(Review updated after Season 4).
A prequel to the (fictional) events of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". The series centres on a group of pirates operating out of Nassau in the Bahamas. We meet characters from history - Captain Charles Vane, Governor Woodes Rogers, Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny - plus characters from fiction - Captain Flint and, of course, Long John Silver.
Starts weakly, gets really good in Season 2, manages to retain that form in Season 3 before ending with a very weak Season 4.
Season 1 of Black Sails was lacklustre - seemed to plod along with no point or direction. I almost gave up on the series after Season 1.
However, I gave Season 2 a try and am very glad I did. It all comes together there. The action ratchets up several notches, the plot gets much tighter and edgier, the disparate characters and sub-plots all start to have a purpose.
Season 2 is a massive transformation from Season 1.
Season 3 retained Season 2's grittiness and watchability. Was maybe a touch less focused than S2 but this is a minor issue. The Flint- Silver verbiage overload and over-self-analysis of their relationship in S3 was irritating and made S2 better.
Season 4, the final season, promised closure and lots of action. There was heaps of action and there was some degree of closure but the plot felt very unfocused and contrived. The writing gets quite weak and sloppy in this season, with implausible and/or random turns of events. We also have double/triple-crossings just for the sake of them, to the point where you have about five different factions fighting each other. It became difficult to know who was on whose side. Seemed like complexity for the sake of complexity.
What's more, the verbose language of Season 3 continued and, in fact, got worse. Instead of saying something in one sentence we have these long drawn-out speeches. So boring you zone out and then miss an important twist. It's as if the writers were padding the script with dialogue, they were so bereft of ideas.
A pity, as Season 2 promised so much for the future.
Season ratings: S1 6/10, S2 9, S3 8, S4 6.
A prequel to the (fictional) events of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". The series centres on a group of pirates operating out of Nassau in the Bahamas. We meet characters from history - Captain Charles Vane, Governor Woodes Rogers, Jack Rackham and Anne Bonny - plus characters from fiction - Captain Flint and, of course, Long John Silver.
Starts weakly, gets really good in Season 2, manages to retain that form in Season 3 before ending with a very weak Season 4.
Season 1 of Black Sails was lacklustre - seemed to plod along with no point or direction. I almost gave up on the series after Season 1.
However, I gave Season 2 a try and am very glad I did. It all comes together there. The action ratchets up several notches, the plot gets much tighter and edgier, the disparate characters and sub-plots all start to have a purpose.
Season 2 is a massive transformation from Season 1.
Season 3 retained Season 2's grittiness and watchability. Was maybe a touch less focused than S2 but this is a minor issue. The Flint- Silver verbiage overload and over-self-analysis of their relationship in S3 was irritating and made S2 better.
Season 4, the final season, promised closure and lots of action. There was heaps of action and there was some degree of closure but the plot felt very unfocused and contrived. The writing gets quite weak and sloppy in this season, with implausible and/or random turns of events. We also have double/triple-crossings just for the sake of them, to the point where you have about five different factions fighting each other. It became difficult to know who was on whose side. Seemed like complexity for the sake of complexity.
What's more, the verbose language of Season 3 continued and, in fact, got worse. Instead of saying something in one sentence we have these long drawn-out speeches. So boring you zone out and then miss an important twist. It's as if the writers were padding the script with dialogue, they were so bereft of ideas.
A pity, as Season 2 promised so much for the future.
Season ratings: S1 6/10, S2 9, S3 8, S4 6.