Hello all and welcome back to the blog! This semester, I am going to put a bit of a twist into my typical formula by introducing a wider span of content. While I temporarily dabbled in my interpretation of TV shows with my Good Omens hybrid post, going forward, I will occasionally write updates entirely dedicated to certain shows and video games! Given my playlist, Eden was originally started in the wake of my interaction with the TV show version of Good Omens, so it seems only fitting to highlight this medium of content in addition to novels. To start this transition, I will properly introduce and elaborate on a show I have already mentioned on this blog: Our Flag Means Death.
Our Flag Means Death (OFMD) centers around the life of Stede Bonnet, a wealthy landowner from Barbados who elects to leave everything behind in favor of a life of piracy. Upon his travels, he comes to meet the legendary Blackbeard (Edward Teach, or just Ed) who takes an odd fascination with Stede and begins to teach him how to properly be a pirate Technically, the show is based on real people, and real events. Both Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach were real people who sailed together for a brief time in 1717 before parting ways and dying about 2 weeks apart later that same year. However, it is important to establish that this is a largely fictionalized story about their time at sea together, which also takes MASSIVE liberties with who the story contains based on real accounts, what aspects of these people carry on into their fictional characterization, and various facts concerning the timeline. The show takes an odd stance by asserting the pretty real claim that pirates did not in fact bury treasure but includes oddities such as the crew being read the story of Pinocchio despite the story not being published for another 100+ years, the outfits of Blackbeard’s crew being based on leather ensembles, one character notably wearing Crocs throughout one episode, and the fact that the real Israel Hands would be around 16 at the time the show is taking place but is played by a man 40 years his senior. Regardless, this show takes a marvelous spin on the question “Why exactly did Blackbeard seemingly drop everything to sail with one Stede Bonnet in 1717?” To answer that question, creator David Jenkins weaves a tale of two men falling in love at sea while grappling with the concept of what exactly it means to be a man. I struggled to shift through my large catalogue of songs within Eden that have flooded in after viewing this show, but it seems most fitting to pick up where the show left off. Thus, it is important to establish that from here on, I will largely be highlighting events that happen in the latter half of the season and are spoiler heavy, so I recommend taking a look, enjoying this show as much as I have, and gaining a little context for why I have chosen the song I have to apply to this show, and that song is:
“For the Departed” by Shayfer James.
For a while, I was biased toward wanting to choose a romance-heavy song. I thought I could highlight the euphoria of having three confirmed queer relationships within the show, an aspect that was so shocking for many so used to queerbaiting in their favorite shows that they shot OFMD up into popularity this past summer for its inclusivity. But, at the end of the series, each of these couples is pointedly separated and left at a crossroads where we are uncertain if any of them will manage to reunite, so a more mournful, bitter song seems ideal to highlight the root of all these issues in the closing frames, which takes the form of one Israel Hands (or, better known within the show as “Izzy”). Izzy is a character that represents many things, and many in the community surrounding this show, fail to see the full picture. Many boasted about how wonderful this show was because it existed in a vacuum within this world where concepts of homophobia and racism do not exist, but that is only true for Stede Bonnet’s ship, the Revenge, itself. Stede ensures he has a utopia on his ship where both he and his crew can live their lives unbothered by the world that has only spread harm, but that does not mean that these horrible forces are not seen routinely throughout the show. Most instances of these harmful notions are embedded in characters, such as Nigel Badminton, who is quickly killed within the Pilot episode after belligerently harassing Stede, or the boat full of Frenchmen that ridicule Ed for not knowing proper rich-folk decorum, but are quickly taken care of in a fiery blaze. What becomes more complex is that these negative aspects also make up the entirety of Izzy’s character. He is the one who brings the English Navy to their door in an attempt to “save” Ed from Stede, who is making him soft; he is the one who insists Ed needs to fully return to his Blackbeard persona, or else he would be nothing, just a “namby-pamby in a silk gown pining for his boyfriend.” Izzy only values Blackbeard when he lives up to his “animalistic” nature, forces the only non-white crew members to do the nasty work in his presence, openly jeers at and reprimands the crew’s open displays of love for each other, and makes his personal enemies the two most openly homosexual individuals on board the Revenge. He is the embodiment of all of the worst aspects of the world they live in, and it is he who drives the happiness from people, who drives them apart, and ensures that by the end of the season, Edward Teach fully embodies his cutthroat Blackbeard persona. Thus, “For the Departed” serves as a representation of Blackbeard’s present thoughts at the end of this first season and just how utterly hopeless all their prospects are for a happy ending.
