Welcome to Spacing Out with BB and Jason, this week covering Our Flag Means Death, Season one, Episode eight, We Go Way Back. Welcome to Spacing Out. I'm BB and I'm Jason, and we are discussing Our Flag Means Death one episode at a time, spoiler free, and the series is available to stream on the service Max formerly HBO, And you should know this is a rewatch for us. We will have a spoiler section at the end of the podcast where we are free to discuss any future events in the series.
So if this is your first time watching and you don't want any spoilers, you'll just need to skip that clearly marked section. But otherwise we won't be spoiling anything past this episode, which is Our Flag Means Death, Season one, Episode eight, We Go Way Back. Get it, It's like Seagual Goal way Back. I didn't realize that with title until I sigded on
the title screen. This originally aired on March seventeenth, twenty two, written by Alyssa Lane and Alex Sherman and directed by Burton Birdie, which is a directing duo. I've been seeing their name pop up a lot. They did a lot of like independent films and online stuff for a while, but now they've been doing a lot of sci fi fantasy. They've been in Hawkeye Silo,
latest Walking Dead series, and then the show Cool. In this episode, an old friend of Blackbeard's Calico, Jack, arrives, rousing Blackbeard's more chaotic side, and stirs up Steed's jealousy by mentioning that he and Edward were past lovers. A drunken Jack kills Buttons beat seagull Carl. Steve orders Jack off the ship. Blackbeard decides to join him, and Jack admits to black Beard that Izzy sent him to get black Beard out of the way and led
the Revenge to be ambushed by Chauncey Badminton. Blackbeard races back to the Revenge. The British capture them, but Steve and Blackbeard are happy to be reunited and then heartbroken by Jim's absence. Aliwandi gives up his cabin the Frenchy and we John, who expressed their excitement for their newfound status as roommates. Meanwhile, Jim takes Giraldo hostage the four Spanish Jackie into telling them everything she knows
about the Sieta Gios. Jackie kills Geraldo herself and reveals that'aldo was a member of the Siete Gios, adding that all the other members are probably dead. Vibe check. Did we like the episode overall? How does it stand the test of time? All? Right? How does this one stuck up? It's alright, it's not my favorite, but I think it's because Calico Jack is just such an unlikable character, right, It's a it's a hard one. It's not because he is so just awful, annoying and frustrating and
like ruining everything that you're loving. Yeah, though by like, I mean he's it's intentional that he's that way though. He's a literal agent of chaos. Yeah. And then there's some good moments in there, but it's like this guy, he's awful. It makes me hate will learn Net? Right would you do to my show? Dude? Yes? I mean it's still good, but it's it's a difficult one to swallow. Trivia time, What
facts could we uncover for week? All way back? So, Calico Jack is based on a real pirate and also knows Jack Rackham and Calico Jack was executed in November seventeen twenty and his body was gibboted to deter others from committing acts of piracy. And I looked up giboted. That means that they just display it for public scorn. I'm guessing he was hung yeah, or or displayed out like like on one of those fun little stocks that they put people
in. Oh yeah, those things. Those are awful. I can't believe people do that for fun, like at fairs and stuff like. That's like a form of capital punishment that you're doing for fun. Yeah, take my photo, ridicule me. Oh. Kendall Wells, who acted as Will Arnett double for the episode, revealed that Blackbeard asking Calico Jack to whip his balls was improvised by Taikowa titi As where a number of other versions of the same scene, which didn't make the vinyl cut. That was such a like toxic
masculine like interaction. Yes, Like, There's been so many instances, specifically in like middle school and high school where I remember boys willingly putting their balls in danger like that. I was like, what are you doing, dude? I feel like teenage boys just always play some version of that game of yeah yeah, And I'm just like this is peak like adolescent like fun for men or boys or people with penises, and I was just like, this
is very authentic. This feels very like it like cringe, hit me in the ball, whip me in the ball, because that's what it like. Calgo Jack is bringing him back to like act elicits like this like danger and like juvenile kind of humor and everybody, what else do you got for trivia?
