Transcript
Speaker: Hi, all.
Speaker: Nice to be here.
Speaker: Hello.
Speaker: Best to be here.
Speaker: Best to be here.
Speaker: This is Cheers McQueers, a podcast where we are talking through, as a crew, every episode of Our Flag Means Death and also writing a little ditty for every episode from the perspective of a character.
Speaker: I'm Alexa, they, them.
Speaker: I'm Catherine, she, her.
Speaker: Thank you for joining us.
Speaker: Do we have any housekeeping items, Catherine?
Speaker: I don't think so.
Speaker: Anything to talk about?
Speaker: I do actually want to bring up that in the last episode, I kept calling Christian Narn Christian Karn.
Speaker: And if I don't correct it, it will haunt me for the rest of my days.
Speaker: So Christian, if you're out there, apologies.
Speaker: Christian, we're so sorry.
Speaker: Yeah, repeatedly too.
Speaker: It's not even like it was a slip of the lip.
Speaker: I misrecorded his last name in my notes.
Speaker: That's okay.
Speaker: My B. It happens.
Speaker: Hope you enjoyed our very first song from the perspective of Steed.
Speaker: Isn't it so nice?
Speaker: It's a cute one.
Speaker: I went back and forth on it, dear listener.
Speaker: I wasn't sure if this was like the tone that I wanted for our very first song.
Speaker: I tried to write something completely different, actually.
Speaker: And I just kept coming back to this because I felt like the first episode is just kind of innocent, you know?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it felt like Steed's very first song with us needed to sort of convey this innocence or naivete, I should say.
Speaker: Yeah, that's the word, naivete.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Well, shall we get into it?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Oh, it's fun being able to hear it live as we're recording.
Speaker: I enjoy that very much.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: So, this is episode two, A Damned Man, directed by Nacho Vigalando, written by David Jenkins.
Speaker: A joy of an episode.
Speaker: Very, very fun.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Camp.
Speaker: Just fun.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We open to the campiest.
Speaker: We open to French Navy.
Speaker: And like, at first you think, okay, they're just being silly.
Speaker: And they say, you know, someday soon, France will rule the globe and everyone will have access to really good bread.
Speaker: And I'm like- And they cheers baguettes.
Speaker: Yeah, and I'm like, that's a stereotype.
Speaker: And then you realize why.
Speaker: This is within Black Pete's story of how he came to be, quote unquote, allegedly Blackbeard's right-hand man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And it is just the most absurd and ridiculous.
Speaker: And everyone knows that it's ridiculous except Steed.
Speaker: Well, first of all, we don't know that it's Black Pete's story at first because you're like, okay, maybe we're on another ridiculous pirate boat.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: And you see there's another pirate ship coming to take them over.
Speaker: Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And then this headless...
Speaker: figure shows up.
Speaker: It honestly looks like something out of a B-horror movie or something.
Speaker: It's Blackbeard as a ethereal figure, essentially.
Speaker: Yeah, like a bodiless poof of smoke and beard.
Speaker: I think it's the mix between the ghost of Christmas future and a
Speaker: Oh, it's not a death eater.
Speaker: What's the other thing?
Speaker: We don't have to talk about that.
Speaker: Dementor.
Speaker: Dementor.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker: It honestly kind of does.
Speaker: It looks like that kind of whimsical kind of animation style or special effects style, I should say.
Speaker: Everybody knows that this is bullshit except Steed.
Speaker: Steed is like in awe.
Speaker: I love he like does this little lean in as he's listening to Blackfeet's story.
Speaker: He says like, whoa.
Speaker: at one point.
Speaker: I think it's very funny because they have a back and forth where Steve says, you're saying Blackbeard's head is made of smoke and Blackbeard says, well, it is when it has to be.
Speaker: I wrote that down too.
Speaker: It's a ridiculous thing to say.
Speaker: And it's like, you think at first, because Steed is questioning the mechanics of this, that he's catching on that this is complete nonsense.
Speaker: But he just accepts Black Pete's response to that.
Speaker: And it's just, oh, Steed, sweet, sweet baby Steed.
Speaker: I said he was asking a lot of questions, like a child hearing a bedtime story.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: where the crew was kind of more the children listening to the bedtime story from Steed, and we're opening here with Steed really being kind of the child listening to this bedtime story.
Speaker: Well, yeah, they finished Pinocchio.
Speaker: They needed to move on to a different story.
Speaker: I really hope, because in theory, because Steed...
Speaker: We'll learn later on in the series, Steed really did intend for his family to join him on this ship.
Speaker: And so one has to assume that bringing Pinocchio, bringing children's stories onto the boat was meant for his kids.
Speaker: And so I hope that in season two, we get some more classic stories and some more voices from Steed.
Speaker: I also hope that he left some books at home for his children.
Speaker: Right?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Like, not only did I leave, I took your whole library with me.
Speaker: Black Pete, you know, he's just complete, this fantasy of his that he's spinning is super silly.
Speaker: He does, like, front flips in it.
Speaker: And ultimately, it ends with, you know, him, of course, heroically saving Blackbeard's life and Blackbeard telling him that he's now the dread Black Pete, his right-hand man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I can't see any fault in that.
Speaker: No, I mean.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Who could?
Speaker: I'll take it.
Speaker: Apparently, Buttons could see a fault with it up until he was with it, he says, up until he did the flip.
Speaker: Apparently, the flip was where he realized that this was impossible.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But we see Buttons, so...
Speaker: Who the hell is steering the ship?
Speaker: Everyone has to question.
Speaker: I think it's, is it Olu?
Speaker: That's like, wait, who's steering the ship?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: One of them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then, of course, nobody is.
Speaker: So they run around.
Speaker: Yes, they do.
Speaker: Steed on the beach is trying to push the boat out.
Speaker: Just by himself.
