“Our Flag Means Death”: Working with the murderous pirate chief

HBO Max recently launched a new series from Taika Waititi, “Our Flag Means Death.”

If you like “What We Do in the Shadow”, then this show is definitely not to be missed. The former is so funny about vampires, and the show is so funny about pirates.

The story takes place in the early 18th century.

Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner, suffered a mid-life crisis and was tired of his mediocre wealthy life, so he bought a boat, recruited a group of pirates, and became a pirate chief.

But Stede didn’t really want to rob and kill, he just thought about the addiction of pirates. But his group of pirates soon couldn’t stand it and threatened to rebel.

Related Post: HBO Max Announces Renewal of “Our Flag Means Death” Season 2.

Stede had to promise them and let them rob. But Stede is dumbfounded again when the killing and violence are in sight.

Historically, Stede Bonnet was known as a “gentleman pirate”, but as a hilarious comedy, this drama is of course a major adaptation.

Just as “What We Do in the Shadow” is an atypical “family comedy,” this show is an atypical “workplace comedy.”

Stede, who is weak in nature and just wants to experience a “crime-free” pirate life, is not a respected boss.

Either he has to work hard, killing and robbing against his conscience, or he will not only be ridiculed by his subordinates, but may even be killed.

Speaking of which, apart from the bizarre setting of pirates, this drama is actually a more typical “workplace comedy” routine.

A new boss, a group of unconvinced subordinates, will encounter difficulties together every episode. In the end, the subordinates gradually discovered the shining point of this incompetent boss and became a united small team.

It’s just that this group of people in this play has a special “work” situation. They are a group of pirates.

Therefore, like the general “workplace comedy”, this play also has a group of different characters, and this group of characters with different personalities creates comedy conflicts.

Of course, although the protagonists are a group of pirates who kill without blinking, it doesn’t really make them “bad guys”.

Like “What We Do in the Shadow”, the protagonists are generally a group of “incompetent” people who prevent them from doing really bad things.

Every time there is a strange coincidence that allows them to avoid danger while doing nothing bad, and the comic effect is also like this.

However, unlike “What We Do in the Shadow”, where the story focuses entirely on the protagonists, in this show, Stede Bonnet is only one of the protagonists.

His foe, the infamous Blackbeard, is another major protagonist.

The appearance of Blackbeard’s character immediately takes the series into a new dimension, and it’s no longer just a workplace comedy with a bizarre setting.

This is a comedy story with a mysterious mainline and layers.

As Blackbeard and Stede face off, the two seemingly opposite characters slowly reveal a similar past, making several characters more three-dimensional.

Moreover, compared with several characters in “What We Do in the Shadow”, there are no consequences for the accidental mishaps.

In the first episode, after Stede accidentally murdered, his conscience has been condemned. This group of pirates face their inner wounds directly is a major feature of the show, which also makes the show more profound.

Overall, “Our Flag Means Death” is a pretty special comedy, and it’s worth watching.

HBO Max also broadcasts relatively refreshingly, with three episodes in each of the first two weeks, and two episodes in each of the next two weeks.

Related Post: “Our Flag Means Death”, an interesting journey of a group of rabble on the island.