Also improvised was the foot touch scene at the very end, improvised by Taikawa and the creator David Jenkins admitted he only noticed it when reviewing the footage, and that was a really nice touchstand very gently, very like I'm here Fleetwood Max. The chain being used in the episode was David Jenkins's idea and it was the first piece of music that was ever cleared for use in the show. It was really good. I think it was like the best use
of like music. Yeah, it was really in the way that you like managed to sink it with the action, like even the drummer hitting like a drum that sounds very differently, but the beat was still on it. And yeah, it was really good. Deep Sea 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 coming episode. We go way back, So we start off the scene with a very peaceful
night. Everyone's laying down, sleeping, resting. So is that where they usually sleep then on the deck. Yeah, that's why it's like really like important that you get a room like that's high status. They either sleep in that room or they sleep downstairs in that place where there's like a hammock. That's where I assume they were sleeping. Yeah, but they get they're fucking pirates. They sleep where where the fuck they want? Fucking sweet was in
a barrel, that's true. Roach was hugging the onions, and Buttons was playing a flute and bathing in the moonlight, preparing for a special evening the following night, And upon him arises a phantom perceived by him of Jack Kaliko, who's like belligerent and like awful. Yes, And I think I love Buttons, like, I don't know he might be here, he might not be, and if he was, he's probably sleeping. I like the skepticism that Buttons brings to the table. So you think black Beard is sleeping in
Steed's quarters? Oh, that's a good question. I don't know. I don't either. They don't show that right, No, but I think that's part of the mystery of what's going on between them, Like because even Kaliko Jack asks like, are you guys buggering each other? And Steed's like, I'm not gonna warrant that with an answer. He's like too gentlemanly to tell on himself whatever's happening between them. Yeah, but it's like something is happening
between them to make Steed so jealous. Yeah, I just don't think they've had a conversation about it. I feel like they haven't acted on it other than just like friendly banter. Yeah co captains. Yeah. I think that foot touch was like the closest touching that they've had. That's like their most intimate moment so far, besides that one moment where he says you wear fine things. Well, So Steed is woken up by all this cannon fire and chaos going on upstairs, and he goes up there and it's like, you
know, what the buck's going on? Then he tells Ed that breakfast is ready, So I get like, is Roach setting up that breakfast for him then? Because like it was just already ready when Steve just got out of bed. Yeah, Roach probably makes breakfast for him. That makes sense. Yeah, I guess. So there's a lot of food too, is like an everyday breakfast, probably because Steed's the Gentleman Pirate and they're all about excess. It's about having too much food and not eating it. It's a sign
of wealth, and like even rich people today are doing it. Like I think there was this thing about how during the Grammys or something, they had like charcouterie boards on all the tables and nobody was touching them. And it's a sign of wealth to be able to spend money on food and then not eat it. It's like wealth and excess, and that's where Steed comes from. So it's like hard to break from that. You're just not used to seeing that many groceries in one place. It's not like after a big grocery
trip, No, I get it. It's like when we buy vegetables and then we don't eat them and they rut in the fridge. Yeah, it's a sign of access and wealth. I want to jump to the roommate situation. Oh well, all Alan day it's just like, oh, I'm so sad about Jim. I can't even be in that room anymore. And fucking Swedes like, wait a minute, did you just say that the room is
empty? And they run and Frenchie hears too. It was funny that the word of mouth went from Swede and then Frenchy overhears it, and then we John gets in on the action. Yes, it's a hot commodity to have that room, and it is a nice little room. If I had that or the ship's hull, I'd be like, yeah, give me your room, man. Yeah, I mean no wonder Aluandi was like, we don't need the mutiny. Let's keep things the status quo. Yeah. So it's
really funny that. Well it's sad too that Frenchie and we John have never had a room. They're like, I've heard of rooms, I've never had one of my own. What do we do? Like they're trying to design things and come up with ideas on what they want to do. The fact that Frenchy is totally put off by the idea that someone else might come over and visit them. Yeah, well I get it. I don't want people
in my room. I just got it. What if they try to take it I'm still just curious, like, how is it that Aluwandi and Jim ended up with rooms? And Jim is tough. Remember, everybody was afraid of Jim. Jim probably like did something to like alpha male his claimed it and though for yeah, they and they needed the room because Jim had that secret identity and that was the only place where Jim could take off their prosthetic
beard and nose. So I feel like they probably were like very cunning in their way to get it because the crew respects Jim a lot, so I could see like how they would maneuver their way into getting that room. I'm glad those guys got their own room. I would have been really interested to see what the Swede would have done it with it. Though, with his fallen teeth and nails from the scurvy, I feel like he needed a win.
