Crossbones - The Covenant - Advance Preview - "Visitors"

    Crossbones 1.02, “The Covenant,” was written by the creative team of Neil Cross, James V Hart, and Amanda Welles. The action in this second episode is really confined to New Providence. The series continues to deliver a well executed plot and strong acting from the leads. As an added bonus, when the action takes them out of town, the scenery is also outstanding!

    Some interesting details are revealed about the Balfours (Peter Stebbings, Claire Foy) in this episode, and we learn more about Blackbeard (John Malkovich) as he is visited by an old acquaintance, Sam Valentine. As with the first episode, this exposition doesn’t slow down the action, however. Blackbeard’s visit with his old friend doesn’t go quite as either of them expects.

    Lowe (Richard Coyle) has found a niche for himself on the Island but Selima (Yasmin Al Masri) is still very suspicious of him. Fletch (Chris Perfietti), meanwhile, makes a new friend at the market and runs into an old acquaintance while swimming. Apparently, unlike Lowe, Fletch does know how to swim quite well. We also meet more of the population living on the Island, including Rose and her girls.

    Blackbeard reveals his rather surprising plan for the chronometer. Coyle discovers that he has gained another enemy in Eisengrim (Ezra Buzzington), but he grows closer to Kate.

    The plot kept me guessing a bit though there did seem to be some events skipped over that would have been nice to include. However, it’s great fun to watch Malkovich execute his plan and there’s a terrific fight scene in the episode as well.

    Some of the things that bothered me from the first episode – the costumes – did not seem to be quite as annoying. The dialogue continues to be strong. All in all, this was another solid episode. I’m rally rather baffled as to why they seem to have buried this series on Friday night. I hope that it will find the audience it deserves. If you missed the first episode, there’s a nice previously on segment that supplies everything you need to know going forward. Don’t forget to tune in to NBC, Friday at 10pm ET.