Our Flag Means Death

2020s tv comedy series

Land owner Stede Bonnet abandons his family to fulfill his dream of becoming a pirate. He gathers a crew of misfits and sets sails for the adventure.

In 18th century Caribbean, aristocrat and land owner Stede Bonnet abandons his family to fulfill his dream of becoming a pirate. He puts a lot of money into building his ship, Revenge, gathers a crew full of misfits as him and sets sails for the adventure. Of course he has to learn the hard way what pirate life is really all about, but at least he is keen to learn. Unfortunately he stumbles upon a British ship that so happens is under command of his former chum, Nigel Badminton, who used to bully him in school. One thing leads to another and Badminton ends up dead and Bonnet proves to his crew he could be a real pirate.

There are two things that can be said about this HBO production: it was original (American comedy series seldom delve into history) and it was done with a lot of effort. And for what is worth it is an above average comedy series for HBO standards. Unfortunately most of the HBO comedy series starts on decent level and quickly sinks into mediocrity and this one is no exception.

While the first two episodes were fresh and original, after Blackbeard becomes a main character Our Flag Means Death moves from comedy to mid-life crisis themed almost drama series. With each episode the crew that could have insert some comic relief becomes just the background, while two main characters, Bonnet and Blackbeard, spent lots of time talking about life regrets, plans for the future, etc.

Just as both of them sink into mid-life crisis the series was sinking into identity crisis - it wanted to be comedy, drama, story about bonding, dealing with childhood trauma, gritty backstories, satire on modern society, goofy characters, but also heavy-handedly introduced gay themes. The premise was good, the atmosphere was good, but somewhere in the middle Our Flag Means Death wandered intro too many directions at the same time.

Rating	5.2
Funny	4 / 10
Entertaining	4 / 5
Characters	3 / 5
Nonrepetitive	2 / 5