Black Sails Season One Review

There are no spoilers in this article.

Every child at some point in their life has had the fantasy of wanting to be a pirate during the Golden Age of piracy (1700s) and dreamt of walking the plank, sword fighting and sailing the seven seas. Admit it, you were one of them. But now that you’ve “grown up” it’s not really socially acceptable to lose yourself into a fantasy like this anymore and, not to mention, your tastes have matured. Yet at times, you still want to connect to your inner child with a more developed outlook of the world. In the world of media, there have been few chances for you to lose yourself into a fantasy like this with the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ franchise and the latest ‘Assassin’s Creed’ game being a few of the exceptions. 

And then ‘Black Sails’ came along. Aired on the American network Starz, the detailed and somewhat grounded pirate series presents an opportunity for the viewer to immerse themselves into the West Indies of the 1700s and connect with the characters. Written as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s famous novel ‘Treasure Island’ and produced by the experienced Michael Bay (producer of big-budget Hollywood blockbusters such as the ‘Transformers’ franchise, ‘Pearl Harbour’ and the upcoming ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’), the show takes the characters as well as fictionalized versions of real life pirates – including Charles Vane, Anne Bonny, Jack Rackham, Benjamin Hornigold and the infamous Blackbeard – and places them into a raunchy version of New Providence, vividly showcasing the daily life of pirates. ‘Black Sails’ first season follows the story of the fearless (and fearful!) Captain Flint and his crew’s hunt of the Spanish treasure galleon, the Urca de Lima. A classic pirate storyline. So what makes this show so special?

Wrapping up its first season just a few weeks ago, what ‘Black Sails’ achieves by being able to break beyond the realms of getting dragged down into prime time television censorship, is a show with mature and intricate plotlines that’s accompanied by ambitious visual effects, lavish set pieces with the addition of blood and gore… Not to mention the occasional sex scene. The programme opens with this quote:

“In 1715, West Indies, the pirates of New Providence Island threaten maritime trade in the region. The laws of every civilized nation declare them hostis humani generis; enemies of all mankind. In response, the pirates adhere to a doctrine of their own...war against the world.”

From the very opening shot of this quote till the explosive season finale, the show really helps to highlight the ruthless reality of a pirate’s life in the 1700s. To help support a generic story ideal of pirates hunting for booty, the series adds tales of murder, betrayal and deception to help encapsulate the viewer into this much grounded fictional world. As well as this, through the use of morally sketchy characters – all who have their own diverging motivations – the season creates a satisfying clash between the horrors of greed gone awry and the sanctity of the chain of command by concealing their true ideas and motivations behind smoke and mirrors. This is helped by strong performances from the likes of Toby Stephens (‘Die Another Day’) and Mark Ryan (‘The Prestige’) as Captain Flint and his Quartermaster Mr Gates respectively, all the more noticeable as the season progresses. Not to mention a captivating performance from the new star Luke Arnold as the sleazy, scheming John Silver who only keeps you guessing all season long, adding to the dynamic of the cast.

The pirate-based action-adventure series also has an accomplished musician in Bear McCreary who composes the score of the show. McCreary’s other work in composing television music stretches from ‘The Walking Dead’ to ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ along with many other primetime shows. Having a skilled composer behind the wheel also helps in setting the tone of the show, to build suspense and to heighten the action.

As it is easier to pinpoint the positives of a show after a season has finished, it’s also as easy to highlight the negatives. The main drawback from the debut season of ‘Black Sails’ would have to be the number of episodes; there is not enough. With only eight episodes, the season lacked in not being able to expand as much as it could have and resulted in certain characters not getting enough screen time towards the end of the season. As well as this, it almost seemed certain that the show – from the opening two episodes – that it might become dragged down by its own amount of detail. Fortunately, this was not the case as you learn from the progression of the season as it had to only set up the multiple overlaying story arcs that amount to an epic finale.

The good news is, the show was renewed for a second season six months before the first season had even aired due to positive fan reaction, and only adds to my point that ‘Black Sails’ really is a hidden gem of a show with few drawbacks. If you like good plotlines, exciting characters, impressive special effects and yes, pirates, then this is the show for you.

The Original release poster of Season One, Starz new hit show