Only God Forgives. Retrospective: Black Sails "VII"

Season 1, Episode 7

Airdate: Saturday, March 8, 2014, 9/8c on Starz.

Rating: ★★★★★

“Well, chew a man’s throat out, and it tends to make an impression.” – Gates

[warning]Warning: If you haven’t finished or seen this episode, there are spoilers ahead. [/warning]

Black Sails proves once again that no one is safe. The characters we’ve grown to love or hate can flip the script pretty quickly. As new alliances are made among old enemies, there are plenty of OMG moments making ‘VII.” the perfect lead into next week’s season finale.

The whole Walrus crew returns to Nassau one day later after the attack from the man-of-war ship, Scarborough. It’s amazing to think that all of last week’s events in “VI.” happened concurrently within a span of 24 hours; it also serves as a reminder why the life expectancy for pirates wasn’t very long. Meanwhile, the women of Nassau in New Providence continue to kick some ass by keeping their men in check. The most intriguing storyline, and the one that keeps up the suspense, revolves around Captain Charles Vane (Zach McGowan). Make no mistake, although a lot of the action happens on land, “VII.” doesn’t skimp in its violent intensity with its more graphic fight scenes.

To The Lost

The resulting fallout from Billy Bones’ (Tom Hopper) death puts Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) on dangerous ground with some of his men. At this point, John Silver (Luke Arnold) may end up being Flint’s only friend. All the secrets and misdeeds from Flint’s past are coming back to haunt him, and it makes you wonder if he’ll ever get his own pirate paradise.

When Flint returns to Eleanor (Hannah New), you can see she’s at her prime. She has managed to wrangle up the captains on the island to provide a solution following her father’s, Richard Guthrie (Sean Cameron Michael), departure. She’s furious at not only the betrayal by Mr. Scott (Hakeem Kae-Kazim) assisting her father but Mrs. Barlow (Louise Barnes) undermining their plans for the Urca de Lima. In an attempt to remedy the situation, Flint promises to confront Barlow immediately and report back. Before he can leave, Eleanor commits to her arrangement in offering Silver protection.

Eleanor: “If Mr. Silver doesn’t return from the Urca, you and I may find ourselves with problems of our own.”

Captain Flint: “What a day I missed.”

Unfortunately, Flint is trapped in an emotional lockdown as he’s losing allies far too quickly. Gates (Mark Ryan)—who is the closest thing to a confidant Flint has in his life—goes through a wringer of emotions when their friendship takes a turn for the worse. There are some things even pirates won’t abide, and when it concerns a well-liked crew member? Well, some things cannot be forgiven, as is the case regarding Billy.

Gates: “Men died that day. Our men…I suspect there have been other times where we have been expendable to you, and if yesterday was one of those days, then you and I have a problem because Billy wasn’t expendable to me. He was a son to me.”

Flint: “Then perhaps you should have acted like a better father towards him.”

BOOM! When Flint shuts down what is a genuine effort on Gates’ part to give him a chance to explain his actions, it’s the beginning of the end. When Gates responds, “What the fuck did you just say?” I can’t help but feel he read pretty much everyone’s mind watching. There’s a madness with Flint’s obsession about getting the Urca’s treasure. This is further amplified when we discover the real reason behind Flint’s crusade, and his relationship with Barlow. Although it’s great we finally have Barlow and Flint confronting one another about the letter she sent to Boston, the circumstances around his estrangement from England feels rather vague. We’ve seen so many interpretations for what went down between them, it’s hard to register which one is the truth. On the other hand, their scene this week explains how deeply wronged Flint feels toward England, and how all his bitterness is creating this proverbial noose around his neck.

Captain Flint: “They took everything from us, and they call me a monster? The moment I sign that pardon, the moment I ask for one, I proclaim to the world they were right. This ends when I grant them my forgiveness, not the other way around.”

But the most cohesive, and striking thing, writer Michael Angeli has provided in “VII.” is to create the parallels between Flint and Eleanor. In addition to being master manipulators, I can’t help but see how suited they are for one another in ways where others in their life falter. Both have people who love them, people who take extreme measures to free them from the pirate’s life. Both have stuck close to their endgame, which sadly doesn’t include love. When Captain Hornigold (Patrick Lyster) tells Mr. Scott, “There is no controlling her,” the same can be said of Flint. Both are so obsessed, and touched in the head a bit with their own personal agendas, they don’t care who they have to compromise or destroy in the process. Everything seems to come to a head when they exchange an awkward moment full of sexual tension ; let’s just say watching that scene would be a field day for Freud and Jung, especially when Flint moves to kiss Eleanor on the forehead as if she were a child.

