to underline this point, we see clean-cut Flint back in London displaying some of inchoate anger inside him that would make him much less clean-cut but a captain for the ages in the Americas.

There was also a great scene in Eleanor's bar in Nassau, as mad Ned Low kills not only his second-in-command, but a pretty tough bunch seeking to enforce Eleanor's strong request that Low should leave.   Of special note in this scene is Charles, who stands by and watches all of this.  Later, Eleanor appeals to him to help, and offers the prize on the ship Low captured as bait, but why didn't Charles come to Eleanor's help in the bar?  Surely he can take Low - or thinks he can - so he failed to take action then, why?  Because it wasn't his business (yet), and he didn't think Eleanor was in any real danger.

There were also a good few moments between Anna, Max, and Rackham, in which he proposes a three-way pirate consortium, which should be fun to watch as it develops.  But, Rackham is guilty of a grammatical infelicity, earlier in the episode, when he talks about driving "a wedge between my partner and I".   Again, as I pointed out last week, the correct usage, then and now, would be "between my partner and me".

But the knives and swords are more important than the nitpicks in this series, so bring it on.

See also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood

And see also Black Sails: Literate and Raunchy Piracy ... Black Sails 1.3: John Milton and Marcus Aurelius ... Black Sails 1.4: The Masts of Wall Street ...Black Sails 1.6: Rising Up ... Black Sails 1.7: Fictions and History ... Black Sails 1.8: Money

#SFWApro

 
pirates of the mind in The Plot to Save Socrates