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“Black Sails” recap (2.1): A New Ship Sails

Previously on Black Sails, Flint went bananas looking for THE PAGE that would lead him to a Spanish treasure ship; his white whale. And he used his wild-eyed dreams and talk of riches like they’ve never known to rope Eleanor into helping him. Max used her own talk of dreams to convince Eleanor to run away with her, but that felt too much like giving up for Miss Guthrie. While trying to flee Nassau, Max got kidnapped and tormented by Captain Vane’s crew. Eleanor tried to save her, but Max resented her help and, much to Eleanor’s heartbreak, even blamed Eleanor. Max did, however, accept help from Anne Bonny, who stormed away at Max’s unspoken offer to thank her the way she used to thank Eleanor. Max joined LadyPirate Anne Bonny and Mustachio Jack in running the brothel she used to be employed at; an unlikely but kind of perfect trio.

We return to Nassau by way of the sea, where pirates board an eerily quiet, calm ship. The pirate captain boards, a man with a nasty scar running right through his now-white eye, and is told everything is theirs for the taking. He’s even given an inventory and directions to where the goods are stored. The kind captain tries to make small talk and Scarface reveals he’s new to Nassau. He asks if the rumors are true, if trade is managed by a teenage girl. To which I responded by looking up how old Hannah New is in a panic. (Don’t worry, she’s not a teenager. I knew she was around my age but TV teenagers are played by a combination of actual teenagers and 30-year-olds. It’s confusing.)

Anyway, to prove he isn’t here to break any stereotypes, (and because he saw something on the manifest he wanted to take without witnesses), Captain Scarface orders the crew, who was peacefully handing over their goods, to be murdered. The Captain is sorry not sorry and they take a woman as a living trophy.

Meanwhile, Flint tries to convince his ex-crew to take over a warship to get them closer to the gold they seek, which is scattered on an island now heavily guarded by said warship. He says two people need to go distract them, and that he’ll volunteer as tribute if it means they’ll start to trust him again. Silver jumps in and offers to go with him, though Flint looks mildly annoyed by the prospect.

Back on Nassau, Eleanor barges into Vane’s room and doesn’t flinch as the (very naked) woman who was just in bed with him leaves the room. Eleanor proceeds to rip Vane a new one because he is a member of her board now which means he has to show up at meetings; all meetings, not just as he chooses. Vane says he’s sorry, but she doesn’t want his apologies, she wants him to do what she fucking told him to do.

All she wants is to run a good business since her love life is fucked and her father’s a joke and she doesn’t even know who to trust anymore so this godforsaken trade management company is the thing she chose over Max, over love, over everything, and hell if she’s going to let him ruin it for her and make all her heartbreak be in vain (no pun intended). Vane tells Eleanor that her loyalties are skewed and that Flint might not even come back with his hypothetical treasure, and what if he kills Flint and splits the treasure with her? Would he be her hero then? But Eleanor ignores him and gives him a “fuck you” and also gives one to his latest conquest, just for good measure.

Out at sea, Flint expresses his disappointment in Silver’s choice to go with him, because he wanted a tiger not a weasel. Silver thought Flint had been planning to run away so he’s not exactly thrilled with the turn of events either. They swim to the warship and find the crew sleeping.

Throughout the episode, we see a pre-pirate Flint, chatting with men in bad wigs and talking of a Davy something-or-other who he heard might have a locker of some sort? Flashback Flint thinks that piracy is a necessary evil, and has no idea just how insane that evil would someday make him.

On Nassau, Mustachio Jack is jumped right after doing his…business by some really unhappy men who call him a “crew killer” and end up doing business of their own all over him. He trudges back to the brothel to find Anne Bonny with her careful eye on Max.

Though the bloody sight of her former quartermaster distracts her; she’s furious he was disrespected and offers to go kill a guy or seven for him, but he doesn’t want her help. Max comes over to offer a hand and Anne Bonny’s gay panic flares up and she yells at Max to GTFO. (Also she did kill her crew to save Max, which gave her and Jack bad names, so I suppose there’s also some regular guilt there, too.)

On the warship, Silver and Flint somehow manage to tiptoe around, steal a warning whistle, and kill the man in charge of the sails before waking the whole crew, fighting but bonding all the while.