Just a moment, dear
I hear someone at the door
And the beating of a heart
That I hid beneath the floor
Or they’ve come for me, love
Many events happen throughout the last episode of season one. Even though Stede and Ed come to something of an understanding of their love for each other by episode nine, Stede is fearful of this change and its effects on Ed, as the man seems to be changing the entirety of himself for Stede. So, Stede decides to run away because he thinks he is ruining Ed. Initially, this separation results in a mourning period where Ed is actively grieving what he viewed as an improved and loving life with Stede. While most of the crew attempts to help him process these emotions, Izzy gets to him by insisting on who Blackbeard ought to be. Even though Ed has routinely established he is disillusioned with his old way of life and has taken to wearing his heart on his sleeve, he comes to see how reorienting his life in such a way has only hurt him, so he dives back into being the merciless pirate captain the legends pin him as. However, in order to make such a drastic transition, he must rid the ship of the one person who could possibly talk sense into him, who was also the person who convinced him to pursue Stede in the first place, Lucius. Lucius acts as a perfect foil for Izzy; he represents a very stereotypical representation of a gay man, ensures that everyone is open and loving, and makes a point that on the Revenge, no one owns anyone. Ridding the ship of the main representation of euphoria and order allows Ed to become what he once was and reign in chaos and blood. Despite Ed’s claim that he has only ever truly killed one man before with his own hands, he decides to carelessly push Lucius overboard. This action, as well as his memory of his first kill, will ultimately haunt him as he continues this crusade of enforcing his cruel image on the world. While I am fairly certain that somehow Lucius is not dead, as we stand now, all of the characters in the show believe him to be gone, and this life taken will sit with all of them as a definitive shift away from the joy they once knew on the Revenge.
Save yourself
I am far beyond repair
They will bury me alive
But I’m not inclined to care
I am too far gone now, oh oh oh
So dry your eyes and count to ten
They’ll have me on the pyre by then
Forget the man I used to be
You’ll move along more easily
Edward Teach often presents with a few different “personas” throughout the season. He can be Ed, the softer heart that bleeds around Stede and yearns to move on from his past. He can also be Blackbeard, attempting to live up to the mythos that has been built up around him during his many years at sea. Then, there is The Kraken. The Kraken is set up as a distinct version of Ed during episode six, where he tells the tale of how his father was killed by the Kraken. It is later revealed that Ed was the one who killed his father and that when Ed is at his lowest, he thinks of himself in terms of The Kraken, someone who is actually able to take life and live with those consequences. It is The Kraken we get at the end of the final episode, and what ultimately may be his final undoing. Ed is at such a horrible low after his heart was ripped out of him after finally exposing himself for the first time. In Stede’s absence, he has become a version of himself that Stede likely will not recognize upon his return, and the confrontation that is bound to happen between them when they meet again has the potential to be catastrophic for them both.
A moment, dear
I hear someone in the hall
And this plundering of promises
We hung up on the wall
Or he’s come for us, love
Save yourself, I am bitter to the bone
And I’m growing rather fond
Of the wandering alone
I am too far gone now, oh oh oh
Edward Teach has always been alone. Ever since he strangled his father on the pier, he has confined himself to walking life alone, never letting anyone in, and attempting to live up to the legend of a phantom that cannot be touched or bested. While he can certainly return to that act of pretending this lonely mode of life is for him, he is now irrevocably changed. He has become bitter and hollowed out, but his yearning for the life he was promised with Stede will never leave him. Stede became his lighthouse – a beacon of hope and direction, but simultaneously, he got too close and has broken up on the rocks. Regardless, his lashing out has only made his situation so much worse. His purging of the memories of Stede, along with all of his belongings, aboard the ship has done nothing to purge the man from his very being. This connection between them will continue to invigorate Stede in his hunt to find Ed again, but sap the strength and energy from Ed who has lost all hope for a life worth living.
