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[SPOILERS] Black Sails Season 4: All that glitters is not Silver


GallowKnight

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46 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Wouldn't the timeline make this impossible?  R.L. Stevenson wasn't born until 1850, while Woodes Rogers's Nassau campaign was essentially finished by 1720 (not that I'm expert here!).

In the meantime, Woodes Rogers's Cruising Voyage Around The World is available in full text online, and can be downloaded free --

https://archive.org/details/cruisingvoyagero00roge_0

 

It's 1716 about in the show. Woodes' anti pirate campaign was indeed over by 1720. Yes, you're right, it wouldn't be Stevenson. Might be his great-grandfather or something.

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23 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Such a bittersweet episode. Goodbye Walrus and your brave crew. And the Japanese guy is the Boba Fett of this show. I wish we had a back story for him, but in keeping with theme of this episode, it's not really relevant.

Yes he was. He was my favorite of all the side characters... and maybe a few of the "leads". I was screaming when he died. Protesting loudly.

Did he ever have a line? :dunno::lol:

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On 3/26/2017 at 9:34 AM, Arkash said:

Can we take a moment to appreciate how gorgeous that episode was ? It was full of truly beautiful shots and I've done my share of screencaps there ! 

I'll try to offer more constructive thoughts later but now it's time for a rewatch ! 

And welcome among us for this last ride, Leech ! :cheers:

Many thanks. It's always a good time to be a smelly pirate hooker! :D

I am about to rewatch that episode myself. The scenery was gorgeous, but there are a few points in the plot that I want to take in again.

LOVED Eleanor in the background clicking away.

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8 minutes ago, sweetsunray said:

Nope. Not even a squeak from his while dying. Only silence! :o

Oh I loved him. Totally the Boba Fett, who I loved as a little girl watching that movie for the first time. 

It says something when you can imprint an aura the way he did without saying a word :wub:

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13 minutes ago, sweetsunray said:

And that last click sounded like a sword being drawn almost. :o

Hahaa. I thought like the needles dropped because Madi just served him a bigger truth about slaves and their history? 

Needles, swords, it could work either way. 

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2 minutes ago, The Fattest Leech said:

Hahaa. I thought like the needles dropped because Madi just served him a bigger truth about slaves and their history? 

Needles, swords, it could work either way. 

It sounded like a long drawn out "slash".

Stick 'em with the pointy end ;)

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7 hours ago, sweetsunray said:

It's 1716 about in the show. Woodes' anti pirate campaign was indeed over by 1720. Yes, you're right, it wouldn't be Stevenson. Might be his great-grandfather or something.

Maybe he met Daniel Defoe, who is said to have based his Robinson Crusoe on the experiences of marooned Alexander Selkirk, rescued by the ship that Rogers captained?  

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Damn you internal server error eating my message - I'd swear those things are length related as it always seems to strike on an essay rather than a sentence-long post. will copy before posting this time.

Great episode. The storytelling yet again lead me along a path where it was only obvious what they were doing at the end. I spent most of the episode thinking "this is so stupid how they are trying to convince me Silver is a match for Flint just because Flint trained him". That and "there's no way that only a single year has passed through the entireity of this show". This seemed to be hammered home throughout the episode as Flint went on a one-man tribute to Hunger Games taking down ever-increasingly diffult foes from generic pirate to Samurai Jack (if they ever do a live-action Samurai Jack that actor is a replica and doesn't need to speak much) to end-of-level boss "terminator" Israel Hands. Israel Hands the guy who took down pretty much anyone who dared get in his way and Flint pretty much Obi Wan Kenobi'd him (Rebels reference). At this point I'm watching the Silver Flint duel about to go down and I'm thinking "This simply isn't beleivable". Then Flint shoots poor skinny Seth Rogen rather than let him shoot Silver in the back and it all falls into place. Silver was never going to be able to beat Flint in a fight because Silver beat Flint once Silver gained Flint's respect and trust. Flint couldn't kill Silver and that's what meant Silver would have eventually won that fight. At least that's what I took from the whole episode.

Such a relief that said fight was cut short with Silver being forced to see that Flint was right all along. Looking forward to the final showdown.