His Name Was Charles Vane

After “VII.” nothing is going to stop Charles Vane from ripping Nassau from Eleanor’s cold dead hands. There’s such a twisted love/hate thing going on with Vane and Eleanor’s relationship that makes it fascinating to watch it unravel. Despite all the horrible things she has done to him, she is the only voice to call him up from the (literal) grave. It’s really interesting how despite both Flint and Vane’s goal to destroy Eleanor, she remains the driving force in their lives. In “VI.” we see Vane return to the mysterious bearded man from his visions; a man whose disturbing appearance matches his brutal nature. This week we learn he is the one who branded the mark on Vane’s chest, a sign which seems to suggest property or ownership of some kind. There’s a lot that isn’t said aloud between them as far as the specifics of their connection, but where words fail, a lot is implied with a grimace and sad expression in Vane’s eyes—these elements suggest something more in-depth.

Vane: “No man is rich who could have a lot more by doing less.”

But it’s the last five minutes of the episode, which honestly are just full of awesome, that Vane finds himself reborn in a way that will certainly make him legendary. God help anyone who crosses him now.

It’s Hard Out There For A Pimp

The only light aspects of “VII.” lean heavily on Rackham’s (Toby Schmitz), Anne Bonny’s (Clara Paget), and Max’s (Jessica Parker Kennedy) storylines. After being left with minimal funds, and failure to turn a profit with the brothel, Rackham’s stress begins to take its toll in the bedroom, making it hard for him to rise to the occasion with Anne.

Rackham: “I’m terribly sorry if I’ve ruined your morning, but at the moment I happen to have quite a lot on my mind—a ship purloined, captain and crew a distant memory, no prospects at all except for this shit hole of a brothel, which by some miracle of economics seems incapable of turning a profit.”

Anne: “How can you run a brothel here and not make money?”

Indeed, how is that possible? We quickly discover the prostitutes are taking a cut, something Max wouldn’t do because she knows Anne was the one to help her out despite what happened with the crew of the Ranger. After literally smacking the hell out of one of the prostitutes for lying to Rackham about her share, you can see Max has gotten her groove slightly back. Watching her lecture Rackham is brilliant.

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed ”VII.” despite how overwhelming it felt in some parts. Black Sails has a large cast, so when an episode fixates on more than three plot points, you’re kind of left wanting more by the end. Dufrense (Jannes Eiselen) replacing Billy as quartermaster is a nice touch along with Randell’s storyline. But truth be told, it isn’t completely necessary, even though it serves as continuity of the storyline. So that was a bit of an issue for me. The good parts all had to do with the dynamic of moving the story along, and director Marc Munden capturing, once again, great action sequences. I like how empowered the women seem to be getting on the show in small doses, and that the tides are turning fast against Flint. Yet what amazed me is how despite all the crazy stuff that has happened on the show, it is Billy’s death that is the breaking point for the men aboard the Walrus. Billy was really the glue holding the crew together, and for viewers he represented the moral conscious among Flint’s men. He always was looking out for others than himself; which did not serve him any good in the end. It’s sad to see we’re nearing the end of the season, but at least we have the comfort of knowing it will return for another round. All in all, “VII” is great setup towards what will be an epic showdown.

So, what do you think of the episode? Do you think Vane and Eleanor are headed for a major blowout? And how about Rackham’s weakness for the ladies? Post your comments below! Tune in to Black Sails on Saturdays at 9/8c, only on STARZ.

Follow the series on its official sites: http://www.starz.com/originals/blacksails/ and http://www.pirates-wanted.com/ where you can also watch videos and clips of the episodes.

Follow Black Sails on its official twitter: @BlkSails_Starz and don’t forget the cast and crew:

@BlkSailsCreatrs,@mfernandezLA, @ScrambledLuke (Luke Arnold/John Silver), @ClaraPaget (Clara Paget/Anne Bonny), @markryan243 (Mark Ryan/Gates), @hannahnewuk (Hannah New/Eleanor Guthrie), @JParkerK (Jessica P Kenned/Max), @Zach_McGowan (Zach McGowan/Captain Vane), @fallofasparrow (Toby Schmitz/Rackham), @seancmichael (Sean Cameron Michael/Richard Guthrie), @Tomhopperhops (Tom Hopper/Billy Bones), and @hakeemkaekazim (Hakeem Kae-Kazim/Mr. Scott).