# Black Sails Season 3
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 23, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998 "2016-01-23T18:08:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/1 "2016-01-23T18:08:56Z")
[Black Sails](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2375692) is a series on Stars that’s a prequel to Treasure Island.
As of right now, you can apparently [stream](https://www.starz.com/freeepisodes) the first two seasons, but I’m not sure if they’re taking that down one the third one starts or what.
Anyway, it had an uneven start in season 1 but actually became really great in season 2. The latter half of the second season, especially the finale, was great television.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/2 "2016-01-23T18:16:47Z")
I’m not sure if I’m going to watch this season. The premiere last year made me confidant, but I felt season 2 was a meandering mess.
I may wait for 3-4 to air and then watch them back to back.
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### Author:  [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/3 "2016-01-23T18:25:59Z")
I’d only disagree by saying that I enjoyed every single episode, right from the beginning.
Really strong casting, dialogue, acting\*, storyline, scenery and sets.
Loved the mixture of historical fact and fiction, and the fact that they weren’t afraid to have complex characters and storylines. Definitely a cut(lass) above the usual “yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum” swashbuckling pirate shenanigans.
I was able to watch Series 1 and 2 on Amazon Prime in the UK by the way.
–
- although I did think Billy Bones and Eleanor Guthrie were a _teeny_ bit wooden at times
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/4 "2016-01-23T19:39:12Z")
I will be watching but I can’t believe that the four episodes of Pirate C-SPAN leading up to the finale didn’t get on even the best supporters’ nerves. There was one episode where they didn’t even have a ship in it at all.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [January 23, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/5 "2016-01-23T20:45:36Z")
I forgot to mention the obvious - the season starts tonight at 9pm eastern.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/6 "2016-02-08T09:08:44Z")
I thought this week’s episode was rather good. All talky stuff, but Silver’s confession is an interesting character and relationship development, the delerious dream sequence with Mrs. Barlow was rather beautiful, and Blackbeard’s development with Vane is interesting.
The arrival of the British fleet happened much faster than I had anticipated - I thought it would be the looming threat for the whole season.
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### Author:  [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/7 "2016-02-10T05:37:25Z")
I still really like the show but I am not buying a lot of the characters’ motivations.
[spoiler]I don’t think someone as mercenary as Silver would give up their share of the gold and come clean or live another day if they did.
I don’t buy that pirates would really care about and defend any given island, especially when they have some gold to leave with.
Come to think of it, I can’t see Richard Guthrie (now dead) or Flint ever believing that clemency was possible to begin with.
I also don’t buy Silver becoming attached to the crew or caring about them.[/spoiler]
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/8 "2016-03-21T06:01:51Z")
It’s a shame that no one is watching this show, it has developed into one of the very best things on TV. If this were on HBO, it would capture popular and critical attention instead of fading into obscurity.
I particularly enjoyed the conversation Flint and Silver had. “I don’t know if that’s a warning or a welcoming” - both the writers and actor have done an amazing job turning Silver from an unlikable self-serving jackass, to a likable part of the crew, to a hard-ass descent into ruthless, somber, peg-legged precursor to someone like Flynt.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/9 "2016-03-21T12:28:40Z")
Still watching it, and yes it is one of the best shows currently on TV. It’s not just Silver they’ve done a great job with, Vane and Rackam have both developed into much more than i ever expected them to be.
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### Author:  [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/10 "2016-03-21T15:22:43Z")
Somehow I don’t think we’ll see much more character development from Vane.
I agree that this has turned into a great show.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/11 "2016-03-21T20:13:17Z")
I liked it from the start, and agree it’s better than ever.
I don’t generally look for discussion about it on the dope after all the first season “It’s pirate C-SPAN” complaints.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [March 21, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/12 "2016-03-21T21:33:29Z")
Yeah, it’s unfortunate. It is a very dialogue-heavy show, and I guess people demand less talk more shooty from pirate shows, but it has some of the best dialogue that has ever been on TV. It’s thoughtful, it has the voice of the characters, it’s poetic, it tackles subjects like violence, freedom, authority, and loyalty with insight. The art put into the writing is clearly very high.
I think some of the people who would appreciate that artistry rejected it because it was a pirate show, whereas some of the people who watched it because it was a pirate show rejected it for that artistry.
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [March 27, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/13 "2016-03-27T20:14:42Z")
I loved the season finale, it just proves how great a show this is when you have a huge awesome land and sea battle but the best moments are still the parts where it is just guys talking (Flint/Silver, Teach/Rackam and Billy Bones with the resistance guys).
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### Author:  [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/14 "2016-03-29T14:27:24Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#):
>
> It’s a shame that no one is watching this show, it has developed into one of the very best things on TV. If this were on HBO, it would capture popular and critical attention instead of fading into obscurity.
>
> I particularly enjoyed the conversation Flint and Silver had. “I don’t know if that’s a warning or a welcoming” - both the writers and actor have done an amazing job turning Silver from an unlikable self-serving jackass, to a likable part of the crew, to a hard-ass descent into ruthless, somber, peg-legged precursor to someone like Flynt.
Fading into obscurity? it has been renewed for a fourth season. Someone is watching. Please don’t tell me you’re relying on Neilson ratings.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/15 "2016-03-29T18:46:35Z")
There are 15 posts in an entire season thread for a show that may be the best thing on TV right now. It’s obviously obscure. No one talks about it, barely anyone watches this. If this were on HBO, it’d be a big hit and widely talked about.
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/16 "2016-03-30T14:13:39Z")
> [@by-tor](#):
>
> I still really like the show but I am not buying a lot of the characters’ motivations.
>
> [spoiler]I don’t think someone as mercenary as Silver would give up their share of the gold and come clean or live another day if they did.
>
> I don’t buy that pirates would really care about and defend any given island, especially when they have some gold to leave with.
>
> Come to think of it, I can’t see Richard Guthrie (now dead) or Flint ever believing that clemency was possible to begin with.
>
> I also don’t buy Silver becoming attached to the crew or caring about them.[/spoiler]
1. Silver did it as a tactical calculation, not out of a sense of altruism. Remember, that this is the 1700s. He can’t just deposit a large sum of gold in a Swiss bank account. A reoccurring problem with pirate booty is actually figuring out where to keep it. Indeed, this has been a major plot point for several seasons.
2. Most wouldn’t. Flint isn’t Jack Sparrow. He has larger aspirations than just being a wandering pirate outlaw.
3. I don’t think Silver did either. I think a large part of this is due to his injury. In spite of our romanticized notion of the peg-legged pirate (largely due to depictions of Long John Silver himself), being an amputee aboard sailing ship was generally a career-ender.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/17 "2016-03-30T15:00:42Z")
A couple of episodes back, there was what I thought was an amusing scene; Jack Rackham was complaining that he’d had so much trouble getting the people of Nassau to respect his authority, but then Rogers comes in as the British governor and immediately commands respect and obedience.
And I’m wondering if the stolen Urca gold is supposed to be the same treasure as from the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. (Except on the show the treasure is currently buried and in the novel, I think it was in a cave.)
And actually the way that the show blends real-life historic people, characters from Treasure Island and new characters is kind of fun.
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### Author:  [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/18 "2016-04-01T15:31:33Z")
I believe the Urca gold (or some of it) is destined to become the Treasure Island treasure. They’ve introduced Ben Gunn, and he’s the guy who winds up “watching” the gold on Treasure Island.
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [January 31, 2017, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-sails-season-3/743998/19 "2017-01-31T11:04:33Z")
Season 4 premiered and [I created a thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=19964724)