When it comes to the second season of Our Flag Means Death, my favorite episodes by far are episodes four and five. Evidently, they are the most packed with symbolism and meaning, but even ignoring these elements, the general storylines of these episodes are so faithful to the characters the audience has come to love while also catching the viewer off guard. Still, there’s a bit of catch-up needed in order to move forward onto this article’s focus: Episode four.
TRIGGER WARNING FOR HEAVY DISCUSSIONS OF SUICIDE IN THE FOLLOWING RECAPS
I briefly recapped episode two in my last article, where the audience follows Ed and Stede as they go in two drastically different directions. Stede and his crew sail with Zheng Yi Sao, Chinese pirate queen during the golden age of piracy. They reunite with their beloved mate Lucius who had taken refuge with Zheng. Ed, conversely, seems to be letting loose, diverting from his depression-seeped state and seems to be happier. He’s picking up after himself, friendlier and more chipper than ever. The previous Ed is one we expect to lash out at any slip up, but when Ed quickly deduces his crew is keeping his previous first mate Izzy alive below deck now with an amputated leg after Ed shot him, he surprisingly is not mad at any of them. In fact, he is not even shocked and he only subjects the crew to mild taunting. When Ed visits Izzy, we start to get an inkling of Ed’s sudden change of heart as he tells Izzy that he dreamt he shot him as he hands him a gun. When Izzy dryly replies, “good for you,” Ed stresses that it was in fact good for him and “just what the doctor ordered.” He stands, detailing his dream with his back to Izzy as Izzy weakly aims to take the shot and end Ed’s life for good. But instead, he begins to deliriously laugh. “Ooh, you scared, Eddie? Too scared to do it yourself, Ay?” He mocks, “Go on. Clean up your own f[*****]’ mess. I’m not doin’ it. I’ve been doin’ it all my f[*****]’ life.” At this, Ed leaves. As he crosses the threshold into the upper deck, he hears a gunshot, signifying that Izzy has killed himself with the gun given to him that was supposed to kill Ed. As previously spoken about, Ed then tries to end his own life by sailing into a storm and capsizing the ship, taking the rest of the crew down with him. Before he can accomplish this, however, he is shot by none other than Izzy Hands who failed in his own suicide attempt earlier but decides to save the crew. Following this, the surviving shipmates bludgeon Ed to what they assume is death, taking all their pent up and visceral rage out on his body. Ed is mutinied.
Episode three is easier to summarize as it includes Stede and his crew finding the Revenge and Stede insisting to see Ed while the crew refuses to do so. Eventually, Izzy shows Stede Ed’s “corpse”, kept below deck with his face covered. It takes the rest of the episode for Stede to gather his courage as he is shown Ed. Ed who is not dead, as we were led to believe, but rather in “the gravy basket,” or purgatory. He is given the choice between life and death and he struggles to choose between them. His purgatorial guide is his long previous captain, Hornigold. Hornigold and Ed weigh the options of life or death. Ed’s pros of living include food, warmth and various vulgarities whereas his cons contain one simple revelation: no one is waiting for him. This, as Hornigold puts it, “really [****]ed your pros up”. It is soon revealed that Ed’s actual guide is himself, taking the form of someone he himself hates, a personification of his own self hatred. They debate over Ed’s choice only a moment longer before Hornigold insists that Ed has already made up his mind, throwing a large rock tied around Ed’s waist over the cliffside and down into the deep waters below. This is when Stede finally enters to visit what he thinks is Ed’s corpse, blaming himself for the outcome of it all. Ed lets himself sink into the abyss of the water, never once fighting back against it and allowing himself to sink into death’s embrace. This is until Stede removes the cloth from over his body’s face, startling Ed into a realization that someone is there. He startles, coming to his senses, panicking that he’s accepted a fate he can fight so easily. It doesn’t have to be his fate if he can fight it. He thrashes and kicks in the water, struggling as he tries to untie the knotted stone around his waist. In the world of the living, his hand starts to twitch, growing more and more desperate along with Ed’s purgatorial fight. When Stede sees this, he surges forward to grasp it, crying out to Ed to not die and that he’s sorry. “I’m here now!” he cries and this is what causes the rope around Ed’s waist to fall away. Now Ed treads in the water, in his vision watching as Stede approaches him. Not normal Stede, though, but Stede as a mermaid. Of course, this mer-Stede is someone who can breathe underwater and has come to save Ed, which highlights the story-book-esque love story between Stede and Ed. This theme of fantasy within deep realism carries on throughout the season, but before the episode ends, Ed awakens from his “coma” of sorts and headbutts Stede.
