Fans of Max’s addictive pirate comedy/drama/romance Our Flag Means Death have had a strained, sweaty wait for season 2, ever since season 1 ended with a heartbreaking story shift and an emotional send-off designed to give them the exact opposite of what they wanted for the leads, based-on-real-life pirate captains Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) and Edward “Blackbeard” Teach (Taika Waititi). Now season 2 finally has a release date, and a first teaser that suggests fans will get exactly what they want in season 2: a whole lot of angst and piratey threat, outsized romantic drama, a return for the big and colorful cast, and Waititi playing operatic tsundere all the way up to the rafters.
[Ed note: Broad spoilers ahead for season 1 of Our Flag Means Death.]
Season 1 of David Jenkins’ pirate series starts off as an ensemble pirate-workplace comedy and turns into a series of queer love stories with remarkably different tones. The show’s intensely vocal and demonstrative fandom has expressed a lot of joy and investment in the different pairings — Black Pete (Matthew Maher) and Lucius (Nathan Foad) in a casual hookup that turns into something much sweeter; Oluwande (Samson Kayo) and Jim (Vico Ortiz) in a carefully navigated friends-to-lovers scenario; Ed Teach’s second-in-command Izzy (Con O’Neill) with his unacknowledged and unrequited crush on his boss; bar owner Spanish Jackie (Leslie Jones) and her many husbands, including her bartender Geraldo (Fred Armisen). But the absolute center of the fandom is Stede and Ed, who both go through big changes in season 1 that gently pull them together, then much less gently separate them.
This initial teaser shows that the season 2 writers know exactly what’s driving the fandom, which has mobbed social media, angsting over Stede and Ed’s separation. The trailer offers glimpses of that big, sprawling cast, but it’s much more about Ed’s jilted fury, Stede’s absolute cluelessness, and their inevitable and potentially violent reunion. Brace yourselves, because #OFMD fandom is about to get loud again as it waits to see when Stede will finally realize he broke Ed’s heart, and Ed might respond by stabbing Stede’s.
Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death will run for eight episodes, with the first three premiering on Thursday, Oct. 5, and two episodes debuting on Thursdays weekly until the finale on Oct. 26. Here’s the official summary for season 2:
OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH is based (very) loosely on the true adventures of 18th century would-be pirate Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby). After trading the seemingly charmed life of a gentleman for one of a swashbuckling buccaneer, Stede became captain of the pirate ship Revenge. Struggling to earn the respect of his potentially mutinous crew, Stede’s fortunes changed after a fateful run-in with the infamous Captain Blackbeard (Taika Waititi). To their surprise, the wildly different Stede and Blackbeard found more than friendship on the high seas…they found love. Now, they have to survive it.
Season 2 cast: In addition to Darby and Waititi, season two stars returning cast members Samson Kayo, Vico Ortiz, Ewen Bremner, Joel Fry, Matthew Maher, Kristian Nairn, Con O’Neill, David Fane, Samba Schutte, Nat Faxon, and Leslie Jones. New additions joining the ensemble cast include recurring guest stars Ruibo Qian, Madeleine Sami, Anapela Polataivao, and Erroll Shand, and guest stars Minnie Driver and Bronson Pinchot.