Meanwhile Eleanor goes in to settle a dispute about a shipment and finds a quartermaster trying to sell goods from bloody barrels. Eleanor puts her foot down and says that they can repackage the goods because she’s not paying for their shit job at not killing people while they got their haul. The quartermaster tries to explain that his captain, Ned Low, will definitely not agree to that, but she wasn’t exactly making suggestions.

Eleanor’s next stop is the brothel, where she meets Jack and Max. Unfortunately it is not the romantic or sexually-charged reunion I was hoping for. Instead, Eleanor asks how a tip she gave one of the brothel customers ended up in the wrong hands, and Max boldly admits that she sold the tip that lead the kind captain’s surrendered crew to slaughter.

Eleanor scolds Max for interfering in her business. They have to live on this island together, a constant reminder of the romantic island of their own she turned down. She can’t also have Max messing with her business. It’s all she has left.

And there is no love lost between them; Eleanor is sharp with her words and clear with her warning.

Anne Bonny is FURIOUS. She thought she saved this helpless little waif from the evils of men and here Max is making deals behind their backs. Max tries to explain but Anne wasn’t asking her and would rather not be tortured by the sound of that sexy accent because it makes her feel things she would rather not feel so shut up already! Anne tells Jack that if Max tries to pull this again, she’ll take matters into her own hands.

On the warship, things look bleak for Flint and Silver, as they are vastly outnumbered. The pirates offer a deal to whoever gives them the scoop first, and the ever-charming Silver dishes on their names and their plan while Flint seethes. Silver is set free and given some gold, and halfheartedly apologizes to Flint before he scoots. But he doesn’t go far before swiping a gun and starting a fight; he may look like a weasel but he’s really just a sly fox. The rest of Flint’s crew hops on board and the warship is overcome.

At the brothel, Max stands outside Anne Bonny’s room and listens to her tear Mustachio Jack a new one.

When Jack comes out and sees her, he tells Max she’s better off avoiding Anne for a while but that there’s nothing to worry about. Max looks like she thought about thinking about maybe taking his advice, but as soon as he’s out of sight, Max slides into Anne’s room.

Max talks carefully, slowly, and tells Anne that she understands why she might hold some resentment for Max, but that she suspects there’s something more going on. She asks if Anne knows why she’s being so lashy, and reaches out to touch her, asking if there’s something deeper, more complicated going on under that hat of hers. As soon as Max’s fingers reach her arm, Anne bolts out of her chair and presses a knife to Max’s throat. Max doesn’t scream or flinch or try to run. Instead she holds her lips a breath away from Anne’s lips, moving closer almost imperceptibly.

She lightly brushes her lips against Anne’s lips, and when she finds her jugular still intact, she kisses her in earnest. Anne hesitates, but only for a heartbeat, then she kisses Max back, the blade she held between them falling to the floor.

Cut to Eleanor drinking alone and me feeling suddenly and tremendously guilty for having enjoyed the previous scene. Captain Scarface sidles up to Eleanor and tries to flirt, but Eleanor isn’t having it. He can’t buy her a drink because she owns the bar, and besides she doesn’t sleep with customers. Usually. He takes the rejection almost gracefully, but it’s because he wasn’t really there to bed her. He introduces himself as Ned Low and basically says that if she doesn’t pay him in full for his haul, as is, blood and all, she’s going to regret it. He basically admits that he’s a sociopath and she has to choose now to pay him in full or be his arch-nemesis. Eleanor plays it strong and holds her ground, kicking him out without agreeing to anything. But as soon as he’s gone she hangs her head, probably once more wishing she had chosen the easy thing, not the thing that means her life is a constant battle.

Flashback Flint meets a young Mrs. Barrow, and says that he’s about to go into a business rife with scheming and stealing and swashbuckling; Mrs. Barrow asks if he means piracy, but the young James McGrew (as Flint was known in his Royal Navy days) meant politics. Tomato tohmahtoh.

Present-day Flint asks Silver why he didn’t run away with the money when he had a chance, and Silver says he’s an excellent friend when the weather is fair, and the breeze is blowing in Flint’s direction these days. Silver wants to help Flint because he wants that Urca gold.

What did you think of the Season 2 opener, “IX”? How much does Eleanor yelling at Max feel like a stab in the heart? What do you think of “Maxanne”? What would Eleanor think? Help me process my feelings!

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