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Reviews
Our Flag Means Death: Mermen (2023)
Beautiful, heartbreaking epic finale
Man, the feels! This episode was at once lovely and heartbreaking. What an ending!
Zheng's ships are blown up by the villainous Ricky, out for revenge after Stede and Co left him in the hands of a pissed off Jackie (his own damn fault).
Ed, now a crap fisherman (for all of one day), gets kicked out of the camp and heads back to town, only to discover everything destroyed. He assumes Stede and Co were all killed by the British Navy. He dons his leathers again and goes on a killing spree to avenge his family. But then he sees Stede and nothing else matters. They are reunited and confess their feelings. It's swoon worthy, y'all.
The crew confronts the soldiers, who have taken over and destroyed Jackie's. They kill them all except Ricky, and don the corpses' clothes, with the thoughts of getting back to the ship.
But Ricky pulls one last betrayal and they barely survive.
Unfortunately, the one they lose is Izzy. But not before he and Ed have a loving, heartfelt goodbye.
It sucks that Izzy's dead. He went from villain to hero in just 8 episodes and I was excited to see where they'd go with this character. New love? A love triangle? He and Wee John? (although he also had moments with Fang, Frenchie and Lucius). So much more story to tell.
Having said that, last season was about the dream of piracy. The adventures and glamor. This season was about the stark reality of it. The brutality and death. So of course we were going to have to lose someone. Other than Ed and Stede, who are endgame, it had to be someone of high stakes. Izzy made the most sense in it's impact on the crew, and with his story coming full circle (redeemed and loved in the end). Others would've had less impact or seemed even crueler (tearing apart Pete and Lucius, for example). So, it sucked, but it also made sense.
Having said that, David is quoted as saying there is no season without Izzy, so if Buttons came become a seagull, Izzy can be a ghost and haunt Stede and Ed.
Even as we cried, we got a lovely gift of Stede and Ed deciding to give up piracy and open a ramshackle inn together (a theme throughout the season, but Ed hinted in S1 as well). They get their "happy" ending, albeit with a lot of work ahead.
We can only get Ghost Izzy and Innkeepers Ed and Stede if we get a S3.
So, please, help www dot renewasacrew dot com.
Our Flag Means Death: Man on Fire (2023)
Penultimate episode leading to epic finale
Man, this was a complicated episode. It starts off so lovely, with Stede and Ed just enjoying each other in the afterglow of their night together. Ed even decides to throw his leathers overboard and change into Buttons' old clothes, to finally realize he is meant to be Ed, not Blackbeard.
But then...the gang leave the ship to go to the Republic of Pirates. And to Jackie's.
No one feels safe, but Jackie welcomes them with open arms after it's discovered that Stede killed the notorious Ned Lowe (the torturer from Ep 6). He and the gang get a hero's welcome.
Ed begins to realize that Stede's star is on the rise, and that he's loving the notoriety. Stede admired Blackbeard and wanted to be more like him. Ed admired Stede's genteelness, and wanted to be more like him. Now they are finally together, but at odds. Ed is ready to leave piracy and carve out a quiet life for he and Stede. But Stede is basking in the glory of his adventures.
It all comes to a head when Ed blurts out that their night together was a mistake and that he's leaving to become a fisherman. Stede is hurt and shocked, but let's Ed go.
I personally think this is because Stede knows they are meant to be together and that they'll reunite. It's why he let's him go for now.
Our Flag Means Death: Calypso's Birthday (2023)
Best episode of the entire season!
A perfect episode! They crammed so much into 30 minutes!
The gang together and happy!
A party!
A sadistic torturer out to harm the gang, but taken down by Stede!
WEE JOHN AND IZZY IN DRAG!
Izzy singing La Vien Rose in English and French!
ED & STEDE HOOKING UP!
Fang got a pet!
It was funny, it was scary, it was sad, it was sexy, it was simply put, just a gorgeous episode. Everything you want television to be.
Con O'Neill absolutely owned the episode and that's saying something. He's a gift to the world .
And I cackled over Roach enjoying the torture because he's a maniac. Viva la Roach.
A full 10/10 for this episode. Perfect. No notes.
Our Flag Means Death: Fun and Games (2023)
The Boys Are Back!
MY BOYS ARE BACK!!!!
Ed may hate Stede, but they're back in the same room. The humor was back and man, I laughed and cried. From the headbutt, to the shock of the bunny getting gone, to Anne and Mary's toxic love, every note was pitch perfect. I loved seeing them unite over Anne & Mary being awful to each other.
BUTTONS BECAME A SEAGULL!! Will he and Livvie give it a go?!?
Izzy is becoming more loveable per episode and I am the absolute last person who ever thought I'd see the day. Con O'Neill is stunning in his scenes of desolation, anger, humiliation, despondency, determination, humility, kindness and strength. He's had the biggest arc of all and we're only 4 eps in! Go Izzy!!!!
