Welcome to Spacing Out with BB and Jason, this week covering Our Flag Means Death Season one, Episode one pilot. Ye, welcome to spacy Now. I'm BB and I'm Jason, and today we will be discussing Our Flag Means Death. Before we start, you should know this podcast is being released on two different feeds, So if you found it through the Spacing Out with our Flag Means Death feed, then you are welcome to check out our main feed, Spacing Out BB and Jason, where you will find this show plus others.
We covered all of Battlestar Galactica, some Star Trek, and then we'll continue into other series after we finish this one. And since since this is a new thing, we're starting here with this show, I figured we should do some introductions again. Oh so, my name is Jason. My pronouns are he slash him, and let's see. I have a background in film because I went to film school and I've been kind of in and out of film production in my career. And then I discovered Our Flag Means Death through
my co host Bby here. Yes, how did you find it? It was on the internet. A lot people were talking about this really cool, like subversive pirate show, and I was like interested in it because I like pirate shows. Like the last good pirate show I saw might have been maybe like the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. And I heard that there was a twist in this one that was interesting, and I was like, let's check
it out. And I started watching it and I really enjoyed it. I thought it had a lot of heart and a lot of like depths of character development, and the cost doing and the production value was really great. So I'm like a true like a fanattic and now like I love it. I
follow all their like meme pages and actors. They were affected by the actor strike so they couldn't post anything, and then when the actor strike was over, there was like a floodgate of memes from the second season that we're coming in and like images of them on set that was so exciting to see. But yeah, I just found it online. It was something that was in on my radar, and I think it's part of no spoilers, I guess,
but a little bit of a spoiler. It's like a queer centric show, and I think the queer community really came out for it figuratively and physically. Yeah. Oh, and I'm I guess I'm not a film person per se, but I am I love and enjoy film and media in general. Like We've been doing this podcast for a while and I've always I've enjoyed doing it, like talking about the different elements of like what makes a show good and the writing and all that. So I like this show and I'm excited
to get into it. Oh and my pronouns are she they Yeah, And I was at a little resistant to get into this, so I guess it should be clear that we've both seen the show already all the way through, so this is a rewatch for us. I was a little resistant just because I had just watched another pirate show called Black Sales, which I really enjoyed, and it just seemed like, on paper, it sounded very similar to this, but it's really not. But I'll probably bring that show up a
few times while we're podcasting, so be warned. You should also know we're gonna have a spoiler section at the end of the podcast where we are free to discuss any future events in the timeline of the series. So if you are on your first watch of the series, you'll just need to skip that clearly marked section at the end of the podcast, but otherwise we won't be
spoiling anything past this episode, which is our Flag means Death. Season one, episode one, title pilot and this aired on March third, twenty twenty two. Written by David Jenkins who is the creator and showrunner, and directed
by Taikawatiti. In this episode, Steve Bonnett, a wealthy Barbadian landowner, abandons his wife and children for life as a pirate captain to prevent his crew from mutanting due to his lack of experiences, He chooses the nearest large ship for them, the Pillage, which turns out to be a Royal Navy warship captained by Steed's childhood bully, Nigel Badminton. While the crew pretends to be aristocrats, Steve unintentionally causes Nigel to stab himself through the eye with the sword,
leaving his crew impressed. Vive check Did we like the episode overall? How does it stand the test of time? Do we like the episode overall? Yes? Yes? Bullheardly Yes, Mike. What a great episode to start like this series, like introducing this cast of characters and n'erty Wells being bled by this very soft man. Yeah, it definitely sets the tone right
away, like what kind of like a comedy. This is the dynamics of the crew and the captain and just like yeah, it's it's it's the humor in that, like they're from very opposing size, but they all have like one mission. Yeah, and every every character is kind of funny in their own way, and it's really like there's no one in there that's just like a I don't know, a straight man type of person, like ridiculous people on the same boat. Yeah, trivia time, What facts could we uncover
for the pilot episode? All Right, a little bit of trivia about the episode and the show as a whole. So creator and showrunner David Jenkins was inspired to write the show after learning about Steve Bonnett from his wife and subsequently reading his Wikipedia article. Yeah, this is a real story, Like this is a real man that actually like went out to see and left behind his like life, his wealthy life life to become the quote unquote, well,
I don't want to say, we'll leave it there. He's just he's like a real person. It's based in real life, and I think that's really cool that they are like imagining what it was like for him to be out at sea as this like fancy boy. Yeah, and just pulling from his Wikipedia article real quick, Like a lot of what they show in this first
episode is from his real story. So like, he had this ship, the Revenge, built with the guns on it, and this is very unusual, as most pirates seize their ships by mutiny, by boarding them or converting a private vessel. And he enlisted a crew and relied on a quartermaster an officer for their knowledge of sailing. As results not very respected by his crew.
