Outlander 3.8: Pirates!

Well, with Black Sails sailed off the air earlier thus year, Outlander couldn't have come up a pirate thread at a better time - that is, if you like pirate stories (I do) and if that ship at the end of episode 3.8 whose men captured young Ian are pirates. 

I think they are.  But who can be sure (since I haven't read the novels, I'm only sure of what I've seen on screen).  I'm indeed sure that tonight's episode was excellent, in the new series that's come back to us with Claire's return to Scotland and the past.  Her reunion with Jamie, and all its difficulties, have been handled with intelligence and style.

As always, I have questions (and maybe these were answered already in the novels).  But -

1. Why didn't Jamie go up to the stones, rather than swim to the island, when he was out of prison, any time during the 20 years?  Is it possible that stones won't work for Jamie?  But, if so, how would he know that?  Or, did he try to travel to the future via the stones, but got nowhere?

2. Less cosmic: how was young Ian supposed to get the coins and jewels back to Jamie and Claire without a boat?  It's already been established that the swim is rough, even treacherous, so what was the plan?  (And my wife wonders why young Ian couldn't take a boat in the first place?)

But I'm loving Outlander, anyway, and the prospect of Jamie and Claire going to the same part of the world as James Bond, played by Sean Connery, another Scot, would fictionally do in our own century - come to think of it, around the same time Claire was in Boston - is appealing indeed.  How do you say shiver me timbers in Scottish?

See also Outlander Season 3 Debut: A Tale of Two Times and Places ...Outlander 3.2: Whole Lot of Loving, But ... Outlander 3.3: Free and Sad ... Outlander 3.4: Love Me Tender and Dylan ... Outlander 3.5: The 1960s and the Past ... Outlander 3.6: Reunion ... Outlander 3.7: The Other Wife

And see also Outlander 2.1: Split Hour ... Outlander 2.2: The King and the Forest ... Outlander 2.3: Mother and Dr. Dog ... Outlander 2.5: The Unappreciated Paradox ... Outlander 2.6: The Duel and the Offspring ...Outlander 2.7: Further into the Future ... Outlander 2.8: The Conversation ... Outlander 2.9: Flashbacks of the Future ... Outlander 2.10: One True Prediction and Counting ... Outlander 2.11: London Not Falling ... Outlander 2.12: Stubborn Fate and Scotland On and Off Screen ... Outlander Season 2 Finale: Decades

And see also Outlander 1.1-3: The Hope of Time Travel ... Outlander 1.6:  Outstanding ... Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy ...Outlander 1.8: The Other Side ... Outlander 1.9: Spanking Good ... Outlander 1.10: A Glimmer of Paradox ... Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel ... Outlander 1.12: Black Jack's Progeny ...Outlander 1.13: Mother's Day ... Outlander 1.14: All That Jazz ... Outlander Season 1 Finale: Let's Change History

 

It all started in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn Monroe walked off the set of The Misfits and began to hear a haunting song in her head, "Goodbye Norma Jean" ...

Black Sails: Farewell

Well, I can't say I was overjoyed about the Black Sails finale, and not just because I didn't want to see this vivid, vibrant series end.

I would have liked to see a little more connection between this ending, and what we know of our heroes based on Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island - of which Black Sails was explicitly presented as a prequel.

Black Sails ends with not even a hint of Flint becoming a pirate again.  I have no problem with his giving it up for the man he loves, but I wanted to see at least a hint, a suggestion, of how he got back on the high seas again.

Otherwise, the ending was strong.  Long John being turned away by his love is a good entree to his subsequent life with the skull and crossbones.   Billy Bones surviving was necessary, as he, too, is spoken of by Stevenson.

Rackham was a real person in our history, and he did not have a happy ending.  There was no indication of that in the Black Sails finale, other than a life of piracy cannot have a happy ending, but that was ok.

But back to Flint.  Long John's strategy of giving Flint what he most wanted, so he would give up his quest to change the world didn't work as an ending even if we didn't know what Stevenson had in store for him.  Finding Thomas could well have invigorated Flint, made him even stronger in his resolve, to right what he saw as wrongs in the world.

Still, if the finale was not as good as it could have been, the overall series was memorable and I'd highly recommend it.   May piracy on the seas live forever as a form of fiction in print and on the screen.

