jadedbirch:

While it’s satisfying to have an explanation for why Silver has suddenly been a competent fighter all season – and who doesn’t love a training montage — the show would hardly spend half its penultimate episode filling in a minor plot hole. The only other time Black Sails has featured flashbacks has been to convey monumental information about Flint’s emotional state in Season 2. Aside from the fact that they’re gorgeously rendered and fun, some might wonder what the point of the flashbacks in this episode are since the only reveal is an absence of information. But I’d argue that Flint’s emotional state is still the point — specifically, his love for Silver. As a brief caveat, I’m aware that this is a topic many of you have strong opinions about. As always, this is simply my reading of the text. If yours is different, this is in no way attempting to negate it.

Now, let’s start at the end of the episode. When Flint shoots Dooley, he’s choosing Silver’s life over his own as a reflex. It’s not a conscious decision but a reactionary one – he would rather eliminate someone who is trying to kill Silver even if it means that Silver is now free to kill him. His gut instinct is simply that this man cannot die. Black Sails is best at the kind of love that doesn’t involve character spelling it out. Gestures always speak louder than words: Vane beheading Ned Low; Jack being uncharacteristically brutal slaying Redcoats as Anne lay bleeding on the floor; Max and Anne holding hands in the snow. Idelle slicing bread for Anne; Jack blowing up the fort he’d spent ages rebuilding in Season 3 so that Charles could escape. Just like these actions, Flint shooting Dooley is an act of love.

Flint and Silver’s relationship is among the boldest and most beautiful on television in part because no other show depicts such deep emotional intimacy between a gay man and a man who is not gay. (At this point everything about Silver is a question, but he’s into one woman. That doesn’t mean he’s straight, but ‘not gay’ is one of the only definitive things we know). Flint is at his most ruthless and brutal here as he slaughters his own good men (RIP Joji). Naturally because this is Flint, his deepest emotions are revealed within his deepest brutality.

By “loves” Silver do I mean “begrudges his relationship with Madi?” Nope. Miranda never begrudged James and Thomas. Rather, she championed it because she valued their happiness. Flint loves Silver in the same way that Miranda loved him. It was complex and nebulous and not necessarily reciprocated in the exact same way — but it was no less real and deep for it. When Silver and Madi kissed in 4.03 and the camera cut to Flint’s face looking complicated and bittersweet, it was the mirror image of the scene in the fifth episode of Season 2 when James and Thomas kissed. Recall that the camera cut to Miranda’s face looking complicated and bittersweet.

Flint hardly knew how to articulate his relationship with Miranda. As she said in Season 3, she was alternately his wife, mother, and lover. His love for Silver is similarly undefined, because Flint has never been a person who is interested in categorizing such things. Silver is that kind of person, and his conclusion is “respect.” But Flint wouldn’t have let the issue of Silver’s past go if he didn’t value him above everyone else; wouldn’t have shot Dooley point-blank. And for James Flint, love is a destructive force. Flint is brutal and cruel and harsh, but never underestimate his capacity for love. John Silver might be a void with no story — but the experience of being loved in this fierce and destructive way by this fierce and destructive person is Long John Silver’s backstory.

– from Lauren Sarner’s review of 4×09

Agree with every (articulate and measured) word and punctuation mark. Especially the blink-and-you-miss-it close-up of Flint’s expression after Madi rushes to kiss Silver in 4.03: a degree of pain, and possibly envy, mixed with gladness that Silver and Madi have found each other.

alovelylight:

So I’ve been thinking of the overarching themes in each season of Black Sails, and here is what I came up with so far. Bear in mind that this obviously isn’t a strict interpretation; this show can be seen in a million ways.

Season one’s theme is theater. It doesn’t just address the usage of theater and storytelling to serve an agenda and purpose (Flint’s Odysseus story, the theatricality of pirates’ masks/costumes, using Miranda’s favorite stories as an expression of her internal struggle), but it employs that technique itself. We don’t know Flint’s intentions and backstory, we don’t know what the deal is with Miranda, we don’t know exactly why the pirate paradise is so important. Season one takes the leap by letting us see the inner workings of pirate society and the man behind Captain Flint’s name, but it doesn’t let us in completely. The “fruit fruit tits tits plant plant” scene is prophetic of this unraveling; right now we see stories being used as tools of propaganda and bastardization, but we haven’t yet comprehended the original, authentic origins of such stories. There is a stage, and the players are there to act, but their walls are yet to be deconstructed.

Season two’s theme is the truth. It is all about deconstructing the walls of the former season by stressing upon the importance of the truths that resonate from the storytelling. We learn the truth of Flint in his flashbacks; we are introduced to Ned Low, an honest killer; and we meet Abigail, who has no agenda and presents the truth as she sees it. Other characters find truths in their own selves: Anne in the discovery of her sexuality, Jack in the grappling of his newfound role as captain, Vane in being forced to think more like Flint and anticipate the future, Silver in becoming the voice of the crew. The banner of Captain Flint precedes the man through the use of the story as a weapon, and this season shows us why the weapon was created and how it was made. This is when we see the real painting, not the copy. This when we see the humanity beneath the theatricality that the world of Black Sails demands. This is when the existing truth of their stories transcend from the narrative and sit with us.

Season three’s theme is rebirth. We’re at a point where many of the characters are forced to step into new roles. Flint shaves his head as a way of defacing himself from the events of Charles Town; Silver has found a place where he belonged for the first time; Eleanor has to play the part of the lady in order to survive; Max has to find a place for herself inside civilization’s structure; Vane has to die in order to be reborn as an insurgent. The Miranda in Flint’s dream said she was also mother, having seen the birth of Captain Flint; now it is time to let Silver in, to find renewal after the dead carcass and see the shark. Silver, also, has to become Long John for his story to come into fruition; with the stroke of a pen, he is forced into rebirth in Flint’s place. Max, likewise, arises to take Eleanor’s place on the throne of Nassau. The larger role of Nassau is also called into question; one of its struggles is the ability to form an identity, and this season really explored its identity crisis in light of civilization’s arrival.

Season four’s theme is sacrifice. This really brings it full circle; one constant theme that runs through all seasons of Black Sails is the self-perpetuating tragedy of people loving each other so powerfully but so tragically. It’s Rogers betraying Eleanor for the bigger goal; it’s Max giving up possible power to be with Anne; it’s Madi choosing the fate of her people over Silver; it’s Flint shooting Dooley to protect Silver; it’s Silver giving up the dreams of Flint and Madi as an expression of his love for them. Their personal values, fears, and hopes inform these decisions, but acts of sacrifice are all results of larger patterns at play. The cycle of rebirth and sacrifice continues, cloaked beneath storytelling and founded through personal truths. Jack will always hear the calling of the sea every time he looks at a painting of it, because he has lived the truth of that art. Silver will follow the siren call of Flint’s dreams in an attempt to find the man, like how Flint was driven to the sea by the loss of Thomas. The show must go on.

This fandom is full of intelligent, articulate people as well as amazing stories. In my opinion there is also the overarching, unifying theme of stories and storytelling: stories into legends – stories about heroes and villains – how differing stories are born of  the same facts – which people remember which stories – which people pass on which stories – and what are “facts” anyway.

byakuya-mioda:

if exploring your gender is ‘becoming a trend’ then i’m glad it’s replacing the ‘being confused and miserable with no context or vocabulary for what you’re going through’ trend

Hear, hear. As a baby boomer, I am full of gratitude and admiration for the brave young people who right now are doing this exploration, at great cost to themselves. They are the heirs of Stonewall and society will owe them a lot in fifteen or twenty years’ time.