Summary
Our Flag Means Death has all the makings of a classic modern-day sitcom to rival The Office and Parks and Recreation. It effectively mixes heart and humor while promoting LGBTQ+ romances positively and respectably.
Taika Waititi’s impressive run in Tinseltown may have come to an abrupt end after the somewhat lackluster reactions to both of his last two movies, Thor: Love and Thunder and Next Goal Wins. But the quirky filmmaker’s unique brand of comedy still hits the spot in TV land.
This is evident in the highly entertaining second season of Our Flag Means Death, which he executive produces alongside series creator David Jenkins. This welcomed return expands upon the show’s first season with another charming batch of comical and surprisingly emotional installments to enjoy.
The second season opens with lovers Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard/Ed Teach (Taika Waititi) seemingly worlds apart after their dramatic break-up. This messy separation has left Stede feeling miserable and Ed heartbroken.
Although Ed has turned his heartache into violence. He drags his crew on a reckless bender as they raid countless ships, killing many innocent bystanders along the way. Ed channels his confused emotions into this dangerous endeavor, psychologically damaging his own shipmates in the process.
Elsewhere, Stede and his band of merry men hopelessly search for Ed and the crew of the Revenge, finding new employers in the meantime, whilst getting into plenty of mischief as you’d expect. And as always, Stede is joined by his gang of lovable misfits, who all get their own individual running gags and odd subplots to explore.
Ed’s crew are treated likewise, discussing the toxic work environment aboard Blackbeard’s ship and the devastating side effects of his dictatorship. But Ed and Stede’s rocky romance takes center stage for the most part. After all, this is the main event. Their complex relationship isn’t the only romance in the show, but it gets the most screen time and will once again connect the strongest.
The second season of Our Flag Means Death is just as hilarious and heartwarming as the first, while the writers find space to address the darker side of the pirating life and the emotional toll of all that plundering.
The show has a stylistic and iconic look, which works nicely with the power ballads and the witty one-liners. The series mines great laughs out of the character’s complex personalities and the harrowing situations that they find themselves in, but the show also digs deeper than most comedies.
This makes Our Flag Means Death stand out from the crowd, as the romances hit harder and the dark realities of the pirating business provide more hidden depths. The show can be touching and wholesome when it wants to be, which pushes the series into The Office and Parks and Recreation territory.
It’s an impressive return overall, one that will please fans and win over new viewers along the way. This blend of addictive humor and endearing humanity works wonders once again, while our leading men (Darby and Waititi) are just spellbinding, supported by a lovable crew of misfits.