Speaker: Just standing there like himself, like he thinks it's going to happen.
Speaker: He's like, he's like to buttons.
Speaker: It didn't, it didn't even move at all or something like that.
Speaker: It's so silly.
Speaker: It's like if I went outside and tried to push my building.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I just wanted to see if I could.
Speaker: Oh, man.
Speaker: Buttons jumps right to cannibalism.
Speaker: Buttons is ready.
Speaker: Are we going to have to eat each other?
Speaker: Probably.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Buttons is ready and able to take on the burden of eating the crew if absolutely necessary.
Speaker: I think, you know,
Speaker: Any theory that I say on this show is most likely never original.
Speaker: It's something that I read on Tumblr from the geniuses in the R-Flag Tumblr fandom and Twitter as well.
Speaker: But Buttons is absolutely an occultist.
Speaker: He's a witch.
Speaker: Like, there's no doubt in my mind.
Speaker: I mean, of course.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And we'll get into it later in the season.
Speaker: But there's a lot more.
Speaker: Yeah, he's very, very...
Speaker: open to the behavior that you would say is of the occult.
Speaker: I like how I'm trying to be so nice to this fictional character.
Speaker: I'm like, let me make sure I say this correctly so I don't offend buttons.
Speaker: I mean, buttons should be respected.
Speaker: I'm totally on board with you.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Steve, there's a little vacation speech about how...
Speaker: They should view it as a holiday.
Speaker: And then he finds out that none of them know what either of those words mean.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Hang on, hang on.
Speaker: Because Badminton is back as an apparition.
Speaker: Oh, yes.
Speaker: Badminton is back as like an apparition of steeds and securities, basically.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: He even like still has the sword in his head.
Speaker: I wrote down real badminton could never come up with that alliteration because he says this little baby bonnet broke his little baby boat on the big bad beach.
Speaker: He would never be that creative.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Deeds giving him a lot of credit in his mind's eye.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: More fat phobia.
Speaker: Just, yeah.
Speaker: All of that stuff.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: continue with the vacation.
Speaker: See, it gives them a little speech about how they should see it as a holiday.
Speaker: We find out nobody knows what the word vacation means.
Speaker: He explains to them what it is, that it's just taking some time for yourself and doing whatever you want.
Speaker: And Lucius is very quick to take him up on that.
Speaker: We see him throw his book in the air and walk away immediately.
Speaker: Oh man, I'm like...
Speaker: There's so many – this episode, I think, is shorter than episode one, but there are little things.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I want to back up real quick, too.
Speaker: Buttons wants to eat Lucius first because he's young and succulent.
Speaker: That just made me think of – He's eyeing him up.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Everyone is having a lot of trouble with the concept of a vacation or a holiday.
Speaker: They want to torture the hostages right away, but Steed thinks it's not a good idea.
Speaker: And he was thinking some other more relaxing activities.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Swede wants to know if they'll be punished if they don't participate.
Speaker: So Roach takes up Steed on the suggestion of taking the hostages for a walk.
Speaker: Black Pete immediately objects to this saying that Blackbeard would never do that.
Speaker: He would stick hot pokers up their assholes, which fair enough.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And he says, no, we'll stick with vacation.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Steed needs counsel from Olu and Jim.
Speaker: He's feeling really bad about being a murderer.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: He wants to know how one overcomes being a murderer, to which Olu says, no.
Speaker: You're not really a murderer.
Speaker: You were just kind of around when he died.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: You're less of a murderer and more of a witness to the death of someone.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Jim gives this great pantomime, which Olu translates to mean you don't get over killing someone because when you kill, you die as well, which, ooh, that's... Very profound.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Very profound.
Speaker: I have to believe that's exactly what Jim was getting at, though.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I was back and forth between that and you don't, you end up killing yourself.
Speaker: This is a fun podcast.
Speaker: Could have gone either way, though.
Speaker: I mean, Steed was unsure if he wanted to live last episode, so... You know?
Speaker: I wrote, we're doing vacations, which I think means...
Speaker: Everyone starts doing vacation activities.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I wrote that too.
Speaker: Sweet says we're doing vacations.
Speaker: It's just precious.
Speaker: This apparently involves beating each other up, which Steed does not approve of.
Speaker: That is not vacation approved.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: action items that are not on the agenda.
Speaker: If they want to do a nice sporting activity between consenting friends, that's great.
Speaker: I think that's great for them.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: We get to witness this very cute exchange between Olu and Jim.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Where he wants to go to the beach and they...
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Which is such relatable content.
Speaker: How many of us can say that we have said something so awkward to our crush like this, which was not meaning to be any kind of perverted kind of thing, but it definitely came off that way.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's like when you say to someone that you like them, but then you justify it.
Speaker: You're like, I don't mean I like you like you.
Speaker: I mean, I like you as a person.
Speaker: I like the way that you walk into a room.
Speaker: I like the way you make me feel in the nighttime.
Speaker: Like something like that, you know?
Speaker: It's just so awkward but sweet, you know, and they ultimately are so painfully awkward with one another that they decide to do separate activities today.
Speaker: I mean, it's good to have space and boundaries from your partner.
Speaker: Yes, I agree.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: There's this very funny moment where Olu tells some seaweed to fuck off.
Speaker: Yes!
Speaker: Yes!
Speaker: I have to believe that that was completely improv'd by Samson.
Speaker: It felt very authentic.
Speaker: I hope so.
Speaker: Well done, Samson.
Speaker: Yeah, vacation is just like, I can't say it enough.
Speaker: It's not working.
Speaker: We, John, really wants to check on the gunpowder.
Speaker: Steve is like, you don't need to do that.
Speaker: And he's like, no, I'm going to do it.
Speaker: And he just...
Speaker: He just goes to check on the gunpowder instead of Steve's suggestion of sunbathing.
