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“Black Sails” recap (2.6): She Ran into My Knife

Previously on Black Sails, Flint kissed a boy and he liked it, Hornigold sort of forced Flint’s hand about storming the fort, Jack picked Max over Anne when his new crew gave him an ultimatum, Silver held Billy hostage, Vane held Abigail Ashe hostage, and Mrs. Barlow had an idea that could very well save Nassau.

When we last left Nassau, Vane had just launched himself at Flint, knife in hand, and that’s exactly where we pick up again this week. They tumble and fight until Eleanor comes in and fires her rifle.

Eleanor looks at both of these men, her men, and tells them that if they don’t man up and handle this like mature adults, she’s going to fire two warning shots into their heads. Flint slumps into a seat and invites Vane to do the same but Vane still has hatred coursing through him. Flint tells Vane that he’ll call off storming the fort if Vane gives him Abigail Ashe, which shocks both Vane and Eleanor. Eleanor says she’s disappointed that he’d back down so easily for a sum of money but Flint says Abigail is worth so much more than her ransom, she’s worth the future of Nassau.

Meanwhile, Captain Jack Rackham has finally set sail again. He delights in the feeling of the ocean spray on his face and the lack of women in his ears. They were following a lead from Max, and luckily for everyone involved, the lead pans out and a ship appears right where she said it would. However, as soon as Jack yells out his orders, another set of sails appears.

Back on Nassau, one of Flint’s men says he can’t stand waiting around anymore, he just has to go see his favorite whore, Charlotte, and his buddy promises to cover for him. Hornigold is also getting antsy but before he can start a revolution, Dufresne sees Billy Bones stumble back to camp. His brothers are happy to see him and he looks overwhelmed but glad to be home.

Across the island, Mr. Guthrie and Mrs. Barlow join Eleanor, Vane and Flint in the Consortium Room.

Flint tells them all about his idea to use Abigail as the key to open the door to everything they dreamed; a version of Nassau that lets them control their own futures, that lets them name their own governor, that lets them call the shots. He believes this can all be accomplished by using Abigail Ashe to get her father Peter as an ally.

Eleanor points out that Peter Ashe is the founding father and president of the He-Man Pirate Haters Club but Flint says that he and Peter were good friends once, friends who fought for this very goal. Mr. Guthrie agrees that if this plan works, Ashe would indeed be the very ally they needed to accomplish it, but Vane wants to know what’s in it for him. He can’t hold “the promise of a brighter future” in his hand, he can’t buy beer and whores with it, what good is it to him? Flint tells him to name his price, and Vane says he wants his Spanish warship. Eleanor says Flint barely has the ability to offer his ship, since it belongs to his crew too, but Vane has made his point, so he storms off.

Eleanor rushes after him, telling him not to just walk out on this opportunity, but Vane says she’s a smart girl, but she’s blind to all of Flint’s bullshit.

At the Inn, Idelle goes to see Max and is surprised to find her casually sifting through leads and not cowering under her bed with three armed men at her door. Max asks what on earth she’s talking about because Max does not cower, and Idelle explains that Anne Bonny has lost her damn mind. The LadyPirate went to the beach to try to be recruited onto another captain’s ship, but when he refused, she took out half his jaw.

Idelle asks why Anne is going crazy and yet Max is here unharmed, and Max says she’s not crazy, she’s adrift. She’s alone, abandoned, and hurt. Max doesn’t know what Anne will do next, but she knows Max won’t be hiding from her friend and sometimes-lover.

She won’t treat her like a rabid dog, she won’t act afraid. Max instructs Idelle to tell the girls to keep a safe distance and let her know when Anne gets back, but that she doesn’t want any guards anywhere near her.

Charlotte reports to Max and says her man came to see her and that it’s true they were strictly prohibited from going to the brothel, and wonders if maybe they should just drop it if it’s that important of a secret, but Max encourages her to just be patient and listen to what he has to say.

Flint thanks Mrs. Barlow for going to fetch Eleanor when she heard Flint and Vane fighting, but Mr. Guthrie interrupts this sweet moment with a heavy dose of reality. He says that the only problem he sees with Flint’s plan to get Peter Ashe on his side is how it can’t really play alongside his plan to seize the Urca gold. Flint isn’t one for rational thought once he has his heart set on something; he’s sure he can work both plans out.

Eleanor comes back and tells Flint that Vane agreed to the deal, and Flint says he doesn’t believe her for a second. She’s persuasive, but not THAT persuasive. Eleanor narrows her eyes and says she is guaranteeing the terms of the deal, and she is not accepting follow-up questions on the matter.

Out on the ocean blue, Captain Jack is almost done with his first successful pirate venture when the crew of the second set of sails they saw, boards. The captain of the other pirate crew introduces himself as Linus Harcourt of the Goliath. Rackham, sassy to a fault, makes fun of his choice of ship name. Harcourt takes it in stride and says they have three options. 1) The crews fight. Which, looking at the meager offerings of Rackham’s crew, wouldn’t be in our Mustachioed friend’s best interest. 2) The two captain’s fight, which also probably wouldn’t go too well. Or 3) they sit down and decide on terms of how to split the loot.

Back on the island, Flint asks Barlow if she’ll take him back when he returns from his adventures, and she says he’s not going alone. She wants to be part of Abigail’s return; she’s the only one who’s met the girl before, and it might guarantee she’s returned in higher spirits if a woman she’s comfortable with accompanies her on the journey. Besides, she’s as invested in this plan as anyone, and she’s tired of being on the sidelines. He actually likes this plan and agrees to take her with him.

At the Inn, Anne Bonny is brooding in a dark corner, her anger radiating off her in waves. She sees Charlotte and tries to growl information out of her. Charlotte is more keen to talk to Max, but Anne demands she confess what she learned.

