Red Flags – The episode opens with Captain Stede Bonnet (Rhys Darby) reminiscing about Edward “Ed” Teach/Blackbeard (Taika Waititi) while his crew sleeps. Elsewhere, Ed stares at colonial figurines before knocking them out a window.

Auntie (Anapela Polataivao) rings a bell to wake up Stede and his crew. Wee John Feeney (Kristian Nairn) and Black Pete (Matthew Maher) claim it was their best night’s sleep in ages. Buttons (Ewen Bremner) says the sea is the Gods’ medicine. Zheng Yi Sao/Susan (Ruibo Qian) greets her new crew. Stede questions why they call her Queen. Roach (Sama Schutte) says she supposedly conquered China. Later, Zheng attributes their “soft energy” to her decision to bring them aboard the “Red Flag”. She introduces them to her only male crewmember, Rat Boy/Lucius (Nathan Ford). Shocked, the crew tackles him while Auntie complains about men being “emotional”.

Black Pete claims to have believed Lucius died. Lucius asks what he thinks of his beard. Black Pete admits to loving it before kissing him on the lips. Roach asks why they call him Rat Boy. Lucius suggests it is similar to a lunar calendar. In a flashback, Blackbeard tosses Lucius overboard. Back to the present, Lucius tells them that he fell overboard. Black Pete questions his claim because he has an “impeccable balance”. Auntie divides the crew into groups for their new work duties. Once alone with Buttons who she believes is “Sea Witch,” she explains her journey to find him. He warns her against assuming they know anything. Referring to him as a “wise demon,” she orders him to wait for her above. He complies by walking away.

Blackbeard tells Frenchie (Joel Fry) that the poison is out of his system before vowing to stay away from drugs and alcohol. Frenchie claims to have killed Izzy Hands (Con O’Neill). Blackbeard stresses the importance of trust between a Captain and his First-Mate. Frenchie goes down the ship’s hold to find Izzy screaming for someone to kill him. Archie (Madeleine Sami) urges him to be quiet. Frenchie complains of the foul odor. She says it’s Izzy’s rotting leg. Jim (Vico Ortiz) tells her that it needs to be amputated. Izzy screams for them to kill him. Frenchie tells them to remove his leg. Jim asks which of his legs is rotting. Archie says, “Dealer’s choice”. When Jim saws into the rotten leg, blood spews out of it.

Stede explains how he is tracking Blackbeard through his crimes. Looking at the map, he suggests Blackbeard is in Cuba. Lucius asks Tiff, Jane, and Maggie to give them some privacy. Holding up the wanted poster, Stede points out that Blackbeard looks like a “ghoul”. Lucius asks Stede if he is going to ask how he is doing. Stede asks how are you. Lucius curses him while flipping the bird. He claims Blackbeard shoved him off the ship. Lucius blames everything on him.

Approaching Buttons from behind, Auntie says the Sea Witch has taken the form of a humble man. She gives him a spell book. He is awed by what he sees.

Frenchie gathers medical supplies when Blackbeard approaches asking if someone has been injured. Frenchie claims to be putting together a first aid kit. Blackbeard asks what method he utilized to kill Izzy. Frenchie swears to have cut his throat when Blackbeard attributes the foul odor to Izzy’s rotting leg. In the cargo area, Jim and Archie take a break after Izzy’s leg is amputated. Jim has a flashback of kissing Oluwande (Samson Kayo). Back to the present, Archie kisses Jim who at first seems confused by the gesture. Blackbeard barges in to find them kissing. Frenchie denies any knowledge of the room. Blackbeard orders them to leave with the leg. Jim reminds him of Izzy being his friend before leaving.

Oluwande haphazardly tidies Zheng’s office. Auntie points out that Oluwande doesn’t know how to properly file scrolls. Zheng assures her that he knows what he is doing. Oluwande offers to file the scrolls by weight or content. Zheng says they just need to be off the floor. Auntie boasts of her system being ahead of its time, so Zheng wouldn’t understand. Finding the abacus cleared, she becomes irate. Oluwande tells her that he tidied up a bit. She explains how the ships were positioned on the map per wind and current. Claiming to remember the layout, he offers to fix it when Zheng intervenes. Outside, Zheng tells Oluwande that she enjoyed his visits to the soup kiosk.

Roach describes the soup as “beautiful” and “complicated”. He questions how often people really taste the food they eat. Stede says it is wildly insane. Lucius sarcastically tells Stede to keep his pants on. Black Pete asks if he is smoking. Lucius believes he picked it up somewhere. Stede calls him “Mr. Cool” with his beard. Lucius says after Zheng, he realizes his previous captains were pathetically incompetent. Black Pete calls him his “feisty” Rat Boy. Irate, Lucius demands he never call him that before excusing himself.

Izzy wakes up to find Blackbeard at his bedside. Forcing a gun into his hand, Blackbeard dramatizes his dream in which Izzy shoots him in the head. Laughing, Izzy asks if he is too afraid to kill himself. Blackbeard tells his old chum goodbye when a gunshot fires in the background. He confesses to having loved Izzy. Later, Frenchie offers to jump overboard to spare Blackbeard from having to shoot him. Blackbeard thanks him for helping him find closure with Izzy. After giving Frenchie the day off, Blackbeard takes the helm.

Stede warns Lucius to not make the same mistake as him by not talking to Black Pete. Lucius claims to have befriended a rat terrier, Pepper, that was eaten for laughs. He explains how he utilized his teeth to catch rats. Stede urges him to tell Black Pete the rest. Lucius tries to tell Stede about a “Human Puppet” game but he refuses to listen.

Frenchie is talking to his crewmates when the ship careens sharply off course. They make their way to the deck to find a manic Blackbeard at the helm as the weather intensifies. Blackbeard boasts of getting rid of the wheel. Archie tells him to kill them. He warns that their odds of surviving the treacherous storm are low. He tells Jim and Archie to fight to the death. A fight ensues.

Lucius tells Stede that he told Black Pete about what happened after he was thrown overboard. He urges him to look deeply at Blackbeard’s horrible crimes. Stede admits to hurting him badly. Lucius suggests the time they spent together is it. Stede refuses to give up. Lucius warns that some people are broken.

Blackbeard orders Jim to kill Archie but she refuses. A strong wave sends Archie across the deck as Jim tries to help her. Frenchie takes the helm without a wheel. A cannon is fired by none other than Izzy who then shoots himself in the head. Fang (David Fane) runs toward Blackbeard. Auntie mends the damage done to her abacus. The female crew pulls the ship. Blackbeard is happy to see his end is near when Jim swings a cannonball at him. The episode ends.

 

Our Flag Means Death Review

Stede and his crew find Lucius living aboard Zheng’s ship as Rat Boy. After Blackbeard threw Lucius overboard, he constantly changed ships until he found Zheng’s Red Flag. He blames Stede for his terrible experience. He became known as the Rat Boy after Pepper was eaten. He caught rats with his teeth. Stede convinces him to talk to Black Pete.

Blackbeard vows to avoid alcohol and drugs but his manic behavior puts his crew in danger. Learning Izzy is still alive, Blackbeard gives him a gun to kill him. Izzy declines the offer but fires the gun making it look like a suicide.

Jim and Archie’s relationship grows stronger while Zheng reveals her feelings for Oluwande. Auntie believes Buttons is a Sea Witch.

Blackbeard steers the ship into a storm and removes the wheel from the helm. Izzy intervenes before killing himself. As the episode nears an end, Jim appears to smash Blackbeard with a cannonball.

The episode deserves a 6.5. Get more of Our Flag Means Death recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Our onsite advertising builds brand awareness, click the link to learn more.