I also loved Rackham's walking with destiny scene. One of the funniest scenes of the show and there's a part of me hoping that's the end of his story. Probably because i can't see any good from him trying to kill Flint. Although I'm wondering if he specifically said "kill" regarding Flint? What would be a nice turnaround would be Flint merely informing/proving that Thomas Hamilton is alive and well in the thirteen colonies. It's the kind of info I could imagine granny Eleanor being able to possess and this episode showed that Flint does. ultimately, put those close to him above his games. Flint returning to Hamilton would remove him from the board as effectively (arguably moreso) than killing him.

Only one episode left - I'm going to miss this show as I can't see how they could pull a "lost" or "BSG" with the finale.

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1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Maybe he met Daniel Defoe, who is said to have based his Robinson Crusoe on the experiences of marooned Alexander Selkirk, rescued by the ship that Rogers captained?  

Daniel Defoe was definitely a friend of Woodes, based on circumstantial evidence. And not just for Selkirk => Robinson Crusoë (which was published and written during Woodes' first term in Nassau). Defoe was not just an author. He was a pamphlet writer, a propagandist and a spy for the government. His book about "a gentleman" (what the word means, and whether it can apply to someone not born of noble birth) uses Woodes Rogers as an example of Defoe's gentleman ideal. And then there's the "histories of the pirates", which is believed to have been written by Defoe (using a pseudonym) where we all the contemporary "biographies" of pirates and pirate hunters the world over. This one was written and published while Woodes was in debtor's prison (Defoe did debtor's time himself once in a while too years before that), and Woodes is known to have been one of its sources for the accounts on Blackbeard, on Rackham, Bonny, Mary Read, Vane, Hornigold etc...and it also included a biogrography of Woodes Rogers. That book catapulted him back to natioanl hero status, king reinstated his governship, got him out of debt and gave him back pay and a lifelong pay and pension.

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this final season has been outstanding

only two minor gripes

1. Silver is not convincing as a leader of men (and neither is Madi). We have to be told it (often by Flint) rather than shown it.

2. Silver and Madi are not convincing as a couple.

 

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2 minutes ago, Commodore said:

this final season has been outstanding

only two minor gripes

1. Silver is not convincing as a leader of men (and neither is Madi). We have to be told it (often by Flint) rather than shown it.

2. Silver and Madi are not convincing as a couple.

 

I'm convinced enough with them as a couple, but I agree that Silver barely led anyone, and Madi mostly led her men on battles in Nassau, but she's lost touch with "leading" her people. I cannot see a leader of all the people on the Maroon Island decide to make them martyrs, because that's what her decision came down to. However, that imo means that Madi will never see her people again (and no wonder Flint thinks she's a great leader). The Maroon Queen took up the scepter again in 4x07. Don't think Julius has stopped talking into her, especially after Silver took the cache and they haven't seen either Flint and Silver back again.

Maybe they are not convincing leaders, because they're not supposed to end up as leaders at all, not in the way they envisioned or believed themselves to be.

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With one week to go, I want to salute --not only this show, from the actors to the writers, to the set designers to the kid they send for coffee-- But Starz.... Spartacus was a great show, and this --IMO-- topped that... and now we have American Gods on the way.... the network seems to have its ducks in a row,,,,

I was just thinkin about all of the spectacular shots, and visual effects that this show gave us, most notably for me, was the "storm" scene from last season... and how the show maintained its quality right up until the end....

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About the fights. I rewatched them and the most interesting ones are vs Joji and Hands, because basically both fighters are equally skilled in their weapon of choice as Flint is with the sword. This rules out handling skill of the weapon as the decisive factor between the opponents. And basically makes it all about length of the weapons, distance and optimal use of environment.

Joji has the katana, which is longer than Flint's broadsword, extremely flexible in use because of its double handed grip, and he uses his legs to trip his opponent. Meanwhile Flint can't come close enough to prick at Joji unless he risks having his head cut off. So, he immediately backs away from the more open area, in between the trees. He deliberately lures Joji in more confined area. Even that is not enough, and Flint still risks at being on the losing end, because the katana is still a very manouverable weapon in its guard use and overall sharp. That's when he takes him into the ditch. Joji can't use his legs anymore and now the double handed grip becomes an issue. Joji dies.

