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marionthegeek · 5 months

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Stede is in the Gravy Basket, Izzy is Alive

The season 2 finale of Our Flag Means Death is odd. It hits weird. I think I know why. And this is going to sound bananas, but give me a chance to explain. Maybe you’ll agree.

It has a huge tonal shift. It seems to speedrun Stede and Ed’s romance. It feels like we’ve missed out on something from the end of episode 7. The fight scenes and pirate plans are nonsensical, even for OFMD. And most egregiously, a prominent character is killed off in a way that feels disingenuous to his story arc, just for starters.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. We need to go back to the beginning of season 2. The season opens with Stede looking more piratey than ever. Beard, sash, earring… oh he’s his own fantasy of a real proper pirate. He’s clashing swords with Izzy Hands and demanding to know where Ed is. He’s dreaming. In the dream he kills Izzy. He and Ed run into each other’s arms while screaming each other’s names. They crash into the surf. Ed says “I knew you’d find me, Babe. I knew you’d find me, Love.” Stede keeps asking if they’re good. Ed dodges the question. Then Ed asked about the smell. Stede wakes up in a crowded room with farting and shushing roommates.

At first I thought the finale was supposed to be just a “satisfying” mirror to Stede’s dream. Stede and Ed call each other’s names and run into each other’s arms in a display that resembles a more grown up version of Stede’s dream fantasy. There’s some wild sword fighting not unlike Stede’s dream duel with Izzy. And Izzy dies.

It does mirror, but I didn’t find it satisfying. All of the characters except Stede feel flattened. Stede gets to make the heroic plan (that we never even hear) while there’s at least five pirates with better skill sets for it in the room. Ed, as Blackbeard, was described last season as “History’s greatest tactician”; Zheng Yi Sao conquered China; Jackie just took out a room full of British soldiers. Izzy and Auntie are right there. You could make arguments that Jim or Frenchie, or pretty much anyone could make a better plan. Then Stede says “It’s only suicide if we die,” which is horrible considering the plan gets Izzy killed.

Stede’s really the only person in that room who thinks Stede should be making the plans. So I got to thinking, what if it's not just mirroring the dream? What if it is a dream? Last shot of episode 7 is an incoming cannonball. Maybe he’s unconscious.

Huge shout out to @Arty_Sunflowers on twitter (I’m not calling it X, fuck Musk) for pointing out that that isn’t the only episode that ends with a cannonball. Episode 2 ends with Jim swinging a cannonball down at Ed’s head. Stede’s not just dreaming, he’s in the Gravy Basket!!!! (Stede even screams “Oh my God!” at the end of episode 7 in the same tone he screams “Oh my God, I don’t want to die.” in s1e9.

Stede’s hopes, dreams, and insecurities shape everything in the finale. And it helps explain the absurdities in the episode when you remember that Stede is living out pulp adventure and romance novels in his head. (He even looks like someone on the cover of one in his episode 1 dream.) But Stede can’t be dead, you say. He’s literally the main character. Well, Ed was dead for a whole episode. Let’s take a closer look.

I could and probably will do another essay on Lucius as a POV character and Ed’s mental health and how the threads they seemed to have dropped aren’t as dropped as they appear. But all of that hinges on me proving the Stede is in the Gravy Basket theory. So for this essay I’m focusing on that.

So for starters we’ve got the cannonball scenes. They’re eerily similar even if the method of cannonball propulsion is different. We don’t know Ed is dead and in the Gravy Basket for about half of episode 3. Neither does he. It makes logical sense you can be there without realizing it for a while. Buttons even said Ed didn’t know whether he was in the Gravy Basket or not in episode 4. It definitely messes with your reality.

One of Ed’s issues is self hate. He manifests Hornigold as his companion. Stede is desperate to be a good pirate and have people be proud of him. And he lives in his fantasies a lot. So his dream shapes his experience. There’s a whole bit about Zheng needing “soft” and Auntie saying she’s proud of her. That isn’t their issue. It’s discordant with the show previously. But it is Stede’s issue. He’s manifesting.

When we first see Stede and Zheng in episode 8, they’re in a familiar spot for Stede, the bridge from episode 1. But why are they alone? When we last see Stede and Zheng in episode 7, several characters are within 5 to 10 feet of them. Did none of them decide to escape with Stede? Izzy, Lucius, and Jim are closest. But we know Pete was there begging Stede to stay down during his fight with Zheng. Archie was definitely in the bar. That's why Jim entered the fight. So why is it only Stede and Zheng at the bridge? Because, going back to rescue others fits into Stede's hero fantasies.

