Stuff Watched (AKA More Black Sails)
Aug. 15th, 2019 09:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maplemoodI finished the third season this Tuesday, so my plans for having the entire show over and done with before classes start back up again are on track. I also finally cracked and snagged an Anne Bonny icon because she's, as ever, my favorite, and was especially wonderful this season.
So, unlike the second season, which picks up almost exactly where season 1 left off, season 3 starts a good couple months after the end of season 2; it's maybe a bit darker than the other two seasons, but not that much darker: Flint's ready to wage war on England; Silver's sometimes-coping, sometimes-not with the loss of his leg and also with being Flint's new quartermaster (otherwise known as the most thankless job on board--I mean, look what happened to Gates); Max, Anne, and Jack are trying to rebuild the fort at Nassau; Eleanor's set to be executed in England until she's offered an opportunity and grabs it; Vane reunites with his old mentor/rival/friend, who just happens to be Edward Teach/Blackbeard. I tend to pick and choose which storylines and/or characters I'm most interested in, but this time around everyone interested me more or less equally, and their stories all seemed to be woven together extra tightly. If I absolutely had to pick I'd still have to go with Anne, Jack, and Max. (And of those three--only if I had to pick!--Anne.)
That being said, the character with my favorite progression through the show has got to be Vane. The hanging scene in 3x09 was heart wrenching for reasons that back in season 1 I never would've expected, and the same goes for his last confrontation with Eleanor. Just...wow. As individuals they both have their good points and their less-than-good points. As a couple they're absolutely awful for each other and destructive in the worst ways, but that's (for me, anyway) what makes their relationship so compelling--even at the end, you can't help yourself hoping that maybe, just maybe, Eleanor will have a change of heart. And she doesn't, and you can't blame her, and you end up feeling terrible for them both but not really blaming either, which is exactly what I want out of complicated-ugly character dynamics. Come down to it, Vane might just be the more principled of the two--he sticks to his guns and never switches sides, no matter the cost--which, again, is something I never would have guessed based off my first impressions of his character.
Speaking of complicated (but not nearly as ugly) character dynamics, Anne, Jack, and Max's plans to rebuild the fort fall through early on. Over the season they eventually split and form their separate alliances (Max reunites with Eleanor, who's come back on the side of the British and specifically Woodes Rogers, Nassau's new governor, and Anne and Jack stick with Vane, and later Flint). Despite that they still seem like they're all on okay terms, with Max doing her best to make sure neither Anne or Jack ends up dead. Hopefully there'll be a reunion next season, but in the meantime it's nice that their relationship continues to be one of the more functional ones in the show, even when they're on opposite sides.
Oh, and I can't believe I got this far without mentioning her already, but Madi! She's lovely, and a perfect foil for Silver in lots of ways; I'd also kill to see more interactions between her and Flint. Her memories of Eleanor, plus the way she sees herself as being one of two daughters to Mr. Scott because of Eleanor, really got to me--I'd kill for some good Eleanor & Madi interactions, too, though I don't know how likely those are. The maroon island in general is really fascinating (I could use an entire show based there), its own fully-realized world to the point that I felt like we'd only gotten the tiniest glimpse of it.
So, unlike the second season, which picks up almost exactly where season 1 left off, season 3 starts a good couple months after the end of season 2; it's maybe a bit darker than the other two seasons, but not that much darker: Flint's ready to wage war on England; Silver's sometimes-coping, sometimes-not with the loss of his leg and also with being Flint's new quartermaster (otherwise known as the most thankless job on board--I mean, look what happened to Gates); Max, Anne, and Jack are trying to rebuild the fort at Nassau; Eleanor's set to be executed in England until she's offered an opportunity and grabs it; Vane reunites with his old mentor/rival/friend, who just happens to be Edward Teach/Blackbeard. I tend to pick and choose which storylines and/or characters I'm most interested in, but this time around everyone interested me more or less equally, and their stories all seemed to be woven together extra tightly. If I absolutely had to pick I'd still have to go with Anne, Jack, and Max. (And of those three--only if I had to pick!--Anne.)
That being said, the character with my favorite progression through the show has got to be Vane. The hanging scene in 3x09 was heart wrenching for reasons that back in season 1 I never would've expected, and the same goes for his last confrontation with Eleanor. Just...wow. As individuals they both have their good points and their less-than-good points. As a couple they're absolutely awful for each other and destructive in the worst ways, but that's (for me, anyway) what makes their relationship so compelling--even at the end, you can't help yourself hoping that maybe, just maybe, Eleanor will have a change of heart. And she doesn't, and you can't blame her, and you end up feeling terrible for them both but not really blaming either, which is exactly what I want out of complicated-ugly character dynamics. Come down to it, Vane might just be the more principled of the two--he sticks to his guns and never switches sides, no matter the cost--which, again, is something I never would have guessed based off my first impressions of his character.
Speaking of complicated (but not nearly as ugly) character dynamics, Anne, Jack, and Max's plans to rebuild the fort fall through early on. Over the season they eventually split and form their separate alliances (Max reunites with Eleanor, who's come back on the side of the British and specifically Woodes Rogers, Nassau's new governor, and Anne and Jack stick with Vane, and later Flint). Despite that they still seem like they're all on okay terms, with Max doing her best to make sure neither Anne or Jack ends up dead. Hopefully there'll be a reunion next season, but in the meantime it's nice that their relationship continues to be one of the more functional ones in the show, even when they're on opposite sides.
Oh, and I can't believe I got this far without mentioning her already, but Madi! She's lovely, and a perfect foil for Silver in lots of ways; I'd also kill to see more interactions between her and Flint. Her memories of Eleanor, plus the way she sees herself as being one of two daughters to Mr. Scott because of Eleanor, really got to me--I'd kill for some good Eleanor & Madi interactions, too, though I don't know how likely those are. The maroon island in general is really fascinating (I could use an entire show based there), its own fully-realized world to the point that I felt like we'd only gotten the tiniest glimpse of it.