See also: Black Sails 4.1: "True Friends and Mortal Enemies" ... Black Sails 4.2: Bones vs. Flint ... Black Sails 4.3: Decisive Victories and Losses - On Both Sides ... Black Sails 4.4: Chess Game ... Black Sails 4.5: Bold Moves ...Black Sails 4.6: Spanish Horsemen with Lances ... Black Sails 4.7: Jack Rackham and Fake News ... Black Sails 4.9: Flynt vs. Long John ... Black Sails: Penultimate

See also Black Sails 3.1: Restored ... Black Sails 3.2: Flint vs. Sea ... Black Sails 3.3: Gone Fishin' ... Black Sails 3.4: Mr. Scott's People ... Black Sails 3.5: Alliance ... Black Sails 3.6: The Duel ... Black Sails 3.7: The Blackening of John Silver ... Black Sails 3.8: Whether Vane? ... Black Sails 3.10: Wither Vane ... Black Sails Season 3 Finale: Throckmorton

And see also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood ... Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining ... Black Sails 2.3: "I Angered Charles Vane" ... Black Sails 2.4: "Fire!" ... Black Sails 2.5: Twist! ... Black Sails 2.6: Weighty Alternatives, and the Medium is the Message on the High Seas ...Black Sails 2.7: The Governor's Daughter and the Gold ... Black Sails 2.9: The Unlikely Hero ... Black Sails Season 2 Finale: Satisfying Literate and Vulgar

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

 

pirates of the mind in The Plot to Save Socrates 

Black Sails: Penultimate

The high point of the next-to-last ever episode of Black Sails last night was when Flint shoots the guy who was about to shoot Long John, who was in the process of demanding that Flint give him the treasure, or fight with Flint to the death over it.

As in many decisive acts in this rich, multi-layered tapestry of a story, there is more than one interpretation or explanation for what Flint did.

Maybe it was out of love and admiration for Long John, which certainly had to have been a part of it.

And/or maybe it was Flint, ever quick and incisive in his calculation, knowing that Long John was of much greater value in the fight that loomed ahead, against the British and the Spanish, in Flint's attempt to create a new civilization of freedom.

In any case, it's the British attack on the pirate ship that causes Flint and Long John to halt in their duel, with an eye towards the common enemy.   This creates the right backdrop for the final episode next week.

Of course, as I've been saying all season and earlier, history and Robert Louis Stevenson dictate who will survive and not survive this last battle we'll see in Black Sails.  But I'm very much looking forward to seeing it, anyway.

See also: Black Sails 4.1: "True Friends and Mortal Enemies" ... Black Sails 4.2: Bones vs. Flint ... Black Sails 4.3: Decisive Victories and Losses - On Both Sides ... Black Sails 4.4: Chess Game ... Black Sails 4.5: Bold Moves ...Black Sails 4.6: Spanish Horsemen with Lances ... Black Sails 4.7: Jack Rackham and Fake News ... Black Sails 4.9: Flynt vs. Long John

See also Black Sails 3.1: Restored ... Black Sails 3.2: Flint vs. Sea ... Black Sails 3.3: Gone Fishin' ... Black Sails 3.4: Mr. Scott's People ... Black Sails 3.5: Alliance ... Black Sails 3.6: The Duel ... Black Sails 3.7: The Blackening of John Silver ... Black Sails 3.8: Whether Vane? ... Black Sails 3.10: Wither Vane ... Black Sails Season 3 Finale: Throckmorton

And see also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood ... Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining ... Black Sails 2.3: "I Angered Charles Vane" ... Black Sails 2.4: "Fire!" ... Black Sails 2.5: Twist! ... Black Sails 2.6: Weighty Alternatives, and the Medium is the Message on the High Seas ...Black Sails 2.7: The Governor's Daughter and the Gold ... Black Sails 2.9: The Unlikely Hero ... Black Sails Season 2 Finale: Satisfying Literate and Vulgar

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

 

pirates of the mind in The Plot to Save Socrates 

Black Sails 4.8: Flint vs. Long John

Well, so it's come to this, in episode 4.8, and just two remaining for Black Sails: Flint versus Long John.  In general, not surprising, as the whole series has been building up to this.  But still very good to see.

For Flint, it's about money and the revolution that he sees.  For Long John, it's about love.  The reasons almost don't matter.   It's the upcoming confrontation that counts.

Long John's men clearly have the upper hand, fight-wise.  On the other hand, no one can strategize as well as Flint. I'm putting my money on Flint, of course, with Robert Louis Stevenson's novel in my pocket.  And that says Long John will survive, as well.

But, again, the single most interesting scene was in the snow, up in a faraway Philadelphia.  Max and Ann on a bench, with the snow falling softly around them.  And Max telling Ann, in effect, how much she loves her.  And the two holding hands, and Ann not pulling away, as she had earlier.

This leaves Rackham odd-man-out, and indeed, as a real person in history, we know what happened to him.  If we want Ann, another real person, to have some happiness, Max will be the way in the story that continues after the series ends.

In addition to the snow, the scenery on Skull Island was just right and lush and foreboding.  Easy on the eyes, intriguing to the soul, much like Black Sails.

