Never has a show been downgraded in the collective psyche after its series finale quite like Game of Thrones. When showrunners David Benioff and DB Weiss outpaced the books (which, to be fair, wasn’t hard to do considering we’ve been waiting on The Winds of Winter since 2011), all hell broke loose, and they deviated majorly from the plans that the original A Song Of Ice And Fire series author George RR Martin had shared with them. We ended up with three additional seasons of fantasy that tried too hard to be grimdark and edgy just for the sake of the subversion of expectations, with no care for historical precedent or characterization (Sansa and Daenerys would never act like that, and don’t even get me started on “what’s west of Westeros”).
If you’re looking for something to fill the gaps left behind by Game of Thrones, now is the perfect time to give Black Sails the shot it rightfully deserves—and the one it didn’t get in its heyday. It’s not fantasy per se, but it is technically the prequel to Treasure Island and one of the best historical fiction shows to hit the small screen. Everything from the casting to the costuming to the writing and acting is nothing short of fantastic. For the sake of honesty, you can see where the first three episodes were languishing in the shadow of what was driving Game of Thrones forward (gratuitous nudity, violence for the sake of it, etc), but once Black Sails hit its stride, it became wholly and uniquely its own, focusing on character-driven storytelling with action sequences and schemes that would leave you constantly on the edge of your seat. And it is criminally underrated.
What Makes Black Sails The Perfect Historical Drama?
Honestly, what doesn’t? The synopsis on Rotten Tomatoes, where the show boasts an 81% on the tomatometer, speaks for itself: It’s 1715, and as Flint fights for the survival of New Providence Island—a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers—in the wake of threats from British and Spanish forces, he aligns himself with Eleanor Guthrie, daughter of the local kingpin, to hunt the ultimate prize and ensure his people’s survival. But standing in the way are rival captains, Eleanor’s intrusive father, and perhaps the bigger obstacle of all: John Silver, a young, fast-talking, authority-flouting sailor recently added to Flint’s crew.
Black Sails pulls no punches, pushing forward gritty and dark stories about the people who make up the beating heart of New Providence, breathing fresh life into stories about characters we’ve heard about all our lives. With Captain James Flint (Toby Stevens) and Captain Charles Vane (Zach McGowan) constantly at each other’s throats (and everyone elses), while John Silver (Luke Arnold), Calico Jack Rackham (Toby Schmitz), and Anne Bonny (Clara Paget) run around causing chaos that Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy) and Eleanor (Hannah New) have to clean up, there is not a single moment of boredom or pointless exposition to be found in this show. It’s entirely action-packed, pushed forward by near-flawless character work and a true attention to detail where the historical elements come into play—it’s almost completely accurate to the daily pirate life of the time, if not the events that inspired the tall tales of Blackbeard and Long John Silver.
Black Sails is a show that takes itself just seriously enough to be touted as a darker drama, tackling issues like poverty, subjection, LGBTQ+ issues, and colonization with a knowledgeable and determined hand. It doesn’t gloss over the harder elements of the lives these characters lead, nor does it glorify them, trusting the audience to make their own choices with regard to who they root for and against (Charles Vane, they could never make me hate you). All in all, it does what television doesn’t seem to do anymore—takes its audience on a genuine and well-crafted journey that is both heartbreaking and beautiful, constantly leaving viewers wanting more.
All four seasons of Black Sails are currently streaming on Netflix.
What is your opinion on Black Sails? Tell us in the comments, and don’t forget to head to the ComicBook forums to talk about your opinions with other fans.