Hands, short guy, uses 2 weapons, both much shorter than Flint's sword. Hands must always come close to Flint's sword in order to even try to hit him. He always has to do that, but usually his opponents aren't as skilled as Flint with their swords, or not trained to defend against 2 weapons. He also usually fights them in an open space where he can jump back and dance away after closing in. And Hands definitely knows Flint's as good with his sword as Hands is with his 2 weapons, so now he has to use his weapons and yet stay away from Flint's swordpoint as far as possible, and for the first time we see him trying to use his 2 weapons with stiff extended arms, which basically doesn't work as well. Meanwhile the space is open enough for Flint to use his distance advantage with the sword, but does not really allow Hands to dance and jump away enough, especially on that slippery force. If Hands wanted to win that fight he should have done what Flint did with Joji. Back away into enough a confined space that Flint wouldn't be able wield his sword optimally anymore. 

Flint beat them both because he knew how to use the terrain better and more tactically to his advantage than Joji or Hands did.

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2 hours ago, sweetsunray said:

About the fights. I rewatched them and the most interesting ones are vs Joji and Hands, because basically both fighters are equally skilled in their weapon of choice as Flint is with the sword. This rules out handling skill of the weapon as the decisive factor between the opponents. And basically makes it all about length of the weapons, distance and optimal use of environment.

Joji has the katana, which is longer than Flint's broadsword, extremely flexible in use because of its double handed grip, and he uses his legs to trip his opponent. Meanwhile Flint can't come close enough to prick at Joji unless he risks having his head cut off. So, he immediately backs away from the more open area, in between the trees. He deliberately lures Joji in more confined area. Even that is not enough, and Flint still risks at being on the losing end, because the katana is still a very manouverable weapon in its guard use and overall sharp. That's when he takes him into the ditch. Joji can't use his legs anymore and now the double handed grip becomes an issue. Joji dies.

Hands, short guy, uses 2 weapons, both much shorter than Flint's sword. Hands must always come close to Flint's sword in order to even try to hit him. He always has to do that, but usually his opponents aren't as skilled as Flint with their swords, or not trained to defend against 2 weapons. He also usually fights them in an open space where he can jump back and dance away after closing in. And Hands definitely knows Flint's as good with his sword as Hands is with his 2 weapons, so now he has to use his weapons and yet stay away from Flint's swordpoint as far as possible, and for the first time we see him trying to use his 2 weapons with stiff extended arms, which basically doesn't work as well. Meanwhile the space is open enough for Flint to use his distance advantage with the sword, but does not really allow Hands to dance and jump away enough, especially on that slippery force. If Hands wanted to win that fight he should have done what Flint did with Joji. Back away into enough a confined space that Flint wouldn't be able wield his sword optimally anymore. 

Flint beat them both because he knew how to use the terrain better and more tactically to his advantage than Joji or Hands did.

This is a really good analysis, and while I seldom give Hollywood credit for putting good thought in fight tactics, reading your analysis makes me think that they did do that in both cases. And if we go back and analyze the fight between Hands and Billy, Billy wasn't very smart in using his reach, nor does he have Flint's skill. Billy was essentially the aggressor in that fight, and allowed Hands to close in with him.

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3 hours ago, Martini Sigil said:

With one week to go, I want to salute --not only this show, from the actors to the writers, to the set designers to the kid they send for coffee-- But Starz.... Spartacus was a great show, and this --IMO-- topped that... and now we have American Gods on the way.... the network seems to have its ducks in a row,,,,

I was just thinkin about all of the spectacular shots, and visual effects that this show gave us, most notably for me, was the "storm" scene from last season... and how the show maintained its quality right up until the end....

We should probably include "outlander" in that list even if we don't like it. The issues I have are more in the DNA of the source material than the adaptation.

It does give me hope for American Gods. Isn't (or wasn't) the creative director of Starz! an ex HBO guy? It fits the old HBO profile quite well.

It's just a shame we never got the sci-fi follow up to Spartacus but i guess that fell through when stephen s deknight started work on Daredevil and transformers.

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