Speaker: Can you imagine any of these guys sunbathing?
Speaker: I mean, I can.
Speaker: I can imagine it.
Speaker: But at the point of growth where they're at right now, I cannot.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, it's tough because it's on the one hand, you're like,
Speaker: What are we going to do?
Speaker: We've run aground and we have nowhere to be.
Speaker: So I could see them taking a nap on the beach maybe and getting very sunburned.
Speaker: Yeah, Roach comes back from taking the hostages on a walk and they are not with him.
Speaker: He asks Steed if the vacation also applies to the hostages.
Speaker: He didn't make it very clear.
Speaker: Because he did say take them on a walk, which seems like an activity you would have someone do on a vacation.
Speaker: That's true.
Speaker: That is very true.
Speaker: The hostage is requested to pee in private, which Roach obliged, unfortunately.
Speaker: So the hostages have escaped.
Speaker: Imaginary Badminton thinks that this is just hilarious.
Speaker: He like coughs out blood, which is really gross.
Speaker: No one wants to help.
Speaker: Except for Olu, which I feel like was reluctant on Oluwanda's... I think he's just the default, you know, for Steve.
Speaker: Like, he's just his default first mate, to be honest.
Speaker: I think that... If Olu does not become official first mate in season two, I will start a petition.
Speaker: And we can get into it later in the season when more things happen with Olu.
Speaker: But Black Pete ultimately ends up volunteering to go with them after Steed strokes his ego a little by calling him.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Steed is kind of, I can't tell if Steed is genuine when he says it'd be very helpful to have
Speaker: the right hand of Blackbeard, or if he's kind of somehow Jedi mind-tricking Blackbeard into... I think... I unfortunately think he's for real.
Speaker: I unfortunately think that Steed still believes it.
Speaker: Uh-oh.
Speaker: Because they all... All three of them go into... Okay, wait.
Speaker: I have a question.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: What do you call...
Speaker: a terrain like this on an island?
Speaker: Is it a forest?
Speaker: Is it a jungle?
Speaker: What's like a brushy situation on an island?
Speaker: I don't know what to call it.
Speaker: I mean, they called it the bush.
Speaker: And they call it a forest later to which...
Speaker: We'll get into it later.
Speaker: But yeah, I don't know what to call it.
Speaker: Anyway, they're out there looking for the hostages.
Speaker: And Steed is sort of picking Black Pete's brain about what Blackbeard would do in order to get over killing people.
Speaker: And Black Pete does this bit where he says, like, he just gets on with it when he kills man, woman, or child.
Speaker: And Steed's like, he kills children?
Speaker: And Blackbeats, like, if they're a particularly bad kid.
Speaker: I mean, fair.
Speaker: For legal reasons, that was a joke.
Speaker: Right, right, right.
Speaker: But that is the straw that broke the camel's back for Olu.
Speaker: Olu's like, you know that you're the only one that believes this, Steed, right?
Speaker: And Steed is like, no, really?
Speaker: And I get where you're coming from because it is –
Speaker: The way that Reese is delivering this, it is kind of hard to tell if it's genuine or if he was just sort of trying to go along with it for Black Pete's sake.
Speaker: It's hard to tell which one.
Speaker: Please write in if you have an opinion.
Speaker: It's cheersmcquiers at gmail.com.
Speaker: So Olu, Black Pete, they're going back and forth.
Speaker: I wrote down the bit where they're arguing and
Speaker: And Steve's trying to get them to stop.
Speaker: And Olu's like, what, he called me baby face.
Speaker: And Steve's like, well, Olu, don't take the bait.
Speaker: And in fact, they become entrapped in a net by the indigenous tribe that lives on this island.
Speaker: I love Black Pete's like repeated, hey!
Speaker: It's just really funny.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: This guy who, you know, is effectively... Claiming to be Blackbeard's right-hand man.
Speaker: Gets into a net and immediately who would like assistance.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Back on the beach.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Back on the beach, Weejon has apparently returned with the gunpowder and they're blowing shit up.
Speaker: Oh, it's great.
Speaker: It's like a little montage about what everyone's now doing with their vacations.
Speaker: Buttons just is... All of us know this guy.
Speaker: It's just like, apropos of nothing.
Speaker: It's just like, how many sea creatures do you think I can name?
Speaker: And Lucius is like, I don't care.
Speaker: And he starts naming them anyway.
Speaker: Starfish, sea bass, dogfish.
Speaker: And then he keeps going even when Lucius runs away.
Speaker: Keeps going.
Speaker: Keeps whittling what he says is going to be a harpsichord or
Speaker: But then he says, no, it actually kind of looks like a sharp carrot.
Speaker: It's just lovely.
Speaker: But not as lovely as three dudes in leather.
Speaker: Looking over a bunch of other dudes being ridiculous on the beach.
Speaker: I have written three leather zaddies because...
Speaker: Yes, we have the amazing Khan O'Neil playing Izzy or his government name Israel Hands, who is real life Blackbeard's first mate, the greatest swordsman of the time.
Speaker: We have Ivan played by Guz Khan.
Speaker: We have Fang played by David Fane.
Speaker: And they are looking at these guys going,
Speaker: what the fuck kind of pirates are these really?
Speaker: You know, Izzy is like, what kind of, what kind of fucking idiots would run a ship aground?
Speaker: Ones that were listening to a campfire tale about their boss.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But Izzy, Izzy feels that the hostages, I guess they've been watching them for a while because they saw the British hostages.
Speaker: Well, I guess, I mean, like they've been watching them from afar for a while, right, is the plot that they've been keeping tabs on them.
Speaker: So I guess they heard about the whole British thing.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I guess one is to assume that the one guy that they let go back told the story and it's spread out.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Across the... That makes the most sense, I think.