He paid the crew wages and not shares a plunder, so like, yeah, they brought all that into the show and it's an interesting creed if you want to browse his the article, and there's some stuff in there that I don't want to mention yet because it definitely plays into the storyline of the actual show too. Yeah, but it's also like very little known history. Like you think of famous pirates, you don't think of Steve Bomitt Bonnett.
You don't think of Steve Bonnett as a famous pirate or a name that sticks out. So it's an interesting character to focus on. So Taika, wait, he became involved as executive producer and a director first, and then he will later go on to join the cast. Reece Starby He's he plays Steve Bonnett. He's known for his comedic supporting roles, but he's always has an opportunity to step into a leading role. And the creator said that he made
an otherwise unlikable Steed Bonnet likable. Yeah, I can see that, Like you're always kind of rooting for him because he's so inept. Yeah. Theo Darby, who is ree Starby's son, played the young version of Steve Bonnett. He was really good, Yeah, picking those flowers and getting blood all over his face. Then, scenes on The Revenge are filmed on a sound stage using stagecraft, which is a technology that uses LED screens for the backgrounds,
originally developed from the Mandalorian. So if you ever see like behind the scenes footage of one of those sound stage, it's actually really cool because it's like the backgrounds are all pre rendered and they react to how the camera moves to create the perspective. So that's all they're shooting all these scenes and getting that good production value on the ship Deep Space Dive. Let's break down some of our thoughts on the episode. You can share your thoughts with us through
email or social media. We may use your comments on an upcoming episode.
All right, what do we do? What do we jump into? Well, let's talk about how like nurturing and kind and thoughtful Steed Bonnet is portrayed in this as a leader, and how like that would be an ideal leader in most situations, Like you would like the environment that he is giving these men where they are all held in high regard and treated as equals and have a voice in their Like piracy is so like revolutionary in a way, because
we don't do that anywhere, Like we don't have that kind of structure in like corporate America or even in like other sectors of business and engagement, Like that's what we strive for, right, that's what we want to see in leadership, But capitalism has made it so that it's more like toxic. Like there's a lot of toxic workplaces, and you would expect a pirate ship to
be a toxic workplace, and that's not the environment at all. Although you know, people are always going to find something to complain about, and these pirates obviously do. The crew is like complaining about like not having plundered. Well, it's such an unusual environment for them that it's uncomfortable. Yeah, Like they don't want to accept this weird kind of democracy on this pirate ship. Like there's a way these ships run and it's not by like majority rule
or whatever. Right, we don't we don't all make a flag and then vote on which flag is the best and then in the end we fly all the flags. Flags. Those were great, They were great. There was such a like invigorating part, Like for me, like the whole interaction with the flags was like the heart of and I think where the show gets its name in a lot of ways. But it's like, okay, so you have a complaint. We don't even have a flag. Let's fix that.