Yeah. So do we need to say more about Calico Jack. I mean, I feel like we're pretty much said how annoying and frustrating he is. Yeah, I really don't like his character, and I think that was the point of his character was to be this like annoying and convenient like distraction. Yeah, it's not that like they tried to write a good character and messed up, or that he performed that role poorly, Like no, it's it's as intended, but it's just so so well done that it's off putting.
Yeah, and then we learn eventually that this is all manipulation, even though it seems to be still like that's his personality. Yeah, Like he's been mute neat like what three times this year, so he can't keep a crew. Probably Isy Hands was like, I know exactly who to throw at them because he probably has the same exact feelings. When when Kalico's Jack is around, Yeah, and he thought it was a surefire way to get Blackbeard
away from Steve Bonnet. And it kind of works until Kalico Jack spills the beans about the real intentions of his like being there, and he's like, yeah, you didn't get like that. I was setting you up for a trap, you stupid asshole. And as soon as Blackbeard finds out, he's like, well, that's my friend, that's not I'm not setting him up. That's not cool, like, which is like completely different from the black Beard we initially saw, who was ready to take over Steve Bonnet's life.
It's like I'm not black Beard. I'm Steve Bonnett. I'm a well Steve landowner. So it's really interesting character gross to see here. And I feel like is he probably could have given calico Jack better instructions about not spilling the beans right away. Yeah, well, I wonder like what his instructions were, because because he could have come up with some plan to like show up and say that he needs a ride to the whatever the cove, Findman's cove.
Yeah, I feel like there's there were simpler ways as opposed to relying on like being able to get under steed skin and drive this wedge and with just the right timing to get in there. Like yeah, so, what was your favorite calico Jack game, Whippies. What was the one where they walk the pull the mast and jump down. I don't know, similar name like Yardy or something. I like the Coconut War. The Coconut War. I think I might be bad for saying this, but I thought it was
really funny to have a turtle and a crab go against each other. That was what really got Steed put over the edge. I think seeing that barberism, I just like the idea of a turtle with a knife on its back, like this very slow like most like I don't know when I think of a turtle, I think of like a gentle creature, like not like a vicious beast. But put a knife on that motherfucker. It's still very slow.
It's kind of like that meme with that cute little like hippo or or it's like this animal putting away a knife, where it's like not choosing violence today. It's this like idea of like the super cute or that baby duck with a knife, you know, like the idea of this like adorable soft creature with like a weapon. It's just the juxtaposition. Really enjoyed it. But Whippies was swan too, and even though it got him in trouble with fucking buttons. Yeah, that was the that was the fall of him.
The Swede like just begging for him for Allawandi to whip him, whip that jar off his head. Yeah, I'll close my eyes so you can't hit them. They were all like mostly on board, but then like they each started getting hurt and they were like, oh, maybe this isn't such great fun. Yeah, And no one was on board for Carl getting killed. No, that's when the mood changed everything, like the tides were turned and
his death warrant was signed. But everyone was pretty sympathetic to him early on, especially I don't know if he was actually mutiny three times this year, but they really sympathetic to that story. They were like, well, we mute need Steed, we might still do it. Yeah, they were pretty sympathetic at first, but then once he was obviously the bad guy, he like murdered one of their crew. That bird was part of their crew and they could not stand for it. And fucking Buttons hexing him what the fuck?
Yeah, but the hex was fricking weird, like the hand motions and the intensity and the fact that he was naked. And then the British came and they take out fucking Calico Jack. Yes, and Buttons is like, yes, my hex works. Oh and he has to break the news of his dead bird to Deborah or whatever Olivia Olivia, and that was sad. We also have Lucius handling the breakup scenario, delivering all the black Beard's which
seemed to be very few. Yeah, probably a couple of knives, Like I didn't see anything in that box and does he not even have like another set of clothes. No, he always wears that leather get up. That assumes he change it every now and no he doesn't. They're pirates. Everybody wears the same outfit all the time, except for Steve. He's gonna say someone doesn't. Steve is the only one who has a wardrobe in this fictional world. But yeah, the British are here and black Beard is back,
and Steve was ready to fight. He's ready to go out fighting, but black Beard's like, no, surrender, dude, you can't fight here. I know it. You're three against one and there's no escape from the cove. Yeah, so they surrender and they get boarded, and it's beautiful.
