DJariya

10 episode 3rd season

Starz already renewed this for a 4th season last summer.

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DJariya

Good start. Liked the brief introduction to Blackbeard. Ray Stevenson looks badass as him. Looking forward to his meeting with Vane.

Looks like Flint's kind of lost his mind. But I think he's out for blood against those who killed his friend and probably the only one who understood him. That opening attack where he shot that couple was hardcore.

Toby Stephens is really carrying this show. By the way, for those unaware he's in the new 13 Hours movie. Probably because Michael Bay directed it and is a producer on this show.

Ravenous

Ok so I have been eye balling this show for awhile. One of my favorite shows ever is ROME. Since I see Titus Pullo himself is coming out, I really want to see this show now. The previews have always looked great, but I have heard its more talking than action. Anyone wanna chime in and clue me in if ill like this? I really dont see how I cant when I love Rome, Spartacus, Vikings. This seems up my alley!

DJariya

Season 1 is a little slow. More talk than action.

Season 2 is balls out Pirate action and insanity.

hdnmickey

I recently binged the first two seasons so I could watch this one live and would highly recommend it. Definitely not for everybody given the language, violence, sex, nudity, and overall subject matter. But if a person doesn't rule out a show over those things I would expect they would get into it if they give it a fair shot.

It was great seeing Flint making them pay for what they have done. And Max's comment about not being able to handle and protect the gold in it's current form was intriguing.

CaptainMarvel

And Season 3 looks like it may be on track with Season 2.

This has rapidly become one of my favorite shows. Once they got past the "pirate show which featured almost no boats and piracy"'of season 1, things have beem great.

creekdipper

I had absolutely no idea that this was back on. Thanks, DJariya!

And now I'm going to avoid reading any more comments until catching up on the first episode of S. 3.

hdnmickey

No offense, but I never understand these comments. Given the show is one continuous story, it reminds me of all the times I have read complaints about how a movie had no character development. In series like Black Sails, GoT, Walking Dead, much of whole episodes, or parts of whole seasons, can be that character development. Since I binged it recently I can say that I believe all of S1 was paid off either by the end of S1, or during S2.

For example: I was always really bothered by all the time spent with Miranda Barlow. But given the full revealed truth about Miranda Barlow, and all that went down in London before S1 started, I don't think those last couple episodes have the impact they did without all that time spent there in S1.

CaptainMarvel

You can have character development without making things boring. They didn't strike the right balance in S1, IMO... with very little time actually spent out at sea. I suspect a large part of that was due to budget issues.

hdnmickey

Which would make sense if so much of the backstory was not about people that would never have any business to be out at sea other than a means of travel. I guess you would like the series more if they never showed what happens on land.

I can respect thinking it was boring, but it's pretty ridiculous IMO to expect to them to always be out at sea given the reality of the whole story they are telling. Even in season 3 there will be still the continuing story of what happens in Nassau and England. I would expect there to be more episodes where they might spend 5 minutes of the at sea, tops. And no ship to ship battles. Most of that life was spent at sea going from place to place, or on land.

CaptainMarvel

It would be great if you could maybe stop distorting what I'm saying to be all or nothing. Think you can manage that?

I generally enjoyed the show in Season 1, which is why I kept watching. And I'm fine with a certain amount of land based "intrigue" scenes. If you notice, I said I thought Season 2 was great, and they still spent a considerable amount of time on land with character development. I think the ratio of what you call "character development" to action (specifically piracy based action) was just a little off in Season 1, and they adjusted it for Season 2.

I certainly wasn't the only one who felt Season 1 was a little plodding, or that Season 2 was a stark improvement.

hdnmickey

Comments like this one is why i have responded the way I have. There is no certain amount. Unless they didn't pay it off, there was just as much as was needed to tell that backstory.

You're not, but I would be responding to them the same way to them. This is not personal. Season 2 was only as good as it was because you knew why they were doing what they were doing when the action did ramp up. Otherwise is one of those many action movies where people (including me) complain that there is no story, just a lot of mindless action.

Guess we'll just agree to disagree and enjoy the series.

CaptainMarvel

For reference, I went back to look at the old threads to make sure my recollection wasn't skewed. Some sample comments from other users from Season 1:





So while I'm happy that the character development has paid off, I still think they overdid it in season 1. The ratio of action to time spent in backrooms/bedrooms discussing things was just skewed. You can have character development and still not totally forego excitement.

Maybe the difference comes from the fact you binged it, so the down time was compressed? I did find another poster (who had been critical up until that point) who said:

I did find a post of mine saying it was my favorite show then on the air aside from True Detective. But I can't help but think back to the weeks they were stuck on the beach repairing the ship and thinking, "another week of this... are you kidding me?"

hdnmickey

Possibly a little. Difference being is that when things felt a little slow, or I frankly was getting disinterested (I couldn't stand the actress that played Barlow), I kept my mind centered on the idea that it could all make sense sense in the end and I was watching an elaborate backstory. Same with all the talking involving the Guthries and Vance/Rackham.

And IMO I was right, again YMMV and we'll just have to agree to disagree. I have not seen the other posts on the subject since I only just recently watched S1 and S2.

creekdipper

I believe that was my post highlighted above.

Sad reminder of the days when I was still allowed to have an ale or rum with my Black Sails.

VHS?

Waited too long for this to come back and first episode did not disappoint.
I get the feeling a lot of action and plenty of blood will be inserted into this season.

hdnmickey

Until a couple conflicts are resolved, sure. Then it's back to land locked setup for season 4.

creekdipper

Ray Stephenson!

davidh777

I've watched the first few episodes of season 1 and am glad to hear it picks up later.

hdnmickey

You should be warned that the description of S2 posted more than once in this thread is pure hyperbole. While there is certainly more action, including ship to ship battles, the vast majority of time is still spent on land with people either discussing politics or relationship issues. Wonder if these people that only want action also watch GoT.

davidh777

I do watch GoT, and one Black Sails scene of people talking at a table made me think of that. It's fine but takes me some time and work to understand the characters and what they're trying to do.

VHS?

There is no way I would be a fan if all it were was balls to the walls action and no story.
I'm good with the non action episodes. Too much action wears thin.

hdnmickey

What immediately made me think of GoT was the multiple pivotal scenes that took place in brothels.

Rex Fenestrarum

I guess my thoughts echo most of the others: season 1 was OK, but season 2 was awesome. Looking back on it, it seems like season 2 didn't have quite as much action as I'd remembered. But even if there was still a lot of talking in season 2, it seemed the stakes were higher, and things moved a bit faster.

My only real complaint about this show is that I can't understand a fucking word Zach McGowan says. His character should be named "Captain Mumbly McMumbleson".

hdnmickey

All because the abundance of setup in S1 was being paid off.