Speaker: Yeah, they decide that they want to at least try to take the hostages from them because British Navy officers would be profitable to sell.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: We get to see Jim inside their room on the ship.
Speaker: They're writing in a diary, which is being...
Speaker: narrated in their thoughts in Spanish, which is very fun.
Speaker: Day 28 on the lam.
Speaker: So they've been doing this for 28 days, which no thank you.
Speaker: It's a long time to be in the same costume.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm okay on that.
Speaker: Good on Jim, though.
Speaker: We find out that there's a price on their head.
Speaker: They describe it as they're in a prison of their own making, which is something I say about myself all the time.
Speaker: They, uh, they kill a cockroach with a knife from afar.
Speaker: They just throw it and kill the cockroach.
Speaker: Um, but they, they ultimately decide, you know, fuck it.
Speaker: I'm, I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna go bathe in the ocean.
Speaker: I can't, I can't stand it anymore.
Speaker: Uh, back on the beach.
Speaker: Once again, buttons is still naming sea creatures.
Speaker: Oh my God.
Speaker: Uh,
Speaker: And Izzy and Fang and Ivan approach Buttons.
Speaker: Buttons wants to be sure that they're not ghosts.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: You're not ghosts, are you?
Speaker: Again, a cult.
Speaker: He's a witch.
Speaker: He's a witch.
Speaker: I mean, to be fair, they do claim to be humble wanderers.
Speaker: True.
Speaker: And they do not look like humble wanderers.
Speaker: So they're either enemies or the ghosts of enemies.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Yeah, you're right.
Speaker: That makes sense to me.
Speaker: I feel like Buttons has seen enough shit to not have his skepticism of whether or not he's being approached by ghosts questions.
Speaker: Also, you could wonder, does this mean that Buttons is seeing other ghosts?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: that he needs to make sure that three men standing in front of him aren't ghosts.
Speaker: And this is not the first time in the series.
Speaker: There's like another instance later on in the season where he thinks someone is a ghost just because he doesn't know them.
Speaker: It's really wonderful.
Speaker: Just the little character traits of each of these characters is what really, I think, makes you fall in love with them and makes you really...
Speaker: Like, I mean, I keep saying it in my everyday.
Speaker: I don't know if this is still hip with the kids, but do you remember, like, Blorbos, right?
Speaker: Like, that's a Tumblr thing where, like, you're, like, your favorite little guys from your favorite shows and stuff.
Speaker: They're your Blorbos.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I am not aware of that.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Well...
Speaker: I swear.
Speaker: Let's put it on different sides of Tumblr except for the one part that we intercepted.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Which I don't even remember what it was.
Speaker: I don't either.
Speaker: Maybe Potter.
Speaker: Maybe Disney.
Speaker: Who knows?
Speaker: Maybe.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We're at the Tribal Grounds with Steed and Black Pete are in a very small bamboo cage.
Speaker: So small.
Speaker: It's really small.
Speaker: Like a New York studio apartment.
Speaker: Deeds racism in this scene.
Speaker: I laugh because it is, of course, meant to be funny, but I also applaud David Jenkins and the greater writing staff for broaching these subjects within a comedy and saying to us, like, hey, yeah, this is a comedy, but it's also a comedy that takes place in 1717 where this...
Speaker: rampant colonization is happening.
Speaker: And like, we're not going to gloss over that necessarily.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I didn't write it down until later in the episode, but I think it's very, it's so smart how they use language because it's all modern language, right?
Speaker: And they all...
Speaker: interact with each other like we would today with how they speak to each other.
Speaker: But it's also, then you have to remember, oh, it's the 1700s.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: And like such a perfect example of this is this very first exchange with Steed and this tribal guard.
Speaker: I tried so hard to track.
Speaker: I think his name is Jamie Nations.
Speaker: He is so good.
Speaker: Like with his timing and his delivery, he's also beautiful.
Speaker: So I think his name is Jamie Nations.
Speaker: And Steve, like, like is relieved that he speaks English, which is so fucking racist.
Speaker: It's so racist.
Speaker: And, you know, Steve asks him if he's seen their hostages, they smell a bit like stale urine.
Speaker: And he gestures to their right, but Steed's eyeline, and what the audience sees is Steed's eyeline going to the fucking campfire where they're, like, having some sort of food roasted over the fire.
Speaker: And he immediately assumes that they ate them, which is...
Speaker: So fucking racist.
Speaker: And he says so.
Speaker: The guard says so under his breath.
Speaker: He says fucking racist after pointing out that they are, in fact, just in what is, funnily, a much larger cage than they're in.
Speaker: And then Black Pete and Steed try to backpedal and be like, we didn't think you ate them, even though they just reacted and called them savages thinking they ate them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, it's just, it's not great.
Speaker: It's not a great look for Seed and Black Pete.
Speaker: No, not great at all.
Speaker: What is great is Alawande just being treated like the fucking king he is because like, of course, he's not going to be engaged by these guys.
Speaker: He has a drink.
Speaker: He's greeted with multiple low fives by the guard, like they're old buddies.
Speaker: It's very funny because he both seems to know exactly what kind of danger they're in and also kind of forget that they're in danger because he tries to share his drink with them.
Speaker: And he's like, oh, no, I'm not alone.
Speaker: I can't do that.
Speaker: Okay, I'm fine.
Speaker: Yeah, the guard's like, no, no, no, man, please don't do that.
Speaker: Don't share your drinks with the prisoners.
Speaker: Olu has chatted with the chief, apparently, and explains to him that they've had some trouble with the light skins.
Speaker: To which Steed's response is, ah, the light skins, damn it.
Speaker: What sort of trouble have you run into when the guard's like, you keep killing us?
Speaker: Which isn't funny.
Speaker: Steed, again, this really has played out exactly how it should have played out.
Speaker: It's so...