Here are some materials where we can create together a symbol that represents us as a group. And they're all being creative and at first they're like pooh pooing. They're like, I ain't gonna sew. That's that's a woman's thing. And he's like, hey, now do you any of you sew? Like do you think that's like that's not very nice? And uh, one of the guys, I forget his name now, he's like, I think his
name is Cookie. He's like, I sewed my shoulder up once and he showed this like huge scar on his shoulder with the stitching, and he's like, yeah, see, sewing can be tough. And it was just like the reframing of something that went from negative to positive, so like indicative of the character of Steve Bonnet and the like unwavering support and like purity of that
character. And I just love that. Like it was so good and everybody was just sitting there sewing and then uh, because it's like going through comedy, like it's just casually challenging, like this idea of masculinity. Yeah, yeah, it's like, let's sew, let's do something together. That's like traditionally, when you think of a group of people who are sewing, you think of old women typically like a sewing circle or a quote circle. A
bitch and stitch is what they call them. It's true. Well, I've been a part of a couple, so I've been I've been familiarized with the bitch and stitch and it's a great like communal space to create and and do like expel grievances and and and also like just and that is kind of where they come up with their plan to mutiny, So it harbors creativity and in more ways than not, and fucking buttons. He's like hearing everybody and he's
like straight to the captain. He's gonna snitch. I thought that was interesting. Yeah, his loyalty to the captain in this episode, Like he's the one who announces him at the very first sight of him. He's like, everybody, pay attention or to your captain. That was him announcing. And you can see him always at the wheel, so you can tell that he has a high ranking position within the crew. That's kind of cool to see him like be loyal to Steve Bonnett and be like, hey, captain,
you got mutiny afoot. Yeah, it's interesting just because I mean we're not going to spoil anything with these characters, but like the first time watching, like it's a lot of characters to take in. Yeah, and so like by the end of the season or the series, like you have a much or a grass with these characters. So it's always interesting to come back to the start and like see everyone at the beginning of their role and really like I'm more familiar with who they are, and I can kind of just follow
their stories a little better. Yeah, Yeah, I think it's really interesting to see them unfold. I really like Gosh, I always forget I'm so bad at names. I hate myself for that. But the documentarian, the one who is annotating everything that Steve Bonnet is saying, Lucius Lucius. So Lucius is also in a high ranking position, which is close to the pet captain, and it doesn't seem like he likes it too much already off the bat, like, because he was like, I'm down for the mutiny,
y'all. But one of the things that Steve Bonnett said was that I have a library, we have a wreck room, we have this like wonderful ship with all these amenities. And he's like, but nobody's taken me up on the library except you, Lucius. And he's like, well, I'm the only one who can read. And he's like, that's not true, Like he doesn't want to believe. Yeah, he's so out of touch with what
these reality's giving him, like a wreck room and a library. Yeah, reading them stories at night, which actually like yeah, they really like that, and they don't the only thing that saves him from mutiny that day was that Lucius can't do the Pinocchio voice. So I feel like there's a lot of like lightheartedness in this show that is really like endearing. I don't know,
it's really good. And then like that rude one that wanted to do the mutiny who said he used to sail with Blackbeard, who's like stir in the pot that is black Peat, black Pete. Okay, Well, he automatically assigns himself as leader in the vacuum structure that would like create like a
void in a leadership role. And they're like, I don't know what about Jim, And Jim is a mute allegedly, and we note and then at the end of the scene or at the end of the episode, we see that Jim has a false identity yes, and can't talk yeah, And I'm not sure how to say his name al I think they call him Alli. That's Jim's friend that is aware of Jim's identity. He's also a hang ranking member from the crew based on the fact that he ran to the captain's aid
when he accidentally murdered uh that guy. It was him and Lucius that ran in and were like, what's what do you need what's going on? So you can tell, like who's close to the captain in this episode a little bit more, and like I like the advice he gave him where he's like no, like do you want to live? Like no? Do you? Like? Are you like he snapped him into reality because like in this episode we get a glimpse of a baby Bonnet that's his like the name they teased
him with. But he was a baby, He was a little boy, and you could tell that he had sensitive like tendencies. He had a very gentle way about him picking flowers and like flinching at the sight of like foul being like slaughtered and prepared. And his father was so rude to him, What a terrible father, Like that's so sad. And then like even in his home life as an adult man, in his home life, his wife seems to hate him, Like his kids seem cool or whatever, very distant.