Charlotte says that the gold is still out there somewhere and that Flint’s plan is to go back and get it, but Flint’s man didn’t tell her where exactly the gold was. Anne decides this is taking too long and takes matters into her own hands, storming into Charlotte’s room and threatening the information out of him with a knife. He doesn’t take her seriously though, a LadyPirate without a crew who was abandoned by two captains now, and this is the straw that breaks the Bonny’s back and she slits his throat. When Charlotte starts to panic about it, Anne gets all stabby with her.

Silver finds Flint and says Billy has been telling everyone he fell and Flint tried to save him, which surprised the crew, who had assumed Flint killed him. Flint finds Billy and offers his stunned ex-crew member a handshake and a hug. Hornigold comes over and asks what the hell is going on.

Back at the Inn, Max is going about her business when she sees Idelle panicking silently on the stairs and follows her up to Charlotte’s room.

Max’s face freaks out for a second but she stays calm. She sees Anne huddled in the dark next to the bed and sends Idelle away. She slowly approaches Anne, speaking of the consequences of these murders, saying she knows Anne knew them, and she knows why she did it. Max says she’ll protect Anne, that she’ll stand between Anne and those consequences. Everyone else in Anne’s life has let her down, has failed to protect her, but Max will never abandon her.

After all, Max knows what it’s like to be abandoned by someone who chose success over love.

Flint tells his men his plans and Hornigold is super sassy about it. He’s over Flint and his dictatorship and plans to petition to be the captain of his two combined crews, storm the fort, and then get the Urca loot himself. His campaign slogan will be Horni 4 Gold.

Eleanor goes to see Vane and tells him to sit down, shut up, and listen. She says they have a lot in common, so she knows that agreeing to this deal with Flint might feel like she’s asking him to weaken himself, to give up, but it’s not. Quite the opposite, in her opinion. Eleanor wants England to give them legitimacy, to make money like London makes money, to rule this island for once and for all. She asks him to do it for her, to do it with her.

Vane says she’s missing the point of his refusal. That she’s asking him to give up guaranteed money to hope England might give them what they already have. He grabs her and tries to literally shake some sense into her, saying she can either side with Flint and beg them to let her keep what she has, or she can side with Vane and keep their freedom by fighting for it, tooth and nail, day in and day out. It won’t be an easy or restful life, and it likely wouldn’t even be a long one, but it will be theirs.

Eleanor kisses him in response, but the look on her face says she didn’t mean that kiss as an agreement, as she let him believe it was.

Meanwhile, Mustachio Jack is having a tough time of his first go-round as captain. Captain Harcourt had written out his proposed split of the cargo, and while it was even by way of tonnage, it was less by way of value. Jack is pissed that this man is trying to play him and that there’s little he can do about it. Jack’s quartermaster suggests he takes the bad deal, that his men will understand; he was chosen as captain for Max’s leads, not for his skills as a pirate. But Jack sacrificed too much for this captaincy, he won’t have it go down with a bad deal on his first haul. He goes back to Harcourt and tells him as much, throwing wine in his face and starting a fight. After an awkward and ungraceful fight, Jack manages to nick Harcourt’s neck artery and the vicious captain dies.

Jack calls out to the crews, using his charm in his favor. He orders his men to untie the captured crew and asks them to join his ranks, making his crew bigger than Harcourt’s leftover men. He asks Harcourt’s men to send someone to step forward to negotiate with him now that they’re outnumbered, and someone does, sitting down for dealmaking round two.

On Nassau, Billy tells Dufresne that England is coming, that they think pirates are animals and that Flint’s plan might actually be the best one. Billy confesses that he didn’t escape capture, that the captain of the Scarborough let him free, offering him full pardons for himself and a handful of other men of his choosing if he turned Flint in. So Billy suggests that he and Dufresne support Flint insofar as he still seems relatively sane, and the second they see it going south, they have a rather favorable exit plan.

Flint is acting not-panicked about Hornigold’s plan to take over, and Silver tells him that’s okay because he’s panicked enough for the two of them. He happily reports that Flint is six up in the votes so far, but Flint says they need a margin of at least 20 if they have any hope of avoiding a revolt. Silver says his job of persuading votes would be a lot easier if he himself were convinced, and Flint assures him that the Urca gold is still his priority.

When Silver gets back to the camp, he finds out that one of Flint’s men went against the rules and decides to go fetch him before Flint finds out and goes insane. He asks the first whore he sees to speak to the madame, and is surprised at first to see that the madame is Max, but then again it does seem to make sense.

Silver asks after a pirate named Logan and Max’s face says this is happening a little faster than she had hoped.

She takes Silver to Charlotte’s room and starts spinning her tale about how everything will be okay but Silver can see right through her BS and asks her to tell it to him straight. She admits that she had planned on making up something about them falling in love and running away together but hadn’t gotten much further than that. Silver says that will work and gives her some details about Logan that will help make the lie believable. Max asks why Silver would help her, but Silver says it’s more self-preservation than anything; it’s better for everyone if no one finds out about this. He begs her to take care of the bodies quickly and discreetly and leaves.

Eleanor waits until Vane is in a deep post-coital slumber, steals his keys and sneaks into the dungeons. Vane can Flint-shame her into next Tuesday, Flint’s plan will get her what she wants, and she’s chosen this life over love once before. (Not that I think she loves Vane, not the way she loved/loves Max.)

Eleanor finds Abigail and introduces herself.

She tells Abigail that she’s no longer a hostage, and that she’s going to get her out of here, that she’s going to bring Abigail back to her father. Abigail is cautiously hopeful that this angel-faced woman is truly the end to her captivity.

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