Speaker: smart, like you said.
Speaker: Steed's immediate reaction is to play the good white card, to say, oh, no, but not us.
Speaker: We're not like that, which may or may not be true, but it doesn't matter in this moment.
Speaker: And that's what is not clicking with
Speaker: Steed and Black Pete, respectively.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And they're very much... The chief is very clear with them.
Speaker: He's like, we heard that a lot.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Like, everyone says that.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: And then somehow, like...
Speaker: clear out my tribe to one or two times.
Speaker: Shame on me, but not a third time.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We have a real quick going back to the beach because Jim is in the ocean and has left their clothing and their disguise out on a rock, which listen, I understand that Jim does not want anybody to know about this.
Speaker: Of course I understand, but Jim,
Speaker: my guy, what are you thinking?
Speaker: Put it under some sand or something.
Speaker: Yeah, like hide it better.
Speaker: And then you can just claim that you're just a person.
Speaker: Yeah, this is not – like I get it, plot armor, whatever.
Speaker: Like we have to forward this storyline in some way.
Speaker: I understand writing, but like still, from a character perspective, I would like to think that Jim is smarter than that.
Speaker: Unfortunately, they are not in this moment and Lucius –
Speaker: happens upon this scene of the nose and the beard and the clothes and sees Jim without it out in the ocean.
Speaker: And he quickly hides because, you know, he realizes, oh, I was not supposed to see that.
Speaker: But Jim has seen Lucis see Jim, so.
Speaker: Yep, so it can only be bad from here.
Speaker: We're in the trial, which we've already kind of started getting into.
Speaker: And like this chief played by like the wonderful Gary Farmer, who has endless amounts of amazing acting credits.
Speaker: He's just so good, but he's playing this chief so patient, like for, for an indigenous person of this time to be this patient with white people is just amazing.
Speaker: Grace, you know, it's just the ultimate grace.
Speaker: He is just very reasonable.
Speaker: Just really kind of wants to know if anybody's killed anyone recently, which I think is a fair choice.
Speaker: Question.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: To which Wellington fucking immediately sells Steed out and says that he fucking Wellington.
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: Just killed their captain.
Speaker: There is kind of like, I don't know why I always really enjoy this little imaginary badminton moment when I rewatch it where he says, look at my head, baby barnet.
Speaker: Look at my head.
Speaker: You've ruined my head.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And like, I could have had children.
Speaker: They'll never see Papa again.
Speaker: They'll never see Papa again.
Speaker: It's just, I don't know.
Speaker: It's very dramatic.
Speaker: It's a very, well, it has to push him to his breaking point.
Speaker: Because Dean literally has a breakdown.
Speaker: And instead of saying anything in his defense, he's just like, I'm a murderer.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: He just has a complete, he just cracks right on the fucking center.
Speaker: He's screaming and crying as they take me away.
Speaker: And as you said, the chief is so patient with this just ridiculous human being.
Speaker: And he's like, maybe we take a break.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Olives says we should take a break.
Speaker: And the chief says, yes, clearly he's very unwell.
Speaker: I mean, yes.
Speaker: I mean, he's, he's,
Speaker: Dealing with this trauma and he's dealing with his other traumas and it's all just boiled up.
Speaker: I mean, who can't relate to that?
Speaker: It is honestly a sad moment when you look at it objectively.
Speaker: He just... Well, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: We've all been there.
Speaker: Not for the same reasons.
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: Oh, man.
Speaker: Um, Steed, we cut to like a weird therapy section, which I can only assume is an elder and Steed has his head in his lap.
Speaker: I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that like the direction for this actor's name is Tony Acevedo was to talk like Yoda, which I honestly didn't really register it that way until I read that.
Speaker: And then on rewatch has been like, oh, yeah, he is kind of talking like Yoda.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Because he really is kind of.
Speaker: Yoda-ing this situation for Seed and, you know, asking him therapy-ish questions and, you know, asking him if he feels bad about badminton's death.
Speaker: To which Seed says, like, honestly, no.
Speaker: He was a horrible human being even when he was a boy.
Speaker: And so the elder suggests, well, then this guilt has to be something else.
Speaker: And we see the first little flashback to the night that Steed left and he's saying goodbye to his children in the fucking dark of night.
Speaker: As you do.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's sad, but it's also like, oh, yeah, that's a bad look, man.
Speaker: Of course you feel guilty.
Speaker: You left your fucking kids in the middle of the night.
Speaker: The elder says he needs to resolve that guilt if he wants this imaginary badminton to go away because ghosts aren't real, dude.
Speaker: It's kind of what he says to him.
Speaker: He's like...
Speaker: I know.
Speaker: We don't tell Buttons that.
Speaker: Right, right.
Speaker: We will not tell Buttons that.
Speaker: The chief has decided to let them go because they're not a threat and they're only a threat to themselves because they're mediocre pirates.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: But unfortunately, we find out they've sold the hostages.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Which is not great for Steve's morale at all.
Speaker: But Steve actually kind of, I'm proud of him.
Speaker: He uses this moment to pick himself up and very matter-of-factly...
Speaker: Says out loud.
Speaker: It's one of those moments where like, it's a thought you have for yourself to give yourself a pep talk, but you say it out loud.
Speaker: He says, I am adequate.
Speaker: And everyone's like, what?
Speaker: Well, it's because he's getting...
Speaker: berated by imaginary badminton again about how he's the normal stuff about insinuating that he's never going to be anything and on top of that in real life you had black pete being like don't even ask me what black beard would do because you wouldn't be up for it so then it's like steve is pushed into being like i'm gonna prove everyone wrong
Speaker: I think it's worth just sort of, and we'll be revisiting, I think, this theme throughout our recap of this season, but Steed's biggest plight, I think, is...
Speaker: up against these toxic masculinity gender norms, really.
