Black Sails (S1) Review!
Over the last few years critics and fans have argued that we are in another golden age of television, and it's hard to argue that. Shows not on premium networks such as HBO, Showtime, Starz, have upped their stakes and put serious production value into their products. AMC and FX are great channels that are focusing on story and character over sitcoms and the standard police stories. Unfortunately, that means many shows are either lost in the shuffle, or are talked about, but again are over shadowed by television that everyone talks about (looking at you Game of Thrones). Black Sails, I believe is one of those shows. While I've heard many fans of the series regard it as great television I have hardly heard many people actually giving it a try apart from those fans. That struck me as odd, because this show is so great and deserves to be talked about.
On the surface Black Sails is a prequel interpretation of Treasure Island. On that premise, one is expected to shrug and ask, "How far can you go with that?" and to that I'd have to say pretty damn far. Okay, maybe not expansive in story, but the first season of Black Sails perfectly sets up the world and characters in a way I found refreshing. The story wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere. We spend more time on land than in the water. And, we focus on characters over everything else. What I meant by this story going far I meant as a compliment in their inner work to the characters.
Black Sails bolsters an immense cast. Most are extras to fill up the ships, but each one is easily identified. Some quirk will instantly tell you what that person's job is, like the man with the fake monstrous teeth is to put fear into their captives and set the mood on their raids. The important characters are sprinkled throughout each episode, and only shown when necessary. Episode one has the viewer following John Silver, an important character in the Treasure Island mythos, but we quickly leave him to get to know other characters. Each episode will tell everyone's part of the story as the bigger picture slowly unfolds, and that's why I felt this show was refreshing. Black Sails is visually shot as one long story about a band of pirates, but it never favors a character. No one acted as the main character, and the show never holds onto a character's story longer than needs be. If we do get on a character for a bit, like it does with Captain Flint this season, it's so that his actions are the impact on the other characters, in this case his crew, will be even harder.
The production value on this show is also gorgeous to look at. The costumes look phenomenal, and the sets feel like they're part of a real town. The ships alone are incredible as Captain Flint's ship was actually built. Putting effort into making a ship that size for television goes a long way as it helps the viewer feel the natural-ness of the world. Everything they did on this show helped me join their world, and I believed every second that it was lived in. Nothing looked like it was just built. It was dirty, old, and incredible.
As this show was made on Starz it's expected to contain nudity, blood, and graphic language, and oh boy do they. One of the more important locations this season was, well, a whorehouse. Character from all over come there to relax, and in seconds you'll notice topless women. As the scenes progress you'll see semi-graphic sex being performed, but with all that said I found the show to use it in a story manner more than I thought I would. By that, I mean you see the nudity and sex much more as part of the world, and story, rather than sex and nudity just for the sake of it. Don't get me wrong, especially in the first two episodes you can tell that they exploited that as any other show would with that kind of power, but as the season went on it quickly changed to "this is how these women worked, and thus this is how they acted and 'dressed'" scenario. For that I have to give the show much props as characters from this location become important and really stand on their own as characters you want to root for.
Towards the end of the season is where you'll see the horrors of ship to ship battle. The tension on screen is turned up to eleven as cannon balls wreck havoc on everything. You see all sorts of gruesome quick shots of people flying, being hit, and writhing in agony as splinters from the ship pierce their body. Again, this show doesn't glorify this power that they hold. Black Sails is fortunate enough to be able to show this type of horror battle, but they made sure to show it at the end of the season because now you're invested in all the characters which only makes it more intense. By the end of Season one you will be begging for Season two.
Overall, Black Sails is an incredible show that not many people are talking about. Every actor has multiple scenes that will send chills down your spine as each character is fleshed out. The story maybe be a tad slow for most people, especially if you're expecting naval battles every episode, but Black Sails decided to take the story in a more realistic way for pirates, and politics, that elevates what this material can be and unleashes the fights in a most brutal way. I can't stress enough how much I loved this season, and in only eight episodes it has given me a really long lasting impression. I highly recommend this if you love pirates, good stories, or morally gray characters.
A-