Zheng and Stede also argue about who pulled who to safety and how they got there. Stede waxes poetic about being a failure his whole life, but things always seem to work out for him. He’s such a main character mediocre white guy in this scene. He saves Zheng from two random soldiers, then she has to save him from them. Then they fight a bunch more soldiers on the beach until Blackbeard manifests in full leather from the ocean. It looks cool. But it's absurd, even for OFMD.

Speaking of Ed, he begins the episode waxing poetic about nature and calling fishermen simple. Those things are more Stede than Ed. Pop pop tells Ed, “You have no skills” which is something Izzy said to Stede in episode 5. He also tells Ed, “If you were ever good at something, go do that, you bum.” If Stede’s insecurities could be distilled into one sentence, it would probably be that. (He also talks about being like a wave. I’m not 100% sure it's a The Good Place joke, but it would be thematically appropriate.)

Pop pop also tells Ed he “ruined dinner.” Back in season 1, in Stede’s flashbacks to life with Mary and the kids, Stede thinks he’s ruined dinner. But remember, we also see another version of the scene where Stede is laughing with Mary and the kids. Stede isn’t exactly a reliable narrator. Even in his own head.

Despite it being beyond unlikely, Ed finds soldiers reading one of Stede’s letters. I know physics in this show is sketchy, but this seems like a good time to point out no one found the red silk. Stede wants Ed to read a letter and for it to fix everything between them. The letter, plus Stede being in danger, make Ed swim out, find his leathers, and emerge from the sea with them on, while the music is the Swede’s solo from Stede’s fuckery in s1e6. Stede wants to be rescued by his handsome pirate in leather, again, just like a pulp adventure romance novel. Little chance of Ed swimming out and finding his kit. Even less of him getting leather pants on under the water.

Back to the beach… for some reason two squads of soldiers are wandering around out on an empty beach. A visually incredible fight scene occurs. It honestly reminds me of Pete’s story in s1e2, including flips. Ed and Stede yell each other’s names exactly as in the dream. Like I’m pretty sure they used the same audio track. The same song (I Love My Baby, Nina Simone) starts playing. Ed says “I love you.” Stede says “I know.” (We’ll come back to the Han Solo joke in a minute.) They have a bit more absurd fighting then Ed, Stede, and Zheng sit on the beach complimenting each other. And Ed calls Stede “babe”. He’s never done that outside of Stede’s dream and this moment. He’s called him mate a couple of times. Babe is exclusively in Stede’s head.

Back in the Republic of Pirates, the crew are locked in a cell that is actually the “vista suite” at Spanish Jackie’s. Izzy gets a heroic entrance. It’s as cool as Stede thinks Izzy is. And he gives a speech that sounds like what he probably told Stede to get him to relinquish the suit in episode 5. Piracy is about belonging to something. You can’t ignore the wishes of the crew. Izzy also knows details about Captain Kidd and Pinocchio. Not impossible, but not exactly Izzy’s wheelhouse. It is Stede’s though. He’s obsessed with pirate tales and he read Pinocchio to the crew.

Stede, Ed, and Zheng show up just as Jackie has poisoned a bunch of soldiers. Stede makes a plan, despite everyone else being more qualified. Everyone disguises themselves as soldiers. Now we’ve seen the crew of the Revenge wear disguises. They never do the weird free styling they do here. Only Stede actually looks like a British officer. Zheng at least wears the disguise properly. Suddenly Ed has a multi gun bandolier like Blackbeard in the books. Pete ripped the arms off. Izzy is still wearing his vest. Doesn’t make sense if we’re going for stealth. Neither does not checking hostage Ricky for weapons or putting Izzy and his wooden leg at the front of the group.

If I'm right, Stede wouldn't know Ricky was behind the explosions. However, Ricky is basically evil Stede. He's Stede's perfect foil. All of this is reflecting Stede's psyche. So, of course, it's Ricky.

Izzy gets shot and says quite a lot of nonsense in his death scene. “They love you, Ed.” Um, 3 of them were going to leave like five minutes ago. Ed has made some progress with the crew, but we’re not at “they love you Ed”. The only person who thinks the crew loves Ed is Stede. Stede who weeps for Izzy while most of the crew aren’t showing much emotion. Stede can barely deal with his own big feelings. His fantasy doesn’t give the crew room to have them. Also, given the rest of the season, having Jim just let Ed be the person cradling Izzy doesn’t fit. The crew is also pretty stony at Izzy’s funeral.

I feel like it should be noted the last shot of Izzy in episode 7, he’s got one are around Jim and a hand on Lucius’s shoulder. He sat in Wee John’s lap in episode 6. Reactions to his death don’t make sense.