Like the way that they set the table where he was at one end and everybody else was on the other end near mom. Yeah, that was weird because like, well, no, that's like how you set the scene though, That's how you can tell a story without saying anything. That he has it works, Yeah, but it is weird and jarring in a family
to have dad sit all the way over there. But if that's their normal, that would I mean, I could see what would drive him to like fantasize and dream about being out in the open sea in a place where he creates his own family. Yeah. And then near the end of the episode, when he's kind of reminiscing fondly over his family, you see he has pulled his chair around to the side and is up next to them. So that's a very good like visual language, like a shortcut just to tell us
that there's you know. Yeah. But so the episode you can see that like it's going to deal a lot with trauma, and you get you highlight Steed's childhood trauma throughout the episode with his father and his family and his bully. And then also like how he's approaching the crew to like talk things out, like if you have you have experiences, if you experience PTSD during a raid, what do we do we talk about it as a crew, Like
I think that this is a moniker. This is one of the anchors of what like draws in the queer community to this show because the queer community has a deep foundation with chosen family, and I think this this show is like like the show is showing chosen family how they can come together, how there is like a parental figure who is guiding these like misfits who don't fit into society and they're there's nurturing and there's understanding, and I think that speaks to
a lot of us when we have chosen family like that. It's not specifically queer, but most queer family like people like you know, they get rejected from their home life and they are not welcomed into their households, and so they there's a creation of an outside family that is sometimes stronger than the blood relations that you have, clearly because if a blood relation was strong, it would it wouldn't cause that riff because of a gender identity or or a sexual
orientation. But I think, yeah, this this is driving deep and I think this is what has really touched the the like LGBTQ like viewership in a way that's like made them like like I don't know, just like the Champion the show like that. I don't know how many memes you've seen of like Steve Bonnett and as a cartoon anime QT, but I've seen so many.
Yeah, I don't know. So, like another display of this kind of chosen family aspect of it is like you you know, you see all these men on the ship and they're essentially all equals and there's never any mention of race. But then when they have to pretend to be a part of you know, regular society, right with their wigs and fancy boy outfits, the you know, the white men are sitting at the table and the black and
brown men are servants. And so like their ship you know, doesn't have all these you know, cultural what am I trying to say, hierarchies, Yes, like a racial hierarchy doesn't exist in this like semi utopian ship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I love the fact that like one of the crew members throws a knife into the hand of like the British soldier for insulting his crew member, Like you insulted my crew member because of the color of their skin, and so you will pay for that, And that's what
like causes the violence in that in that part of the ship. I love that the British officer said that their tea tasted like dishwater because it was probably dishwater. I don't think they have property unless it's had a Steed's cabin. Steed surely has proper tea. Yeah, but you think they had enough time to prepare property. I don't know. They seemed pretty focused on the wardrobe.
Yeah, I uh, But I thought that was interesting that, like the British officers were definitely like so upset that the black and brown individuals in the ship were had opinions and were voicing them. Well, it's because they came up and they found the fucking flags. They were going through the flags and laughing at them, and the crew took it very personally because everyone was
so passionate about the flag that they created. Yeah, and everybody had their vision and they were like really confused about like the like what is this a bit a pillowcase? And they're like, no, it's a pirate flag. And he's like, is this a skull eating another skull? Were they cannibals? And then there was one where one of them was just throwing up but I thought that was so creative. And then the skeleton holding its own head that was Swedes, and you could tell Swede was like that is terrifying.
And then the cat. The cat was my favorite because of the beliefs that Frenchie has about cats. They are witches with knives on their hands who steal the breath of children. Yes, he is so superstitious, and I don't recall if there's ever a scene with him and a cat, but I hope there is. But yeah, they were like really upset and Frenchie was defending
his cat flag. It was the last flag that they were like looking at before Jim stabbed that front, that British officer through the hand and then all hell bred close and Steed was reminiscing quote unquote reminiscing with his ex his bully. He's still bullying him about like what they've been up to, I guess, and he's like, what's his name, the British officer or the general or what is he is? Bully? Yeah? Was Nigel? Nigel?