It's like the most epic scene thus far in this show. Yeah, Like, first they show the British and all their colonial might on their boats looking like fucking Jo you know what's his name, George Washington crossing the Delaware, giving that imagery the iconography of like these uniformed white men on a boat that's
very classic Americana kind of idealism. And then you have them like coming up onto this boat and like using their hooks and climbing up board and there's little to no resistance from these pirates because they put up the white flag and they're still getting brutalized by these soldiers and it's really chaotic and like it kind of reminded me of like when the Titanic was sinking in that movie The Titanic where where it sinks nowhere, where Frenchie was playing the loom or what is what
is that instrument? The maroon the what is it the loom? It's a a lut, That's what I was thinking of. Yeah, it is a lute. Yeah, he's playing the lute on a ship while there's chaos, and it gave me Titanic vibes when those dudes with the violins are playing right till the end. Yeah, and then Buttons is streaking around and no one,
no one wants any of that. And then they get captured. They're all like roped up, and black Beard is right there next to Steed, and Steed's like you came back, and black Beard just socialantly is like I never left, mate, and he winks at him, and then they pan out and they do a little foot touch and it's just like, oh no, what's going to happen? Like they're together at least, but what's going to happen next? We'll see. They always figure something out, we will
see. So I mean overall, it is actually like a really good look at like jealousy and a relationship and like maturity and yeah, just like how how seeing someone from your past might have you changed your behavior and whay. He's like, you don't necessarily see yourself. You revert to your old ways, but that's not who you are anymore. Yeah, And he was so convinced that he was this person until he found out this was all a farce. And he's like, I'm not this person, you know. I just
got caught up in the friendship and the nostalgia. And I feel like we could that can be any of us with you know, certain friends or certain like time in our lives where we were maybe a little wilder than we are now as we've got mellowed in our age. Yeah. And I feel like
Blackbeard struggles with his identity for sure, for sure. And I wonder how long would he have wanted to stay around Calico Jack even if he didn't learn that information now, because like I don't know, if your college drinking buddy comes a visit and you go out and have a good time together. It's nostalgic, but like you're going to do that every night and keep doing that for months, Like when does it end? Eventually you're gonna be like, Yeah, I'm just I'm going to go back to the way I had my
life before you showed up. I got laundry, dude, Like, I don't know when you do laundry or like what you do for money. If you can keep going out like this, how do you It's not sustainable And I think that shows with Calico Jack getting mutanted every like other months or whatever. It's not a very sustainable lifestyle. But yeah, I'm glad Blackbeard comes back. That was very big of him. And Steed's face lights up when he comes over the edge of the ship. Yeah, you're ready to move
on. Yeah, Astral Queen, who was the standout character in the episode, Astral Queen, you got you're picking a Calico Jack, you know what? No, I'm just kidding. I don't know who my astrol Queen is. I think my Astral Queen going to be butts for bathing in the moonlight and keeping his rituals and being skeptical of strangers, and for the loss of his beloved friend and the sweet, sweet vengeance that was given to him and being like a crazy naked guy. Yeah, I've given it to Buttons,
what about you? So I had two options written down and one I was aligned with you on Buttons. I was also thinking of begging Steed, Oh yeah, for saying get off my ship. Yeah, because I am going to pick Steed because he really like stands this ground and stands up for like who he is. And he at first he's like very open. He's like, you're a friend of a friend of yours is a friend of mine,
and that's like the way you would want to be with your partner. And they're crazy friends, Like you want to be open and kind and having a welcoming environment. But if that bitch keeps coming for you every fucking time they get and you need to fucking tell them who the Fox House this is. And Steed did that very well. Yep. Yeah, I'm very proud of him in this episode for growing some balls, and I think he chose the perfect moment to do it too. Yeah, because everyone was aligned with him.