Also, Izzy’s terrible grave marker is very … Stede. He’d think it was a brilliant idea.

I didn't understand at first why Izzy had to die, even in Stede's dream world. Stede clearly likes him a lot better now. Why kill him? Well, it's because we're supposed to think Buttons is there to go to the Gravy Basket for Izzy. When actually he's already arrived in the Gravy Basket and he's there for Stede. Also, mentors die in pulp adventure novels. Stede sees Izzy as a mentor.

They go aboard the Revenge for Lucius and Pete’s wedding. It’s cute that the crew performs the ceremony, but I’d venture a guess that’s because Stede doesn’t know a captain should do it if it's legally binding. Stede does love the romance of it all. The sudden uptick in monogamy is also very Stede. He barely understands monogamous relationships. Polyamory is beyond him.

Then Stede and Ed, who earlier told Zheng they’d help hunt Ricky, go back to the island where Izzy is buried to start an inn in a run down shack. Stede knows Ed wants to do this because Ed told the (Taika’s) kids that they ran an inn. We hear Ed ask “Jesus, what is that smell?” Now, at first, I thought Izzy, because Ed “knows the smell of my rotting first mate”. But what was the last thing to happen in Stede’s dream? A fart joke.

Last scene is Buttons landing on Izzy’s grave. To retrieve Izzy from the Gravy Basket? No, Izzy’s not dead. He’s with Jim and Lucius, probably watching over Stede’s corpse. Buttons is there to retrieve Stede.

This theory fixes the plot holes and dropped threads problem. We’re coming back to them next season. Ed's amends making should be far from over. And we see several moments during the season where he acknowledged that. And yet here on the island they've set up a horror movie and called it a happy ending. Well, Stede is the type of boss who thinks things are fixed with a pizza (Calypso) party. In Stede's mind, this is a happy ending. But really Ed is still off finding himself, Stede is (temporarily) dead, and Izzy (who is not dead!) is probably guarding Stede's corpse.

They haven't resolved the domestic violence thread, but they haven't dropped it, either. Izzy is alive. Stede and Ed aren't together (yet). There's still time.

This also explains some of the freewheeling nonsense David Jenkins has been spouting in articles. Ed doesn’t see Izzy as a father figure and mentor, Stede does. Stede almost turned to mush when Izzy approved of him. And David is writing a three volume adventure novel. Han Solo (Stede) is in carbonate (the Gravy Basket). The perfect end to the second act. See, I told you we’d get back to the Han Solo joke.

I still have problems with the season. I really think they need a sensitivity reader. Even just implying a newly disabled character was fridged is certainly a choice. Especially given the amount of time devoted to how the character handled the disability. The DV scenes were brutal, as well as the suicide attempt, and the Human Puppet joke. I think they need someone trauma informed and disabled in the writer's room. (David Jenkins hit me up!)

Overall, I liked season 2. Especially once I realized Izzy wasn't dead. I'm looking forward to season 3, the conclusion of the Gentle Beard arc, and hopefully 6 seasons and a movie of Izzy (to be clear, he's not captain) and the kids sailing up and down the coast being gay and doing crimes, occasionally checking in with Stede and Ed.

Seriously, David, call me.

Historical Note: IRL Blackbeard died on November 22, 1718, killed in a naval battle off Ocracoke Island in North Carolina. IRL Stede Bonnet died December 10, 1718, hanged in Charles Town, South Carolina for piracy. IRL Israel “Izzy” Hands survives piracy, death date unknown. I know this show doesn’t actually care about historical accuracy, but this lends a little support for my Ed died, then Stede died, and Izzy isn’t dead theory.

#our flag means death #ofmd #izzy hands #stede bonnet #gravy basket #Izzy Hands lives #David Jenkins I just want to talk

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charlunday · 8 months

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I would like to issue this as a formal apology for my last drawing.

#i should really start an art tag #the hunger games #peeta mellark #katniss everdeen #everlark #toast babies #now is the perfect time to talk about details #number one #peeta and their son have different colored hair on purpose!!#i think its sweet if he inherited his blond from his moms side #(aka prim's blonde)#back on my peeta is a socks and sandals guy train #and NONE OF YOU CAN STOP ME #if anyone comments he looks like yung gravy #i swear to god #i will come to your house and smother you myself

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emmashouldbewriting · 5 months

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I'm trying to find the announcement of his deal for what rights were sold, but it's buried now with this news (so if you have it, do a girl a favour)

I'm a professional googler (i.e., a research librarian) and here's what I found.