See also: Black Sails 4.1: "True Friends and Mortal Enemies" ... Black Sails 4.2: Bones vs. Flint ... Black Sails 4.3: Decisive Victories and Losses - On Both Sides ... Black Sails 4.4: Chess Game ... Black Sails 4.5: Bold Moves ...Black Sails 4.6: Spanish Horsemen with Lances ... Black Sails 4.7: Jack Rackham and Fake News

See also Black Sails 3.1: Restored ... Black Sails 3.2: Flint vs. Sea ... Black Sails 3.3: Gone Fishin' ... Black Sails 3.4: Mr. Scott's People ... Black Sails 3.5: Alliance ... Black Sails 3.6: The Duel ... Black Sails 3.7: The Blackening of John Silver ... Black Sails 3.8: Whether Vane? ... Black Sails 3.10: Wither Vane ... Black Sails Season 3 Finale: Throckmorton

And see also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood ... Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining ... Black Sails 2.3: "I Angered Charles Vane" ... Black Sails 2.4: "Fire!" ... Black Sails 2.5: Twist! ... Black Sails 2.6: Weighty Alternatives, and the Medium is the Message on the High Seas ...Black Sails 2.7: The Governor's Daughter and the Gold ... Black Sails 2.9: The Unlikely Hero ... Black Sails Season 2 Finale: Satisfying Literate and Vulgar

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

 

pirates of the mind in The Plot to Save Socrates 

Black Sails 4.7: Jack Rackham and Fake News

Another really excellent Black Sails last night - 4.7 - with my favorite part being Jack Rackham giving a little exposition on fake news in newspapers versus truth in books, in Philadelphia.

It was great to see the Caribbean pirate in Philadelphia anyway, coping with the cold and snow on the ground, on a mission to see Eleanor's grandfather.  But his denunciation of false stories about his friend Charles Vane to a wide-eyed young woman, and her response that the truth is less captivating, was just perfect.

Also in Philadelphia, the revelation that Eleanor's grandmother wields the power was a good twist, and consistent with the ease of power exercised by her granddaughter.  And it also sets one of the powerful pieces against Flint, with Rackham off to kill him against all odds.  History says Rackham won't survive and Stevenson says Flint will, but you never know.

And Rackham is just one of the big players now suddenly arising in an alliance against Flynt.  Billy and Rogers are now working to together towards this end, and even Long John could (but likely won't) pivot away from Flynt.  Madi surviving has changed Long John again (a reader pointed out to me that in Treasure Island, Long John is said to be married to a woman of "color," so it looks like Stevenson's story holds sway again as a postscript to Black Sails).  As we see in coming attractions, if Flynt's plan to rescue Madi doesn''t succeed, then Billy's plan to use Madi to divide Flynt and Long John may well pay off.  (But there was something thrilling in hearing Flynt talk about "sacking Boston," wasn't there?  Or maybe that's just me as a New York Yankee fan talking.)

But back to Jack - that kiss he gave Ann sure looked final, didn't it?  I hope not, but ...

See also: Black Sails 4.1: "True Friends and Mortal Enemies" ... Black Sails 4.2: Bones vs. Flint ... Black Sails 4.3: Decisive Victories and Losses - On Both Sides ... Black Sails 4.4: Chess Game ... Black Sails 4.5: Bold Moves ... Black Sails 4.6: Spanish Horsemen with Lances

See also Black Sails 3.1: Restored ... Black Sails 3.2: Flint vs. Sea ... Black Sails 3.3: Gone Fishin' ... Black Sails 3.4: Mr. Scott's People ... Black Sails 3.5: Alliance ... Black Sails 3.6: The Duel ... Black Sails 3.7: The Blackening of John Silver ... Black Sails 3.8: Whether Vane? ... Black Sails 3.10: Wither Vane ... Black Sails Season 3 Finale: Throckmorton

And see also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood ... Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining ... Black Sails 2.3: "I Angered Charles Vane" ... Black Sails 2.4: "Fire!" ... Black Sails 2.5: Twist! ... Black Sails 2.6: Weighty Alternatives, and the Medium is the Message on the High Seas ...Black Sails 2.7: The Governor's Daughter and the Gold ... Black Sails 2.9: The Unlikely Hero ... Black Sails Season 2 Finale: Satisfying Literate and Vulgar

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

Black Sails 4.6: Spanish Horsemen with Lances

The best scene in the powerful, game-changing, battle-packed Black Sails 4.6 was the Spanish horsemen with lances attacking Long John's encampment.   You think of lances as the Middle Ages, and Black Sails takes place in the 1700s, so the scene was surprising but historically accurate - the best kind of scene in an historical drama.

