‘Our Flag Means Death’ Boss on Blackbeard and Stede’s Season 2 Ending & Izzy’s Fate
Spoiler Alert
[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Episode 8 “Mermen.”]
Our Flag Means Death delivers an array of emotions in its second season finale, “Mermen,” which sees Stede (Rhys Darby) and Blackbeard, a.k.a. Ed (Taika Waititi), reunited under intense circumstances.
With the Republic of Pirates under siege by the British and Blackbeard’s failed attempt at becoming a fisherman, he returns to find the area under attack at the same time Stede has been separated from the rest of the Revenge crew, who are being held prisoner under Prince Ricky’s (Erroll Shand) watchful eye.
After fending off some soldiers side-by-side with Zheng Yi Sao (Ruibo Qian), Stede finds himself on a collision course for Blackbeard, who has since redressed in his leathers and is motivated by one of Stede’s love letters, which he discovered in a bottle on the beach. Their epic romantic reunion leads to a long-overdue love confession and a kiss or two, but such high points can only last so long.
When the men return for their crewmates at Spanish Jackie’s (Leslie Jones), they find that her efforts to poison the British have been largely successful, leaving Prince Ricky in their midst alone. Stede devises a plan to use Prince Ricky to get them out of the Republic of Pirates and continue their pirating ways.
(Credit: Courtesy of Max / photographed by Nicola Dove)
The “suicide mission” gets off to a promising start as the friends dress in stolen soldier gear and begin implementing their plan, but when Prince Ricky escapes from Izzy’s (Con O’Neill) grasp, he turns and shoots, hitting the sage pirate. While he claims he’s fine, his hobble on the golden unicorn peg leg tells another story.
With Prince Ricky on the run, the pirates take to the sea after their retaliation attack only for Izzy to collapse on deck with Blackbeard hovering above him. The pair get candid about their tumultuous relationship over the years, and with Izzy’s dying breath, he tells Ed to just be himself, noting that he’d fed Blackbeard’s darkness because he needed it, that it isn’t who Ed really is. Blackbeard tells Izzy he’s his only family, but the dying pirate is quick to point out that he has everyone on board to call family as well.
It’s an emotional end, but one series showrunner David Jenkins feels was necessary. “Well, it’s piracy, so someone has to die. They’ve got swords and guns. Someone’s going to eat it. But I think for Izzy specifically, I kind of felt like this is the right point to leave him in his arc where he learns all of the things that he needs to learn and he goes through all of the battles that he needs to go through,” Jenkins tells TV Insider.
“He becomes more of a father figure to Blackbeard, but definitely a mentor to Stede. And mentors tend to die in the second act,” Jenkins points out. While fans may be brokenhearted by the loss, Izzy certainly had a major impact on Stede, Blackbeard, and the entire crew this season that surely won’t be forgotten any time soon. As viewers saw in the final moments of the finale, the Revenge crew buried Izzy with honor, on a patch of land close to a remote cabin where Stede and Blackbeard plan to reside, and fashioning a cross from his unicorn peg leg.
(Credit: Courtesy of Max / photographed by Nicola Dove)
Of Izzy’s mentorship role, Jenkins notes, “[Mentors] die so our heroes can live on and try to live up to what they’ve been taught. So I think we all just felt like it was right and maybe the most satisfying conclusion to Izzy’s arc.” And while Prince Ricky may have scampered off without immediate consequence for his actions, Izzy did deliver quite the monologue to this season’s villain in Spanish Jackie’s barroom.
“When I wrote it, I [wanted] to give him a juicy eulogy that he’s going to give to Izzy,” Jenkins shares. “I wanted to try to write something that felt true to Con and felt true to what piracy is as a metaphor for this show. And I think that he delivers it so beautifully, and I love it for the character — he realizes his conception of pirating has changed from the first season.”
