How That One Cliffhanger Ruined 'Our Flag Means Death' Finale
Surprising HBO Max hit 'Our Flag Means Death' left millions of fans hoping for the renewal of the show. Taika Waititi's rag-tag crew of queer pirates managed to enchant its audience with witty jokes and cozy atmosphere, but there is at least one thing that ruined season's finale – that cliffhanger.
The comedy is based on the lives of real historical people, including the gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and legendary captain Blackbeard (Waititi). For the first half of the season, show maintains a light-hearted, mischievous nature, with pirates enjoying their blossoming affections and carelessly laughing at each other. However, after the halfway point in the series, the atmosphere shifts towards something much more dramatic.
Major spoilers ahead!
The series finale sees aforementioned Bonnet and Blackbeard, just beginning to discover their mutual attraction to each other, separated thanks to some pretty bad timing. With Bonnet and ship's crew left behind on a deserted island, Blackbeard sails away to continue his reign of terror. During the whole season fans were hyping up Bonnet and Blackbeard romance, just to see them ruthlessly separated at the very end - feels like a major letdown. With juicy cliffhanger like that, Waititi should've been certain about show's future – as of today 'Our Flag Means Death ' is yet to be picked up for season 2.
Even apart from that, the drastic change from comedy to drama, from an ensemble piece with developing storylines for all the pirates to exploring the relationship between just the two of them – feels a little awkward for such an accomplished, and otherwise great, TV series.