Nigel? Well, Nigel is like I heard a rumor that you left your family to become a pirate and Steed's like, yeah I did, and he's like haha, no way, and he doesn't believe him. He laughs at him again, you know, like I don't know how humiliating would that be to to confront your bully. You're living the life you want to live, but they like to mean you for it still, like they don't believe that
you're living the life you're living and that you're capable of it. And I could see like Steed before they went to like pillage or whatever pirate, he asked a couple of the crew members like for some pointers on how to like fight in general, and Jim was there, and Jim was like, that's trying to like show him like how to handle a sword, and well, what's his name, Jim's friend his short name, uh, Alie Ali Allie
Allie he he uh. He's like, that's kill, that's kill, that's kill, that's a kill, And that triggered Steeds like PTSD and he's like, no, I don't want to kill anybody, Like how do I stun somebody? How do I just like render them? Like what is the word unconscious? Unconscious? Yeah? And they're like, oh, you just hit
him in the back of the head. And he was like calling that back when he was with Nigel because Nigel had Nigel had his sword out and Steed hits him on the back of the head with this little brass whale the cutest little brass whale I've ever seen, and he knocks him unconscious, but he falls straight onto his sword and that's when Ollie comes back and he's like, oh no, you want to live, right, you have to snap out of it. You did this on purpose. This is how you gain respect
from your crew and you live another day. And I think that advice, like the way that he spoke to him, like some of us need that where somebody like grabs you and shakes you and looks at you and says, hey, this is real, this is happening, Like, oh shit, I really enjoyed that. I feel like his crew is like saving his life
and he he has. He comes up with a plan to send back one of the British officers in a similar fashion of how he was tormented as a child, where they tie his hands to the ore of a ship and make him row back and they keep a couple of hostages. And I'm interested to see what happens next, Like it's it's a really good episode to like establish the crew, give us the dynamics and tell us what the story is, while also wanting you to check in for the next one, like what's going
to happen with these weird cast of characters. Yeah, it really it establishes Steed very well. I mean he's the one character that got really kind of fleshed out with backstory and everything, and you kind of see that he's kind of this bumbling idiot who's going to stumble backwards into you know, things working out and he's starting to win over his crew slowly. Astoral queen who was
the standout character in the episode? So this is, you know, a character that stands out in any way, shape or for him, whether they be the hero of the episode or someone who you know experiences something traumatic or does something funny or just relatable or whatever we choose. Yeah, and at the end of the series will kind of tally up and see who is the astral queen overall? Was your astral queen for this first episode? I was
gonna pick Ollie? Yeah, Yeah, because he he's the one that's like he kind of saves the day with calming down Steed and getting him to recognize like what he needs to do with this situation having killed Nigel and how he needs to kind of own that and use that. And he's also one that's like, you know this life he's created for us, isn't that bad? Yeah, he sees the reality of what it could be. And that's what
I picked him too. Yeah, I pick him too because he's he's a really strong care character even though he's not he doesn't I don't know if he's quite a main character yet because we don't know a lot about him, but
he is definitely a standout character. Like his end his acting is really good, and we don't see a lot of like dark skin fat people on TV, and he is like very present, very visible, and very like very much contributing to the storyline and moving it forward in a way that is positive and engaging and realistic in a lot of ways, like he brings reality to the table in a show where it's very it's a little fantastical. So yeah, I like his portrayal of this character and I'm excited to see what this
character does moving forward, especially because he knows Jim's secret. Yeah, so that's interesting. All right. Well, that's two astral Queen Awards for him start off strong. So the next episode, episode two, is called a Damned Man, And so, I mean there's eighteen episodes of the show, so hopefully over the next eighteen weeks, we'll stay on track and cover them
all. But that wraps it up for this episode, and we're going to go into our spoiler section where we're free to discuss anything else from the season and next season. So if you haven't seen any of those episodes, then you'll want to jump ship now you've found that pun with me. But otherwise stick around and we'll talk spoilers. Let's put our living stereo stylists in this group. Grace for imtact spoilers ahead. If you haven't seen the whole series,