Speaker: So he has badminton, he has his father, and he has Black Pete, too, unfortunately.
Speaker: Like, Black Pete really is kind of –
Speaker: And reminding him of all of these things that were told to him as a child, like, oh, this is what a real man is supposed to be like, and why can't you be like that?
Speaker: Black Pete at this point in his character arc is the personification of on the ship what toxic masculinity can look like.
Speaker: Yes, for now.
Speaker: Ultimately, Steed is like, we're going to go get our men back.
Speaker: We're back on the beach and Lucius is in trouble because Jim is hunting him, basically.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I like all of Lucius's lines in this scene.
Speaker: It's so good.
Speaker: Nathan Fode, I fucking worship you.
Speaker: You are so funny.
Speaker: I saw nothing.
Speaker: It's important you know.
Speaker: How little I didn't see.
Speaker: But Jim doesn't care.
Speaker: Jim doesn't care how little or much that Lucius saw.
Speaker: It's the fact that they now know and Jim cannot have this.
Speaker: This is not okay for Jim's cover.
Speaker: So ultimately Jim ends up pinning him to the ground, being straddled by Jim.
Speaker: But Lucius is very tricky.
Speaker: He is.
Speaker: He's smart.
Speaker: He relates to Jim in a very...
Speaker: personal way and it's like I've been hiding in disguise my whole life.
Speaker: There's more than one kind of beard and that confuses Jim because it's the 1700s.
Speaker: That's what I wrote too.
Speaker: That's what I wrote too.
Speaker: And it allows just enough time for Lucius to smack them on the side of the head with something.
Speaker: My mom thought I liked girls for years.
Speaker: I'm incredible at keeping secrets.
Speaker: I have to
Speaker: I have to gush over Nathan Fode.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: No, wait!
Speaker: Like when Jim is going to stab him at one point.
Speaker: It's just so good.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Love you, Nathan.
Speaker: Love you, Nathan, so much.
Speaker: We're back in the forest.
Speaker: Steed and Black Pete and Alawande have caught up to their hostages who have been taken by Izzy and Fang and Ivan.
Speaker: I think that this is actually a case for Blackpede absolutely 100% never worked for Blackbeard.
Speaker: Because I think there is a little bit of discussion in the fandom.
Speaker: I've seen whether or not he really actually did work for Blackbeard.
Speaker: Because I think there can be some ambiguous things there.
Speaker: However...
Speaker: If he really worked for Blackbeard, he would know.
Speaker: Oh, shit.
Speaker: These are Blackbeard's men.
Speaker: We got to get out of here.
Speaker: He would at the very least know who Izzy is.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: The turnover, I'm sure, for Blackbeard's crew is quite high.
Speaker: So who knows how new Fang and Ivan are.
Speaker: But Izzy, for sure, he would know.
Speaker: So I just want to point that out that I think it's complete horseshit.
Speaker: No, I agree.
Speaker: I'm there with you.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I like the exchange of Steed saying he has a plan, but it's just him saying that they should create a diversion.
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: And Blackpeter are like, but you said you had a plan, like you had something already.
Speaker: But it's just, I don't know.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: There's this, there's this like really, I don't even know what he does.
Speaker: This, this thing that, that Reese does with his hands when they're sort of like arguing amongst each other.
Speaker: And he's like, like, he's like this, like weird.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's really good.
Speaker: It's like bringing the attention back to the top of the classroom.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's, it's pretty wonderful.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Wellington is trying to bargain his way out of being a captor of his ease.
Speaker: He's saying something about going to the king or something like that.
Speaker: Fang says, I'm your king now, bitch.
Speaker: And kicks them to the ground, which I love that for Fang.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Steed pops out of the fucking bushes like a leprechaun.
Speaker: I don't know how else to describe it.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: He's just like, haha, I'm here.
Speaker: It's Robin Hood men in tights.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: Right, yes.
Speaker: Very much that vibe.
Speaker: Steed tells Izzy that they have dibs on these men.
Speaker: And then we have the delightful interaction where Steed is like, don't even think about trifling with me.
Speaker: Are you trifling with me?
Speaker: You're trifling with me.
Speaker: Don't you trifle.
Speaker: Don't you trifle now.
Speaker: Don't trifle.
Speaker: Izzy, being the greatest swordsman of the time, tears up- Goes all Zoro on his ass.
Speaker: Yeah, he tears up his blouse just with his sword, which honestly-
Speaker: It's erotic.
Speaker: I don't know how else to – It's erotic.
Speaker: There's no getting away from that.
Speaker: Izzy could have done many other things.
Speaker: He could have just sort of swiftly maybe given him a little cut on his cheek or something.
Speaker: He could have done other kind of intimidating – It's his art.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I –
Speaker: I just love Khan O'Neill with the sword in general.
Speaker: I think that he's so clearly committed to this and really worked at the swords play because it looks fucking natural.
Speaker: It looks like that sword is an extension of his arm whenever he's using it, which is exactly what it should be for Izzy.
Speaker: And it's just, it's sexy.
Speaker: I'm going to say it.
Speaker: It's sexy.
Speaker: I am not...
Speaker: I – let's draw the line in the sand right now, okay?
Speaker: I am – I'm ready for it.
Speaker: I am not –
Speaker: attracted to Izzy Hands.
Speaker: Izzy Hands is, for this show, the personification of toxic masculinity, of internalized homophobia, you know, things that we'll get into later on.
Speaker: He's the only human in the Muppet movie.
Speaker: Like, you know, that's who he is for this show.
Speaker: However, Con O'Neill is hot, man.
Speaker: Like, and the way that he plays... Oh, no, he plays.
Speaker: For sure.
Speaker: The way that he plays this character.
Speaker: He's such a talented actor.
Speaker: I've always been someone who's just attracted to talented actors.