While Jenkins points out Izzy’s perception of pirating in Season 1 revolved around domination and serving his captain, this time around, Izzy “comes to realize that the captain’s not always cracked up and that the crew actually got him a new leg and loves him in a way he never anticipated. They saved his life and didn’t throw him overboard. And he loves them in a way that he never would’ve guessed.”
“I think by the end of the season, he comes to the conclusion that it’s about belonging to [something], and it’s about everybody doing this for each other,” Jenkins continues. Belonging to the Revenge crew has a lasting impact — that much is clear by the end of the season as the pirates celebrate Lucius (Nathan Foad) and Black Pete’s (Matthew Maher) wedding, which declares them “Mateys,” before Stede and Blackbeard bid their crew adieu for a quieter life on shore (at least for now).
(Credit: Max)
“This is where it gets hard,” Jenkins says of the pair’s relationship, which was up and down all season before they finally reunited and confessed their love. “This is where a relationship kicks in, and it gets really hard. All the other stuff looks easy compared to what they’re about to do when you decide you’re actually going to do it.”
As fans will recall, Season 1 saw Stede and Blackbeard make plans for the future, only for Stede to get cold feet and return to his wife before coming to his senses. Now that Stede and Blackbeard have committed to one another, Jenkins says that this dedication they have for one another will also test their limits. “You say, ‘Well, are we going to do it better than the bad versions we’ve seen? Are we going to be able to be the best versions of ourselves for each other?’ And then there’s the amount of work you have to put in to make it work,” he adds.
While Stede and Blackbeard have “decided they’re going to stay,” Jenkins acknowledges, he also notes, “they both have real issues that they still haven’t worked out, and I think it’s endlessly fascinating. I think there’s a reason that Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is one of the great American plays and why we can watch it endlessly.”
As for the season’s ending and where Stede and Blackbeard’s relationship is heading next, Jenkins welcomes fans to come up with their own thoughts. “We get to the end of something, and until there’s more writing around it and something else made, it’s yours,” he says. “Do what you want to. It’s all of ours to imagine, whether I know where I’m imagining they end up. Everyone else should pick a spot, too.”
(Credit: Max)
When it comes to more defined plans for the show’s possible third season, Jenkins tells us, “I always idly think about what a third season would do, and I have a pretty good idea of what a third season for the show should look like.” Some aspects to keep in mind? “I think it’s likely that our family would find their way to each other again,” he says. “And then Frenchie is now in charge of the Revenge, and I think Frenchie’s Revenge would get into some pretty interesting stuff.”
Sure, Stede and Blackbeard may have opted to try out the innkeeper life, as the Season 2 finale suggests, but Jenkins adds, “I think letting go of that ship might be harder than Stede anticipated.” For now, “I like that there’s a bunch of family milestones at the end. There’s a funeral, there’s a wedding, and then kids take the car and they drive off as the parents watch from the porch. A new house is found, and Izzy’s buried.”
“But there’s a lot of milestones for this family of people. And we kind of liked the idea of having them group together at the end,” Jenkins continues. “It felt right. It felt like this was a season — as middles should be — about change. And we’ll hopefully see what happens as a result of that change” in a third season.
While the Revenge crew may have lost some members for now, it gained a few new ones, including Spanish Jackie, who joined her newest husband, the Swede (Nat Faxon), aboard the ship. “She gave it all up,” Jenkins tells us of her polyamorous lifestyle. “She gave it all up for the Swede. I don’t know if it’s going to stay that way, but man, he made an impression.”
As for the finale’s final frame, which sees a seagull land on Izzy’s makeshift tombstone, when we asked if Jenkins could confirm if the bird was recently transformed crew member Buttons (Ewen Bremner), he said, “Oh hell yes.” Until we know the fate of this fan-favorite, we’ll keep that reassuring image in our minds.
But how are you all feeling about the bold finale? Let us know in the comments section, below, and stay tuned for any potential news or updates on Our Flag Means Death‘s future at Max.
Our Flag Means Death, Seasons 1-2, Streaming now, Max
