Our Flag Means Death is an American period romantic comedy television series created by David Jenkins. Set in the early 18th century during the Golden Age of Piracy, the series follows the misadventures of gentleman-turned-pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and his crew aboard the Revenge as they try to make a name for themselves as pirates and cross paths with famed pirate captain Blackbeard (Taika Waititi).
The first season premiered on March 3, 2022 on HBO Max and received positive reviews, including praise for its LGBTQ+ representation. In June 2022, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on Max on October 5, 2023. In January 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.
The series is loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnet, also known as the "Gentleman Pirate". Set in 1717, the first season depicts the early days of Bonnet's career as a pirate after abandoning his family and his comfortable life as a member of the landed gentry of Barbados. Bonnet is portrayed as having little or no aptitude for this role, with no experience beyond that of his privileged life.
Aboard their ship, the Revenge, the newly-minted Captain Bonnet and his dysfunctional crew struggle to survive against deadly threats both from naval warships and other bloodthirsty pirates. During their misadventures, the crew of the Revenge cross paths with notorious pirate captain Edward Teach and his crew, including First Mate Izzy Hands. Comedy and chaos ensue as Teach and Bonnet fall in love.
Creator and showrunner David Jenkins was inspired to write the show after learning about Stede Bonnet from his wife and subsequently reading his Wikipedia article. He was particularly interested in filling in the blanks of Bonnet's life, trying to find his motivations for abandoning his family as well as understanding why Blackbeard took him under his wing. From the outset he envisioned the show as centering on a romantic relationship between Bonnet and Blackbeard, and pitched it as such.
Taika Waititi, who shares a manager with Jenkins, became involved after Jenkins told him the story of Stede Bonnet and asked if he wanted to be involved. Waititi was attracted to the project because of what he believed to be Jenkins' original approach to pirates. In subsequent discussions, they agreed that a romance between Bonnet and Teach was "the reason to do the show". Garrett Basch later joined the project as executive producer after reading the script for the pilot episode.
The show was given a straight to series order by HBO Max in September 2020 with Jenkins, Basch and Halstead as executive producers, and Waititi as both an executive producer and director of the first episode. On June 1, 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.
Casting an actor to play Stede Bonnet began shortly after the series was ordered. While Rhys Darby's name was mentioned early in the process, it was not until after an unsuccessful round of auditions and most of the script had been written that he was again brought into consideration. His casting was officially announced in January 2021. Jenkins stated that Darby made an otherwise unlikable Stede Bonnet likeable, telling Slash Film that he was "the only person who could play it". Darby, whose career has consisted primarily of supporting comedic roles, saw the role as an opportunity to branch out and play a leading, and more dramatic role, telling Deadline "I looked at myself and how much experience I've had over the years and I felt maybe it is time to step up."
Taika Waititi, who was already attached as executive producer and director, joined the cast to play Blackbeard four months later in April 2021. Jenkins had begun writing the role with Waititi in mind, and eventually approached him over text asking if he would be interested in playing Blackbeard. In the official casting announcement Jenkins said of Waititi "Our Blackbeard is a legend, a lover, a fighter, a tactical genius, a poetic soul and quite possibly insane. Only one man could play this role, and that is the great Taika Waititi. We're thrilled beyond measure he's decided to don the beard."
In June, it was announced that Kristian Nairn, Nathan Foad, Samson Kayo, Rory Kinnear, Con O'Neill and Vico Ortiz had been added to the cast, with the additions of Ewen Bremner, David Fane, Joel Fry, Guz Khan and Matthew Maher announced in July. In August, it was announced that Leslie Jones, Nat Faxon, Fred Armisen and Samba Schutte were cast in recurring roles.
Filming took place between June 14 and September 28, 2021. Taika Waititi, who serves as an executive producer, also directed the pilot episode, which was filmed after Waititi completed production on Thor: Love and Thunder. The scenes aboard the Revenge were filmed on a soundstage using StageCraft.
The second season began filming on September 25, 2022, in New Zealand. It wrapped on December 13, 2022.
The original score for the series was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh. On May 5, 2022, it was announced that the soundtrack album for the first season would be released by WaterTower Music on May 6, 2022.
