Don’t miss Our Flag Means Death — but don’t watch it just yet, either
It’s easy to look at HBO Max’s pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death and immediately type it as “Taika Waititi’s latest project.” Waititi, director of Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do in the Shadows, and Hunt for the Wilderpeople, executive produced the show, co-stars in it, and directed the pilot. And that pilot in particular feels notably close to a version of What We Do In The Shadows, with pirates instead of vampires. The humor, built around a foppy, pretentious wannabe pirate captain and his crew of oddballs and misfits, falls directly in line with one of Waititi’s favorite themes: the mildly tragic, often hilarious conflict between the way people envision themselves, and the way everyone else sees them. Like virtually all his best humor, it’s wholly deadpan and utterly ridiculous at the same time.
But ultimately, the series is more the vision of creator, showrunner, and writer David Jenkins. And after that setup, he takes the series in directions that people expecting a Waititi comedy might not expect — directions that make the show authentically memorable and admirable, instead of just the light, disposable sitcom fun that the first episodes tease. Waititi certainly isn’t a stranger to heartfelt beats or big drama, but the more the show builds throughout its 10-episode season, the more it comes from a completely different distinctive, specific voice. Which is why it might be a good idea to skip the premiere and wait a week before watching it, until enough of the series is available that you can binge it and get a better idea of what really makes the show worth the investment.
It’s not that there’s anything actually wrong with the opening episodes of the show, which introduce “gentleman pirate” Stede Bonnet and his crew,
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