Our Flag Means Death: The Innkeeper (2023)
Jeff the InnKeeper
Oh wow, the twist of the gravy basket being in Ed's head! I thought he really was captured by Hornigold! Great twist! Love that he keeps using the name Jeff.
While some people want to laugh at Stede the Goldfish Merman, I honestly thought it was beautiful and the music was perfect. Taika and Rhys blew it out of the park. Interesting that even in anger and supposed hatred, Ed still leaned towards Stede in the water.
Our boys are back in the same room together! It can only go up from here!!! I cannot WAIT to see the reunite and work it through.
The cinematography, costumes, makeup, etc. Are just top tier. Filming in NZ has added SUCH a gorgeous layer to the show.
Our Flag Means Death: Red Flags (2023)
Zheng is the best pirate ever!
Oh MAN! Susan the Soup Seller was Zheng!!! She's so badass and funny and compassionate! I LOVED HER SO MUCH!!
AND SWEDE BECAME HUSBAND NUMBER 20!!! (Although if Jim killed Husband 20, and Gerardo died last season, then he should've been husband 19, so she must've taken on another husband off screen).
I did question Olu messing up the filing and war map. The man could clearly read if he was looking at the back of Blackbeard's wanted poster. And he'd know enough to know what the little pieces on Zheng's map meant. So I wondered if that was intentional to throw them off the scent of the Revenge to protect Jim?
Ed has gone too far, but I love him and have hope.
More Zheng, please! Even if she hates Olu!
Our Flag Means Death: Impossible Birds (2023)
Even more unhinged that I expected
We were left last season knowing Ed was heartbroken and Stede was determined to find him. I did NOT expect Ed to become so unhinged. But man, did he look great doing it! Loved the new look of the Revenge Crew. Loved the addition of Archie.
And I absolutely LOVED the change in Izzy. To make him an instant sympathetic character after last season's antics, was as refreshing as it was surprising.
I hated to see Ed take such a dark turn, but I have no doubt that our boys will reunite and he'll become himself again. He couldn't be this angry if he didn't love just as strong.
A great start to the new season. I'm so excited to see where it all heads!
Our Flag Means Death: Act of Grace (2022)
It's a Romance, not a Bromance
Don't let anyone article lie to you and make you think this is JD and Turk or Chandler and Joey-level bros, just hanging out.
THIS. IS. A. ROMANCE.
Thanks to feckless Izzy and roping in Jack and Badminton, Stede and Ed are captured by the Royal Navy. Badminton wants Stede dead for his role in his brother's death, but Ed pulls a card out of his (redacted) to save them both.
They get sent to a privateering academy to become British soldiers. Who cares? That's not remotely important.
What's important is that THE SCENE THAT WAS HEARD AROUND THE WORLD happens. You know the one.
It is EVERYTHING. It is worth the wait. It is life.
If only the episode ended there.
Our Flag Means Death: We Gull Way Back (2022)
The Infamous Calico Jack
Poor Will Arnett. Great actor. Loved him in the Lego movies and that Netflix detective show. But unfortunately for him...he's so good as skeevy, sleazy, dirty, disgusting, '70s pornstached partier, that I now HATE Will Arnett. I will never be able to see him in anything again without smelling Calico Jack Rackham's beer burps and BO in my mind.
Ed's thrilled to see his old partying buddy, but Stede is ready to chew his own arm off to escape the shenanigans.
A couple of twists in the end of this episode, and the single greatest use of a rock song in television ever. You'll know exactly which one I'm talking about.
Be on the lookout for the foot touch.
Our Flag Means Death: This Is Happening (2022)
The funniest scene of the series
This one ties for me as my favorite episode, along with Ep 5 (the boat party ep).
Stede fears Ed is going to move onto to his next adventure and leave Stede behind, so he hatches a plan to get him to stay longer. He decides to make a day of treasure hunting, while the crew is stopped in St. Augstine for oranges (look, Swede is losing his teeth to scurvy, Roach needs to defend his 40 orange glaze cake recipe, and Jim needs to confess some things to her nana).
The "Snake Snackery" scene is some of the funniest dialogue every filmed. You have to see it to believe it. Everyone is pitch perfect in this episode, but that scene alone should earn the show an Emmy.
Our Flag Means Death: The Art of F**kery (2022)
Heartfelt and Hilarious
The guys get wind of a Dutch ship due to pass by and decide to create a ruse to trick them into coming aboard, so that they can test their skills as pirates and turn the tables on them.
Izzy decides that this is the time that Edward needs to live up to his promise of learning from Stede and then getting rid of him, but taking his ship. Only, ever since Stede rescued Ed from those posh knobs at the boat party, Ed has grown too fond of Stede to harm him.