On January 9, 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons. Vanity Fair called Our Flag Means Death's cancellation "the end of a unique TV era". A fan-funded campaign dubbed "Renew as a Crew" was launched and raised enough funds to rent both a billboard in Times Square and a plane flying over Hollywood with the message "Save Our Flag Means Death". Campaigns since continued under the banners of "Adopt Our Crew" and "Save OFMD Crew." In March 2024, series creator David Jenkins announced that their attempts to revive the series and find a new home on another streaming platform were unsuccessful.
Our Flag Means Death's first season premiered on HBO Max on March 3, 2022 and released 2–3 weekly episodes through March 24, 2022.
The BBC acquired the series in December 2022 and announced plans to air it in the United Kingdom in early 2023. Our Flag Means Death aired on BBC Two on January 4, 2023, at 10 pm, with one episode airing each week. After the first episode aired, every episode became available to watch or download via the BBC's iPlayer. The second season began airing on February 5, 2024, again on BBC Two in a 10 pm weekday timeslot. Once again, all episodes from the second season became available immediately afterwards on its iPlayer streaming service.
On August 24, 2023, a Vanity Fair exclusive first look revealed Our Flag Means Death's second season would premiere on Max in October 2023. The following week, Max released a teaser and announced the second season would premiere with 3 episodes on October 5, 2023, and would run through October 26, 2023.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 93% for the first season based on 45 critic reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Our Flag Means Death's gentle sensibility doesn't quite strike comedic gold, but its bemusing band of buccaneers are endearing enough that viewers seeking a comforting watch will find bountiful booty." Metacritic gave the first season a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 13 critic reviews. An analysis of Metacritic's year-end compilation of 122 TV critic top 10 lists revealed that critics considered Our Flag Means Death to be one of the "best TV shows" of 2022.
The second season received a Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 96%. The critical consensus reads "Our Flag Means Death's sophomore season doubles down on the fans' favorite ship to some diminishing returns, but it still delivers enough joyous moments to get viewers' sabers rattling." Rotten Tomatoes included the second season in their list of the best reviewed TV series of 2023. Metacritic gave the second season a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 based on 16 critic reviews.
Dubbed "The Sigh of Relief Heard 'Round the Internet" by Vanity Fair, the series renewal was highly anticipated by both critics and audiences.
The series was praised for its substantial LGBTQ+ representation, which consists of three queer relationships, one of which involves a nonbinary character (Jim Jimenez). The central romance of the show, between Bonnet and Teach, was originally believed by many to be a "friendship". Critics praised the series for subverting the common queerbaiting trope by making Bonnet and Teach's relationship explicit before the end of the season.
Critics also commended the series for centering the experiences of people of color. According to Jenkins, he and his diverse writers room aimed to portray the historical realities of people of color at the time without subjecting characters and viewers to "trauma porn", stating "we wanted a show where these characters can exist in a fantasy world and their race ... doesn't automatically lead to a traumatic storyline for them". The Chicago Tribune praised the series for not shying away from lampooning racism and colonialism, but disapproved of the writers’ decision to omit to the historical Bonnet's slave-owning past.
The first season debuted to popular acclaim and ranks among the top five most watched Max Original comedy series launches. Audience demand for the series more than tripled during the three weeks between its premiere and season one finale. According to data science company Parrot Analytics, Our Flag Means Death became the most in-demand breakout series in the U.S. following the release of season 1 episodes 9 and 10. The series unseated The Book of Boba Fett, which had claimed the top spot for three months. Our Flag Means Death was the most in-demand breakout series across all streaming platforms in the U.S. for seven consecutive weeks before being surpassed by the premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Our Flag Means Death regained the top spot the following week.
Our Flag Means Death was the 5th most in-demand series on HBO Max and the 2nd most in-demand series among young adult viewers in 2022.
Audience demand for the second season of Our Flag Means Death exceeded the first season's peak demand. The second season averaged nearly 45 times the average series demand in its first 10 days after premiering, outpacing demand for the third seasons of The Righteous Gemstones and Succession. The success of the second season elevated the series to flagship status on Max.
An analysis of Max's catalog revealed that Our Flag Means Death was the streamer's 3rd most popular series of 2023, ranking behind The Last of Us and Succession.
Our Flag Means Death is considered to be an organic word-of-mouth marketing success due to an active online fandom that continues to drive viewership and demand. The series has been called a sleeper hit due to its surprising growth in popularity despite receiving little promotion or marketing. Its growing rise in popularity has been compared to the grassroots success Ted Lasso experienced.
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