The Daily Express has an article from July 2022 about the book that included the tweet Omid posted announcing it: "I can finally share that I'm working on a BRAND NEW BOOK!! So excited to be working again with Carrie Thornton at @deystreet @harpercollins (US) and MsLisaMilton at @hqstories."

(link: https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1648213/Meghan-Markle-Prince-Harry-book-omid-scobie-biography)

Next, when I searched for Scobie and Harper Collins together specifically, I found an article that talked some about the deal: "Scobie sold world English rights to a currently untitled book, set for 2023, to Carrie Thornton at Dey Street. Albert Lee at United Talent Agency brokered the deal on behalf of Scobie." The article's source is the August 2022 Publisher's Weekly announcement (linked within).

(article link: https://meaww.com/omid-scobie-all-set-to-write-new-book-about-meghan-markle-prince-harry-released-in-the-year-202)

Next I looked up everyone these articles ID'd.

Carrie Thornton and Dey Street (which is an imprint of Harper Collins) also published Finding Freedom. Dey Street has the North American's publishing rights.

Lisa Milton is the publishing agent for the UK and Commonwealth rights. (https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/hq-snaps-up-scobies-book-on-the-monarchys-fight-for-survival)

Albert Lee is a literary agent based in NYC. Before becoming a literary agent, he was an editor and a journalist. I think he was also instrumental in publishing Finding Freedom but I haven't been able to find confirmation.

I did try to search for Omid Scobie and Xander, limiting the date range from July 2022 to October 2023 (to exclude this week's tsnuami) but all the search results came back in Dutch, which I don't speak.

well well well, thank youuuuu my darling! let's have a lil Emma publishing lesson, shall we?! disclaimer: this applies only to selling rights for an English book to an English-speaking country, but I often sell my translation rights for my self-pubbed books so I'm used to this.

Publishers will take one of two options: World English, or World Rights. World English is what it says on the tin: English language rights, usually split between US and UK/Commonwealth. With this, you handle foreign translations yourself, although publishers will work together. World Rights is the whole shebang, including translations - when it's this, the publisher then shops around for translations and whatever the foreign publisher pays for it comes off your advance.

World English Rights means he sold just English and held on to foreign translation rights. Dey Street would have then sold the UK/Commonwealth rights to Harlequin, but Scobie's agent would have shopped the translation rights.

Which means Harlequin did not send the manuscript to Xander. Omid Scobie's agent did... and his agent would have sent the manuscript Omid Scobie provided as a final copy for translation.

#the plot like my gravy thickens #kudos if you know who said that lmao #emma talks books #emma on writing #resident royal fandom author

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cataclysmic-cathexis · 6 months

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Buttons and the gravy basket

Ed's facial expressions during this scene are some wonderful shit and yes I will elaborate

We start off with him exasperated with Buttons' shenanigans

Then Buttons hits him with this:

"To love the sea as she must be loved requires change. That's what I learned down in the old gravy basket."

Suddenly, Ed is like wtf. Is this nutjob about to drop some wisdom on me?

Then Buttons puts a bowl on his head and starts chanting and waving a smudge stick, and Ed is like oh. no this dude is just fucking bonkers:

"Buttons, people don't change. Not into birds or otherwise."

And then...

"Fuck yeah, brother. Fly."

You can see it hit him. People can change. Buttons has changed for the one he loves. And if Buttons can change into a fucking bird... maybe Ed can change too.

And when Stede comes back and Ed hears his voice, he's struck by this. He can change. He doesn't have to be Blackbeard. He looks at Stede and this realization comes crashing into him. (I've lightened the next screenshots so you can see the expressions in more detail)

He's almost in tears at the weight of this realization. He quickly brushes one away, smiles, and goes running to Stede.

This like 1 minute scene was a full ROLLERCOASTER and I was not PREPARED. I had not strapped my heart in and made sure my hands and feet were inside the vehicle. It has wrecked me forever ok thank u and goodbye

#im in awe of taikas acting #imagine having to look at ewen bremmer chanting with a bowl on his head talking about turning into a seagull #the man has done the impossible #and you have to keep a straight face #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 #blackbonnet #gentlebeard #ofmd buttons #the gravy basket #ofmd s2 spoilers #our flag means death #ofmd

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utilitycaster · 23 days

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the idea that Orym has a death wish has led to some of the most laughable meta I've seen. Orym tells his closest friend - who has a penchant for delightfully wild impulses, is possibly important to the enemy's plot, and is about to see her biological father, about whom she has all kinds of complicated feelings - to not take unnecessary risks and people are handing out pamphlets on "a Treatise on Orym's Belief in Doom; Being an Account of His Deep-seated Hypocritical Actions Regarding The Pact With Morrigan, Hag and Fatestitcher" and it's like. idk man maybe they're going to be separated in a very clearly dangerous scenario and she specifically is in an emotionally charged and tricky one and he is saying "be careful", a normal thing friends might say to each other.

