Spoilers ahead! Be prepared to sail the seas on The Revenge through the second season of Our Flag Means Death!
On Oct. 26, 2023, the second season aired its finale, with two episodes premiering every Thursday after three episodes initially being released on Oct. 5. Inspired by the true story of Stede Bonnet sailing with Blackbeard during the Golden Age of Piracy, Our Flag Means Death is a romantic comedy with all the queer pirate representation you could dream of.
As modern TV shows often go through a phase of wondering if they’ll be renewed for another season, it has to be questioned if the ending of the last released season would really be a proper ending for the whole show. After all, it may not be renewed, right? Our Flag Means Death currently faces this dilemma, with a third season not being confirmed as of yet.
Season Two ends with Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard (Taika Waititi), more commonly known as Edward Teach, or just Ed, becoming innkeepers together. After a long season of back and forth between the two, a continuation from Season One, the two are finally happy in a stable relationship, though Stede and Ed aren’t the only ones to go through many changes during this season.
Regarding relationships, Oluwande (Samson Kayo) and Jim (Vico Ortiz) take a romantic split while still remaining close friends, as Oluwande pairs up with Zheng Yi Sao (Ruibo Qian) and Jim takes a liking to Archie (Madeleine Sami). Lucius (Nathan Foad) and Black Pete (Matthew Maher) get married, and Spanish Jackie (Leslie Jones) even joins the crew of The Revenge, having taken The Swede (Nat Faxon) as her twentieth husband. Unfortunately, Izzy Hands (Con O’Neil), a previous pain in the neck turned lovable in Season Two, died in the final episode.
With so much action being packed into only eight episodes, which was likely due to the actors’ strike, the story felt a bit rushed at times, especially towards the end. Though this season was rushed and naturally does not compare to Season One, which was two episodes longer, it remains an enjoyable watch as the relationships between the pirates grow.
Season Two is reminiscent of Season One in it’s antics with the crew of The Revenge, most notably in Episode 6, “Calypso’s Birthday,” where the crew goes all out in throwing a birthday party for Calypso, an excuse to throw a party on a ship at sea, just for fun.
In regards to another season, Gray Lopez, a senior, believes it to be unlikely. “It seems like all the stories have been concluded,” they said. However, if there was a third season, they would not be opposed to watching it.
Junior Eli Markey, who had watch parties for the first and last episodes of Season Two with Gray, disagrees with this sentiment, believing that there should absolutely be a third season. He stated, “I need to know what happened to Buttons, and who’s the new captain of The Revenge.”
Buttons, who served to be comedic relief in the original crew of The Revenge, magically turned into a bird early into the season. As well, Stede, the previous captain of The Revenge, has seemingly retired from sailing the seas with Ed. Eli said that he would also like to see how Stede and Ed would possibly run an inn together.
For Gray, their favorite part of Our Flag Means Death is the representation of all the LGBTQ+ characters in the show, who were portrayed beautifully and complexly, like real queer people that the viewers could relate to. This type of representation is incredibly important, especially for young queer people who need to see themselves represented in the media, unlike many other shows that utilize “queerbait”— a marketing technique that hints at, but never explicitly depicts, queer romance or other LGBTQ+ representation, with the sole purpose of keeping people watching.
Eli also shared that Our Flag Means Death was one of the first shows that he’s seen with clear diversity, which isn’t hidden behind a metaphor. Along with that, he loved that the show didn’t revolve entirely around romance, but it followed a story of pirates who just happened to be gay.
The consensus for this season is that Season One is more favored, but Season Two of Our Flag Means Death has still exceeded expectations. The growth of Stede and Ed, separately and together, as well as the growth of other characters, offers a different experience from Season One, but is heartwarming nonetheless.
So, should there be a third season of Our Flag Means Death? Of course, it’s a show about the lives and adventures of queer pirates who go through unique yet relatable struggles. But, if this was the end for Our Flag Means Death, it would not be the end of the world.
