Black Sails Season 3 Episode Guide
3.01. XIX - Review
3.02. XX - Review
3.03. XXI - Review
3.04. XXII - Review
3.05. XXIII - Review
3.06. XXIV - Review
3.07. XXV - Review
3.08. XXVI - Review
3.09 XXVII - Review
3.10. XXVIII - Review
Black Sails 3.10. "XXVIII"
Directed by Alik Sakharov & Written by Jonathan E. Steinberg & Robert Levine
It looks like a few episodes ago when I titled my review of XXV "The Legend of Long John Silver" I was wrong to give that title to that episode because this is perhaps the true hour where Silver turned into Legend, which only begun with his mauling of Dufrense's head. It marked the complete transformation of the character from a thief who was only looking out for himself into one of piracy's most well-known fictional characters, and one of the few who can actually stand up to Flint and win. In Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs Kate Winslet's character mentions that there was an award being held for those who could stand up to Jobs and she won for multiple years in a row, and I'd imagine that if there was one for Flint, Silver would have won it here. He's now a friend of Flint, but acknowledges something that seems to be happening to those who get too close to Flint, they all end up dying. And of course dying isn't in Silver's interest, he'd rather survive. And he tells Flint as much during their exchange that was running through the episode, he isn't going to go go down as easy as anyone else who has ever crossed him, despite the fact that Flint has faced Kings, Queens and more and has come out on top. This finale almost seems to be building towards a conflict between these two great men, with the ultimate foreshadowing in mind. Looks like I may have to re-read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island at some point before the fourth season returns, because we're now closer to reaching the timeline of the book than we ever were before.
As news of Vane's execution begins to spread, both sides are preparing for war. On the Island Flint and Silver prepare to enact a plan for invasion, securing a beachhead from the enemy. However when the added firepower from Hornigold's men proves too much for Flint's forces to bear and one of his secretly placed cannons doesn't work, they decide to retreat, falling back into the rainforest, leaving the English on the beach. The English want to peruse believing Flint to be beaten, but Hornigold stops him, saying that Flint knows better than to spend this time preparing for a battle only to retreat this quickly, and that he would willingly sacrifice his own men to make them think that they had lost. The English Commander is convinced, and eventually they decide to wait on the beach, at least for now.
Meanwhile out at sea Jack and Anne are waiting around the island on a ship preparing to launch an intervention despite the odds not looking in their favour. Anne starts to lose hope when when they see an English flotilla on the horizon, and would possibly be reinforcements. However Rackham recognises the number of ships and the fact that there is a man-of-war among them, and realises that it might belong to Blackbeard, so decides to sail to the ship. He eventually is able to win the allegiance of Blackbeard, who is looking to avenge Vane's death. Teach therefore is willing to participate in the attack on the English fleet, with Rackham convincing Blackbeard to make the English think that that the pirates are tactically inept so that they won't expect them to be outmatched on the battlefield. Instead of continuing to pose as the English reinforcements until it is too late they decide to sent Anne and a group of pirates to take control of ship and turn its cannons against the English. It's a tactic that works, and the Fleet decide that regrouping might be the best idea.
However the land won't be as easily won. Dobbs, who was punished by the ship's crew for striking out at the freed slave who played a part in killing the crewmembers before Flint and Silver could earn their freedom, was assigned by Silver to spy on Hornigold and the English. Silver tells Flint that by sending Dobbs he can show that Dobbs has something to prove but will still fear Silver, saying that he wants to be both feared and respected at the same time. The gambit initially appears to backfire with Dobbs willingly walking out to Hornigold, shooting a captured member of Flint's crew and telling him the location of the village to prove his loyalty, but it was all one big ruse by Silver to lure the English into a false sense of security. Making the use of the knowledge of the jungle Flint's forces are able to surprise Hornigold, and although Dobbs cannot kill the turncoat, it is Flint that finishes the job, making sure that Black Sails had not one, but two of the most satisfying TV deaths in recent memory. I don't think I've hated an antagonist on TV as much as Hornigold outside of possibly some the characters on Game of Thrones and the show more than delivered on his death here and it felt just as good as Dufrense's.
Meanwhile, back in Nassau, Billy is looking to create a figure to scare the English. Using the legend of Avery's black spot to strike fear into the hearts of the traitorous pirates by dispatching one who was among the first to join with Hornigold, Billy and his supporters have created a loyal group of dissent inside Nassau, and Max reading out the letter that everyone believed was from Silver (but was actually from Billy) really showed just how deadly they can be. Billy hoped by putting Silver's name to the letter would create someone who could stand up to and rival Flint, and therefore puts us into an interesting proposition at the end of Season 4. How long will Silver and Flint remain on the same side and will they be able to remain fully united going into the war against Nassau? Even though in the long game this victory won't matter as they'll be beaten by the English anyway as history tells us, it was great to see the pirates gain a victory and almost give us an optimistic finale. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the show returns for Season 4, regardless.
On the whole this was a very intense episode and possibly the moment that confirms that this show is better than Game of Thrones for me. It's brilliant, utterly and completely must watch television. This episode had some of the most kickass moments of the series so far and maintained the unpredictability all the way through, capping off one of the strongest seasons of television in style. Just like its characters, Black Sails has grown into something incredible, making use of some incredible set design and CGI to weave awesome fight sequences that almost look as good as at the movies.
Overall Episode Verdict: A+
Positives:
+How good the fight scenes and ship battles looked.
+Dobbs!
+Hornigold's death.
+Anne surprising the English.
+The Black Spot.
