By Mark Avo
BLACK SAILS – Live-action action adventure created by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine; based on characters both real and fictional who are featured in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”; rated TV-MA; airs 9 p.m. EST Saturday nights on Starz; 60 minutes. Episode 1.1: “<>” (original airdate, Jan 25, 2014). Directed by Neil Marshall, written by Jonathan E. Steinberg and Robert Levine (8 out of 10)
About the show: The story is set in the West Indies in 1715, near the end of the Golden Age of piracy. This isn’t the “Pirates of the Caribbean” variety of pirates. Instead of romanticizing piracy, this series makes an attempt to be more realistic. Black Sails is closer to a fictionalized historical take on pirates more in the vein of the History channels “Vikings”. The show is brutally violent but not because it makes any attempt to glorify the violence. This world of pirates is an honest representation of the horrors of life on the open ocean. Men died of shrapnel wounds from the exploding parts of the ship. They died of gangrene from simple scratches. They often died of starvation and dehydration. They also died from musket and breaching axe wounds, and often times, they died at the end of a sword. Black Sails doesn’t sugar coat the reality of piracy in the 18th century.
The pirates themselves are also dressed in period accurate garb and move around sets that are spectacularly finished to appear like real, life sized sailing vessels of the time. The writing by Steinberg and Levine does its best to use dialogue that is period accurate while being understandable by a modern viewer. There isn’t an over-use of modern profanity like in the “Starz Spartacus: Blood and Sand” series; like Spartacus, there is a graphic use of sexuality that feels tacked on for the sake of itself and not the story. Sure there were brothels and prostitution everywhere in that time and place, but the scenes where sexuality is used move the story forward in a shaky way at best. The character development and narrative could just as easily moved forward without the use of the nudity. To say that the sexuality I an attempt at being historical would be an excuse that hides the real reason the sexual scenes were added and that is because it gets viewers of a certain demographic to keep coming back.
This story is a prequel to “Treasure Island” and in this world; we get to see exactly why men feared the name Captain Flint.
Despite Michael Bay being an Executive Producer on the series though, there are plenty of reasons to visit Black Sails on a weekly basis that do not include the eye candy. The actors who play the roles of primary roles are great. Each performance is serious and creates all of the right things you want an actor to do with a character. The twists and turns the plot takes wouldn’t mean much if the characters felt thin or plastic. There is a death in the first episode that may surprise viewers given the investment the show takes in building that character up. The writers did their part in creating the dialogue and situations, the actors do their part in making the characters come to life.
In Robert Louis Steven’s novel, “Treasure Island”, Captain Flint’s Fist is the treasure all of the buccaneers are after. Not much is said about Flint in the novel outside of descriptions of him as a ruthless pirate captain. Captain Flint of ship The Walrus, played by Toby Stephens, is the primary protagonist in a world of villains. This story is a prequel to “Treasure Island” and in this world; we get to see exactly why men feared the name Captain Flint. We also get to see the main characters from “Treasure Island” mature into the people we know from the novel. Billy Bones plays aide to the Captain and the manipulative and clever Long John Silver begins his career as a cook, known only at this time as John Silver. Played by Luke Arnold, there is a sparkle of mischievous in the actor’s eye that elevates the man that is John Silver into a hint of the ruthless one legged pirate he will become.
In this episode: Captain Flint is in the process of raiding merchant ships to find a shipping log that will lead him to an enormous Spanish treasure. He is keeping that knowledge to himself and his Quartermaster Mr. Gates. His distrust for his crew is necessary because a pirate Captain could be voted out of his captaincy at any time. If Flint doesn’t keep his men happy though, they’ll oust him for his Boatswain Singleton, played by Anthony Bishop. The Captain raids the right ship for the final clue that he requires but the evidence he is looking for, the ships log, has an important page missing from it. That page comes into the hands of John Silver who, without knowing the value of the thing he possesses, attempts to sell the information as soon as The Walrus makes port at Nassau – a pirate stronghold.
It’s on this port that Mr. Gates does his best to work with the local fence, Eleanor Guthrie, Richard Guthrie’s daughter. Richard Guthrie owns the legitimate merchant company in Nassau. That company enables the pirates piracy because they can sell their ill-gotten gains through the Guthries. Mr. Gates sells the meager earnings from Captain Flints obsessive search for the Spanish treasure to Eleanor whilst also trying to convince the crew of the Walrus to not abandon their Captain for the ships agitator, Boatswain Singleton. While Mr. Gates does his best to maintain the equilibrium of power on The Walrus, Captain Flint goes to collect more information on the treasure he is seeking from Guthrie himself. It’s during that time that John Silver makes his move against his new captain. He attempts to sell the information he has to the historically real rival Captain, Captain Vane. Captain Vane and John “Calico Jack” Rackham are the shows primary antagonists if you don’t count the British Royal Navy.
This first episode sets up the season to come in a nice package. The acting is solid, the world is beautifully developed and the characters and story are intriguing. The nudity feels forced but there isn’t enough of it to hinder the program, and for some it’ll only be another reason to tune in. Having Michael Bay’s name on the project might turn away some viewers, but this is a Starz action-adventure story so saying that it is a little over-the-top is a bit on the nose. Not being able to judge the entire series by one episode, it is still a much milder program tonally than Spartacus and its other seasons were. This is a show to watch as it grows in the season. The potential for a hit is clear and even Starz can see the writing on the wall because Black Sails was renewed for a second season last summer just after the San Diego ComicCon.
The first episode of Black Sails was released on Youtube early; its official air date for episode 1 is Saturday, January 25th. You can watch it now though by following our coverage over here.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10
CAST:
The characters: Toby Stephens (Captain Flint), Hannah New (Eleanor Guthrie), Luke Arnold (John Silver), Zach McGowan (Captain Charles Vane), Toby Schmitz (John Rackham), Clara Paget (Anne Bonney), Mark Ryan (Mr. Gates), Tom Hopper (Billy Bones), Zach McGowan (Captain Charles Vane), Hakeem Kae Kazim (Mr. Scott), Louise Barnes (Miranda Barlow), Sean Michael (Richard Guthrie), Anthony Bishop (Singleton)