Now I must finish what I started, oh-oh
I’ll write a symphony for the departed
And I have no time for second chances
So I survive on bourbon, blood, and backward glances, oh
I think now is the best time to highlight just how well the show itself did in compiling the best songs for the end of its episodes. Nothing feels as heartbreaking as “Perfect Day” by Lou Reed playing while Ed is forced the return to the Revenge without Stede, as well as how shocking it is to see Stede walking in his front door, returning to his wife and kids, all while the chorus is distinctly missing from the track the entire time. The same can be said for both “Avalanche” and “Miles From Nowhere” playing throughout the final episode, emphasizing how far down Ed has withdrawn into himself, as well as how horribly separated they now are. While I make a point to not choose songs from the source material, it is hard to work around the wonderful songs that accentuate each episode. A severely underrated episode is the pilot. Many ignore the significance of the first three episodes due to Blackbeard not being properly introduced until the fourth episode, but it seems significant that the man who portrays Blackbeard, Taika Waititi, directs the pilot. Observing all of the carefully laid groundwork for Stede’s character in this first episode is significant to his storyline and how it will come to affect Ed later on. “High on a Rocky Ledge” may seem like just a simple, soothing end to the first chaotic episode, but as the season progresses, the hidden meanings throughout that song come to light as we see Stede and Ed’s relationship develop. The Kraken may now rely on only “bourbon, blood, and backward glances” to keep his steam going, but deep down, he is still shattered by the new perspective he has been cursed with after having gotten so enraptured with Stede.
And so, the scene begins
Your cries become the wind
A desperate plea best left unheard
Then my contrived goodbye
A poet’s pantomime
A drunken jester’s final words
Just a moment, dear
I hear someone at the door
And the beating of a heart
That I hid beneath the floor
Or they’ve come here for us, love
Edward Teach holds within himself the capacity for great change, and this has already been displayed to the viewer once throughout the course of the show. He truly is not the figure of myth Blackbeard has become, and it is this legend that has made him so disillusioned with pirating. A life with Stede meant a new approach to viewing the world, a new life entirely. On his own, without Stede, he was still thoroughly on his way to living as this new version of himself, but Izzy lit his anger toward his circumstances ablaze. Ed’s grief towards losing Stede easily allowed him to return to his anger as a defense mechanism, but only due to the manipulation of others. Edward Teach holds within him the capacity for change, but Israel Hands, as the character he was created to be, does not. While Ed was satisfied dealing with his grief through emotive means, like poetry and song, The Kraken, crafted by Izzy, issued a proper goodbye to what could have been.
Now, the final line, “they’ve come here for us, love,” is currently the biggest problem facing their hopeful happy ruin and loving life together. Given the real sequence of events that occurs in the lives of Stede Bonnet and Edward Teach, their time on Earth should soon come to an end. But will a show that has provided so much joy in its inclusion go through with the classic “bury your gays” trope? This show has already demonstrated it is aversive to chronologically and factually correct information, but certainly, there will have to be a plot point concerning how they either come to face their demise or manage to tactfully avoid said deaths. I mean, Stede Bonnet has already been officially declared dead twice in the show so far, what is once more? For now, we simply wait for the second season to be produced and released and see how these two fools come back together because it truly is inevitable.
See you next time, folks.
-Lauren Lotarski, Blogger.
Lauren Lotarski – Asst. Managing Editor, Poetry Editor, and Blogger: Lauren is a Junior at Lewis University majoring in Psychology and English with a concentration in Literature and Language. When not in class, she can be found working at the university library or engaging in her various hobbies, such as reading, drawing, or knitting. Some of her favorite authors include Leigh Bardugo, Charles Dickens, and Neil Gaiman. She hopes to improve upon her writing skills and knowledge of literature during her time at Lewis in order to apply it to her future endeavors.