Then mm hmm. Then he had to give like the divorced speech to the crew, it's not your fault. We still love you all right then, buttons instead, you're the winners of this episode. The next episode will be episode nine, Act of Grace. As we're I've only got two more episodes of this season, SEO stylist in this group Grace for Impact. 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 four three two ones. So let's talk about the costume change first of all in the next episode, because these motherfuckers go from leather Daddy and mister Dandy to white linen soldiers, like they look like they're
at a SPA retreat. It's so weird to see them outside of their like uniforms, almost especially black Beard, Like he goes from black to white. It's crazy how clean he looks. Doesn't he have to shave? At some point he chooses to shave, he thinks he's and then he gets stood up at the altar. Basically, yeah, but yeah, I'm really excited for the next episode where we find out like what the British try to do to them, and then how black Beard knows the law and he's like, ah,
we want to do this thing instead. And then Steve finds out he's declared dead. I can't believe they don't let him just go right then and there, like, oh, you're dead, you should just leave, but they let him go into prison or whatever. Yeah. I love that is based on true events where they do take the Act of Grace and there they stop pirating, and then of course they go back to pirting again. Yeah.
Yeah, I mean, of course, since we focused on Buttons on this episode, I just keep thinking about him turning into that bird eventually. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah, I don't think I have much else to throw in here. No, I think this episode was a good vehicle to move forward in the plot, and I'm excited to see the next one. I really wish that this show would get picked up for a third season. It's like not going to happen, though, it seems, even with
all of the fan push. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean it wrapped up in a way that is satisfying enough, like there's no big cliffhangers. Not that satisfying though, because you want to see more there, and you know there's more. The creator said there's more, and that's so not fair. Yeah, he said there's plans for like a third and final season. Yeah, and so like, yeah, I mean, of course I
want to see more. We had, like the whole the rest of the crew besides Steven Blackbeard, like sailing out for more adventures, and I want to see like that dynamic or even if they end up back on the boat, like let's see it. Like I don't know, it's just like it sucks how TV and production doesn't take into account like a massive fan following sometimes, like how many people have wanted Firefly to come back? Right? Yeah.
But I've also like I've heard creators talk about like thousands of passionate fans don't equal like millions of actual viewers. So sometimes like, yeah, there's a really passionate fan base, but it's not enough to have like the numbers that the networks need. I don't know. I really applaud the like gumption of community moving forward with like the help of Subway and shit like that,
like they made it happen. Yeah, but yeah, who knows how many viewers they got, And then the quality of the work maybe wasn't up to snuff at that point. I don't know, though, I feel like the cast was more relaxed because they cart rid of peers. But yeah, I don't know. I would I would really love to see another season. But I'm excited for this season to be done. I think the heartbreak is really hard to come back from, Like broken black Beard is so hard to watch.
Yeah, that's why I'm like a little nervous almost about these next two episodes because I know it's gonna go it's gonna get worse before it gets better. Yeah. Yeah, they have such a whirlwind romance, and I think if it's not this next episode, it's the one after where they finally kiss, and I don't know, it's just like crazy the kiss. Like I said, we don't get a lot of like male romance or any queer romance on mainstream media anymore, unless it's like super whitewashed and sterilized, like I'm
thinking of like Modern Family. How we never see those two gay men interact in a queer loving way. It's more like a parents who have to tolerate thing each other kind of way. Right, So they don't kiss, they don't hug. They don't hold hands. It's it's weird. So I don't know. I have the tender moments, and I like how Taichi Taika Taika White t t he kind of understands that character really well in a way that like he improvises and he like adds to it in a way that's really genuine
and like believable. Yeah. I remember there's an interview on as one of those YouTube things like Wired or something where they were Taka was saying that he tried to do a little research into Blackbeard and it's like, basically, no one knows who the fuck this guy was, so I'm just gonna make him my own. So yeah, I mean, he just brought what he thought that character should be. Yeah. Cool. Also, I didn't like that they called him Blackie. I was really off study. That was odd.
I didn't like it. That might be like a weird New Zealand thing or something where the British because it wasn't it British directors and writers. Yeah, yeah, I didn't like that. All right, Well, let's get out of here, all right, take care. Next episode will be active Grace, and thank you for sailing on the revenge and don't get a hex put on you, or if you do, you know look out for Cannonball. Thank you for spacing out with BB and Jason. You can help us out
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