Year:  2023

Director:  David Jenkins, Andrew DeYoung, Fernando Frias

Release:  October 5, 2023

Distributor: Binge

Running time: 8 x 30 minutes

Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

Cast:
Rhys Darby, Taika Waititi, Con O’Neill, Joel Fry, Vico Ortiz

Intro:
Levity outshines the more sombre tone, and the characters retain their cartoonish ability to get seriously wounded only to bounce back for a bit of swash and buckle well before the post-credit sequence airs.

Chaotic, funny, and sweetly uplifting, season one of this boundary-bending pirate comedy broke records for most in-demand breakout series across all streaming platforms, thanks in large part to word of mouth alone. Back for more anachronistic hijinks with season two, this time around we’re departing from the workplace comedy structure that formed the show’s foundation and crossing firmly into romantic comedy territory.

Picking up where season one left off after the emotional breakup of the show’s two leads — Gentleman Pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and the notorious Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) — we’re reunited with the crew of the pirate ship Revenge, now split into factions. Stede Bonnet is no longer the bumbling fool — well, perhaps still foolish, but positively less bumbling now that he’s slowly learning the tricks of the piratical trade. Decked head to toe in classic Errol Flynn get-up, Bonnet’s dashing loose linen and windswept curls are a stark contrast to the leather-clad, grease-paint-smeared savagery of Blackbeard’s crew, gone feral with terror and trauma.

The themes this season may be darker, with rejection, love, and self-acceptance explored in as much depth as a 30-minute episode will allow, but nevertheless this remains, above all things, a feel-good comedy. Levity outshines the more sombre tone, and the characters retain their cartoonish ability to get seriously wounded only to bounce back for a bit of swash and buckle well before the post-credit sequence airs.

Much like the first season, the list of guest stars is impressive: Bronson Pinchot pops up as yet another notorious figure from the Golden Age of piracy, with Minnie Driver and Rachel House as delightfully deranged power couple Anne Bonny and Mary Read, Leslie Jones returning as the infamous Spanish Jackie and newcomer Rubio Qian joining as the captivating Susan; a notable effort on the showrunners’ part to make up for the previous lack of women present on the cast list. Despite the epic historical name-dropping, there’s actually very little piracy in this show about pirates. Showrunner David Jenkins has built a world with next-to-zero reliance on historical accuracy, but in turn has created a space for a level of diversity and representation that defies the conventional biographies we’re so used to seeing.

This second season takes a multitude of twists and turns and is brought down only by its short running time and limited number of episodes. The bevy of new characters, entertaining as they are, means even less screentime for our returning faves, but the sharp writing and irrefutable charm of the cast means that even the smallest side story remains compelling despite the tight window of allotted time. From intricately woven betrayal to coy courtship, mind games and maiming, to the most basic of cheap laughs and fart jokes, season two is a fascinating mix of slapstick and pathos. We can only hope that a green light for season 3 will allow more screen time for this talented ensemble to truly shine.

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