Episode four: Fun and Games
The crew, despite Stede’s attempts to divert them from the decision, unwaveringly decides to boot Ed off of the ship, as the traumas received they from him are insurmountable. He is dropped off on an island where Stede follows, bringing Buttons with him. While Ed makes friends with a rabbit that is swiftly killed, Stede happens upon a sort of antique shop filled with all sorts for goodies. Ed is swiftly dragged in by Mary Read, a long time friend of his who he has found. He reunites with Anne Bonny, the woman Stede was only just talking to. Stede hides behind a mountain of trinkets while Ed and Anne greet each other like the old friends they are, doing a handshake. Only after that does Stede pop up from where he’s crouched, greeting Ed whose demeanor immediately changes. He goes from cheery to guarded and on edge, only giving short responses to Stede as if their history is not as intense as it is. Ed has a typical approach many do to ex-partners, avoidant and trying to end the conversation as quick as it started whilst also having his words occasionally laced with malice. Ed, throughout the first part of the episode, is passive aggressive and short with Stede, trying to make it seem as if he doesn’t care for him.
One thing I find interesting is Ed’s dynamic with his friends and his name versus that with Stede. Throughout the season, people who were friends in Ed’s past (Hornigold, Anne, Izzy, and Mary) call him “Eddie” as a nickname. This is easily seen as a term of endearment and display of affection and the audience is inclined to expect Stede to pick this up as well. However, he never does, always calling Ed “Ed” or “Edward”. Ed is a character who struggles deeply with the idea that no one will see him for who he truly is, thus why he has to ask people to call him by his name. He wants to be seen for who he is. “Eddie” as a nickname from those close to Ed demonstrates they’re close enough to him not to call him Ed. However, Stede loving Ed and not using the nickname shows a deeper bond, that he does not need a nickname because he finds the truest version of Ed endearing enough. This isn’t to say characters like Izzy don’t see or love the “real” Ed, it just points out the deeper bond between Ed and Stede.
Ed and Stede are pressured into dinner with Anne and Mary where they press them for more details about what the two are in relation to each other, immediately catching onto their chemistry with the help of Stede. Ed maintains his angry hard temper whilst Stede talks about Ed in a far more romantic way. Anne pulls Stede aside to help with dinner where Stede tells the story of him and Ed. Unfortunately for Stede, Anne immediately drops that Stede ran off to his ex-wife Mary (Stede, to the woman he’s barely met says, “I told you in confidence”) . Ed, still trying to keep nonchalant, coolly wipes off his mouth, stands up, and smashes his chair against the wall before storming out and hiding under a blanket.
Two things that stand out as minor references are the ways Ed initially responds to Stede. For one, in episode five of season one, the audience follows Ed and Stede as they begin to learn from each other. In this episode specifically, Stede teaches Ed traditional table etiquette (what forks and spoons to use, which side the napkin goes on, and more) and general manners. This episode, there’s a subtle nod to those manners in Ed finishing chewing his food before he speaks, wiping off his mouth, and holding up his pointer to Stede to say “one moment” before his outburst. So polite, I’m incredibly proud. He then runs to the living room and buries himself in a blanket. In episode ten of season one, Ed hides himself away in a pillow fort to cry after losing Stede. It seems that Ed’s knee jerk reaction to Stede leaving is creating a blanket fort and I’m here for it! While not at all significant, I love small nods to previous episodes and feel that I should point them out.
The next scene is possibly one of my favorites in the entire show; the beginning of Ed and Stede’s forgiveness arc. After an episode of exasperated screaming “just talk to each other!” at the screen, we finally get that. Their conversation highlights the fatal flaws of Ed and Stede, acknowledging that they both have issues they need to sort through and have both made mistakes. So, let’s go through it… this Friday!