#people will be like Liam O'Brien is a shakespearian actor and professional sadboy (I disagree w/the latter but. that's the consensus)#and then when he plays characters who say kinda dramatic pronouncements they'll be like WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN #babygirl this is mr. you were not born with venom in your veins he talks like this in d&d all the time good gravy #cr tag #i do imagine people with bad takes especially on twitter handing out pamphlets with bad takes like they're a really stupid Thomas Paine #like FULLY in the town square of Plymouth Plantations or Mystic Seaport in costume crying out about their meta #and i am a tourist like man where's the shop where i can for reasons having nothing to do with this living history museum obtain a geode

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iamadequate1717 · 6 months

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OFMD S3 (Manifesting!)

I think we've all seen Casey Bloys' comments on an OFMD S3:

“What’s a little bit different in a linear world than here is… how a show performs over a longer period of time than three weeks or something,” Bloys stated. “So we’re figuring out how it’s doing, what it’s looking like.”

My reaction:

Really, HBO? HBO, after running one of the worst, most spoilery, most front loaded marketing campaigns I have ever seen, wants to talk about the long term?

The question that was driving everyone feral for an S2 was, will Stede and Ed find each other again? HBO/MAX put their first face-to-face meeting in the trailer. Why watch the show when the marketing will just toss a greatest hits reel out to the public before the episode even releases?

The showstopping set piece of 2x3 (MerStede rescuing Ed) was spoiled in their "marketing" since they released the concept art for MerStede days before the episode aired in a BTS video.

Let's look at the finale:

The beach kisses and the inn were spoiled in BTS videos released days before the episode was released after putting a week between 2x7 and 2x8 releases. Yeah, yeah, they didn't show the kisses exactly, but what else would that pose be for? It really enforced that 2x7 and 2x8 should have been released together, but HBO/MAX choose to create a cliffhanger while immediately posting the resolution in their marketing

Ed thinking Stede was dead was spoiled by the episode promo

Ed and Stede running toward one another on the beach was spoiled by the trailer. (It didn't show them in frame together, but it was obviously the same location and the direction they were going in matched.)

Ed reading one of Stede's letters was spoiled by marketing a few days before the finale release for no discernable reason

Izzy's climatic speech to Ricky (and that he was saying it to Ricky!) was spoiled in the trailer. It could have been a good hype VO, and they didn't need to spoil whom Izzy was talking to

The crew in the British garb and taking out soldiers was in the trailer. This plot begins nine minutes before the credits start.

The Revenge Crew working with Spanish Jackie and Zheng at some point was well spoiled beforehand in their BTS promo material. Zheng saying they should team up is three minutes before the credits start.

(Has anyone seen this amount of BTS material of episodes, including the season climax, released before an episode releases instead of after? Just holding this BTS material until after seems like a no-brainer to extending a show's interest after the finale is released.)

The reason the pacing felt super "off" on your first watch is because HBO/MAX already released a bulleted run through of the episode beforehand, and you were mentally ticking it off as you went instead of watching it organically. Watching it a second time really improves the flow of the episode.

This is a show whose popularity was raised created entirely through word-of-mouth excitement. The greediness of these streaming companies is why we couldn't have the actors doing promo, but then they took away the show's next most powerful tool, the word-of-mouth discussion, by releasing large swathes of the climax of the season before it aired, and the social media hype and discussion was front loaded to before release instead of after.

S3 was set up to show Ed and Stede as a solid couple and to show the pirate community against the British, and the season climax of these two points was released by HBO/MAX before the episode, and it was excitedly discussed then. Now, a week after release, we're stuck in some horrible gravy basket of discussing the part of the last five-ten minutes that HBO/MAX didn't outright spoil (though they tried their hardest with the grave promo stills and Ed's bloody hand in the promo!): Izzy's death. No one is having fun!

There is a lot of story setup for an S3 but DJenks and company had to set up a season that could double as a series finale in a pinch, so we also lost the "What happens next??" fervor because HBO/MAX wouldn't greenlight two seasons at once of their biggest new IP of 2022. The bizarre marketing strategy didn't lend itself to a long term success, and it's up to the fans once again to do HBO/MAX's job for them.

#ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 #ofmd 2x08 #hbo max #ofmd s3 #renew as a crew #talk it through as a crew #ofmd meta #renewal gravy basket #ranty rant rant #ofmd s2 spoilers #is it worth tagging s2 spoilers anymore?

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