Dealbreakers.
Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.
Last week, in my Black Sails write up, I briefly mentioned Flint's error in agreeing to Eleanor's deal so quickly. Silver obviously wasn't on board and now Flint was going to send Silver back out to the beach, without a side conversation, to listen to Billy Bones' side of things while Flint sat in a cell, influencing no one. A fool-hearty move, for sure. Overly trusting and foolish.
Surprisingly though, that wasn't how everything got totally honked up this week. Eleanor and Flint were both wrong to assume that others would carry out their wishes. The two of them are, essentially, trapped inside that fort now and relying on others to follow through. It almost all came to a crashing end on the pirate side this week, in "XXXIII.," when it seemed like Silver was going to go along with Bones' plan to hijack the Urca loot. But where it actually failed was on Eleanor's end. She put all her faith in Woodes and he didn't budge one damn bit.
Naturally, had Eleanor allowed Woodes to know she was pregnant, things would have probably gone down a different path, but her stubbornness here allowed Woodes to go into full Woodes-mode and plot bloody, pyrrhic havoc - turning to the Spain for muscle and support. Now everyone's doomed and Woodes is, unknowingly, endangering his own wife and unborn child. It's a budding catastrophe and one that sets us up for an extremely chaotic next few chapters. Also, it was a great way to bring Spain back into the story as they were always going to be a part of the endgame.
A lot of "XXXIII." involved Silver being torn between two camps, with Bones trying to sell him on betraying Flint and Madi (taking over Flint's point of view here) wanting him to vanquish Bones. Meanwhile, Israel Hands just smacked the s*** out of him for being maudlin and indecisive. That was quite the moment. Hands is more than willing to be Number Two to a new Pirate King but he is not there for counsel. Or to listen to said Pirate King vocalize his many insecurities.
The closing moments here, with Silver leading Bones into that death trap, were pretty tense. It was a nice finish to an episode that had been, up until that point, very reflective and dialogue driven. Black Sails is great at balancing thoughtful conversations about loyalty and hypothetical futures with moments of pointed violence and shock. Hands, the one-man wrecking crew that he is, laid waste to Bones and would have finished the job had Silver not ordered him to stop. Whether Flint ever gets the gems to trade for Nassau or not, Bones has now been brutally cast aside at a time when pirates need to really come together in order to survive a massive attack from Woodes and the Spanish fleet. As with most things this season, two steps forward usually lead to three steps back. There are a lot of amazing moving parts this season. So many that it's hard to believe we're only halfway through.
Flint getting the news from Jack, that Woodes hadn't agreed to the deal, was a pretty heavy moment too. I'm very curious now to see what Jack will be able to lend to the war effort now that he's back. BUT HOW IS ANNE? I need an Anne update immediately.
The Verdict
"XXXIII." saw Eleanor and Flint's shaky agreement crumble and crack apart - but not because of the pirates. Woodes' refusal to heed his wife's request fed nicely into his wounded pride and violent soul while also providing the bridge to bring Spain back into the saga. Silver, meanwhile, made a huge decision to stick with Flint (and Madi) by framing Bones for the season premiere disaster. Whether he becomes stronger or weaker because of the decision I can't say - but at least he made a choice. Hands was happy.
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