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Stuff Watched (AKA More Black Sails)
I 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.
no subject
Re: Vane, he did get great character development on the show, but I have some issues due to external circumstances. There was a lot of Eleanor hate when the s3 finale was broadcast, fan rants about how she was the worst person on the show (seriously?), and even Vane's actor said that Vane was her moral superior because he'd never hit an opponent when the opponent was imprisoned. Just to recapitulate: Vane had Eleanor's Father tortured to death to restore his own status in the eyes of his men and as a fuck you to Eleanor, didn't think anything of letting his men gangrape Max for days, and while he wasn't directly responsible for Silver being now minus a leg, as it happened in his absence, he certainly set up circumstances that way. And don't get me started on the shippers who declared, as he did, that Vane did Eleanor a favour by torturing and killing her father. (This btw doesn't mean I'm a fan of Mr. Guthrie, but it takes some gall and rewriting of history for Vane to claim having acted in Eleanor's interests there.) Also, Vane's "you always listen to the next guy telling you nice things, whereas I tell you the truth!" - please. Eleanor didn't team up with Flint because he was sweettalking her, but because he treated her like a businesswoman (and was probably the only major pirate who neither made a pass or condescended to her) and seemed to be a promising partner. And her s3 relationship with Rogers also isn't based on Rogers telling her how Wonderful she is but first on her not wanting to get hanged and then on Rogers actually taking her advice and acting on it. Incidentally, her siding with Rogers is also consistent with what she wanted near the end of s2 - after all, last she saw Flint, the (shared) plan was to seek reconciliation with Britain via the Governor of South Carolina and restore British Government in Nassau via pardons. Anything that happened later, she was on route and in prison in London for.
Meanwhile, I thought the Max and Eleanor scenes in s3 were rivetting. I didn't root for them as a couple back at the start of s1 because the power there, both social and emotional, was far too uneven in Eleanor's favor. But as exes, they are fabulous, and I love how Max understands Eleanor better now than when they were in love because now, she's walked in Eleanor's shoes ("That fucking Chair!").
Incidentally, how firm are your Treasure Island memories, and have you read the novel or solely seen some/any film versions? (I was making and then deleting a comment which could be seen as spoilery, depending on how much you recall, if anything.)
no subject
Vane is a really, really interesting character to me; I do think I'm lucky to be watching the show now instead of when it first aired, though, because watching the episode 9 I couldn't help thinking, "Oh boy, I bet Eleanor got a lot of hate for this." The thing is, I do think Vane is more principled than her, in the sense that, at the end at least, he sticks to his guns, but I don't think being more principled makes you morally better, necessarily, and really he isn't any morally better than she is (and yeah, say what you want about Eleanor, but she didn't let an entire crew gang rape a woman, just for starters). I do also think it boils down to Eleanor's ultimate loyalty lying with Nassau, the place, as opposed to the pirates of Nassau; she's consistently doing what she feels is in Nassau's best interests, which at the end is what Vane is doing, too, but they have really different ways of going about it. So maybe it's not so much that he's more principled but that they're principled in different directions? Anyway, they're both pretty imperfect people (though I'll go out on a limb here and say that Vane is much more imperfect than Eleanor), but that's what makes them so interesting--I really don't see the point in making Vane out to be the hero when he isn't, and wouldn't be nearly as compelling if he was.
I also don't buy for a second that Vane killing Richard Guthrie was motivated by anything other than a.) needing to reestablish his authority with the crew and b.) wanting to get back at Eleanor. All that being said, at the end of the day I do ship them, but in the sense of it being a really fucked-up, ultimately unhealthy relationship, not one were Charles was actually the good guy all along.
I also like Max and Eleanor a lot better as exes, too! I think it's the new mutual understanding that got to me, too, and them being on equal footing in terms of power.
I've reread Treasure Island a few times and seen quite a few different movie versions! The plot's pretty much fixed in my head at this point, so (assuming Black Sails sticks with book canon) I'm already fairly spoiled for certain characters' fates.
no subject
*nods* Yes to both (as in, yes, you're lucky, and yes, she did). Hence me Feeling a bit protective of Eleanor. At the time, I also couldn't help but comparing: when Flint killed Gates, a man who trusted him and deeply cared for him, the fannish reaction, in as much as there was already a fandom in s1, was "omg, poor Flint, it killed him, having to do that!" Meanwhile, when Eleanor has Vane executed: "that bitch! How could she!" I mean, some of it is due to Toby Stephens being awesome and making you feel for Flint at any Moment, but it's still a blatant double standard. (Incidentally, both actions backfire in similar ways. Instead of preventing a mutiny, Flint killing Gates is proverbial last push causing it. Instead of preventing uproar in Nassau, Vane's execution, well, take a guess.)
re: Treasure Island spoilers: in the novel, though not in all the film versions, Silver is married to a black woman. Now, for the first two seasons, the only woc with an important role in the narrative was Max, so there was much uneasy speculation whether or not she was the future Mrs. Silver, if so, whether there'd be straightwashing, etc. Now I mostly assumed she wasn't, because the show didn't give her and Silver nearly enough interaction to foreshadow a later relationship like that (though what few scenes they do share are always eminently watchable). Come Season 3, Madi gets introduced, which ends the "is Max the future Mrs. Silver?" speculation, but starts a new one, to wit: why would Madi, who takes her responsibility to her people very seriously indeed, end up running a tavern in Bristol with Silver? Feel free to speculate. :_)
(BTW, pre-Black Sails, my favourite Version of Mrs. Silver was this one.)
no subject
I didn't know much about Madi's specific role in the plot when I started watching, but I'd picked up enough of Black Sails fandom by osmosis at that point to know that she was the more likely Mrs. Silver candidate than Max (though Max and Silver's very first scene together does do a good job of misleading you for a hot second). So I'm curious and honestly kind of scared to see how it all works out in the end; knowing how the season finales usually go, I'm sure my emotions will be all over the place. But hopefully in a good (or at least satisfying) way.
And thanks for the rec! I have a big soft spot for John Silver/Mrs. Silver, which obviously isn't satisfied by the book, so I'm sure this will be a great read.