This is also an episode with some heartfelt confessions, that make you fall in love with these 2 even more.
A stellar episode that starts to really cement what Ed and Stede mean to each other.
Our Flag Means Death: The Best Revenge Is Dressing Well (2022)
The Best Episode of the Season?
This one takes place off-ship and is almost a one-off in terms of overall arc, but oh man, what a madcap, delirious, hilarious, awful nightmare this is!
As Ed teaches Stede about piracy, so Stede teaches Ed about how "the other half" lives. They find an invite to a fancy boat party and Ed is eager to attend. Stede warns them that everyone there will be condescending and awful, but Ed wants a chance to try out his new social skills, and of course Stede is going to relent for his BFF.
Well, it goes as predictably wrong as Stede feared. But man, oh man, do Godfrey and Jeff the Accountant make a fine pair!
Best line of the season in this episode. This is where a lot of us said, "AHA!!!"
Our Flag Means Death: Discomfort in a Married State (2022)
The chemistry is off the charts
THIS is the episode that really shoots us into the rest of the season. Stede and Blackbeard finally have a conversation! They swap clothes! They share marmalade! They giggle! Edward "MF'ing Blackbeard" Teach giggles! We see what an absolute dork he actually is, and how he's been drifting along on his reputation alone. He's bored, he's lonely, he's sad, and he meets this sack of sunshine in the form of the foppish, clueless, delighted and delightful Stede Bonnet. What's not to instantly love? Plus, did I mention the damn good marmalade?
The show really gels here and everyone comes together to shine.
Our Flag Means Death: A Gentleman Pirate (2022)
THE EPISODE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!
This is the first full appearance of Blackbeard, and it might be the sexiest, badass, rock n roll entrance in a TV show ever.
It's hilarious to see the moment he meets "broken jar of Miracle Whip" Stede and rescues him.
Their chemistry is instant. The show really starts crackling with with and snark and heart and silly humor.
This is where we start to realize we're watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail meets The Princess Bride, meets Muppet Treasure Island. Best of all absurd worlds.
It's all gravy from here on out. If you heard about their great bromance, no you didn't. You're in for a huge, wonderful surprise.
Our Flag Means Death: A Damned Man (2022)
They had it coming...they only had themselves to blame
Ok, look. It's not entirely Stede's fault he got captured by the indigenous islanders. Well, okay, maybe he shouldn't have run his ship aground and then told his crew to take a vacation. Like Dowager Countess Violet was quick to say, "What is a weekend?"
I mean, Roach just wanted to torture the prisoners lightly, and was nice enough to let them have some privacy to pee in the jungle. How was he to know they'd run off?
And Izzy really had no right to just go and steal them out from under Stede! That just isn't done!
Glimpses of Blackbeard make this episode a delight. You know he's crazy and badass...and fascinated by Stede.
Eps get better and better as they go.
Our Flag Means Death: Pilot (2022)
What a amazing opening!
What a amazing opening! The costumes, the set design, the music, the lighting, the acting and writing! Top notch.
I've loved Rhys Darby forever. And I'd watch Taika Waititi read the phone book. But made me tune in to begin with was Samba Schutte talking about the show. I'm so glad I did!
Great beginning to introduce us to this weird world with its weird people Loved it.
From Stede Bonnet's pompous buffoonery to the bitchy attitudes of most of the crew; to Izzy chewing the scenery and Buttons preventing a mutiny, the gonzo story went at a fast clip and kept me riveted. The show only gets funnier as it goes.
The Tiger Hunter (2016)
Go see this darling film!
I've seen this movie three times and laughed out loud every single time. Lena Khan's directorial debut is a revelation. Funny, touching, absurd, heartwarming and sentimental, this hits all the right notes. A feel good movie that'll leave you smiling.
Danny Pudi is charming as Sami, an engineer who heads to America to make a name for himself, so that he might live up to the legend of his father, the great tiger hunter, and also woo his childhood sweetheart Ruby. Karen David sparkles as the best friend/object of Sami's desire. You believe their friendship is real and their chemistry leaps off the screen.
Jon Heder and Kevin Pollack turn in fantastic performances as "coworkers" at Sami's depressing job (he works in the basement, drafting designs all day for a failing microwave business). But the real star amongst the dozen sidekicks is Babu, played with crackling glee by Rizwan Manji. Babu is the id of the movie, a cheerful immigrant living the American dream with his General Lee car and his "fiancée" Mary Tyler Moore. Babu is every college student moving out for the first time, into an apartment with their best friend (or 13), dead broke, but full of hope and excitement.
Seeing this film not only reminds you of how much immigrants have made the US what it is, but it also hearkens back to a time when the American dream seemed tangible, romantic, and possible. Frankly, the world needs more Samis, Rubys, Babus, Alexes, Kareems, Rehans, Vikrams, Abdullahs,Parags and Siddeshes.