And the human drama in all of this was at its peak.  Eleanor's death was also a shocker, but karmic repayment both for her betrayal of Vane and for her husband's brutality and inviting the Spanish to scourge "his" island of the pirates.   That's a lot of bad karma to repay.  But I still felt a little bad for Eleanor as she ferociously defended herself, and then died on the sand in Flynt's arms.

Madi was a different matter.  She deserved nothing other than to live a happy life with Long John Silver.   Her death was mercifully quick, but far more unacceptable than Eleanor's, bringing exquisite grief to good people like Long John and the Maroon Queen.

In a crucial scene near the end of the episode, Long John tells Flynt that he doesn't blame him for Madi's death.  Flynt made a tough call - had he not gone after the Spaniards, they would have indeed brought an unstoppable force back to the house.  But by leaving Eleanor and Madi without his protection, he understandably feels guilty about their deaths,

What's left of the pirates (probably including even Billy) will now be united against Woodes Rogers. Max's plan to enlist Eleanor's grandfather can give them the requisite numbers to beat the Spanish. Black Sails is ending with a bang.

See also: Black Sails 4.1: "True Friends and Mortal Enemies" ... Black Sails 4.2: Bones vs. Flint ... Black Sails 4.3: Decisive Victories and Losses - On Both Sides ... Black Sails 4.4: Chess Game ... Black Sails 4.5: Bold Moves

See also Black Sails 3.1: Restored ... Black Sails 3.2: Flint vs. Sea ... Black Sails 3.3: Gone Fishin' ... Black Sails 3.4: Mr. Scott's People ... Black Sails 3.5: Alliance ... Black Sails 3.6: The Duel ... Black Sails 3.7: The Blackening of John Silver ... Black Sails 3.8: Whether Vane? ... Black Sails 3.10: Wither Vane ... Black Sails Season 3 Finale: Throckmorton

And see also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood ... Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining ... Black Sails 2.3: "I Angered Charles Vane" ... Black Sails 2.4: "Fire!" ... Black Sails 2.5: Twist! ... Black Sails 2.6: Weighty Alternatives, and the Medium is the Message on the High Seas ...Black Sails 2.7: The Governor's Daughter and the Gold ... Black Sails 2.9: The Unlikely Hero ... Black Sails Season 2 Finale: Satisfying Literate and Vulgar

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 

Black Sails 4.5: Bold Move

The chess game intensified in Black Sails 4.5, with a truly bold move by Rogers: sail into Spanish Havana, and enlist the aid of England's sworn enemy, in an active state of war with England as almost always in those days, against the pirates in Nassau.

At this point there's no point in consulting real history, which tells us the Spanish did indeed try to conquer Nassau at various times, if not precisely this one.   For Rogers, it's a dangerous but logical move - the most or only reliable way of crushing the pirates for good.

The scene on the beach with Rackham and Flynt was excellent, too.   In this narrative, Rackham has in effect lived so he can deliver that crucial message to Flynt: there's no way, given the blood lust that Rackham has witnessed first hand in Rogers, that the Governor could accede to Eleanor's deal, as much as he does love his wife.

And so a battle of battles is shaping up in Nassau.  Flynt was even concerned that the pirates could beat the English.   They certainly can't beat the fleet of Spanish ships of war that are approaching the harbor.

The only question left is who will live and who will die in this battle.  Again, real history and Robert Louis Stevenson have given some of the major characters a lease on life (that's how I knew that Billy wouldn't be killed Sunday night).   On the other hand, who will complain if Black Sails takes a liberty here and there?

I'm awaiting the next episodes.

See also: Black Sails 4.1: "True Friends and Mortal Enemies" ... Black Sails 4.2: Bones vs. Flint ... Black Sails 4.3: Decisive Victories and Losses - On Both Sides ... Black Sails 4.4: Chess Game

See also Black Sails 3.1: Restored ... Black Sails 3.2: Flint vs. Sea ... Black Sails 3.3: Gone Fishin' ... Black Sails 3.4: Mr. Scott's People ... Black Sails 3.5: Alliance ... Black Sails 3.6: The Duel ... Black Sails 3.7: The Blackening of John Silver ... Black Sails 3.8: Whether Vane? ... Black Sails 3.10: Wither Vane ... Black Sails Season 3 Finale: Throckmorton

And see also Black Sails 2.1: Good Combo, Back Story, New Blood ... Black Sails 2.2: A Fine Lesson in Captaining ... Black Sails 2.3: "I Angered Charles Vane" ... Black Sails 2.4: "Fire!" ... Black Sails 2.5: Twist! ... Black Sails 2.6: Weighty Alternatives, and the Medium is the Message on the High Seas ...Black Sails 2.7: The Governor's Daughter and the Gold ... Black Sails 2.9: The Unlikely Hero ... Black Sails Season 2 Finale: Satisfying Literate and Vulgar

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