now is the time to say goodbye. Remember you can contact us at Spacingoutpod at gmail dot com, find us on social media, share your thoughts and be a part of the discussion spoilers in five for three two one. Oh my god, I'm counting down the days the episodes for black Beard, right, yeah, so awesome in this Like I'm so excited the show, Like I wish I could watch it over with new eyes again. Like I know it's gonna happen and it's gonna be great, but I wish I could
like be surprised. It is interesting, like the show takes a moment to establish itself before bringing in black Beard and bringing in the you know, the turn of the This is like a romantic story. Yeah, yeah, this
is this is a different show, and it does turn. But then there's also an element of like, like they go through so much black Beard and Steed, and in this in this season specifically, Steed helps Blackbeard open up to being a vulnerable person and wanting more out of his life than just like Murder and Mayhem, and Blackbeard show Steed how to be a real pirate. And I think they give each other so much, and that's rooted in some truth like that no one knows a lot about, like why they sailed together,
but black Beard and Steed Bonnet really sailed together. Yeah. Yeah, that's in the Wikipedia page, which is, yeah, the source of all truth. Yeah, and so yeah, I mean the show fills in the gaps with this romantic storyline. But well, and honestly, if you think about it, piracy, there's no way there wasn't gay sex and gay shit going on on that boat. A bunch of dudes on a ship for months at a time. What else were they gonna do for a fun And also
they're outcasts, they're people who are not wanted in society. Who is that I feel like, And I feel like, you know, within pirate culture, there is like this flamboyance. There is like this like I don't know, just kind of like adornment and like style element that was only accessible for the most part to the rich. But because these men had access to loot, they were able to accessoriz and get tattoos or peer scenes and do different body modifications. And I don't know, I just I find it very hard
to believe that there wasn't gay shit going on on a pirate ship. Like give me an orange so I don't get scurvy and let me suck that dick. Baby. It's kind of like the same thing that happens in prison, where men who don't typically code themselves as queer engage in queer activity as a form of survival or as a form of escape from the reality of like the hard conditions that you live in. So it's very much like I'm like, that's kind of how I see it in some ways, Like you can't tell
me they'ren't gay shit going on in prison. You can't tell me they're engage shit going on in piracy. Yeah, And I brought up the show Black sales earlier, and in that show, like the Captain of the Ship, it's like at first, like it's kind of confusing, like why was this like upstanding guy, why did he transition to being a pirate? And then later it's revealed like, oh, he was a gay man and he was not being accepted in his life in England, So like, yeah, I
think that is a pirate society is where you might land. Yeah, it's open, it's free, it's lawless, the standards of society are different and probably more accepting. Later on in the show, we're going to find out that there's like a pirate queen from China. Women were allowed to do things in pirate ships and in pirate like settings that they weren't allowed to do in
general society. So it's very interesting to explore this and to see it represented on so to like diverse cast is so cool because I feel like, yeah, if you're sailing in Barbados and in the Caribbean, of course you're going to have black and brown people on board. But I don't know, it's interesting because the white supremacy is still real and I like how they address it in this show, like how they're not they're like, that's not cool,
bro, I like that. I don't know, but I'm excited. Yeah, definitely looking forward to everything that come and this, like specifically how this show highlights multiple queer relationships and queer characters. Oh yeah, there's a trouple in the second season. Yeah, and you know, I'd forgotten that, Like Jim was like undercover at the beginning. But Jim is a non binary character. Jim is a non binary person as an actor to Vico Ortis is
a non binary person. Yeah, playing a non binary character, which is really hard in Hollywood, Like Hollywood, will I are a straight white man to play like a queer Asian person, you know what I mean. So I think it's like very subversive in the casting and the directing and the storytelling. It's all very like today. It's of the time, and I just love it. But it's also set in the world where people couldn't even think about that in a way, but it's like normal for them. I love
it. It's like great, it's like revisionist history but with a queer twist and a multi cultural lens. And I kind of love that for us, and I think we can leave it at that. Yeah, all right, so we will see you next time for the episode of Damned Man. Until then, thank you for sailing on the revenge and watch out for cats because they have knives on their feet. Thank you for spacing out with Bob and Jason. You can help us out by subscribing and leaving a positive rating or
review. Next time we will cover our Flag Means Death season one, episode two, a Damned Man. We hope you will join us