Speaker: And because he's so talented and because of the choices that he makes for this character and how subtle they are, I find him sexy in the role, but I don't find Izzy Hand sexy, if that makes sense.
Speaker: No, for sure.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I just wanted to make everyone aware.
Speaker: And listen, I am all for everyone's ship of choice.
Speaker: I am all – I'm here for the Izzy Stans.
Speaker: I am.
Speaker: I don't want anyone to bully anyone for their – no yucking of yums here is what I'm getting at.
Speaker: Of course not.
Speaker: We don't shame anyone here.
Speaker: But it's not my thing.
Speaker: It's not my thing.
Speaker: I'm all for the antihero and I am ready for like a beautiful redemption arc for Izzy.
Speaker: You know, that's what I'm here for it.
Speaker: I think mostly because of how much I love Con O'Neill.
Speaker: I'm ready for them to have thrown him off the side of the bullshit bun.
Speaker: And you're not alone in that.
Speaker: I know that there are a lot of people that feel the same.
Speaker: I am willing to give him a redemption arc before we drown him.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Sorry, one of the cats made a weird noise and I'm like, where are you?
Speaker: Speaking of weird noises, there's a weird noise that the closed captioning described as high-pitched whimper
Speaker: I don't know who made it, whether it was Olu or Black Pete, but it was weird sounding.
Speaker: And it's definitely all a Wande that says, this is the ghost of the forest.
Speaker: And Steed is like, oh, I didn't know this aisle was haunted.
Speaker: It's very good.
Speaker: Yet again, like another theatrical, like,
Speaker: just trying to put on a drama, you know?
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: And I want to bring up
Speaker: I want to bring up the fact that, and we're not gonna get into it too much, because we will in a few episodes, but so far, and I'm counting this one, this is the second fuckery that Steeda's actually pulled off.
Speaker: I would say that in episode one, that was absolutely a fuckery of getting them all to dress up and pretend that they're not pirates.
Speaker: And then this.
Speaker: I was about to address this because in a second, Steed bluffs.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Steed makes a bluff.
Speaker: That's very good.
Speaker: And he says he has a couple of men jump out.
Speaker: Well, they gain control of the situation.
Speaker: And somehow he outmaneuvers Izzy and has a like little knife to his hand.
Speaker: Mm hmm.
Speaker: And then he's like, you're surrounded by my whole crew.
Speaker: And, you know, it's just enough.
Speaker: It's just enough where it puts the little seed of doubt in Izzy's brain.
Speaker: And he's like, all right, what are we doing here?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Because I actually wrote down something similar to that effect because Izzy just –
Speaker: went out there to the beach and like he knows where his crew is at and he knows how many he has and he knows what they're capable of for, you know, from just observing them for a little while.
Speaker: But you're right.
Speaker: I think that Steed, I'm very proud of him.
Speaker: He did a really good job of allowing Izzy to just be unsure enough to be like, all right.
Speaker: To be like, is it worth it for two British hostages?
Speaker: So Steed basically gets Izzy to compromise and say that they go have Z's on the hostages.
Speaker: Which, you know what?
Speaker: I'm okay with it because he got rid of the annoying one.
Speaker: He got rid of Wellington.
Speaker: The other one is not nearly as insufferable.
Speaker: And in fact, has some like really fun moments in later episodes.
Speaker: So yeah, I think this was just a wonderful success.
Speaker: And as they're running away and Izzy's kind of like, we just got had, you know,
Speaker: Steed and his men are running away like schoolboys who just pulled off a prank.
Speaker: They're like giggling, right?
Speaker: They're having so much fun.
Speaker: It's very joyous.
Speaker: It's so lovely.
Speaker: I want to back up real fast to give space to your beloved Guz Khan, whose nose was broken by...
Speaker: My darling.
Speaker: Was it Black Pete that breaks his nose?
Speaker: Yeah, he's like, he just broke my nose.
Speaker: He broke my nose.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's like gushing blood.
Speaker: He's also the one that says before they come out, oy, it's an island, not a forest.
Speaker: Which really...
Speaker: Which really, that's why it gave me pause.
Speaker: I was like, oh, wait.
Speaker: Is that, is there a distinction?
Speaker: I mean, a forest can be on an island, I think.
Speaker: What do they call it in Lost?
Speaker: Did you watch Lost?
Speaker: I did not.
Speaker: What do they call it on Lost?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I'm going to have to, we're going to have to revisit this in the housekeeping for next episode.
Speaker: Right, right, right, right.
Speaker: Would you like to do co-captains?
Speaker: Sure.
Speaker: It is!
Speaker: I didn't know it was coming.
Speaker: Did I do something?
Speaker: Welcome to co-captains where we talk about the pairings of the episode.
Speaker: It can be actual people.
Speaker: It can be something more ridiculous and abstract.
Speaker: And, uh, yeah, I love that.
Speaker: Love this segment.
Speaker: What, what are, what are your nominations, Catherine?
Speaker: I think I'm going to give three nominations first.
Speaker: Black Pete and Seed.
Speaker: Ooh, that's a good one.
Speaker: Because they just like bounce off each other very well this episode.
Speaker: And like both of them have like very fun moments, right?
Speaker: Like it.
Speaker: Love it.
Speaker: buttons and sea animals okay i wrote that too yes oh yeah uh three we jim and the gunpowder yes we john and the gunpowder hell yeah that's a really good one that's a really good one too
Speaker: What are your nominations?
Speaker: So I did Buttons and Secretures 2, which is honestly a very solid one.
Speaker: I went a little obvious.
Speaker: I went Olu and Jim for my second one, which, you know, of course, give the lovers a nomination.
Speaker: And then I also put Izzy and Leather.
Speaker: I mean, that's true.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Well, that has been our nominations for co-captains.
