CaptainMarvel

I had forgotten about True Detective when I typed that.

Mordred

Loved this episode. Some interesting sea-action, and pretty interesting cliffhanger. Everything is starting to gel pretty well.

aktick

Good episode for you war mongers.

Kidding, I've enjoyed them all, this probably the most. I would think it'd be hard to get a bunch of cannons off another ship, glad they didn't make it too simple.

dex14

Not sure if I'm going to be around tomorrow, posting a day early.

DJariya

Watching part V right now and it's about damn time we got some action at sea. It's taken awhile, but things are coming together.

Maybe they were holding out on the pirate ship CG budget until later.

Eleanor's ego has really gotten inflated in the last few weeks.

DJariya

Damn, the battle at sea is really intense. Now this is really feeling like a pirate show. Lots of carnage.

at Dufresne, being a lowly bookkeeper, being involved in the attack and chewing off that guy's throat like a vampire.

Best episode of the season.

Mordred

Did no one watch this? The show gets better every episode. Not totally sure how they went from spotting sails on the horizon to suddenly being safe due to darkness, but whatever. I'll ignore it because pirates.

Just in case no one saw it yet:

~~ PAL ~~

Not that these are spoilers, but anyone who read Treasure Island and know its major characters would be aware who is or is NOT gonna make it on Black Sails. Unfortunately the suspense of this episode is lost to me due to that known info.

My conjecture based on the current pacing of the show, is that the first season is about the preparations. The second season will be the hunt. If they elect to make additional seasons it would deal with the consequences and fallout from the previous events that eventually set the table and lead to the novel.

creekdipper

My doubloon's on Black Dog. Well, maybe Ben Gunn to take it all.

starseed1981

Six episodes in and I've seen about 12 minutes of action in 5 hrs and 20 minutes. Bah. I don't know why I'm still watching this thing.

creekdipper

Funny...I've been really critical of the show (and the anachronistic dialogue still drives me up the wall...Hannah New's character is the worst offender), but finally caught up & watched Episodes 4, 5, & 6 in one sitting (well, with beer & bathroom break). I actually enjoyed it more this way since the story didn't drag out with the landlocked setting over a period of weeks.

Liked the sailing bit when they were trying to catch the ship. Didn't mind the smaller focus on the clerk during the battle scene, and liked the below-decks story.

Warming up to the show now & actually looking forward to VII. Out-of-time-period dialogue and all.

Josh-da-man

So far I'm only finding this okay-to-average.

I find that the plot is overly complex with all of the agendas, pirate politics, connections, relationships, and vendettas. There's a lot of stuff going on here for a show that just began, and the ensemble cast isn't particularly strong. Nobody really stands out and everyone just sort of blends into the background. There's a lot of shit going on here... I would compare it to Game of Thrones in that regard... but Game of Thrones has better writing and actors to carry the viewer along.

It's mildly interesting, but we'll likely cancel Starz once this is over.

Josh-da-man

This kind of a strange set-up, wherein it mixes real, historical pirates like Anne Bonny, Jack Rackham, and Charles Vane in with characters from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island.

I'm not sure if this is supposed to act as a prequel to Treasure Island, or if it's just some kind of mash-up. If it's set up as an actual prequel, then it's not difficult to figure out who's going to live and who's going to die.

The show also plays fast and loose with history; at the time this was taking place, Anne Bonny would have been twelve or thirteen, though she was probably part of Jack Rackham's crew at the time. The actress playing her looks a bit older than that.

~~ PAL ~~

Starz seemed to have marketed this as a prequel to Treasure Island, at least that's what I recalled when first reading about it.

It's fine for what it is. Despite knowing the outcome I came for the entertainment and their interpretation and journey toward that end. It's no different than watching shows featuring many other fictional or real historical figures. For dramatic effects they mostly play fast and loose with facts and timelines. Personally I just go with it.

Bill Needle

Same here. I treat the whole thing as a stand-alone fiction. There is enough to be distracted about and not to like as it is. That said, I thought the last two episodes were finally something worth watching. I'll stick it out at least to the end of this season.

dex14

creekdipper

The problem with 8-episode seasons: If you get too many conflicting plot lines involving multiple characters, you leave the viewers lukewarm since very little gets resolved.

Look at past historical theatrical epics that seemed really long at 3-4 hours and how much story got packed in (without characterizations suffering). I cannot fathom why a pirate series can't have a separate story that can be wrapped up each season while allowing for some ongoing plots to be continued in future seasons. That rewards the viewers for their loyalty while allowing for a somewhat satisfying conclusion if the show gets canceled. The cable model for shows such as Justified, Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, True Blood, etc have shown that most viewers like at least one major plot to be resolved each season. With only one episode left this year, can't see how Black Sails can pull that off since they haven't put out to sea to hunt the Orca yet. All of the main players are still standing even though a few circumstances have changed.

When *&%$ Jack #@*$ Rackham becomes the most *%@! interesting character (he's grown on me...I can relate to his frustration at the snail's pace & the short-sightedness of some of the leaders), the *%#$ show is in *$#! trouble from a #!@& writing angle, for #$&* sake.

dalbowski

^Agree. But it should be noted that the end of this episode was the two ships leaving port.

I highly doubt they take the ship next ep though. Maybe the final shot will be the ship on the horizon (leading to season 2's 8 episode sea battle ).

Maybe the crew mutinies against Flint? And then Billy shows up somehow.

I guess Vane plans on taking Nassau with his new crew.

I would have liked to have seen more with that Zangief-looking dude.

They buried Vane naked?

creekdipper

I kind of wondered when first seeing him if he was going to be Edward Teach.

They may have buried Vane naked, but they left him with a shovel.

Now I see what Eleanor found so interesting about him.

csant

Every time I see him I remember him from Shameless.

VHS?

I thought there was a baby elephant sneaking up behind him.

A lot of stories going on and to me it was like cramming too much into one season. At least we can look forward to more seasons. Here's to seeing next season with more action.

creekdipper

Maybe Bay just wanted to prove that he could produce a show with lots of diverging plot lines (even with Neil Marshall at the helm).

Now he can get back to doing what he does best in Season 2. "They blowed up...real good!"

dex14

Season finale. Will return for a 10 episode 2nd season.

I bailed on this... just wasn't into it and too much else to watch. If I have time over the summer I will marathon the 8 episodes... Or wait until a little before season 2 starts.

Ropes Pierre

ever since dubya left the Whitehouse, this satisfies my requirement for bush.

Axeramm

did not expect him to snap his neck like that.