Since Black Sails was a subject of my very first review on this blog, it's only fair to talk about it again since season 2 just started. And what an episode it was! When the credits started rolling I was thinking "What? What did they do, did they shorten the episodes down to 20 minutes?" so I checked... 52 minutes. 52 minutes and it really seemed more like 20, 25 max.
I am really glad to say that it started great, with a short reminder of the last season's final battle with the Spanish Frigate and the end of Captain Flint's dream of plundering the Treasure Fleet. Of course, nothing is ever what it seems to be, so we are finally witnessing the first joined actions of Flint and Silver as they... well, I won't tell you, in case you haven't seen the episode yet. Also, things back at the Port of Nassau are heating up with Charles Vane and Eleanor Guthrie "working" together. No, it's not what you think! They really are more probable to kill each other rather than cooperate. And there's a new and ruthless captain in town, known by the name of Ned Low. And he's got a mysterious and precious cargo in his hold.
I expressed my skepticism on Black Sails in general during the most of the first season, but the finale was good and the intro to season 2 was great! I am glad they worked it out, unlike Crossbones who was even more promising... yet it was cancelled after only one season. Good job Black Sails, keep it up!
Funny, before I actually started the blog, I had like... 50 possible subjects to cover. But when it came to actually write about it I didn't know where to start. At the end I decided to go with Starz' Black Sails for one reason only: it was the last new TV show I got to see. Last night. Approximately 12 hours ago.
So... Black Sails. I've heard of it a few months ago but didn't read about it at all. I saw it was made by Starz and having watched Spartacus and Da Vinci's Demons, I trusted them enough to skip all the texts that appeared on internet in the last 15 days or so.
Warning: minor spoilers ahead.
I don't want to spend too much time on introducing the show so here's a short version: the story seems to cover the infamous Captain Flint and his crew, some 20 years before the events of Treasure Island (that info comes from IMDB). So yes, these are not some completely new characters - they were created by Robert Louis Stevenson 150 years ago! The first episode, "ingeniously" named I. (Chapter 1) begins with a pirate attack so we get to see a lot of action right from the start. I have to say - the production is on a rather high level, as expected, and I really enjoyed the opening battle scene. It brought back some pleasant memories from playing Sid Meier's Pirates!, one of my personal favorites of all time. We get to see the story's main characters, their ships, a hideout, the secret plan etc etc etc...
Anyway, to skip to the point: I wasn't overly impressed, but it's too early to say if the show is actually good or not. I remember watching Spartacus and the fact that I needed to see 5 or 6 episodes to actually get to like the show, but once I did it swept me off my feet! Could the same happen with this one? It does have a lot of potential... it's a tv show about pirates, how could that go wrong? Besides, it's about to get a true competition from NBC's Crossbones who happens to have John Malkovich aboard its ship! So they better do good or they are destined to get buried.
Oh, a useful fact: Starz actually released this episode for free on Youtube!. Sure, it's US only, but I am sure you will manage... even if you are not from USA.