Speaker: You know, eventually I do want to like space out our episode recording so that we can like announce the winners in the beginning of the next episode.
Speaker: We'll figure that out eventually.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: If you have your own nominations for co-captains, get in touch with us.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: It's cheersmcqueers at gmail.com.
Speaker: And we are on Twitter at cheersmcqueerspc and on Instagram at just cheersmcqueers.
Speaker: I am going to put up a poll on Twitter for these nominations.
Speaker: And then people can also comment any of them that they think we might have missed.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: We're back on the beach.
Speaker: They get the boat back in the water, which... Yay!
Speaker: They just need the people of the island to help them.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: The elder, the therapy elder, has escorted them back to the beach to give Steed, you know, like, one last bit of wisdom.
Speaker: Some parting words of advice.
Speaker: He says, some men are not made for adventure.
Speaker: Some men are made for the gentler things.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And Steed at first says, not sure what that has to do with the price of fish.
Speaker: Come on, Steed.
Speaker: Very funny.
Speaker: And the elder says, you're more of a gentleman than pirate.
Speaker: Which, hello.
Speaker: Hello.
Speaker: Eureka!
Speaker: But the Elder's not done.
Speaker: Elder has advice for Alawande as well.
Speaker: He at first says that he can stay with them, which, to be honest, probably would have been the smarter choice.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Because the Elder points out that he's going to get them all killed.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Alawande says you're absolutely correct.
Speaker: And probably on all fronts.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But he's got someone on the ship.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And the elder says, oh, you're in love.
Speaker: And he's like, what?
Speaker: Me?
Speaker: No.
Speaker: It's just my friend.
Speaker: It's just my friend.
Speaker: It's just my friend.
Speaker: And then we have that interesting pan to Jim where it's like, he's like, it's just my friend.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's so sweet.
Speaker: He does this like funny like fist bump with the elder too, which again, I have to believe was not scripted.
Speaker: So funny.
Speaker: It's like, all right, I'm out.
Speaker: Fist bumps the elder.
Speaker: Imaginary badminton is left...
Speaker: On the beach.
Speaker: On the beach.
Speaker: As they're leaving.
Speaker: It's great.
Speaker: It's a great... I mean, badminton... Imaginary badminton in general is a big allegory, of course.
Speaker: But, like, leaving him on that beach, I think, is...
Speaker: is very apt for Steed's growth from here.
Speaker: And yeah, it's great.
Speaker: He's gone.
Speaker: And Steed continues with his epiphany, partially provided by the Elder.
Speaker: He asks, why can't one be a gentleman and a pirate?
Speaker: A gentleman pirates.
Speaker: He said it.
Speaker: He said it.
Speaker: He said the thing.
Speaker: He's calling Lucius boy again.
Speaker: I always want to note this because I think it's very intentional.
Speaker: There's some infantilization of Lucius because I think he is, I guess, supposedly younger than everyone else, maybe, but he is flamboyant.
Speaker: And I think that that is the reason why he's
Speaker: He calls him boy and some other people also call him boy later in the season.
Speaker: He wants Lucius to write it down, but... He's busy.
Speaker: He can't write down anything right now.
Speaker: Lucius can't come to the phone right now.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: He's hiding from Jim.
Speaker: He's creeping through the underdecks, hiding from Jim, but Jim catches him.
Speaker: Jim, they are...
Speaker: There are several memes with this show saying who has cat energy in the show and who has dog energy.
Speaker: Steed is obviously dog energy.
Speaker: Jim is absolutely cat energy.
Speaker: This is very cat-like of Jim.
Speaker: They come up...
Speaker: behind lucius and say guess i was just hiding in plain sight it's like very creepy throws a bag over his head and then we see him dragging him on the floor yeah and you're like is lucius dead is this it for an episode and a half and now he's dead oh no i literally wrote oh no
Speaker: Yeah, it's not great.
Speaker: We end this episode.
Speaker: Can you hear the cats fighting?
Speaker: I can't.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: We come back to our leather zaddies who are watching as the revenge sails away.
Speaker: Ivan is very upset that they couldn't at least have a little bit of murdering.
Speaker: Yeah, just a little bit of murder would have been nice.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Izzy says, you know, the captain has instructed them to, you know, follow him.
Speaker: And he pulls on Fang's beard very aggressively.
Speaker: And Fang does not like that.
Speaker: It does not like it.
Speaker: It makes me sad.
Speaker: It's not a nice thing to do unless someone wants you to do that.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And we pan up to Blackbeard's famous sale.
Speaker: So we know definitively that these guys work for Blackbeard.
Speaker: In fact, they do.
Speaker: Dun, dun, dun.
Speaker: So, you know, maybe we'll meet Blackbeard at some point in the show.
Speaker: I mean, who knows?
Speaker: Who can say?
Speaker: We might never meet him.
Speaker: Who can say whether we'll meet Blackbeard?
Speaker: Not me.
Speaker: Not I. I love this episode so much.
Speaker: It was really fun to talk about.
Speaker: And I will be providing you all with another Steed POV song for this episode shortly after we conclude with the talking here.
Speaker: Yes, when the talking comes to an end, you will get some nice sing-song from Lex.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Oh, man.
Speaker: Anyway.
Speaker: Cheers, Catherine.
Speaker: Cheers, Lex.
Speaker: Clink.
Speaker: Drowning in the sea Can't seem to get it right This ghost won't
Speaker: He's loud and he hates me Right before me, can't escape Have I failed to leave?
Speaker: Will they all just see Right through the walls I've built?
Speaker: Is it wrong to love yourself enough To take control of it?
Speaker: I'm just right
Speaker: The past is pouring me down, but I am adequate.
Speaker: I'm fucking adequate.
Speaker: I can't be a gentleman, a pirate all the same.
Speaker: Won't be run aground.
Speaker: Run aground.
